A leading expert in medical ethics is teaching a course on that topic this fall as a visiting professor emeritus in the Institution for Social and Policy Studies' (ISPS) Interdisciplinary Bioethics Project.
The undergraduate course is just one of the initiatives sponsored by the Bioethics Project, which seeks to raise awareness and understanding of the complex ethical issues surrounding the increasingly scientific and technological environment.
Undergraduates are exploring "Bioethics: Leading Issues in Medical Ethics" under the guidance of William F. May '52 B.D., '62 Ph.D., founding director of the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility at Southern Methodist University.
After the Supreme Court decreed in 1963 that religion could be taught at public institutions, May founded and chaired the Department of Religious Studies of Indiana University, which was later ranked as the nation's top-quality undergraduate program among all public and private universities. May also taught at Smith College and was the Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., Professor of Christian Ethics at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University.
May is a former president of the American Academy of Religion and a founding fellow of The Hastings Center, where he cochaired its research group on death and dying. He served on the subgroup on "Ethical Foundations" for the Clinton Task Force on National Health Care Reform in 1993. His numerous honors include the American Academy of Religion's Outstanding Teaching Award.
His numerous publications include "A Catalog of Sins," "The Physician's Covenant: Images of the Healer in Medical Ethics"; "The Patient's Ordeal," which illuminates the ethics of patients and patients' families, not just those of professionals; and, most recently, "Testing the Medical Covenant: Active Euthanasia and Health Care Reform."
In addition to teaching the course on "Bioethics" this fall, May will be a featured speaker at the symposium "Structure of an Ethical Revolution" taking place on Oct. 6 at the Whitney Humanities Center. He will also be in residence at Yale in the fall semester of 2001.
Genetic manipulation of crops, physician-assisted suicide, secret human experimentation and revising the U.S. medical system are among the topics that will be explored in this year's seminar series "Bioethics and Public Policy," jointly sponsored by ISPS and Yale Hillel.
Speakers in the series are drawn both from within the Yale community and throughout the world. They explore their topics in two formats during the course of a given day. They lead a seminar at noon at ISPS, 77 Prospect St. (Lunch is available by calling ahead to Carol Pollard at 203-432-6188.) They also present a public lecture at 7:30 p.m. at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, 80 Wall St. The latter is followed by a reception.
The series' first presentation, "Living with the Genome" by Norton Zinder of Rockefeller University, will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 20. (See Visiting on Campus) Watch the Yale Bulletin & Calendar for information about future presentations.
Yale faculty members share their interests in bioethical issues with colleagues from diverse disciplines at monthly Faculty Bioethics Workshops held in the lower-level conference room of ISPS.
Established by the Interdisciplinary Bioethics Committee, the workshops seek to expose faculty members to how different disciplines view bioethical issues while raising awareness of the diverse resources available at Yale for teaching and research programs.
The workshops, which take place at noon over lunch, begin with the featured faculty member talking about his or her particular bioethical interest, followed by an informal exchange among colleagues.
The first workshop of the year, "Genocide: From Carthage to Cambodia," was presented on Sept. 13 by Ben Kiernan, the A. Whitney Griswold Professor of History and director of the Genocide Studies Program. The next offering will be "Doing Well While Doing Good -- Science and Nature in the Inner City," which will be led by William Burch, the Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Natural Resource Management at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. To reserve a place at that workshop, call Carol Pollard at (203) 432-6188. Watch future issues of the Yale Bulletin & Calendar for notices of upcoming workshops.
Information about other bioethics-related activities -- including this fall's symposium and other course offerings -- is available on the ISPS website at www.yale.edu/isps, as well as in the booklet "Bioethics at Yale," now in its second year of publication. The booklet can be obtained through Carol Pollard, ISPS coordinator, by phone at (203) 432-6188 or by email at carol.pollard@yale.edu.
T H I S
Bulletin Home
Visiting professor
"Bioethics and Public Policy" series
Faculty Bioethics Workshop
Other offerings
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Croatian chief takes on Milosevic
Exhibition celebrates Edward Lear
Study says storing syringes in warm places destroys HIV
Study: Largest, wealthiest nations are biggest Olympics winners
Critical environmental issues are focus of lecture series
President's Freshman Addresss
Yale College Dean's Freshman Address
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPSMedieval literature expert joins faculty as Smith Professor
New political science faculty member to hold Stout chair
Political scientist assumes William Kenan Professorship
Psychology hires reflect dramatic changes in field
Yale SOM appointments strengthen finance, economics faculty
Finding common ground is topic of Law School's reunion events
Visiting professors reflect range of 'architectural debate'
ISPS hosts visiting expert in medical ethics
OBITUARIESLibrary curator and noted collector Donald C. Gallup
Philosopher Stephan Körner, taught at Yale and at Bristol University
Psychiatrist and scholar of the history of medicine Dr. Stanley W. Jackson
Memorial service will honor former Dwight Hall leader
Memorial service for Joseph Goldstein
NIDA director to speak at symposium on drug abuse treatments
Rite of passage
Course on city draws 'students' from beyond Yale
Grove St. Cemetery becomes a national historic landmark
Senior lector appointed to teach popular Hindi courses
Scenes from Move-In Day
Graduate School greets new scholars
Duke Ellington Fellowship hosts acclaimed vocal artist Warfield
Yale Scoreboard
In the News
|Visiting on Campus|
Calendar of Events|Bulletin Board
Classified Ads|Search Archives|Production Schedule|Bulletin Staff
Public Affairs Home|News Releases|
E-Mail Us|Yale Home Page