APG5730 - Bioethics, public policy, and the law - 2019

12 points, SCA Band 1, 0.250 EFTSL

Postgraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Arts

Organisational Unit

Monash Bioethics Centre

Chief examiner(s)

Professor Catherine Mills

Coordinator(s)

Professor Catherine Mills

Unit guides

Offered

City (Melbourne)

  • First semester 2019 (On-campus)

Clayton

  • First semester 2019 (Online)

Prohibitions

APG4715, APG5734, APR5730

Synopsis

This unit provides a framework for analysing and evaluating public policy and law in areas of concern in bioethics. The unit focuses initially on what values the state ought to promote, and the formulation of public policy in democratic pluralist societies. These political moralities are then used to examine current law and public policy in areas of bioethical concern, such as abortion, pre-birth testing, embryonic stem cell research, reproductive cloning, surrogate motherhood, voluntary euthanasia, and the treatment of newborn infants with severe disabilities. The unit also considers law and public policy in relation to informed consent, conflict of interest, and the regulation of research on humans.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students should have acquired the skills to:

  • uncover the political values underlying views about State regulation of various reproductive and health care practices;
  • think critically about those political values;
  • understand some of the practical problems in State regulation of various reproductive and health care practices;
  • develop sufficient understanding of the ethics of regulating various reproductive and health care practices to provide a basis for forming your own views on these matters.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 50% + Exam: 50%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 288 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Off-campus attendance requirements

No timetabled contact hours although students are welcome to attend seminars for on-campus students when the unit is running in both modes.

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Additional information on this unit is available from the faculty at: