Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2019 - HSCI 319W D100

Applied Health Ethics (3)

Class Number: 2980

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 3 – Apr 8, 2019: Tue, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units including nine HSCI units, one of which must be a 200 division course.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Practical ethical and legal issues in health sciences, emphasizing population and public health. Case studies approach highlighting current ethical dilemmas and decision-making in the context of global to local legal frameworks. HSCI 319 is identical to PHIL 319 and students cannot receive credit for both courses Writing.

COURSE DETAILS:

In this course, we will explore ethical issues in the health sciences, emphasizing public health. Fruitful discussion of ethical issues requires a background in ethical and political theory; thus, we will begin the class by considering canonical political and ethical theories and applying them to the context of public health. We will address such issues as the ethics of epidemiology and surveillance; infectious diseases; and chronic diseases. The aim of this course is to provide students with tools to analyze ethical arguments and to form their own views on debates within population and public health. Students will be expected to write position papers, engage in critical analysis, and participate actively in classroom discussions of these topics.  

TOPICS TO BE COVERED:

  • Ethical and Political Theory
  • Public Health Ethics and Global Health Ethics
  • Ethics of: epidemiology, surveillance, smoking, infectious diseases, etc.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

The field of public health ethics demands that practitioners are able to write clear overviews of the ethical dimensions of applications of public health policy. In addition, practitioners should be able to produce arguments for specific ethical positions and defend these positions against critique. Writing assignments will help develop these skills by requiring both the clear presentation of, and support for, responses to ethical dilemmas in public health. In all assignments, students will be encouraged and directed in the use of charitable language and argumentation where others’ arguments are interpreted charitably. The goal of this charitable interpretation is to foster the project of reasonable and progressive dialogue rather than the destructive process of solely refuting

Grading

  • 1st Midterm (in class) 15%
  • 2nd Midterm (in class) 15%
  • Final exam - take home, 24 hours 25%
  • Essay: first draft 15%
  • Essay: final draft 25%
  • Participation 5%

NOTES:

Please note: we will mostly be reading primary documents and not from textbooks.  As such, this course will require you to read and re-read difficult texts closely.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

  • James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 8th ed. New York, USA: McGraw Hill; 2015
  • Readings available on Canvas

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS