Ethics in Science - Fall 2013


   
Historical perspectives and current practices of ethics and professional responsibility in science

Fall 2013: MW, 4-5.30 pm,
Classroom: 315 HBSC (Health and Biomedical Sciences Center)

Science, technology, and medicine are driving forces in our society. They inspire hopes but also fears. They are used but also abused. Billions are spent for research and practice. What is the dark side of science, technology, and medicine? How do scientists, engineers, and physicians cope with it? What are their ethical dilemmas? How the current ethical standards and practices originated?

Using history, this course addresses some of the above questions and attempts to enrich the understanding of ethics and responsibility in science, technology, and medicine. Furthermore, it links up to present standards and practices offering multi-faceted training and experiences, which would be indispensable to the young scientist throughout his/her career. The course educates students on issues of professional responsibility, paper authorship, peer review, human/animal experiments, bias, and conflict of interest.

This course is supported in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through grant #1135357 (Ethics Education in Science and Engineering (EESE): "Experiencing Ethics"). More information can be found at: http://www.uh.edu/ethicsinscience/



Comments form Past Students

"Overall, this is one of my favorites courses at UH. I really enjoyed my experience."

"Thumbs up for the different perspective to ethics in science"

"This is one of the best courses for graduate students-educational and very informative."

"Overall the experience was great, and I learned valuable tips for when I begin reviewing."

"I don't think I would have had a mentorship experience outside the class, so it was a unique opportunity."

"Great class! One of the most interesting and best classes I have taken. It really made you think and analyze ethical issues instead of just giving you things to memorize for a test."

"This class was fun and taught me how to use common sense in ethical thinking. I enjoyed it."

"Overall the quality of this course goes above and beyond any other class I have taken and I would take something similar again if given the choice."

"This course has been fantastic and very exciting. I've wanted to take an ethics course for a long time and this has been perfect."