Spring 2005/Pasadena
ET535
Dufault-Hunter
ET535: THE ETHICS OF LIFE AND DEATH. Erin Dufault-Hunter.
DESCRIPTION:
- In our age of technology, the most fundamental issues concerning
the beginning of life (e.g. prenatal screening, abortion, reproductive
technologies, embryonic stem cell research) and death (e.g. active and passive
euthanasia, organ and tissue donation, quality vs. quantity of life) have
become dizzyingly complicated. This course offers an opportunity to investigate
both secular and religious approaches, with an emphasis on how Christians
uniquely understand these issues in light of our faith.
RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY:
- This course focuses not only on cognitive ethical arguments
surrounding these issues but also on the responsibility of Christians to be a
compassionate presence in a culturally, religiously, and morally pluralistic
world. At the very least, all of us face our own death. This course should
therefore be relevant to missionaries, lay people, therapists, and
ministers--all who wish to offer Christian hope and healing amidst the joys and
sadnesses that arise at the beginning and end of life.
COURSE FORMAT:
- The course will consist of lectures (with an emphasis on case
studies), occasional movies and documentaries, discussion of biblical texts,
student presentations, and overall rely heavily on discussion. Guest speakers
will share from their experience as patients and hospital chaplains. The course
will meet weekly for a three-and-a-half-hour session for ten weeks.
REQUIRED READING:
- Bregman, Lucy. Beyond Silence and Denial: Death and Dying
Reconsidered. Westminster John Knox, 1999.
- Kilner, John F., Paige C. Cunningham, and W. David Hager, eds. The
Reproduction Revolution: A Christian Appraisal of Sexuality, Reproductive
Technologies, and the Family. Eerdmans, 2000.
- O'Rourke, K. D. and Philip Boyle. Medical Ethics: Sources of Catholic
Teaching. Georgetown University Press, 1999.
- Verhey, Allen. Reading the Bible in the Strange World of Medicine.
Eerdmans, 2003.
- Course Reader.
RECOMMENDED READING:
- Anderson, Ray. Theology of Death and Dying. Fuller Seminary
Press, 1986.
- Buchannan, Allen, Dan W. Brock, Norman Daniels, and Daniel Wikler. From
Change to Choice: Genetics and Justice. Cambridge, 2000.
- Nuland, Sherwin. How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter.
Vintage Press, 1993.
- Smith, David H. and Cythia B. Cohen, eds. A Christian Response to the
New Genetics: Religious, Ethical and Social Issues. Rowman and Littlefield,
2003.
ASSIGNMENTS:
- This course depends heavily on students doing the reading and
discussing it with one another. In addition, the following three assignments
are required:
- A 3-5 page critical analysis of a bioethical issue, to be distributed to
the class (25%);
- An extensive plan for an education series or presentation targeting a
church audience (35%);
- A 10-15 page research paper (40%).
PREREQUISITES: None.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective.
FINAL EXAMINATION: None.