Undergraduate Course Offerings

This survey course is designed to give students a broad overview of medical humanities and medical social sciences. Students will engage materials from a wide range of disciplines and learn how to analyze which perspectives afford and obscure which types of knowledge relevant to health, illness and clinical practice. Students will learn how to identify epistemology, methodology, theory and data from various disciplinary perspectives. This course is relevant for students engaged in pre-clinical education as well as those interested in medical humanities and medical social sciences.

Health and illness are not simply matters of medical science. In this class, we will practice using the critical skills of the humanities to think expansively about human health. By examining medical history, reading personal narratives of illness, and interpreting works of art relating to health (including literature, visual art, and film), we will think through the ways that social and political context, individual experience, and creative practice shape our understanding of human health. We will also study the political nature of health by learning about health-related activism, such as the disability rights movement, HIV and AIDS advocacy, and fights for environmental justice. Finally, we will evaluate different arguments for including the study of the humanities in health professions education. Counts as a Human Diversity & Commonality course.

We have the genetic technology to change nature and human nature, but should we? We have the medical technology to extend almost any human life, but is this always good? Should we clone humans? Should we allow doctor-assisted suicide for the terminally ill? This course invites students from all academic disciplines and fields to examine current and future issues in bioethics--e.g., theory and methods in bioethics; death and dying; organ transplantation; genetics; aging and dementia; fertility and reproduction; distributive justice in health care access. The course will include guest lecturers from nationally-known Bioethics faculty. Offered as BETH 271, PHIL 271.

This course is for students with Bioethics-related special interests not adequately addressed in regular courses, and who wish to work independently in consultation with faculty.

We all grow old (if we are so lucky!).  But who wants to be called “old”?  And how does the experience of “growing old” differ based on one’s sex or gender, sexuality, race or ethnicity, and socioeconomic or disability status? In this course, we will consider the social, cultural, scientific, medical, and personal meanings of aging, and how these meanings, as well as the embodied experience of aging in America, are influenced by multiple forms of ageism. We will interrogate the assumptions and stereotypes about age that circulate through mainstream American culture and medicine and how these shape interpersonal and institutional practices.  How might we begin to recognize, respond to, and change ageism, and thus our own inevitable experiences of aging? The course requires participation and attendance, papers, and for graduate students an additional presentation. No prerequisites required.

Despite death’s inevitability, we consciously and unconsciously disguise or resist its reality in dreams, fairy tales, allegories, and even jokes. In his book, How We Die: Reflections on Life’s Final Chapter, Sherwin Nuland describes how we have turned increasingly to modern medicine as one more means of denying the reality of death.  As a surgeon with more than forty years of experience in a major metropolitan hospital, Nuland admits to actively participating in this denial.  Modern medicine, he argues, influences how we as individuals and as a culture not only view but also experience death.  “Modern dying,” he contends, “takes place in the modern hospital, where it can be hidden, cleansed of its organic blight, and finally packaged for modern burial.”  This course uses literature, history, and personal and critical accounts related to death as points of reference for examining the role modern medicine has come to play in how we die. The course requires papers, exams, participation, and attendance. For graduate students, there are additional paper and presentation requirements. No prerequisites required.

Science, Technology, and Society (STS) is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines how social, cultural, historical, ethical, and political forces impact scientific research and technological development: and, in turn, how our beliefs, values, and perspectives change in response to scientific and technological innovation. This course will take an STS approach to the study of human health and medicine. We will explore how advances in contemporary biomedicine have affected society and culture, and in turn, how society and culture influence medical science, technology, and clinical practice. Topics we will explore include reproductive technologies, genetics, disability, cyborgs and human enhancement, pharmaceuticals, medical practice, and end-of-life care. The course will prepare students to think critically about scientific and medical knowledge, to thoughtfully examine the relationships between science, technology and culture at large, and to consider the ways that new medical technologies shape and re-shape our understandings of illness, health, and the human body. Weekly course meetings will implement a blend of lectures, discussions, and in-class exercises. Offered as BETH 319 and BETH 419.

