Science, Ethics, and Society

Catalog description

Major recent public debates involving science, ethics, and policy in Britain and the United States. Exploration of issues ranging from stem cell research and global warming to health care policy and the teaching of evolution, as differently framed in the two countries. Examination of scientific, philosophical, and theological dimensions of such controversies, and how their manifestations in the public realm illuminate the relationships between scientists and laypersons, academic and popular culture, and public attitudes toward government and regulation. Open only to students in the Duke in Oxford program. Instructor consent required.