Ethics in Public Health

Catalog description

This seminar course will consider questions about the practice of health promotion, disease control, and health research--questions about morality, not effectiveness. We will consider different moral frameworks that might guide decision making in public health, ask what makes for a "good" decision, and consider what sorts of assistance public-health professionals need in order to make "good" decisions. The course is not intended to teach you to act ethically. On the contrary, it will teach you that there is rarely a single "good" way to act. Instead, you will be challenged to identify ethical problems and propose solutions, making real-world decisions within a climate of moral ambiguity.