It's easier to picture an apple falling on Isaac Newton's head than it is to visualize an ethical dilemma. But you can find solid evidence of Cornell's commitment to the study of the societal, moral and legal problems bred by burgeoning scientific technology. That engagement long predates the development of the area now known as genomics, the advent of silicon technology or such agricultural advancements as bovine growth hormone.
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| From left, graduate students Mark Chong and Matt Nisbet take part, Oct. 2, in the Public Communications Science and Technology class taught by Bruce Lewenstein, associate professor of science communication, in Kennedy Hall. The course is one of two Lewenstein teaches in which ethical issues are addressed. Robert Barker/University Photography |
The study of ethics is a priority at Cornell and the robust nature of that concern can be found within the interdisciplinary Program on Ethics and Public Life (EPL), founded in 1987 by Professor Henry Shue and dedicated to the exploration of concrete ethical and public issues in the humanities, social sciences and hard sciences.
Now under the direction of Michele Moody-Adams, the Wyn and William Y. Hutchinson Professor of Ethics and Public Life, the program is engaged in an active educational role in ethical issues within the new biology, especially in regards to a new project called the Ethical, Legal and Social Issues initiative, or ELSI. Part of the Cornell Genomics Initiative, ELSI is an educational work-in-progress developed this year by Stephen Hilgartner, assistant professor of science and technology studies.
This highly imaginative effort forms the leading edge of a campuswide initiative to teach ethics throughout the disciplines and reinvigorate the undergraduate experience at Cornell. These ethics-related activities are funded by $1.68 million from the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Hilgartner estimates that, at present, more than 60 courses at Cornell include discussions of the social, ethical or legal aspects of biology. These courses range from environmental management to ethics and animal science; from the fundamentals of food law to ethical issues in engineering, information technology and health and medicine. In addition, Weill Medical College of Cornell has its own Bioethics Center in New York City with affiliations to the Ithaca campus through EPL and the Law School, among other programs and departments.
ELSI has the goal of fostering an intellectually vibrant community that engages people from many disciplines in research, education and outreach activities on ethical aspects of the new biology. The program will hold its first major public event on campus, a three-day workshop titled "Genomic Futures: Ethical Challenges, Social Choices and the University," in Clark Hall, Nov. 17-19.
As well as leading a seminar on the politics of genetic engineering and teaching a course on research ethics, Hilgartner is conducting a long-term study of the field of genome research. He is one of a handful of historians and sociologists studying the Human Genome Project, the mapping and sequencing of the human body's genes (see Hilgartner Q&A). Indeed, ELSI takes its name from a similar initiative launched by the National Institutes of Health in 1988 as the Human Genome Project was taking shape.
"The rapid expansion of genomics raises many significant issues that call for interdisciplinary studies involving the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences," Hilgartner said. "Understanding these issues, and addressing the problems of governance that they pose, will require sustained and critical inquiry, and Cornell has an important role to play in this area."
The appointment this year of Moody-Adams has strengthened EPL in its traditional role of providing assistance for faculty in the humanities as well as in the social sciences and hard sciences. Although its academic home is in the College of Arts and Sciences, EPL offers consultation and advice to departments in the colleges of Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Engineering. Moody-Adams, a moral philosopher who works on contemporary ethical issues in law, politics, class, race and gender, among other areas, also is a key member of the multidisciplinary committee that oversees ELSI.
Such projects as EPL and the ELSI initiative demonstrate that attention to ethical problems is being more tightly integrated with scientific research and training as moral philosophers, legal and political analysts and social scientists increasingly interact with researchers in addressing social problems. This development is partly driven by the rapidity and societal implications of discoveries in the new biology. The debate about GMOs, genetically modified organisms (see accompanying story), is just the latest manifestation of public anxiety about the direction of scientific research.
"The faculty members who are gathering together as part of the ELSI initiative are working in a domain that is constantly changing, because the research is taking us into some hitherto uncharted territory," said Moody-Adams. "This poses difficult challenges as we seek to puzzle through the ethical implications of genome research. But they are challenges we cannot afford to ignore."
Cornell has been in the vanguard of research on the ethics of science since 1969, when the late Franklin Long helped establish a Science, Technology and Society program. Long became the program's first director and, with the late Max Black and Stuart Brown, guided the field toward the development of its first undergraduate major, Biology & Society, in 1976. The first report on Biology & Society, issued 1977-78, describes a course of study that is "designed to equip students with an understanding of the interactions between biology, society and ethics."
In the mid-1980s, a separate program, The History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, was developed in the College of Arts and Sciences. In 1991, the two programs merged to create a new department, now known as Science and Technology Studies, within the college. The department offers two undergraduate majors: science and technology studies, and biology and society. Both are aimed at furthering understanding all of the historical, social, political and ethical aspects of science and technology.
Since its beginnings, ethical issues have been very much a part of the department's mission. Focus on the new biology was sharpened by hiring Hilgartner in 1995; and the advent of the Cornell Genomics Initiative in 1998 raised the ethical stakes considerably.
"Although people are interested in the technical achievements of scientists, it's clear that often they are really concerned with social or ethical implications of science," said Bruce Lewenstein, associate professor of science communication, who has a dual appointment in agriculture and life sciences and in science and technology studies. Lewenstein teaches two courses in which ethical issues are addressed.
"Once adults leave school, they get most of their information about science and technology from the media." he said. "The people looking at social issues must have deep understanding of the technical issues. Similarly, the people looking at technical issues can find their work enriched by understanding the social issues."
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