IDNS 6391-01 (33889)

IDNS 4391-01 (33888)

HIST 4394-03 (35043)

Ethics in Science

Historical perspectives and current practices of ethics and social responsibility in science
Fall 2010:  MW, 4-5.30 pm, Classroom: SEC 205

-------------------------------------------------------

Professor:  Ioanna Semendeferi

E-Mail: isemendeferi@uh.edu

Office Hours: Tu, 3-5 pm Office: Science & Research Building 1, Room: 227E
Office Phone: (713) 743-3544

-------------------------------------------------------

Description

Science, technology, and medicine are driving forces in our society.  They inspire hopes but also fears.  They are used but also abused.  Billions are spent for research and practice.  What is the dark side of science, technology, and medicine?  How do scientists, engineers, and physicians cope with it? What are their ethical dilemmas? How the current ethical standards and practices originated?

Using history, this course addresses some of the above questions and attempts to enrich the understanding of ethics and social responsibility in science, technology, and medicine.  Furthermore, it links up to present standards and practices and offers multi-faceted training and experiences, which would be indispensable to the young scientist throughout his/her career. The course is a rare combination of in-depth historical-philosophical perspectives coupled with hands-on experiences. It aims to teach students how to deal effectively with issues pertaining to human/animal experiments, peer review, paper authorship, conflict of interest and other big career items not only for the time being but also for life, as these are in a state of continuous flux.

 

Requirements

The course will incorporate lectures, debates, presentation of documentary films, mentored experiences, expert panels, and hands-on clinics.  

 

Debate Classes

For some topics, there will be one class exclusively devoted to debate (please see specifics in the Course Outline section below).  The debate will take place between individual students or groups of students and the instructor will act as the moderator.

Of course, aside from the dates of the “Debate Classes”, students should be prepared to talk in every class:  They should read carefully the assigned material (book chapters, articles) and bring comments and issues for discussion at each class. 

One-Page Position Statements

For some topics, at the beginning of the “Debate Class”, students will provide the instructor with a one-page position statement on the particular topic (please see the specifics in the Course Outline section below).  

Exams

There will be two take-home essays:  One mid-term essay and one final essay (please see specifics in the Course Outline section below).

Mentored Experiences

Students will be assigned mentors who will help them in scientific paper review and Institutional Review Board (IRB) formulation exercises in their areas of interest. The results of these assignments will be presented in a special class.

Grading

• Debates and one-page position statements:   25%;   
• Mentored experiences: 25%;   
• Mid-term take-home essay: 25%;   
• Final take-home essay: 25%.   .

Prerequisite: Instructor’s approval

Maximum number of students: 40 students.

Recommended Approach

In the debates and in the writings the student should try to develop thoughtful arguments and comments.  He/she should avoid presenting a simple summary of case facts.  The goal is to analyze the ethical issues involved in each case study and develop nuanced interpretations.  In other words, the student “should become part” of each historical episode and then develop his/her own personal code of ethics. 

In the experiential exercises (paper reviews and IRBs) the student should work closely both with the assigned mentor and the instructor. 

 

 

-----------------------------

Course Outline

TOPIC 1: Ethics and Responsibility in Scientific Research and Practice

 

• M, Aug 23 - LECTURE
• W, Aug 25 - FILM: “Silent Spring” [1992]
• M, Aug 30 –  DEBATE CLASS

REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

• [1] Bernard E. Rollin, Science and Ethics (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006): pp. 1-10 (Ch. 1); pp. 11-30 (Ch. 2); pp. 247-274 (Ch. 10)
• [2] Jessica Wang, “Ethics and Social Responsibility in Science,” in Marc Rothenberg (ed.), The History of Science in the United States: An Encyclopedia (New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 2001), pp. 190-193.

RECOMMENDED READINGS (Available through Amazon.com)

• Allegra Goodman (2006): Intuition. Dial Press, New York

 

TOPIC 2: Authorship, Publication, and Peer Review

• W, Sep 1 – LECTURE
• M, Sep 6 -  Labor Day – NO CLASSES
• W, Sep 8 - PANEL DISCUSSION: Professors share publication/review experiences/ASSIGNMENT of MENTORS and PAPERS FOR REVIEW

REQUIRED READINGS

• [3] Notes downloadable from Blackboard Vista

 

---

THEME: Treatment of Animals and Humans (Topics 3-5)

 

TOPIC 3: : Questionable Medical Experiments:  The Case of Human Radiation Experiments

• M, Sep 13 -  FILM: “The Day after Trinity” [1980]
• W, Sep 15 -  LECTURE and SHORT FILM: “The Atom and You” [1953]
• M, Sep 20 - DEBATE CLASS/DUE ONE-PAGE POSITION STATEMENT

REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

• [4] J Eileen Welsome, The Plutonium Files:  America’s Secret Medical Experiments in the Cold War (New York: Delta-Random House Inc., 1999):  pp. 1-11 (Prologue); pp. 42-54 (Ch. 4); pp. 75-81 (Ch. 7); pp. 120-123 (Ch. 12); pp. 189-228 (Ch. 19-Ch. 22); pp. 383-402 (Ch. 38); pp. 447-470 (Ch. 42-45); pp. 481-489 (Epilogue).   

