Bioethics (BE)

BE 474X Introduction to Bioethics - 3 Hours

An overview of the Hippocratic/Judeo-Christian tradition in medical ethics against the background of biblical-theological discussion of human nature, medicine, and healing, and as a context for the rise of the new bioethics. Prerequisite: PH 180 or consent of instructor. This course is taught with BE 5000 at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Offered fall semester. May substitute Bioethics Institute (offered in the summer as BE 475X). Cross-listed with PH 474X. Delivery mode: Deerfield traditional undergraduate.

BE 475X Topics in Bioethics - 1-3 Hours

Selected courses taught either at Trinity College or in conjunction with courses in Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. May be repeated for credit with a different topic. Offered fall or spring semester. Cross-listed with PH 475X. Delivery mode: Deerfield traditional undergraduate.

BE 476X Undergraduate Bioethics Institute - 3 Hours

This institute provides an overview of relevant bioethical issues and principles from a biblical-Christian perspective. It includes reading and assignments to be completed before the first class meeting and other assignments after the last class meeting, as well as a final paper. The classes meet two days prior to and in conjunction with National Bioethics Conference offered by The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (in the summer). The course is a unique opportunity to consider the subject and interact with a variety of academic experts, practitioners, and students at various stages of vocational and ethical preparation. Cross-listed with PH 476X. Delivery mode: Deerfield traditional undergraduate.

BE 477X Undergraduate National Conference - 2-3 Hours

This course enables students to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the National Bioethics Conference sponsored by The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity on an annual basis (annually in the summer). Attendance at conference sessions and preparatory readings will allow students to reflect critically on the issues of the conference. Selection of a specific topic of interest from those considered in the conference and/or reading materials provide opportunity for extended research. Cross listed with PH 477X. Delivery mode: Deerfield traditional undergraduate.

BE 478 Research Ethics - 3 Hours

The application of critical and ethical thinking to the philosophy and professional practice of scientific research. Students will assess the historical framework as well as the current standards and policies (national and international) for human subject research. Topics covered will include risks and benefits, informed consent, vulnerability, privacy, and confidentiality. Delivery mode: Deerfield traditional undergraduate.

BE 5000 Introduction to Bioethics: Matters of Life and Dignity - 3 Hours

An overview of the ethical issues in healthcare and biotechnology that make up the field of bioethics. Biblical-theological and other prominent contemporary perspectives are developed and assessed. Offered face to face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 5002 Foundations for Cultural Engagement in Bioethics - 3 Hours

This course introduces the student to pivotal Christian doctrines as a framework within which to evaluate the working ethical assumptions of contemporary culture. In addition to investigating several models for Christian engagement with culture, the course encourages the positive formation of a Christian worldview as a foundation for wise interaction with contemporary thought in bioethics. Offered online, and face to face at the Deerfield and Florida campuses.

BE 5100 Intensive Bioethics Institute - 3 Hours

This course is a survey of the field of bioethics, introducing competing ways of addressing bioethical issues from historical, philosophical, and theological perspectives. An international team of top Christian bioethicists will address particular areas of expertise. Offered face to face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 5200 Research Ethics - 2 Hours

The application of critical and ethical thinking to the philosophy and professional practice of scientific research. Students will assess the historical framework as well as the current standards and policies (national and international) for human subject research. Topics covered will include risks and benefits, informed consent, vulnerability, privacy, and confidentiality. Offered online and face to face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 5299 The Clinical Context - 1 Hour

An explanation of basic precepts of clinical medicine and clinical ethics. Designed to be taken concurrently with BE 5300. Offered as a guided study.

BE 5300 Clinical Issues in Bioethics - 2 Hours

Methods of clinical ethics consultation plus in-depth analysis of specific issues in clinical ethics including resuscitation, assisted ventilation, and management of patients with brain damage. Prerequisite or taken concurrently: BE 5299. Offered online and face to face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 5400 Nursing Ethics - 2 Hours

This course is designed to prepare nurses for the ethical issues they will encounter in daily practice. Good caregiving, the changing face of health care resulting from globalization, increasing diversity, expanding use of technologies, and limited financial and other resources are among the challenges addressed.

BE 5499 The Public Policy Context - 1 Hour

An explanation of basic federal and state governmental structures and legislative processes. Designed to be taken concurrently with BE 5500. Offered as a guided study.

BE 5500 Bioethics and Public Policy - 2 Hours

The interface of bioethics and public policy in North American and international contexts with special attention to religious perspectives in the public square, important cases and bioethics commissions, and other documents. Students have the opportunity to create a public policy strategy. Prerequisite or taken concurrently: BE 5499. Offered online and face-to-face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 5600 Law and Bioethics - 2 Hours

Questions such as the proper role of law in shaping people's bioethical views and practices and the current state of the law regarding a wide range of bioethical issues are addressed by a legal educator with the help of case discussions. Offered face to face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 5700 The Right to Life & the Law - 2-3 Hours

A study of the complex medical, social, legal, and bioethical issues raised by such controversial topics as abortion, euthanasia, infanticide, and related issues involving rights conscience, including a survey of Supreme Court and other judicial decisions pertaining to these issues. Offered face to face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 5800 Contemporary Issues in Bioethics - 1-3 Hours

Trinity hosted bioethics workshops provide a unique opportunity to explore emerging issues in contemporary bioethics through topical workshops led by an interdisciplinary team of Christian leaders in bioethics from around the country and beyond. This course includes a pre-workshop reading program and post-workshop assignments tailored to the topics of the workshop. Special emphasis is given to the professional dimensions of the issues under consideration, as well as an examination of the evolving academic literature. May be repeated for credit. Offered face to face at the Deerfield Campus.

BE 5900 Bioethics National Conference - 2-3 Hours

The annual national/international bioethics conference at Trinity provides a unique opportunity to learn from and interact with Christian leaders in bioethics from around the country and beyond. The course includes a preconference reading program and post-conference writing program tailored to the topic of the conference. Class meetings with the professor immediately precede and are interspersed throughout the conference. May be taken in addition to an Institute course such as BE 5100 or BE 6500 offered in conjunction with the conference. Cannot be taken as a Guided Reading Course. May be repeated for credit. Offered face to face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 6100 Bioethics Colloquium - 1-2 Hours

The colloquium meets periodically during the term, with a professor of record and a combination of visiting lecturers, faculty, and student presentations. Local pastors, physicians, and others are invited to attend, offering a meeting point between the program and church and medical communities. May be repeated for credit. Offered face to face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 6200 Ethical Theory - 3 Hours

An analysis of the principal theories and problems of philosophical ethics, including the meaning of ethical language, alternative theories of the right and the good, and the implications of moral issues for the concept of God and other theological questions. This course replaces PR 7220 Ethical Theory. Offered online and face-to-face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 6300 Bioethics, Human Dignity, and the Church - 2-3 Hours

Issues in bioethics raise fundamental questions of human dignity in the lives of people everywhere, to which the church is uniquely well positioned to speak. This course enables students to understand many of today's bioethical challenges to human dignity and to develop practical ministry resources to address them through the preaching, teaching, worship, counseling, and outreach ministries of the church. Offered face to face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 6400 Readings in Bioethics - 1-3 Hours

Examination of topic specific readings in bioethics from Hippocrates through the beginning of the modern bioethics period in Fletcher and Ramsey and on to the present. Readings in the earlier periods may focus on the birth and development of the Hippocratic/Judeo-Christian tradition or classic concepts or works of bioethics. Readings in the contemporary bioethicists may place special focus on the secularization of bioethics as seen in such writers as Singer, Engelhardt, and Childress or may explore contemporary developments in topical literature of distinct applied areas of bioethics. The course may focus on either classical or contemporary readings. May be repeated for credit.

BE 6500 Advanced Bioethics Institute - 3-4 Hours

A methodological investigation of how to do bioethics with a range of approaches critically assessed from a biblical-theological perspective. A national/international team of top Christian bioethicists address special areas of expertise. Cannot be taken as a Guided Reading course. Prerequisite: BE 5000 or BE 5100. Offered face to face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 6600 Classic Cases in Bioethics - 3 Hours

Many of the major issues in bioethics have been shaped by pivotal medical and legal cases. The course examines those cases in detail and uses them as a springboard for understanding the larger ethical issues that they address. Offered face to face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 6700 Personhood in Theological & Philosophical Perspective - 3 Hours

Analysis of the role played by this key concept in bioethical debate against the background of philosophical and theological usage. Offered face to face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 6800 Global Health and Justice - 2-3 Hours

An overview of biblical, theological and philosophical approaches to justice, and an overview of justice issues in global health and medicine. Topics to be explored include, for example: globalization and infectious diseases, pharmaceuticals and justice, women's health, Malthusianism in global health policy, rationing and resource allocation in the low resource environment, cancer and care for an aging world, biotechnologies and hunger, medical and ethical problems in short term missions, bioethics in a world lacking global consensus, and the role of the Church when internal policies fail a population's citizens.

BE 6950 Bioethics Practicum - 1-3 Hours

Supervised experience within professional or ministerial settings (e.g., healthcare, public policy, IRB, advocacy organization, church, etc.) engaged in practical bioethics. Emphasis of student assessment materials will be given to demonstrating the application of theoretical bioethics knowledge to the professional or ministerial environment. Prerequisite: BE 5000 or BE 5100. Student must obtain the program director's permission and secure site approval before registering.

BE 7300 Advanced Clinical Ethics - 1-3 Hours

This course will engage students in the process of doing ethical analysis in group discussion and in writing ethics consultation reports on specific cases typically encountered by a consultant in clinical ethics. Two prerequisites: BE 5300; plus either BE 5000 or BE 5100. Students without clinical/medical experience must obtain the professor's permission before registering. Students without BE 5000/5100 can ask the professor to waive that prerequisite. Offered online.

BE 7476 Bioethics Capstone Exam - 1-4 Hours

A comprehensive examination scheduled by the student with the program director consisting of broad essay questions that allow the student to demonstrate a grasp of the field as a whole. Students should register for this capstone option in the semester they plan to take the examination.

BE 7478 Bioethics Capstone Project - 1-4 Hours

Independent study culminating in a bioethics-related project, as arranged with the program director or designee. Students should register for this course the semester they start the project. Prerequisite or taken concurrently: BE 5200, BE 5300, BE 5500, and BE 6500 or by permission of the program director.

BE 7480 Bioethics Capstone Integrative or Major Paper - 1-4 Hours

Independent study culminating in a bioethics-related project, as arranged with the program director or designee. Students should register for this course the semester they start the project. Prerequisite or taken concurrently: BE 5200, BE 5300, BE 5500, and BE 6500 or by permission of the program director.

BE 7485 MA Thesis - 1-4 Hours

MA thesis writers register for BE 7485. Prerequisite: Approved thesis proposal, and other department specific prerequisites. Counts as full-time student status. Letter grade or Credit/No Credit as arranged with the department. (Formerly BE 790)

BE 7486 Bioethics Capstone Extension - 0 Hours

A one-semester extension for BE 7478 or BE 7480. Enrollment with consent of the faculty member of record. Extension fee when not enrolled in other courses. Counts as quarter-time academic status. May not be repeated. No Credit.

BE 7487 Bioethics Thesis Extension - 0 Hours

Up to three-semesters extension for BE 7485 may be granted when progress is being made on the thesis and with the consent of the Program Director. This counts as half-time student status when registrant affirms that a minimum of twenty hours per week is invested in the capstone. Extension fee required when not enrolled in other courses. No Credit.

BE 7501 Guided Research - 1-4 Hours

Independent study as arranged with a graduate school faculty member.

BE 7600 Theological Bioethics and Contemporary Alternatives - 3-4 Hours

A theological examination of topics in moral theology and theological ethics and their application to a wide range of bioethical issues, identifying common ground and differences with other competing contemporary outlooks.

BE 7700 Bioethics Seminar - 1-4 Hours

Topical course conducted as a seminar on a question such as autonomy and informed consent, health care systems, resource allocation, genetic intervention, or end-of-life decision making. May be repeated for credit. Cannot be taken as a Reading Course. Offered face to face at the Deerfield campus.

BE 8100 Contemporary Figures in Bioethics - 2-3 Hours

This course includes presentations by several prominent Christian figures in bioethics as well as readings from an array of significant Christian leaders in bioethics. Offered face to face at the Deerfield campus.