Implications of Genome Research: A Model College Course

This project will develop a new multidisciplinary undergraduate course in the ethical, legal, and social implications of the Human Genome Project. The course will offer a case-study oriented approach, focusing on representative genetic diseases, genetic programs, or episodes in the history of genetics, which will allow students to learn to identify and assess emerging issues and apply and test the analytical skills they develop as the course precedes. The course will serve as a model which can be exported to other colleges or universities. It will be offered in conjunction with a Faculty Summer Seminar involving eight pairs of teachers competitively selected from applicants from other liberal arts institutions. These teachers will be trained to carry their learning from this summer experience back to their home institutions, where they will be expected to introduce a similar course and serve as regional disseminators of course materials and methods. The course materials, developed by a distinguished advisory board, will be made available to other institutions as part of the ongoing Ethics Institute publication/media series, 'Dartmouth Teaching Resources in Applied and Professional Ethics.'