Academic Courses and Course Description
1. Concept of the Human Person in Bioethics and Global Ethics
This course will provide the philosophical anthropology in the definition and concept of human person. Analyze the concept of human dignity under different bioethical approaches. Discuss the value of human acts relative to the bioethical acts, based on the social dimension of humankind.
2. Trends and Current of Thought in Bioethics
This course will compare the most relevant authors and topics in the bioethical conversation. Participants will analyze the philosophical foundation under the bioethical methodology for an appropriate decision making. This course will also explore how to apply the principals and values involved in the methodology for decision-making in the different bioethical trends.
3. Research Ethics and Responsible Science
This course will stimulate critical and ethical thinking of students in the moral considerations of the scientific endeavor, fostering their understanding on aspects that may affect the governance of science. The essence of science is the search, generation and transmission of knowledge. Research implies not only being honest, but also adhering to rigorous processes and methodologies.
As an increasingly globalized process, responsible conduct of research is essential for our students to assure the integrity of the scientific enterprise and preserving the public trust in science.
4. Ethical Fundamentals of Bioethics
This course will thoughtfully analyze the elements human actions to determine if they are consistent or not with the moral standards. Participants will develop the abilities needed to understand, identify and examine the values and standards constituting foundation of their actions. At the end of this course participants will be able to propose solutions to practical ethical dilemmas, referring to the objective principles of good and honest behavior regarding legislation and various codes of medical ethics.
5. Clinical and Bioethical Aspects at the Beginning of life
This course will provide an overview on human genetics and embryology. We will analyze the human person from the moment of conception as an individual subject to rights and obligations. This course aims to assist the students in establishing a substantive familiarity with the medical ethical reasoning and social implications of prenatal genetic diagnosis on the development of a new human life.
6. Bioethics and Sexuality and Human Reproduction
This course will provide a general overview of the biology, science, philosophy and ethics of human sexuality and reproduction. These topics are controversial today. The course will explore the different perspectives, comparing especially the traditional religious and the liberal secular viewpoints as they pertain to global bioethics.
7. Bioethical and Clinical Aspects at the End of Life
This course will provide the different medical criteria currently used to determine the death of a person. Participants will learn the value of the human person until natural death. The course will compare the different approaches to medical management of the dying process, euthanasia and its ethical implications. Students will analyze the repercussions of organ transplants from the ethical perspective.
8. Bioethics and Medical Act
This course will analyze common ethical dilemmas in the medical practice, describing the ethical foundations of medical act and medical error from the medical perspective. Participants will overview the medical deontology and bioethical implications. They will review the international guidelines for biomedical research in human beings. The course will also cover the concepts of palliative care and clinical guidelines.
9. Bioethics and Health management | Health Care Policies
This course will explain and review the role of a member of a bioethics committee: the current challenges the committees face; the dilemmas using specific clinical bioethics methodology. This course will provide an overview of health care distribution around the world, especially in the developing countries. Participants will overview public health policies and the bioethical consideration in policy implementations.
10. Bioethics and Biolaw
This course will provide the fundaments of natural and positive law. Biojuridicial order: law, with emphasis on the relevance of law and justice in bioethical matters. This course will cover national and international bioethical standards related to human rights to examine their correct application in different legal systems: universal, inter-American and European. Students will gain knowledge of objective and effective advice to those directing and managing health, and research organization, among others, and those having – in the political arena -- the responsibility of legislating or judging bioethics related matters.
11. Global Bioethics
This course will aim at expanding the bioethical discourse to a global level. Starting from the panorama of bioethics, students will expand their global bioethical horizons through a gradual engagement with different versions of bioethics, common perspectives and heritage and an intercultural respect for human vulnerability. By looking at global bioethics as social ethics, participants will gain knowledge of the practices behind this field and needed normative tools for change. This course will provide knowledge and skills for the acquisition of a global perspective in relation to bioethics; examination of different global practices and comparison of different normative tools.
12. Global Bioethics and International Human Rights: The Right to Health Care
This course will provide an overview of the moral value of health and definition of human health in different legislations. This course will review topics such as: global health justice, common good, solidarity and subsidiarity. Participants will review the discussion around the philosophical foundations and corresponding duties of human rights to health, as well as analyze the limits of medical acts, their responsibilities, and corresponding duties.
13. Emerging Technologies and Global Bioethics: Neuro-Nano-Info Technologies
This course will provide an overview of the recent developments in neuroscience and biotechnologies and their impact and interaction with law, morality, anthropology and human nature. From issues of responsibility and free will to debates concerning the line between therapy and enhancement, students will engage with a number of timely topics that evolve around techno-cultural revolution started a few decades ago. Participants will take a close look at some of the current challenges for ethical reflection in society through the eyes of bioethics as hope for a fractured world. This course will provide knowledge and skills allowing participants to classify new biotechnological advancements in relation to bioethics; make use of ethical knowledge to assess the moral (in)acceptability of certain technologies; defend positions for and against such biotechnologies and elaborate well-structured answers.
14. Cross-cultural Dialogue in Global Bioethics
This course will put bioethical issues in a multicultural and cross-cultural context. Starting from the Asian traditions such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism and Hinduism, the course will then move on to the three Abrahamic religions. In increasing the number of perspectives at the base of ethical investigations, participating will acquire additional tools to bridge gaps between various polarized debates and realities (e.g. Global South vs Global North, Religious vs Secular). This course will provide knowledge and skills to identify the main traditions and their relationship with bioethics; evaluation of points of contact between cultures and formulation of bridging guidelines.
15. Public Health
This course will analyze the role of the State in relation to public health issues and its relation and interaction to businesses, medical doctors, pharmaceutical industries and scientists. Governance of public health will be studied from a diachronic and synchronous perspective offering an overview of the history of prevention and surveillance of governmental policies and measures in topics like public sanitation and hygiene, infectious diseases and chronic diseases. This course will provide knowledge and skills allowing participants to evaluate emerging situations and to take sound ethical decisions and/or offering advice in critical situations (i.e. epidemics, war, famine, migration) affecting national security and public health.
16. Bioethics and Social Problems
This course will review five relevant themes in our society and their bioethical implications. Starting with the overview of the biological, physiological, social, ethical and legal principals of addictions as a mental disorder. The second theme will review the biopsychological approach of eating disorders, along with their bioethical and legal implications. The third theme will cover the different approaches of non-therapeutic interventions. Topics to be consider include: improvement of physical abilities’ in sports, aesthetic medicine and cult of beauty, hedonism, as well as the bioethical implications. The fourth theme will discuss the biological, psychological, social, ethical, and legal aspects of violence. The ending module with the review of the bioethical, psychological, social and legal implications of disabilities of patients and relatives.
17. Bioethics and Environment
This course will provide the basic ecology and environment concepts, and their relationship with globalization and society. This class will analyze the ethical and bioethical problems of globalization and the impact in the ecosystems and environment. Topics that will be included: social responsibility, demography, sustainable development, contemporary eco-social crisis. Participants will overview the different solutions for globalization, environment and the social responsibility proposed by the International Conference on Environment and Health.
18. Research Methodology in Bioethics
In this first course the student will use the research methodology for the study of a bioethical topic, getting first-hand information to identify behavior of variables linked to bioethical problems. At the end students will be required to present a research documentary in an organized fashion to obtain valuable results for the solution of bioethical problems and to expand the theoretical framework of a subject matter.
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