Postgraduate Course: Biotechnology, Bioethics and Society (LAWS11371)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course develops students¿ understanding of and engagement with applied bioethics.
* It builds on the skills developed in Fundamentals in Bioethics and applies the three pillars of rigorous bioethical analysis: concepts; theories; and argument.
* It will focus on the particular challenges raised by the development and application of biotechnologies, and their implications for society.
* It will demonstrate how ethical analysis can help us to think about the impacts of biotechnologies on social norms and social structures.
* It will equip students to recognise the challenges of, and design suitable responses to biotechnological innovation, as set against a context of plural values and perspectives in societies. |
| Course description |
1. Biotechnologies and society
2. Assisted reproductive technologies and the human embryo
3. Neuroethics
4. Genomics
5. Future societies, future persons
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | You must have passed 'Fundamentals in Bioethics' (semester 1) in order to take this class. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2018/19, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Formative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
84 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One essay of up to 3,000 words (75%)
Contribution to class discussions and debate (25%). |
| Feedback |
Students can expect to receive feedback on a short written formative assessment in preparation for their essay. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of the bioethical and social challenges raised by biotechnologies.
- Identify, conceptualise and analyse ethical problems and issues raised by the development and application of biotechnologies.
- Use the concepts, theories and methods of argumentation gained in Fundamentals in Bioethics to defend positions and advance recommendations in respect of biotechnological developments and applications.
- Undertake critical evaluations of the social impacts of diverse ethical responses to biotechnologies.
|
Reading List
| Readings will be provided on a weekly basis |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
1. Cognitive skills. The course will enable the student to select and deploy appropriate research techniques; they will critically analyse and evaluate key issues in the subject area, and formulate coherent arguments relating to key issues in the subject area.
2. Communications. Students will be able to summarise and communicate information and ideas effectively in oral and written form. Students are also expected to interact with each other and with tutors online, and this forms part of the overall assessment.
3. Autonomy, accountability. Students will exercise personal autonomy and intellectual initiative in, and take responsibility for, the conduct of their own work.
4. Working with others. They will engage with others through participation in online discussion: articulating and supporting a line of argument and formulating critical analyses of arguments presented by others. |
| Keywords | biotechnology,bioethics,medical ethics,moral philosophy,innovation,regulation |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Ms Emily Postan
Tel:
Email: E.Postan@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr David Morris
Tel: (0131 6)50 2010
Email: David.Morris@ed.ac.uk |
|
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