Volume 2, Issue 5
What do human health and
international human rights have to do with agricultural biotechnology? Kristen
Hessler is coming to Iowa State University to find out.
Hessler recently was hired as a post-doctoral fellow by Iowa State University as part of a five-state consortium to address ethical issues in agricultural biotechnology, a project funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She plans to complete her doctorate in philosophy in June 2001 and will begin working at ISU on August 1.
She was first exposed to ethical issues in agricultural biotechnology while teaching an environmental ethics course with Elizabeth Willott, a previous ISU Bioethics Institute participant. Her interest in the topic was piqued when she realized its association with her own research interests. "Some of these ethical questions essentially involve issues of health and human rights, two issues that I discuss in my dissertation," she said.
Hessler's doctoral work focuses on the question of how international human rights law should be interpreted. She argues that human rights requirements and health standards for individual countries should be based on the economic and specific health needs of that country, instead of imposing one set of requirements for all countries.
This study brings together several interests for Hessler, including the examination of difficult ethical questions in politics and international justice and a real, practical significance for the world. Her research has allowed her to explore her interests in practical and theoretical ethics.
"I think the best work in ethics and political philosophy has something fairly concrete to say about the real world," she said.
Hessler's research provided a real-world opportunity when she and two of her colleagues worked with HMO medical directors and oncologists to discuss clinical research coverage by insurance companies. The experience taught Hessler about the significance of moral disagreement in making policy and about the importance of ensuring that unpopular views are heard in public deliberation about policy decisions. She said this experience prepared her for working with biotechnology researchers and anti-biotechnology activist groups in the five-state consortium region.
In her position at Iowa State University and with the consortium, Hessler will conduct and publish research on ethical issues surrounding biotechnology, teach courses at the university about bioethics, and develop ethics-based outreach activities with the ISU Biotechnology Outreach Education Center and Extension departments from universities in the consortium region. She also will be developing resources on ethical research for the web for students and adults in the consortium region.
"I'm happy to have the opportunity to formally participate in a project that makes philosophical ethics available to people inside and outside the university," Hessler said.
For more information about Kristen Hessler, visit her web site at: www.u.arizona.edu/~khessler. For more information about the USDA consortium project, in which Iowa State University is participating, go to: www.biotech.iastate.edu/publications/IFAFS/default.html.
ISU Bioethics Faculty Retreat, Gateway Holiday Inn
Friday 30 March 2001
The ISU Bioethics Faculty Retreat is an annual faculty development opportunity to achieve the Bioethics Program's mission of providing assistance to science faculty in discussing ethical issues in the classroom. For more information, or to register, visit the Bioethics Program web site at www.biotech.iastate.edu/bioethics.html.
| 8:30 | Coffee and rolls, Gateway Harvest Room |
| 9:00 | Welcome: James R. Bloedel, Vice-Provost
for Research and Advanced Study, ISU Keynote speaker: Joe Kupfer, Philosophy and Religious Studies, ISU, "Teaching Ethics: Experience and Theory in College Teaching." |
| 10:15 | Break |
| 10:30 | Parallel sessions: |
| 1. Ethics in Undergraduate Courses. Kevin de Laplante, Moderator.
2. Ethics In Graduate Courses. Lisa Lorenzen, Moderator.
|
|
| 12:00 | Lunch |
| 1:00 | Parallel sessions: |
| 1. The Environment and Animals. Gary Comstock, Moderator.
2. Integrity and Writing. Stephen Sapp, Moderator.
Mini Session: Teaching Ethics to Engineering Students (1:45-2:15)
|
|
| 2:15 | Break |
| 2:30 | Plenary session: Speaker: Michael Bishop, Philosophy and Religious Studies, ISU "What are we trying to teach when we "teach ethics?" |
| 4:00 | End |
Michael Wassegijig Price, Leech Lake Tribal College, will be visiting the Iowa State University campus during the last week of March. He will present a lecture on Thursday, March 29, titled "A Native American Perspective on Culture, Ethics, and Biotechnology." The free, public lecture will be from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in the Great Hall of the ISU Memorial Union.
Price is an enrolled member of Wikwemikong First Nations and serves as the chairman of the Department of Science and Mathematics at Leech Lake Tribal College, located near Cass Lake, Minnesota. He also is the institutional representative for his college on the USDA consortium grant to address the social, economic, and ethical aspects of biotechnology in five north-central states.
Faculty or student groups who would like to meet with Michael Wassegijig Price while he is on campus or have him address their classes should contact Glenda Webber, Office of Biotechnology, 515-294-4749, or e-mail gwebber@iastate.edu.
A paper written by Price about integrating cultural knowledge into the science
curriculum at Leech Lake Tribal College can be viewed online at
www.biotech.iastate.edu/publications/IFAFS/Michael_Price.html.
Applications are still being accepted for the Bioethics Institutes to be held this summer. The Institutes are designed to help life science faculty members introduce ethics into their classes.
The first 2001 Institute will be held in Ames, Iowa. For more information on the topics to be discussed and for an application form, go to: www.biotech.iastate.edu/bioethics/institute/ISU_Institute/ISU_description.html.
The second Institute will be held in Lisbon, Portugal. This International Bioethics Institute is the second one held in Lisbon. For more information and an application form for the Institute in Lisbon, go to: www.biotech.iastate.edu/institute/flad.html.
Application deadlines are quickly approaching, so fill one out and send it in soon to be considered for an Institute.
Published six times per year
by the ISU Office of Biotechnology
and the Bioethics Program.
To subscribe, send an e-mail to: bioethics@iastate.edu
or call 515-294-7356.
Editor: Dena Huisman
Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. Vietnam Era Veteran. Any persons having inquiries concerning this may contact the Director of Affirmative Action, 318 Beardshear Hall, 515-294-7612.
| For Everyone | For the Classroom | For Extension | Activities | Contact Us | Search |
| Office of Biotechnology homepage | Search the Office of Biotechnology homepage |
Published by: Office
of Biotechnology, Bioethics Outreach
Ames, Iowa 50011-3260, (515) 294-9818, biotech@iastate.edu
Questions about the site? E-mail biotech@www.biotech.iastate.edu
Copyright © 2003, Iowa State University. All rights reserved.
Last Update 05/23/03
