In this course, you will learn to recognize, assess, consider, and articulate the ways that ethical principles are deeply informed by humanistic and philosophical inquiry, which in turn shapes our lived histories, politics, and cultural expressions across a range of disciplines and professions. This course discusses the history of medicine and medical technologies; literary and popular representations of health, disease, and the medical establishment; ethical issues related to medicine and public health; and cultural conditions affecting the development of medicine and medical technologies. Subjects include interpersonal conflicts between doctors and patients, the Tuskegee syphilis study and the establishment of bioethics, the race among researchers to discover the HIV virus causing AIDS, sustainability and public health, patients’ rights, and genetic technology. Prerequisites: ENGL 1101, ENGL 1102. Attributes: Humanities, Ethics
- To increase awareness of the cultural factors affecting the development of biomedical knowledge and practice
- To increase awareness of and think critically about the role of biomedicine, including its technological means, in culture
- To explore nuance and ambiguity in ethical debates about research and practice in biomedicine
- To communicate in sophisticated ways about these issues of broad concern, orally and in writing
All texts for the class will be made available on the Canvas site either through a pdf or link to an external source.
All written assignments should be posted to the class Canvas site. Any postings should be in the body of the message (not sent as attachments). Late assignments will be penalized and will not be accepted after two weeks unless you arrange with the instructor in advance of the due date.
Because class discussion and in-class assignments make up a significant percentage of the final grade, excessive absences (more than 2) could result in an unsatisfactory mark. Submit the appropriate documents to the instructor for medical, athletic, or other justified absences. Extended absences away from campus for family, medical, or legal reasons should be reported to the Dean of Students Office. The Georgia Tech Office of Student Life in Atlanta also has information: https://studentlife.gatech.edu/content/class-attendanceLinks to an external site.
Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. All work submitted must be original and properly cited. Plagiarism, cheating, or any form of academic dishonesty will result in immediate consequences as outlined in the university's academic integrity policy.
This is a Core IMPACTS course that is part of the Arts, Humanities & Ethics area.
Core IMPACTS refers to the core curriculum, which provides students with essential knowledge in foundational academic areas. This course will help master course content, and support students’ broad academic and career goals.
This course should direct students toward a broad Orienting Question:
- How do I interpret the human experience through creative, linguistic, and philosophical works?
Completion of this course should enable students to meet the following Learning Outcome:
- Students will effectively analyze and interpret the meaning, cultural significance and ethical implications of literary/philosophical texts in English or other languages, or of works in the visual/performing arts.
Course content, activities and exercises in this course should help students develop the following Career-Ready Competencies:
- Ethical Reasoning
- Information Literacy
- Intercultural Competence