 

TOPIC 4: Questionable Medical Experiments:  The Case of Syphilis Experiments

• W, Sep 22 - LECTURE
• M, Sep 27 - FILM: “The Deadly Deception” [1993] & “Tuskegee” [1998]
• W, Sep 29 - DEBATE CLASS/DUE ONE-PAGE POSITION STATEMENT

REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

• [5]  James H. Jones, Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment (New York: The Free Press-Simon & Schuster Inc., 1993):  pp. 1-15 (Ch. 1); pp. 113-131 (Ch. 8); pp. 151-170 (Ch. 10); pp. 171-187 (Ch. 11); pp. 206-219 (Ch. 13). 

TOPIC 5: Current Practices: Animal and Human Subjects - Stem Cell

• M, Oct 4 – LECTURE/ASSIGNMENT of IRB EXERCISES
• W, Oct 6 – PANEL DISCUSSION: IRB serving members share insights 

REQUIRED READINGS

• [6] Notes downloadable from Blackboard Vista
• [7] Online NIH Ethics Training

---

THEME: Conflict of Interest (Topics 6-8)

TOPIC 6: Conflict of Interest: The Case of the Atomic Energy Commission and the Civilian Nuclear-Power Industry

• M, Oct 11 – LECTURE
• W, Oct 13 – FILM – “Three Mile Island Revisited” [1992] & “Meltdown at Three Mile                                                             Island” [1999]
• M, Oct 18 - DEBATE CLASS/DUE MID-TERM EXAM (Take-Home Essay)

REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

• [10] Allan M. Winkler, Life Under a Cloud: American Anxiety about the Atom (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1999): pp. 136-164 (Ch. 6)
• [11] J. Samuel Walker, Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004): pp. 1-33 (Ch. 1 & first few pages of Ch. 2)
• [12] Jerome Price, The Antinuclear Movement (Boston, MA: Twayne Publishers-G.K.Hall & Company, 1982): pp. 65-83.
• [13] Ioanna Semendeferi, “Legitimating a Nuclear Critic: John Gofman, Radiation Safety, and Cancer Risks,” Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 38:2 (May 2008): pp. 259-301 (Downloadable from  Blackboard Vista  )

 

TOPIC 7: Unethical Underpinnings of Engineering Disasters: The Case of the Challenger Space-Shuttle Accident

• W, Oct 20 - LECTURE
• M, Oct 25 - FILM: “Challenger: The Untold Story” [2006]
• W, Oct 27- DEBATE CLASS/DUE POSITION STATEMENTS

 

REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

• [14] Diane Vaughan, The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997): pp. 1-32 (Ch. 1)
• [15] Richard P. Feynman, “What Do You Care What Other People Think”? Further Adventures of a Curious Character (New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2001): pp. 113-237 (Part 2)

 

TOPIC 8: Bias and Conflict of Interest: Current State in Biomedicine

• M, Nov 1 - LECTURE

REQUIRED READINGS

• [16] Notes downloadable from Blackboard Vista

 

---

---

THEME:  Public Health   (Topics 9-10)

TOPIC 9: Revealing Public-Health Hazards: The Case of Tobacco

 

• M, Nov 8 - LECTURE
• W, Nov 10 -  FILM: “Tobacco Wars” [1997] & “The Nicotine War” [1995]
• M, Nov 15 -  DEBATE CLASS/DUE ONE-PAGE POSITION STATEMENT

REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

• [17]  Allan Brandt, The Cigarette Century:  The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product that Defined America (New York: Basic Books, 2007):  pp. 131-157 (Ch. 5); pp. 159-207 (Ch. 6); pp. 211-239 (Ch. 7)

 

TOPIC 10: Revealing Public-Health Hazards: The Case of Lead

• W, Nov 17 - LECTURE
• M, Nov 22 - FILM: “Trade Secrets” [2001]
• W, Nov 24 – Thanksgiving – NO CLASSES
• W, Nov 29 - DEBATE CLASS/DUE ONE-PAGE POSITION STATEMENT

REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

• [18] Gerard Markowitz and David Rosner, Deceit and Denial: The Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003):
  • pp. 1-11 (Introduction);
  • pp. 12-35 (Ch. 1);
  • pp. 36-63 (Ch. 2);
  • pp. 108-138 (Ch. 4).

---

M, Dec 6 – DUE FINAL EXAM (Take-Home Essay)

---