International Bioethics Education Program
Instructors: William J. Winslade, Ph.D., J.D., Stuart J. Youngner, M.D., Gerrit K. Kimsma, M.D., M.Ph.
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. It will be taught by three scholars whose work in end-of-life care has received international recognition.
Course Aims
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.
The course is open to undergraduates interested in: careers in the health professions; moral philosophy; law; cross-cultural issues. Participation in class discussions is mandatory and will constitute 10% of the grade. Students will be given a bibliography of articles available on line and will be required to read portions of two books. Two weeks before the course, an annotated bibliography of the readings must be turned in. This will count for 20% of the grade. A 10-page paper will be assigned during the course, and will be due by September 15, 2010. It will count for 70% of the grade.
All students must register for Summer 2012 credit. Case undergraduate tuition is half-price in the summer.
HOTEL:
http://www.owl-hotel.nl/
LOCATION OF COURSE:
http://www.roos.nl/01c2c49d230c88a0c/index.htm
Administrative Information:
More Course Offerings
- Winter Break 2013
- March 2013 courses
- French Perspectives on Controversies at the Beginning and End of Life-Paris, France
- Public Health Ethics: Focus on the Netherlands
- Ethical Issues in Public Health and Genetics (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
- International Women's Health Issues: Focus on Netherlands
- European Perspectives on Bioethics--Salamanca, Spain
- Bioethics Themes as Expressed in Spanish and American Culture: Film, Television, and Literaure--San Sebastian, Spain
- Summer 2013