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Your upfront cost: $0
Duration
12 weeks
Study method
100% Online
Available loans
- HECS-HELP
- FEE-HELP
Assessments
100% online
Prior study
Not required
The third university established in Victoria, La Trobe University has a diverse community of more than 38,000 students and staff. Its commitment to excellence in teaching and research prepares students to make a bold and positive impact in today's global community. La Trobe provides Open Universities Australia with its core tenets, entrepreneurship and sustainability.
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QS Ranking 2023
20
Times Higher Education Ranking 2023
16
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Subject details
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- • Science, sex and gender.
- • Science and race.
- • Eugenics.
- • Concepts of disease, mental illness, disability.
- • Ethics and genetic screening.
- • Ethics of neuroenhancement.
- • Transhumanism.
Others
Past La Trobe University students who have previously completed PHI2BTS (Biosciences Technology and Society) are ineligible to enrol in this subject.
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
This subject focuses on ethical and philosophical issues that arise in the biological sciences, including the medical and health sciences, and the technologies they employ. Scientific disciplines, the biosciences are committed to objectivity and neutrality, but also interact with categories that are socially coded such as race, gender, and disability. Concepts such as health and disease can be understood as natural, biomedical concepts, but also as evaluative concepts that play social roles; and biological conceptions of intelligence, mental illness or disability can be even more contentious. Further, technological advances give us new ways to change human beings, some of which are seen as improvements or enhancements. In examining a series of topics, including race science, eugenics, intelligence, disease, disability, and bioenhancement, you will learn how to critically examine the role of social processes and values in the biosciences, and of the biosciences in society.
- Short responses (5 x 250 words, for a total of 1250 words). Students will submit 5 short responses to set weekly questions relating to that week's material. Students can choose to respond in any 5 of the 12 weeks of semester. (35%)
- Op ed (750 words). Students will write a short piece in the style of an 'op ed' or opinion piece examining an ethical or social issue related to the material from weeks 1-4. Students will have a choice of topics assigned by the instructor. (20%)
- Long essay (1750 words). Students will write a research essay on the material from weeks 5-12. At least three topics will be assigned by the instructor; each student will choose one of these to write on. (45%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).