Bioethics without Boundaries
Tackling the “big questions” through an innovative, interdisciplinary lens, the intercollege Penn State Bioethics Program focuses on ethical and policy issues arising in a broad range of arenas.
These include the following:
Behavioral, Cognitive, & Neuroscience
What are the implications of recent developments in neuroscience and A.I. for cognitive liberty?
Corporate Influence
Does corporate funding of health research imperil research integrity and public trust?
Environment and Ecology
Should CRISPR be used to modify other species (for example, mice or mosquitos) in an effort to reduce disease in humans?
Emerging Technologies
Should we use medical technology to create “designer children” or robots to care for the elderly?
Food Science & Nutrition
Do nutraceuticals blur the boundary between food and medicine, and who might benefit or be harmed as a result?
Gender & Sexuality
How does discrimination and systemic bias related to gender and sexuality undermine access to health care and imperil public health?
Medical Research, Education, & Practice
Do we have the right to choose the time and manner of our death, and should health care professionals be permitted to actively assist us?
Public & Global Health
How should pandemic planning and response redress structural injustice and promote social change?
Sports & Leisure Activities
Should we view exercise as medicine, and what are the promises and perils of this approach?
And many more!
What big bioethics questions are you curious about?
Drawing on a diverse array of Penn State faculty with a wide range of experiences and expertise, the Program offers a pioneering, cross-disciplinary curriculum that includes:
- an undergraduate minor in Bioethics and Medical Humanities;
- a graduate minor in Bioethics at both the master’s and doctoral levels; and
- the first graduate degree of its kind in the United States, a Dual-Title Ph.D. Program in Bioethics.
In addition, the Program convenes a weekly Bioethics Colloquium, and hosts various conferences and seminars that bring together leading experts from Penn State and their peers at other institutions.