What values and assumptions underlie our conceptualizations of disability? What can we learn from the lived experiences of disability? How should these insights inform fundamental concepts, priorities, and analyses in bioethics? Even though developments in medicine, clinical research, and public health often disproportionately impact people with disabilities, disabled people have been systemically marginalized within these fields and within bioethical discourse. This course introduces students to the distinctive approach known as disability bioethics. Disability bioethics is characterized by 1) rejection of biomedical interpretations of disability, 2) methodological primacy of the perspectives of disabled people, and 3) anti-ableism. We will explore this theoretical lens and its application to a range of issues, such as biomedical technology, guardianship for healthcare decisions, futility judgments, and public health emergencies. Offered as BETH 320 and BETH 420. Counts as a Human Diversity & Commonality course. Counts as a Moral & Ethical Reasoning course.

In this course, participants will learn the basic concepts, methods, and controversies in the contemporary philosophy of medicine. Topics include philosophical discussions of "health" and "illness," the body as a machine versus an "ecosystem," good reasoning in medicine, why bad reasoning happens and how doctors are trying to stop them, and ongoing structural challenges raised by medical terminology such as "futility" and "screening." Using these discussions as a foundation, the final four weeks of class will tackle specific controversies, including suffering, psychiatric illness, chronic illness, and death. Offered as BETH 325 and BETH 425. Counts as a Human Diversity & Commonality course.

Mental health ethics is the study of value-laden issues around psychological health, illness, disability, and medical treatment. Ethics are crucial to effective clinical mental health practice and to mental health research, while also shaping how people with lived experience of mental health conditions navigate daily life. In this course, students will learn about important themes, concepts, and debates in the field, while also exploring how mental health ethics is shaped by changing beliefs, values, and practices across history and culture. This course will utilize a combination of interactive lectures, guest presentations, and discussions to explore a variety of ethical issues within and beyond clinical settings. Students will learn about mental health ethics through the lenses of clinical ethics, research ethics, disability bioethics, health humanities, social science, and other neighboring disciplines, as well as a variety of theories from these disciplines that inform the analysis of complex ethical issues related to mental health, illness, and disability. By the end of this course, students will have a robust and interdisciplinary understanding of a range of ethical issues in mental health practice, research, and advocacy. Offered as BETH 329 and BETH 429. Counts as a Moral & Ethical Reasoning course.

Health and medicine are perennial themes in literature and popular culture: consider the popularity of memoirs about illness or disability, horror films about contagion, poems about mortality, and television shows that portray doctors as all-seeing disease-sleuths. By reading and analyzing texts across genres, students in this course will formulate answers to questions including: How does literature shape our experience of being ill, or our attitudes toward people who are? How do they overturn or reinforce stereotypes about illness, disability, or health? How might literature shape the practice of healthcare, or help us articulate its strengths and failures? While topics and texts covered will vary by semester, they may include topics like illness memoirs, pandemic fiction, and science fiction. Offered as BETH 335, BETH 435, ENGL 335, and ENGL 435. Counts as a Moral & Ethical Reasoning course.

“Disability” refers to health conditions that fundamentally alter how someone engages in the world around them, including physical, psychological, and developmental illnesses. Everyone will experience disability in their lives, whether temporary or chronic, making it especially important to consider how disability shapes, and is shaped by, society at large. In this course, students will learn about the multifaceted relationships between disability and society, including the impact of ethical, cultural, political, and technological factors on the wellbeing of people with disabilities. We will critically examine representations of people with disabilities in literature, the arts, and popular media in order to interrogate the assumptions and stereotypes about disability that circulate through mainstream culture and how they shape interpersonal and institutional practices. Throughout these topics, students will reflect on the intersections of race, gender, and age with disability through a multi-disciplinary lens, drawing on bioethics, anthropology, sociology, literary studies, and the arts. The course sessions will blend lecture and discussion, and assessments will include written responses and exams.

Environmental health threats affect every person and every living thing on this planet. The ethical issues and decisions confronting not only governments, but also public health departments, healthcare providers, and every one of us are countless. Occupational health is a subset of environmental health. Occupational health professionals care for workers with work-related injuries and illnesses and consult on safety and health issues with employers. In occupational health practice, ethical issues arise daily. The types of questions this course will address are: How should states that depend on the Colorado River for water apportion rapidly falling water supplies? How do public health departments plan for extreme weather and natural disasters? How do healthcare providers decide to triage patients in overflowing emergency departments and intensive care units during pandemics? How do community health care providers advise their patients when the community experiences an environmental disaster, such as the East Palestine train derailment? How do health care providers who work for a company manage their loyalty to their company and to their patients, the company's workforce? Do these providers have the same obligations to their patients that other health care providers have? What rules and regulations do and should apply to onsite work clinics? What ethical obligations do companies have to environmental health, to those who live in proximity to their plants, and to the health of their workers? Offered as BETH 350 and BETH 450. Prereq: BETH 271.

Healthcare access in correctional facilities is a federal mandate. Yet, what is required by that mandate, and the U.S. Constitution and case law on which it is based, is vague. While the Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and case law prohibits deliberate indifference, what these require of correctional institutions and healthcare team members is unclear. Correctional facilities themselves are a microcosm of need, risk, limited trust, conflicts, social bias, and limited resources. Ethical issues and decisions are faced daily by patients, front line clinical staff, hospital systems, families, local, state, and federal governments. Correctional health is a uniquely diverse field of medicine. The staff can be independent contractors, employed by for profit agencies, hospital system staff, or directly employed by the correctional facility. Clinical teams typically include nursing, social work, behavioral health and independent medical providers. Team members may be employed by different organizations and reporting structures may be complex and obscure. Limitations in facilities, treatment options, transportation, and staffing further complicate the provision of care. The types of questions this course will address are: How is access to care for those in confinement determined? What health issues should be addressed by correctional organizations? Who provides the care and how is it paid for? Do correctional health care providers have the same obligations to their patients that other health care providers have? What rules and regulations do and should apply to care for incarcerated or detained individuals? What ethical obligations do agencies, health systems, and governments have to persons in custody and their families? What is the health impact on the surrounding community? Offered as BETH 351 and BETH 451. Counts as a Moral & Ethical Reasoning course. Prereq: BETH 271 or PHIL 271.

Bioethics is concerned with both clinical and population level healthcare issues. Christian Bioethics aims to integrate the discipline of theology with the field of bioethics to critically evaluate the goals of healthcare and the practices associated with these goals. This course examines the theological sources used to evaluate contemporary clinical and population level healthcare issues. We will examine issues including abortion, end-of-life care, genetic enhancement, the concept of disability, health inequalities and justice, and personal and social responsibility for health, especially as these relate to political and social justice. We will also become familiar with religious moral reasoning and the relationship between religious ethics and nonreligious moral and political philosophy. In doing so, students will learn about the foundations for religion, medicine, and ethics as they intersect with care for individuals and communities. Offered as BETH 357, BETH 457, PHIL 357, PHIL 457, RLGN 357 and RLGN 457.

This course examines the complex ethical and other value relationships that exist between science and society. Students will be encouraged to question the simplistic view that science proceeds independently of societal values and contentious ethical commitments. A range of other social factors, such as ethical belief systems, political forces, and large-scale financial interests all influence new scientific and technological developments. In order to illuminate each of these larger themes, this course focuses on three exciting areas of scientific inquiry: stem cell research; synthetic biology; and nanotechnology. Each of these contentious scientific fields provides an excellent view into the challenging ethical, cultural, social, political, and economic issues that will face students, both as scholars and as citizens. No prior technical knowledge is necessary for any of these scientific areas. All relevant scientific information will be provided during the course by the professor. Offered as BETH 360, BETH 460 and PHIL 360.

This course offers upper-level instruction on many key bioethical issues introduced in BETH/PHIL 271. The class follows a discussion-intensive seminar format. Students begin with an in-depth analysis of ethical issues surrounding the conduct of clinical trials, both within the U.S. and through U.S.-sponsored research abroad. Next students examine the philosophical and practical challenges involved in medical decision making for adults and pediatric patients. This course concludes by addressing the broader ethical problem of what duties we owe to future generations in terms of our reproductive choices and the allocation of health-related public expenditures. Each of these general topic areas - clinical trials, medical decision making, and future generations - is of crucial importance for all students whether one plans to enter a career in biomedical research, the healthcare professions, or some other career path. Everyone is a potential patient or the family member of a potential patient. The topics covered in Advanced Bioethics will help prepare students to become responsible participants in an increasingly complex biomedical world. Offered as BETH 371 and PHIL 371. Prereq: BETH 271 or PHIL 271.

