Ethics in Science

TOPIC 1: Ecology and Environmental Concerns

W, Jan 17 - WELCOME & LECTURE
M, Jan 22 - FILM(S): “Dear Scientists” & “Silent Spring”
W, Jan 24 - DISCUSSION: Young’s Reading: Preface-Ch.4 (pp. ix-113)
M, Jan 29 - LECTURE
W, Jan 31 - FILM(S): “Meltdown at Three Mile Island” & “Three Mile Island Revisited”
M, Feb 5 - DISCUSSION & DUE RESPONSE STATEMENT on TOPIC 1:

Young’s Reading: Chapter 5-Epilogue (pp. 115-214) and Wang’s Reading: pp. 190-193

REQUIRED READINGS
[1] Christian C. Young, The Environment and Science: Social Impact and Interaction
(Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2005) (Library Reserve)
[2] Jessica Wang, “Ethics and Social Responsibility in Science,” in Marc Rothenberg (ed.), The History of Science in the United States: An Encyclopedia (New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 2001) (Blackboard Learn)

RECOMMENDED READINGS
[1] Naomi Oreskes and Eric M. Conway, Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco to Global Warming (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2010) (Available through www.amazon.com )

TOPIC 2: TUTORIAL: Writing Principles and Styles across Disciplines

W, Feb 7 - LECTURE

REQUIRED READINGS
[3] Wayne G. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams, The Craft of Research (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2008) (To Buy)

TOPIC 3: The Atomic Age

M, Feb 12 - LECTURE
W, Feb 14 - FILM(S): “The Day after Trinity”
M, Feb 19 - DISCUSSION: Badash’s Reading: Introduction-Ch.6 (pp. 1-114)
W, Feb 21 - LECTURE
M, Feb 26 - FILM(S): “The Atomic Cafe”
W, Feb 28 - DISCUSSION & DUE RESPONSE STATEMENT on TOPIC 3:

Winkler’s Reading: Prologue-Epilogue (pp. 3-214)

REQUIRED READINGS
[4] Lawrence Badash, Scientists and the Development of Nuclear Weapons: From Fission to the Limited Test Ban Treaty, 1939-1963 (Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press International Inc., 1998) (Library Reserve)
[5] Allan M. Winkler, Life Under a Cloud: American Anxiety About the Atom (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1999) (Library Reserve)

TOPIC 4: Eugenics and Genetics

M, Mar 5 - LECTURE / DUE MIDTERM EXAM (Take-Home Essay)
W, Mar 7 - FILM(S): “Tomorrow’s Children”
M, Mar 12 - HOLIDAY/NO CLASS
W, Mar 14 - HOLIDAY/NO CLASS
M, Mar 19 - DISCUSSION: Paul’s Reading: Ch.1 - Ch.7 (pp. 1-135) and Kevles’ Reading: Ch.1 - Ch.6 (pp. 3-95)
W, Mar 21 - LECTURE
M, Mar 26 - FILM(S): “In the Shadow of the Reich: Nazi Medicine”
W, Mar 28 - DISCUSSION & DUE RESPONSE STATEMENT on TOPIC 4:

Kevles’ Reading: Ch.7 - Ch.19 (pp. 96-301)

REQUIRED READINGS
[6] Diane B. Paul, Controlling Human Heredity: 1865 to the Present (Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press International, Inc., 1999) (Library Reserve)
[7] Daniel J. Kevles, In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998) (Library Reserve)

TOPIC 5: Technological Dreams and Realities

M, Apr 2 - LECTURE
W, Apr 4 - FILM(S): “The World of Tomorrow”
M, Apr 9 - DISCUSSION: Hughes’s Reading: Introduction-Ch.6 (pp. 1-294)
W, Apr 11 - LECTURE
M, Apr 16 - DISCUSSION & DUE RESPONSE STATEMENT on TOPIC 5:

Hughes’s Reading: Ch.6 - Ch.9 (pp. 295-472)

REQUIRED READINGS
[8] Thomas P. Hughes, American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm, 1870-1970 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2004) (Library Reserve)

TOPIC 6: Space Science and Global Sensibilities

W, Apr 18 - LECTURE
M, Apr 23 - DISCUSSION: McCurdy’s Reading: Introduction-Ch.3 (pp. 1-89)
W, Apr 25 - FILM(S): “Challenger: The Untold Story”
M, Apr 30 - DISCUSSION & DUE RESPONSE STATEMENT on TOPIC 6:

McCurdy’s Reading: Ch. 4-Conclusion (pp. 90-174) and Vaughan’s Reading: Ch.1 (pp. 1-32)

REQUIRED READINGS
[9] Howard E. McCurdy, Inside NASA: High Technology and Organizational Change in the U.S. Space Program (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1994) (Library Reserve)
[10] Diane Vaughan, The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997): Ch.1 (pp. 1-32) (Blackboard Learn)

M, May 7 - FILM: “Into Eternity” / DUE FINAL EXAM (Take-Home Essay)