Center for Biology and Society at ASBH
Dr. Karin Ellison, Associate Director for the Center for Biology and Society recently presented a poster at the 2013 ASBH Annual Meeting. Her poster was entitled "Can Researchers Learn about Social Responsibility Online? Assessment Results." Objectives were to introduce content of newly released online materials on social responsibilities of researchers. Dr. Ellison also presented a methods review for evaluating gains in ethical sensitivity and knowledge of ethical norms and standards from using such materials. Finally, her poster presented an analysis of outcomes of learners using new online materials on social responsibilities of researchers.
The theme for the 2013 ASBH meeting, "Tradition, Innovation and MOral Courage," encourages participants to respond to the ways bioethics and the health humanities are inspired and shaped by various moral traditions, beliefs, and methodological approaches, as well as how these very traditions and practices become the foci of contemporary bioethical and humanities work bearing on moral progress and moral "innovation." This year's ASBH theme invites members to reflect on the dialectic among moral traditions, moral inquiry, and moral innovation, and the ways that cultures identifying themselves as morally progressive might conceptualize the meaning and role of moral courage in realizing that progress. With bioethical work being received with ever increasing public scrutiny and impact, the 2013 ASBH conference will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, whose cultural roots and evolution reflect the ways tradition and innovation propelled and shaped a history in which moral courage played and continues to play a quintessential role.
Jenney Craer, a senior Biology and Society student, also attended the conference and had these reflections;
Attending the 15th annual ASBH meeting in Atlanta, Georgia in October was inspiring and edifying. My research interests surround the changing role of humanities and ethics in American medical school curricula, and ASBH was inundated with students, professors, directors, health-care providers, and bioethicists—all of whom, are passionate actors in the ongoing discussion surrounding this topic. First-hand exposure to this discourse helped me to appreciate the timeliness of my research interests, and the opportunity to discuss my proposal with program directors from various medical schools resulted in positive feedback and new alliances. I cannot thank the Center of Biology and Society enough for this experience.