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Joint Bioethics Colloquium

The Joint Colloquium in Bioethics is a topical seminar that meets 4-5 times each semester at the NIH Clinical Center to discuss the work of distinguished visiting speakers. The seminar is co-sponsored by the NIH Department of Bioethics, The Kennedy Institute of Ethics, and the Philosophy Departments of George Washington University and the University of Maryland. Each meeting includes a two-hour discussion of the visiting scholar's work (circulated ahead of time), followed by an informal dinner on-site. Discussion is friendly but quite lively as a diversity of perspectives is represented. The seminars are attended by a small and select group of faculty, graduate students, and post-doctoral candidates.

Spring 2021 – Normative Ethics in Relation to Evolutionary Moral Psychology

  • January 26 – Sarah Brosnan, Georgia State University
  • February 23 – Walter Sinnott Armstrong, Duke
  • March 16 – Joshua May, University of Alabama, Birmingham
  • April 13 – Irina Mikhalevich, Rochester Institute of Technology
  • May 11 – Shaun Nichols, Cornell University

Fall 2020 – Virtue Ethics

  • October 6 – Rebecca Stangl, UVA
  • October 27 – Nancy Sherman, Georgetown University
  • November 16 – May Sim, College of the Holy Cross
  • December 8 – Erin Cline, Georgetown

Spring 2020 – Drug Pricing

  • January 14 – Steven Pearson, ICER
  • February 25 – Jamie Love, Knowledge Ecology International
  • April 15 – Stacie Dusetzina, Vanderbilt University
  • April 28 – Walter Straus, Merck
  • May 12 – Ezekiel Emanuel, University of Pennsylvania

Fall 2019 – Privacy

  • October 8 – Madison Powers, Georgetown University
  • October 22 – Elizabeth Edenberg and Kobbi Nissim, Georgetown University
  • November 12 – Amy McGuire, Baylor College of Medicine
  • November 19 – Mark Rothstein, University of Louisville School of Medicine
  • December 10 – Anita Allen, University of Pennsylvania

Spring 2019 – Gene Editing

  • January 29 – John Tisdale, NIH/NHLBI
  • March 12 – Josephine Johnston, Hastings Center
  • April 9 – Jeff Kahn, Johns Hopkins University
  • April 23 – Ron Green, Dartmouth College (emeritus)

Fall 2018 – Robotics, A.I., and Ethics

  • September 26 – Tina Elliasi-Rad, Northwestern University
  • October 9 – Illah Norbaksh, Carnegie Mellon University
  • October 23 – David Danks, Carnegie Mellon University
  • November 13 – Alex London, Carnegie Mellon University
  • December 11 – Colin Allen, University of Pittsburgh

List of Past Topics

  • Animal Research Ethics
  • Consciousness
  • Feminism
  • Topics in Neuroscience: Ethical Explorations
  • Moral Responsibility in Relation to Biological Causes
  • Global Justice
  • Parenting and Procreation
  • Complicity
  • The Ethics of Incentives
  • Discrimination, Stereotyping, and Profiling
  • Duty to Rescue
  • Risk
  • Compromise
  • Deception
  • Moral Luck
  • Paternalism
  • Forgiveness
  • Role Morality
  • Emotions
  • Empirical Moral Psychology
  • Disabilities
  • Obligations to Future Generations
  • The Moral Status of Embryos, Fetuses, and Infants
  • Enhancements
  • Equality in Healthcare
  • Non-ideal Ethical Theory and Practice
  • The Ethical Basis of Human Rights
  • The Moral and Health Significance of the Natural
  • Coercion and Manipulation
  • Equality
  • Exploitation
  • International Justice and Biomedical Research
  • Trust
  • Health Disparities