This course is a one credit class intended to supplement BETH 371: Advanced Bioethics. In this course, students will become familiar with the clinical, psychological, social, professional, and institutional context in which bioethical problems arise. Students are exposed to clinical cases as they arise, to hospital ethics committees and ethics consultation programs, to institutional review boards (IRB), and to hospital policies covering "do not resuscitate" orders (DNR), advance directives, withdrawal of artificial feeding, and medical futility. The clinical rotation will consist of 20 hours of supervised observation where students attend structured clinical activities such as ICU rounds, case conferences as well as shadow clinicians that work with the Department of Bioethics and are used to having students at various levels of observers. The purpose of the clinical rotation will be to give students first-hand observational experience in the health care system and how the key bioethical issues discussed in BETH 371 manifest in the clinical setting. The primary locations for this course are MetroHealth Medical Center and Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center. Prereq: BETH 271 or PHIL 271.

Diagnosis is an act with tremendous power, with implications for personal identity, social life, medical care, and insurance coverage. But diagnoses are not stable entities: they shift through time and space, and their nature and boundaries are often highly contested or controversial. This class will rely on academic work from history, sociology, philosophy, bioethics, and medicine, in addition to personal stories and news reporting, to explore the complexity of diagnosis. We will ask and answer questions like, what is a diagnosis? Who decides what "counts" as a medical condition? How do diagnoses change over time? How do they gain or lose stigma? We will not attempt to solve diagnostic mysteries, but rather to explore what they reveal about the practice of medicine and its relationship to our social world. Offered as BETH 399 and BETH 499.

Taught by CWRU and international faculty, this course will include 7-10 days of intensive didactic and experiential learning in one of several "host" countries. Examples of sites include Free University of Amsterdam and University of Utrecht in the Netherlands; the University of Paris in France; and Ben Gurion University in Israel. It will afford a unique opportunity to gain perspective on important bioethics issues in different societies, i.e., euthanasia, public health policies, access to healthcare, and stem cell research. At the international site, students will spend 6 hours per day (5 days) in a seminar (involving didactics, discussion, and guided-observation clinical experience). There will be two 3-hour preparatory sessions, required reading, and two 3-hour post-trip sessions. Requirements: preparation, attendance, and class participation, a 12-15 page paper (undergraduate credit) and a 15-20 page paper (graduate credit). Graduate credit will also require students to prepare a presentation for a post-intensive session. Enrollment will be capped at 25. This course has an additional fee to cover costs of travel and lodging. Limited scholarships are available. Offered as BETH 315 and BETH 415.

This 3-credit course allows students to familiarize themselves with social policies and practices related to women's health in the United States and the Netherlands. Issues covered in the course include birth control and family planning, abortion, prenatal testing, childbirth, health care disparities, cosmetic surgery, prostitution and trafficking in women. This course also addresses the US and Dutch national policies regarding the public provision of health care for women. The course places an emphasis on the ways in which social norms shape policies over time, which political actors are involved in shaping women's health policy, and the balance between women's health as a matter of the public good or individual responsibility. This course substantively explores gender-specific cultural values and practices in relation to women's health in the United States and the Netherlands and will help students develop the analytical skills necessary for evaluating social policy and ethical issues related to women's health. Offered as BETH 315A and BETH 415A. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

This 3-credit course gives students the unique opportunity to observe patients and practitioners encounter in a radically different health care system. Costa Rica has one of the most comprehensive health care systems in the Western hemisphere, featuring the innovative use of mid-level health care workers organized in basic comprehensive health care teams. This has resulted in a longer life expectancy than the United States, despite a per capita GDP of only $10,000 per person. Students will gain first-hand experience of Costa Rican health care through field experiences at sites including a national hospital in the capital city, San Jose; a peripheral treatment clinic in a smaller town; and observation of the work of an integrated basic health care team in an indigenous reserve. Following each visit, students will discuss the practical and ethical dilemmas that practitioners face in the context of the Costa Rican health care system. Specific topics include health inequalities within and between nations; the ethics of transplantation, medical research, and end-of-life care; and health care in rural environments and with indigenous populations. Offered as BETH 315C and BETH 415C. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

