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ASC128C: Ethics in the New Genetic Era

Dr. Christian Perring
Philosophy and Religious Studies
Dowling College
Winter 2000
CRN: 24209

Class Time: MTWR 10.30am-12.50pm
Classroom: 309 RC

E-mail: cperring@bigfoot.com
Web page: https://www.angelfire.com/ms/perring/asc128.html
Office: 330A Racanelli Center
Office Hours MTW 12.50-1.30 pm
Phone: 244-3349

**Course Books**
Flesh of My Flesh, edited by Gregory Pence (FMF)	Improving Nature, by Michael Reiss and Roger Straughan (IN)	Living with Our Genes, by Dean Hamer and Peter Copeland (LOG)

**Winter January 2000 Course Outline**
Date	Class Material	Work Due	Reading	Presentation
3	Introduction and outline of course.		IN Ch 1
4	Basic Scientific Info, The Human Genome Project		IN Ch 2
5	Basic Ethical Theory		IN Ch 3
6	Dystopias: Showing of Gattaca		LOG Ch 1
10	Genetic Predisposition to Illness and Addiction	Journal 1	LOG Ch 4	Artale, Cristina: The "breast cancer gene" Natoli, Noelle: Genetic predisposition to substance abuse
11	Parental Control of Their Children's Character		IN Ch 8	Beanland, Corey: Ethical implications of Gattaca Kittilsen, Chrissy: The recent history of our ability to decide prenatally the character and abilities of our children Meehan, Chris: the ability of parents to influence the character and skills of their children as they grow up
12	Human Cloning	Test 1	FMF: Chs1, 5, 11	Boyle, Kelly: Government policy on cloning humans
13	Intelligence, Retardation, and Eugenics		LOG Ch 6	Neater, Bill: Genetics and IQ DiCicco, Lisa: Treatment of the retarded in the US Middlemiss, Anne Marie: European treatment of the retarded
17	The Genetic Engineering of Plants and Animals for Human Benefit	Journal 2, First paper draft due	IN Chs 6 & 7	Giambanco, Rachel: Using animals organs for transplants
18	Religious Views about Genetic Engineering; More on Parents' Control of Their Children's Character		IN Ch 4;FMF Ch 3	Connors, Kelly and Petrarca, Kristi: Religious views about human cloning Rotoli, Michele: the ability of teachers and peers to influence children's skills and character Wenz, Debbie: what the future holds for our ability to prenatally determine children's skills and character
19	More on Human Cloning		FMF Chs 2, 6, 13	Poppiti, Jennifer: Genetically Engineered food--European objections
20	More on Eugenics and Retardation	Journal 3		DiSilvio, Kristy: The history of research and treatment of the retarded in New York
24	Confidentiality of Genetic Information	Take Home Test Given		Maher, Jess: Law enforcement access to DNA records
25	Criminality and Genetics		LOG 3	Johnson, Dave: genetics of violent behavior
26		Take Home Test Due		Pisano, Jen: Eugenics in Politics
27	Mental Illness	Journal 4; Final paper draft due		Himberger, Linda: genetic causes of mental illness

**Grading**
% of grade	Work
10%	Attendance: You are allowed to miss one class without excuse. For each extra class you miss without documented excuse, you lose 3%. This grade can go into the negative!
5%	Class participation. You should be an active member of class, doing the reading ahead of time, contributing to class discussions, and letting me know if you do not understand so I can explain ideas further.
5%	Journals. These should be about 300-500 words, discussing your concerns about the class, ideas and questions that occur to you in class that you don’t have the opportunity to raise, personal reflections on the issues we discuss, or any other feedback relevant to the class. They can be handwritten, typed, or e-mailed to me. They must be handed in on the day due, or will not be accepted.
10%	Presentation. 10-15 minute presentation on a topic relevant to the class, related to your paper topic. It is a good idea to use visual aids, such as videos, Powerpoint, or posters. See the form that I use to evaluate your presentation. Your presentation can, and probably should, be related to your paper topic. If you are comfortable doing your presentation with another person in the class, you can do a presentation together, getting the same grade. Joint presentations should be 20-30 minutes: their write-ups should be 2000-3000 words.
10 %	Presentation Write-Up. After giving your presentation, you also need to write it up and submit it to me on disk or by e-mail. You need to submit it within 2 class days of giving it. It should be about 1000-1500 words. Your write-up should include The main points of your presentation Important facts or statistics related to your presentation. A summary of the feedback you got on your presentation Your reaction and response to the feedback.
8%	Test 1. Short answer and multiple choice.
17%	Test 2. Short answer and multiple choice.
10%	Paper- Draft. (1800-2000 words, ~7-8 pages) is due Monday January 17. Must include bibliography and detailed references.
25%	Paper - Final version. (2500-3000 words, ~10-14 pages) is due Thursday January 27. Must include bibliography and detailed references.

From Previous Semesters:

ASC128C: Ethics in the New Genetic Era

Date

Class Material