College of Charleston students interested in bioethics will be rubbing shoulders with some of the nation’s top thinkers in bioethics at the 2013 Thomas A. Pitts Memorial Lectureship in Medical Ethics. The annual event is held just blocks from campus at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).
Bioethics is the study of typically controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. It is of interest to pre-med students as well as those majoring in biology, philosophy and public health.
“There are so many students interested in our biomedical ethics course that we turn students away,” explains Todd Grantham, philosophy professor and department chair. “I would love to see our offerings in bioethics grow in the coming years. It attracts students from many majors on campus and really shows the importance and career applications of philosophy.”
The focus of this year’s MUSC lectureship is on “Ethical and Legal Issues in Pediatrics,” which is drawing a lot of attention and attendees. Topics will focus on the decision-making responsibilities and rights relating to newborn screening, vaccination refusal, and infant male circumcision. For each topic, there will be an expert lecturer both for and against, followed by a panel discussion.
[Related: View program and schedule.]
College of Charleston Philosophy Professor Jennifer Baker is very interested in this year’s topic – pediatric bioethics is the focus of her recent research. Her paper, “Children’s Agency, Interests, and Medical Consent” is ready for publication in the HealthCare Ethic Committee Forum: An Interprofessional Journal on Healthcare Institutions’ Ethical and Legal Issues.
“The issues in bioethics really deserve attention,” Baker says. “What is argued in the field alters practice. And the practice of medicine, of course, has such relevance to our lives, often when we are most vulnerable.”
In the paper, Baker asserts that there is not yet a ready justification for current practices when it comes to the non-consensual medical treatment of children and adolescents.
“I suggest that if we think more about when we require consent, we learn something about the very nature of children’s interests. My class studied philosopher Gary Varner’s work last year (he came to give a talk, as well) and it inspired this line of approach.”
[Related: Read Baker’s research in HEC Forum.]
Martin Perlumutter, professor of Jewish studies also conducts research on bioethics.
For more information, Jennifer Baker can be reached at bakerja@cofc.edu and Todd Grantham can be reached at granthamt@cofc.edu.