This 3-credit course is a collaboration between Case Western Reserve University and the University of Paris. The course includes a ten-day trip to Paris, France over Spring Break. This course offers a cross-cultural comparison of the French and American medical systems. Students will have the unique opportunity to learn first-hand how the French medical education system is structured and how the social, cultural and political contexts in France shape medical and ethical issues. The trip includes guided field experiences in French clinical settings as well as opportunities to engage with French faculty members and physicians about contemporary issues in bioethics. Ethical issues that may be considered may include reproductive rights, decision-making involving severely impaired newborns, withholding/withdrawing life-sustaining treatment and issues in organ donation and transplant. The course also will also emphasize the role of French culture and history while in Paris with museum and site visits designed to complement seminar content and offer real-life illustrations of course content. Prior to the trip, students attend six hours of lectures, either at Case Western Reserve University or via a web-based tutorial. They are expected to become familiar with the representative articles assigned for the course and be prepared to integrate those readings into pre-trip class participation and active participation while in France. Following the trip, students meet with the instructor for an additional four hours to discuss and synthesize their experiences. Offered as BETH 315D and BETH 415D. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

This 3-credit intensive course will be held in San Sebastian, Spain. Taught by faculty from CWRU and University of the Basque Country, this course offers students a cross-cultural perspective on bioethics in the United States and Spain. This course uses the medium of film, complemented by readings in bioethics, film criticism, and medical research, to introduce students to a number of compelling bioethics problems facing physician-scientists today, including: when life begins, the nature and limits of informed consent, use of randomization without equipoise, medical imperialism (or the appearance thereof), the treatment of so-called "orphan" diseases, use of deception in research, and financial conflicts of interests caused by among other things, the involvement of the pharmaceutical industry in the drug invention process. Offered as BETH 315Fand BETH 415F. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

Is it ever permissible for physicians to kill their patients? In the Netherlands, the answer is yes. In the United States, it is no. Are the Dutch sliding down a moral slippery slope? Are the Americans compromising the rights and dignity of dying patients? This 3-credit course is a unique opportunity to examine a range of Dutch and American end-of-life policies and practices with special focus on the unique ethical, cultural, religious, and legal contexts in which they developed. This course will compare how two liberal democracies, the United States and the Netherlands, have handled difficult end-of-life issues, including The Dutch regulation of euthanasia; Regulation of physician-assisted suicide in the state of Oregon; Terminal sedation; End-of-life decisions in newborns; Withholding and withdrawing of artificially-provided fluids and nutrition; The legal basis for end-of-life decision making in the USA; Palliative care and hospice; Public trust in medicine and physicians. In the United States, teaching methods will include lectures, case discussion, and exposure to how some of the course's themes are reflected in popular culture such as movies. Offered as BETH 315G and BETH 415G. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

This course will offer students the opportunity to compare and contrast the ways in which the Netherlands and the United States approach drug use. In particular, students will be asked to carefully examine the ethical dimensions of harm reduction programs, policies regarding the availability and the decriminalization of drugs, and the critical role of detention and correctional medical care in addressing drug use. The course will include an introduction to the Dutch and U.S. health care and health insurance systems and will consider how the construction of the patient-physician relationship impacts the prevalence and treatment of drug use in each country. In addition, students will explore the ethics of public health initiatives and social programs aimed at drug users in both settings, including those designed for particular populations such as immigrants and older users. The course will pay special attention to the unique challenges and ethics of the opioid crisis in the U.S. Offered as BETH 315J and BETH 415J. Counts as a CAS Global & Cultural Diversity course.

This class brings together the study of conservation, ethics and human well-being in a hands-on investigation at Yellowstone National Park. The course returns to the original meaning of the term bioethics as including the biome. It covers conservation ethics and human relationships with the environment and other species as they impact human health across multiple levels. The course draws on theories, models, and methods from psychological anthropology and political ecology to frame the complex dynamics of interaction. The evolution and psychology of compassion and awe are engaged in processual models of human interaction with the natural world and other species. Both have important implications for human health in everyday behavioral practice and in clinical settings. The course involves pre-departure study and then will integrate the materials in the field in Yellowstone National Park looking at contemporary and historical issues in partnership with Yellowstone Forever Institute instructors. In particular, the case of the conservation of the American bison will be used to understand multi-level issues over time in culture, politics, environment, human behavior, and health. The course requires papers, participation, attendance and a field journal. Offered as BETH 315Y and BETH 415Y.