June 01, 2001

A successful year for Science, Ethics & Society Initiative

Coffee, movies, magazines, conferences: folks had a fun and informative time this past year working with the Science, Ethics, and Society Initiative (SESI).

We closed out a year of successful Bioethics CoffeeTalks, in which Emory faculty met with 5-10 students (including undergraduates, as well as graduate, law, and medical students) to discuss hot issues in bioethics. Featured guests included Howard Kushner, discussing a recent case at Emory; Pat Marsteller on 'Dangerous Ideas on Campus'; Nick Fotion on medical testing abroad; Art Kellerman and Tammy Quest on ethical dilemmas for EMS (ambulance) crews; Tanya Sudia-Robinson on end of life decision making in the NICU; Bobbi Patterson on science and theology; and Ben Freed on primate conservation.

The CoffeeTalks built momentum toward Emory's hosting of the 4th National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference on October 4-7, 2001. We, especially SESI Fellow and College Senior Scott Siera, are busily planning this conference. We are happy to say we have already confirmed two keynote speakers for the Conference - our own Jim Fowler and Ursula Goodenough, geneticist and author of the recent The Sacred Depths of Nature. We are also planning panel discussions with Atlanta-area experts on issues ranging from the environment to religion to medicine.

We sent a number of students to this past year's National Bioethics Conference at Notre Dame. Scott Siera and Brad Miller, a recent graduate, published an engaging article with a twist on ethical issues in stem cell research in the online science and society magazine Hybrid Vigor. Please check it out.

SESI also sponsored a 'Good Movies, Bad Science' Film Festival, which featured such movies as Jurassic Park, and Planet of the Apes, with commentary by Emory scientists Tony Martin, and Ben Freed respectively.

We are beginning to make a difference, small and slowly, on campus. Over 120 people attended the CoffeeTalks and film festival, and thanks to webmaster College Junior Ajay Pillarisetti and others the word on Emory and bioethics is getting out. The October Conference should be a watershed event in this regard. We welcome ideas and suggestions.


[ Posted by Arri Eisen at June 1, 2001 07:44 PM | More Science, Ethics & Society articles ]

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