The Minor | At a Glance | Frequently Asked Questions

The Minor At A Glance

Preface: The structure outlined below is intended as a basic framework within which students and their faculty advisers might plan an integrated and coherent program of study. The various lists of courses given here (e.g., under A.4, B.1, B.2) are intended merely to suggest the range of possible courses that might be taken for credit in the Program; additional or new courses will be added to the list each year at the discretion of the Director and the Advisory Committee. 

A. Basic Courses

1. Recommended but not required: Phil 141 Forms of Reasoning and/or Relg 230 Religious Ethics and Moral Problems
2. Introduction to Bioethics (3 credits) Relg 265 Theol., Ethics, Medicine / Or: Phil 154 Life and Death 
3. Biol 121 (Human Biology) or Biol 149 (Survival Biology) or Biology 201 or AP biology credits + any 300-level biology course.
4. Ethical/Political Theory (6 credits) Two courses, one of which must be in ethics, such as:
   • Phil 351 Ethics
   • Phil 352 Contemporary Ethics
   • Phil 356 Classics in Political Philosophy
   • Phil 257 Political Philosophy
   • Phil 369 Justice, Law & Morality
   • Relc 233 History of Christian Ethics
   • Relc 265 Systems of Theological Ethics
   • PLPT 302 Modern Political Thought
   • PLPT 303 Contemporary Political Thought

B. Bioethics Electives (3 courses / 9 credits) drawn from the following two categories:

1. Courses in Bioethics (preferably at 300-level or higher), such as:
   • Phil 365 / 565 Justice & Health Care
   • Phil 358 Reproductive Ethics
   • Phil 359 / 559 Research Ethics
   • Phil 364 Ethics and Public Health
   • Phil 504  Global Justice, Health, and Human Rights
   • Law 3701 / Phil 762 Law and Bioethics
   • Relg 423 Bioethics Internship Seminar
   • Relg 598 Feminism, Ethics and Health Care
   • Relg 386 / 541 The Human Body and Parts as Property
   • Relg 814 Great Cases in Bioethics
2. Electives Closely Related to Bioethics Students may substitute one closely related but not explicitly bioethical course for one bioethics elective. Courses such as:
   • Anth 329 Marriage, Mortality and Fertility
   • Anth 525 Illness in American Society
   • Biol 311 Genetics
   • Biol 345 Biology of Reproduction
   • Biol 401 Evolutionary Biology
   • Biol 425 Human Genetics
   • Biol 436 Biology and Culture
   • ECON 416 Economics of Health
   • EVSC 320 Fundamentals of Ecology
   • PLAP 565  Economics, Values, and Public Policy
   • Law 688 Law and Medicine
   • Psych 363 Health Psychology
   • Soc 426 Health Care Systems
   • Soc 457 Family Policy
   • Soc 470 Medical Sociology
   Some 200-level courses may count for credit as a Bioethics Elective (e.g., Anth 234 "Race, Gender and Medical Science"). Which courses will so count will be up to the discretion of the student's adviser and the Program Director. Students who wish to count a related elective towards their bioethics minor should make every effort to choose a course that is actually related to their other courses in bioethics.  For example, a biology course in Human Genetics would mesh well with a bioethics course in Genetics and the Law, or an HES course on the US health care system would mesh well with a bioethics course on Justice & Health Care.

C. Capstone Seminar (An elective, not a required course)

Phil 558--Bioethics Seminar for 4th year students. 3 credits. Fall 2005 topic:
Reproductive Ethics (Arras)