Bioethics (BE)
BE 474 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. Offered fall semester. Delivery mode: synchronous.
BE 475 Topics in Bioethics - 1-3 Hours
May be repeated for credit with a different topic. Delivery mode: synchronous.
BE 5100 Intensive Bioethics Institute - 2-3 Hours
This course is a survey of the field of bioethics, introducing competing ways of addressing bioethical issues from historical, philosophical, and theological perspectives.
BE 5299 The Clinical Context - 1 Hour
An explanation of basic precepts of clinical medicine and clinical ethics. Designed to be taken in preparation for or concurrently with BE 6810.
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 an online guided study.
BE 6030 Foundations of Bioethics - 2-3 Hours
An introduction to the interdisciplinary and interprofessional study of bioethics with emphasis on surveying the foundational concepts, history, methodologies, and topical issues pertinent to the development and contemporary study of bioethics from biblical-theological and other prominent contemporary perspectives.
BE 6200 Ethical Theory - 2-3 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.
BE 6220 Ethics and Human Flourishing - 2 Hours
An analysis of the principal models of ethics and ethical decision making as means through which to interpret and engage working ethical assumptions and issues that arise in contemporary culture. Topics will include the meaning of ethical language, alternative theories of the right and the good, and implications for contemporary moral deliberation and cultural engagement in light of competing models of human flourishing for our individual and common humanity.
BE 6710 Bioethics National Conference - 2-3 Hours
The annual 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. Cannot be taken as a Guided Reading Course. May be repeated for credit. Offered face to face at the Deerfield campus.
BE 6720 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.
BE 6810 Clinical Issues in Bioethics - 2 Hours
An introduction to clinical bioethics and issues in medical ethics, with special emphasis on clinical ethics consultation, the role of clinical ethics committees, plus in-depth case analysis of specific ethical issues that arise in contemporary clinical practice. Students lacking this familiarity with basic precepts of clinical medicine and clinical ethics should take BE 5299 concurrently with this course.
BE 6820 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.
BE 6830 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.
BE 6840 Nursing Ethics - 2 Hours
This course is designed to prepare nurses for the ethical issues they will encounter in daily practice. Ethics of care, the changing face of health care resulting from globalization, interprofessionalism, expanding use of technologies, and limited financial and other resources are among the challenges addressed.
BE 6950 Bioethics Practicum - 1-2 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 6030. Student must obtain the program director's permission and secure site approval before registering.
BE 7110 Life and Death Bioethics - 2-3 Hours
Exploration of prominent bioethical issues at the beginning and end of life, including the ethics of abortion, contraception, assisted reproductive technologies, end-of-life decision making, euthanasia, and other issues within their ethical, legal, social, philosophical, and theological contexts.
BE 7120 Ethics of Emerging Technologies - 2-3 Hours
This course examines cutting-edge ethical and bioethical issues within biomedicine, biotechnology, and other emerging technology arenas, including developments in genetics, information and communication technologies, nanotechnology, neuroscience, robotics and artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and human futures among other issues within their ethical, legal, social, philosophical, and theological contexts.
BE 7130 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 and to an examination of the evolving academic literature. May be repeated for credit.
BE 7200 Landmark Cases in Bioethics - 2-3 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. May be taken as MLS 720 through Trinity Law School.
BE 7250 The Right to Life and 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 of conscience, including a survey of Supreme Court and other judicial decisions pertaining to these issues. May be taken as MLS 910 through Trinity Law School.
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. Prerequisites: BE 6030 and BE 6810 or BE 6810 and instructor permission.
BE 7478 Bioethics Capstone Project - 1-3 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: program director's permission.
BE 7480 Bioethics Capstone Integrative or Major Paper - 1-3 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: program director's permission.
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 7501 Guided Research - 1-4 Hours
Independent research on an approved selected topic under a faculty member in the BE department. May be repeated for credit as the subject matter changes. Letter grade or Credit/No Credit as arranged with instructor.
BE 7600 Theological Ethics and Contemporary Alternatives - 2-3 Hours
A theological examination of topics in moral theology and theological ethics and their application to a wide range of contemporary cultural trends and ethical and bioethical issues, identifying common ground and differences with other competing contemporary outlooks.
BE 7610 Christian Hippocratism - 2-3 Hours
This course examines the emergence of Hippocratic medicine and its historical convergence with Christianity as a primary influence on the development and practice of Western medicine through the modern era. Attention will also be given to the rise of competing paradigms in contemporary medicine and prospects of Christian Hippocratism as a principled model for Christian engagement in bioethics.
BE 7620 Bioengagement: Current Issues in Bioethics and Cultural Engagement - 2-3 Hours
This course examines emerging bioethical development and their influence on the working ethical assumptions of contemporary culture. In addition to investigating methodological aspects of Christian cultural engagement, the course encourages practical application in a variety of areas including: engaging bioethics in fiction and film, introduction of the medical humanities, bioengagement and bioethics education, interacting with mass media, and other opportunities for bioethics and cultural engagement.
BE 7650 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.
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.
BE 7750 Readings in Bioethics - 1-3 Hours
Examination of topic-specific readings in classical and/or contemporary bioethics from Hippocrates, through the emergence of modern bioethics in the 1960s and 1970s, and on to the present. Readings in the earlier periods may focus on classic concepts or works of bioethics. Readings in contemporary bioethics may place special focus on specific authors or may explore contemporary developments in topical literature of applied areas of bioethics. May be repeated for credit.
BE 7800 Personhood in Theological and Philosophical Perspective - 2-3 Hours
Analysis of the role played by this key concept in bioethical debate against the background of philosophical and theological usage.
BE 7810 Global Health and Justice - 2-3 Hours
An exploration of global bioethics, with particular focus on biblical, theological, and philosophical approaches to justice, and their relevance to issues in global health and medicine.
BE 8100 Contemporary Figures in Bioethics - 2-3 Hours
This course examines the thought and writings of prominent Christian figures in bioethics and locates them with the broader context and literature of contemporary academic bioethics.