(SPECIAL TOPICS)

REGULATION AND DEREGULATION

Prerequisites: 75 credits, including CMNS 342; or permission of the instructor.

The focus of this seminar will be the regulation and deregulation of applications of genetic engineering in food production, medicine, and human and animal reproduction. It is a sequel to CMNS 342: Science and Public Policy: Risk Communication, which is a required prerequisite for admission as the instructor will assume students’ familiarity with the concepts and issues introduced in CMNS 342. Presentations, readings, videos and seminar discussions will deal with regulatory policies and processes at local, national, and international levels by examining case studies of experiences and practices in a range of countries on every continent as well as in international forums. The course will involve more than analysis of policy documents, though there will be some study of regulatory legislation and guidelines. The evolution of regulation and deregulation will be studied as an unfolding struggle over risk assessment and the role of scientific experts, civil servants, corporate interests, academics, lobby groups, public relations firms, and citizens organized in various non-governmental or civil society organizations. A central focus of analysis will be the prevailing notion that regulation must be science based and that risk assessment is a matter of technical calculation for which ethical, political, or socio-economic concerns are not relevant. The significance of scientific controversy will also be highlighted including the experiences of whistle-blowers within regulatory bodies and academia. Government public consultation processes will also be examined to uncover to what extent they foster or prevent public debate inside and outside legislative bodies.

During the semester, students will do considerable writing that will be designed to deepen learning derived from presentations, readings, and discussions. Students will also be expected to play an active role in seminar discussions and to demonstrate not only familiarity with the readings but effort to contribute to a collaborative learning experience. Examples of collaboration, symbiosis, cooperation, and mutual nurturing that characterize many of nature’s own regulatory systems will be utilized as a source of ideas for collaborative efforts to develop alternative models of democratic regulation.

Required Texts

Brian Tokar, ed., Redesigning Life?, 2001

Jeffrey Smith, Seeds of Deception, 2004

Most of the other required reading will be available online.

Evaluation

First short essay (due in week 4) 10%

Second short essay (due in week 7) 15%

Third short essay (due in week 10) 15%

Participation in seminar discussions 10%

Oral presentation of research 10%

Term paper (due in week 12) 40%

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices with respect to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will follow Policy T10.02 with respect to “Intellectual Honesty,” and “Academic Discipline” (see the current Calendar, General Regulations Section).