Course Descriptions
AIDS in American Literature - 3 credits
Deirdre
Neilen, Ph.D., Center for Bioethics and Humanities
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Joel Potash, M.D., Center for Bioethics and Humanities
SUNY Upstate Medical University
This course will examine attitudes (cultural, national, professional, medical, personal) towards those who have HIV/AIDS. The literature will present a combination of fictional and real characters; through their lives we follow the progression of the disease from its initial incarnation as mysterious, frightening curse to its current status as a chronic illness that can be managed with proper treatment and medication. We will explore the ethical dilemmas AIDS brought to the forefront of medicine, law, and politics and analyze today's responses with those in the first days of the epidemic.
| LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM431/531 |
ETS405 |
CCFM1408 |
CCFM408 |
CCFM6408 |
Bioethics - 3 credits (Spring)
Dr. Ernest Wallwork, Ph.D.
Religion, Syracuse University
This course examines the use of ethical theories and standards by health care professionals. Specific issues presented in the context of case studies illuminate different types of ethical dilemmas and alternative ways of handling them morally. Issues include euthanasia, assisted suicide, truth-telling, confidentiality, research ethics, abortion, genetic counseling, surrogate motherhood, the uses of new reproductive technologies, and justice with respect to care.
LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM408/508 |
PHI594 |
CCFM1413 |
CCFM413 |
CCFM6413 |
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REL552 |
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Bioethics and the Law - 3 credits
Kathy Faber-Langendoen, M.D., Center for Bioethics and Humanities,
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Leslie Bender, J.D., LLM
College of Law, Syracuse University
This course examines the challenging questions that occur at the intersection
of law, medicine, and ethics. A focus of the course will be on examining key
cases which reflect or have shaped the ethical, legal, and often societal consensus,
as well as instances in which the law falls short of ethical norms. This seminar
course is open to medical, graduate nursing, and law students. Basic introductory
sessions on the law (for medical and law students) and clinical medicine (for
law students) will start the course, as well as joint presentations on ethical
theory. Topics include ethical issues surrounding pregnancy, assisted-reproductive
technologies, genetics, organ transplants, refusal of treatment based on religious
or cross-cultural differences, clinical research, futile treatment, medical
decisions at the end-of-life, and physician assisted dying. Pre-requisites - Medicine: completion of ELSIM; Nursing: completion of BSN and prior health care ethics course; SU College of Law: completion of first year courses.
| LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
| CCM535 |
LAW724 |
CCFM1407 |
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CCFM6407 |
Culture and Mental Disorder - 3 credits
John Townsend, Ph.D.
Anthropology , Syracuse University
Psychological and cultural determinants of mental disorders are examined with
special emphasis on authors who portray mental disorders as social roles, such
as Goffman, Szasz, Scheff, and Laing. Phenomenological perspective will be used
to study personal accounts of mental illness from a variety of societies: East
African, Mexican, Hutterite and Chinese. Finally, a transculturally valid model
of psychosis is offered, combining social and biogenetic theories of mental
disorders.
LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM409/509 |
ANT467 |
CCFM1451 |
CCFM451 |
CCFM6451 |
PSY309 |
ANT667 |
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Culture and Reproductive Health and Medicine - 3 credits
Cecilia Van Hollen, Ph.D.
Anthropology, Syracuse University
This course examines diverse ways in which societies throughout the globe view and manage human reproduction and the implications this has for health care and medicine. The emphasis will be primarily, though not exclusively, on women’s reproductive health throughout the life cycle, including puberty, sex, pregnancy, family planning, childbirth, infertility, and menopause. The course also explores changes in reproductive health care in the context of globalization and considers how an understanding of the influence of culture on reproductive health is crucial for the development of international public health policy and practice.
LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM410/510 |
ANT400/600 |
CCFM1414 |
CCFM414 |
CCFM6414 |
ANT410 |
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Dying and Death in American Literature - 3 credits
Deirdre Neilen, Ph.D., Center for Bioethics and Humanities
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Joel Potash, M.D., Center for Bioethics and Humanities
SUNY Upstate Medical University
This course examines American attitudes and responses toward the end of life through the perspective of American fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and film. We will explore how Americans deal with progressive, incurable disease, terminal illness, death and bereavement. Students will analyze readings as well as keep a journal documenting their responses toward the literature and class discussion.
LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM429/529 |
ETS405 |
CCFM1405 |
CCFM405 |
CCFM6405 |
Economic Issues in Health Care - 3 credits
Harjit Arora, Ph.D.,
Economic Department, Le Moyne College
This course examines the challenging questions of why health care spending in the U.S. continues to rise in spite of efforts to control costs. The focus of the course will be on examining the key issues responsible for cost increases and why this country has one in six individuals without any health insurance and one in four with sub-standard health care. The topics include factors affecting demand and supply of healthcare services such as socio-cultural considerations and healthcare threats; demographic changes and aging of the population; economic and legal forces impacting healthcare system; and the role of technology in the delivery of healthcare.
LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM420/520 |
ECO |
CCFM1420 |
CCFM420 |
CCFM6420 |
ECO320 |
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Ethics and the Health Professions - 3 credits (Fall)
Robert W. Daly, M.D., Center for Bioethics and Humanities,
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Robert Flower, Ph.D.
Philosophy, Le Moyne College
This course examines the origins and use of ethical theories in the clinical,
professional. organizational, and political-economic fields of action in health
care. Specific issues presented in the context of case studies illuminate the
several fields. These issues include assisted suicide, professional codes of
ethics, the ethics of "cost-cutting," and justice with respect to
care.
|
LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM408/508 |
PHI550 |
CCFM1402 |
CCFM402 |
CCFM6402 |
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REL551 |
------ |
------ |
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First Person: Narratives of Illness, Disability and
Identity - 3 credits
Rebecca Garden, Ph.D., Center for Bioethics and Humanities
SUNY Upstate Medical University
This course explores first-person narratives of illness and disability, especially in light of other forms of social difference, such as gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and class. Using tools of literary analysis and cultural criticism, students come together from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds to examine the experiences of writers with AIDS, autism, cancer, hepatitis, and multiple sclerosis. Students consider ethical and social issues such as doctor/patient relationships, caregiver relations, questions of control, authority, appearance, and “normalcy” and the role of empathy and emotion in medicine and healing.
LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM405/505 |
ETS405 |
CCFM1427 |
CCFM427 |
CCFM6427 |
Genetics, Disability, and the Law - 3 credits
Robert S. Olick, JD, Ph.D., Center for Bioethics and Humanities
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Meera Adya, JD, Ph.D.
Department of Pyschology/Law School, Syracuse University
This course studies the challenging questions that arise at the intersection of genetics, ethics, disability and law. A focus of the course will be to explore how genetic diagnosis and information influences our understanding of disability; the ethical and social issues raised; and the legal rules that may apply to particular situations. Basic introductory sessions on the law and on genomic medicine will start the course. Topics include ethical, legal and social issues surrounding genetics in reproductive medicine, prenatal diagnosis, pre-implantation diagnosis; deciding for disabled newborns; nonvoluntary sterilization; genetic privacy; genetic discrimination in employment and health insurance; and genetic research such as with stored tissues. Prerequisites–Medicine: completion of ELSIM; Nursing–completion of BSN and prior health care ethics course; SU College of Law–completion of first year courses.
| LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
| CCM536 |
PSC600 |
CCFM1428 |
------ |
CCFM6428 |
Global Health and Ethics - 3 credits
James Dwyer, Ph.D., Center for Bioethics and Humanities
SUNY Upstate Medical University
This course involves a careful examination of ethical issues in global and
international health. The course focuses critical attention on ethical issues
about trade in human organs, cultural practices that harm health, human migration,
infectious diseases (like HIV and SARS), research conducted in low-income countries,
drug pricing, health inequalities between countries, malnutrition, globalization,
international civil society, and service abroad. To deal with these issues,
the readings and lectures will develop ideas about respect, autonomy, community,
need, responsibility, ethical relativism, human rights, and global justice.
LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM430/530 |
PSC400 |
CCFM1426 |
CCFM426 |
CCFM6426 |
History of Public Health in America - 3 credits
Gwen Kay, Ph.D.
History Department, SUNY Oswego
This course will analyze the changes, and crises, in public health in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. After establishing the realities of medicine in the 19th century, we will examine episodes that helped shape our national sensibility about public health. From the treatment of Bubonic plague in San Francisco (1906) to scientific study in Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama (1932-1972), from germ theory to AIDS, students will learn about successes and failures in public health. Mistakes and accomplishments in the past can serve as useful tools for those who will shape the future of our health and health care.
LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM533 |
PSC600 |
CCFM1409 |
------ |
CCFM6409 |
------ |
HST600 |
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------ |
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Interdisciplinary Approaches to Aging Issues - 3 credits
Nina Kohn, JD
College of Law, Syracuse University
The course will bring together students, faculty, and guests from multiple disciplines to explore interdisciplinary approaches to serving the needs of older adults. Each class will be devoted to a discrete topic ranging from end-of-life care, to driving cessation, to surrogate decision-making, to elder abuse. Students will be offered readings from multiple disciplines relating to the topic of the week and one or two case studies to consider in advance of class. Class time will be devoted in large part to an interactive discussion of the case study or studies of the week. The aim of the course is for students to learn how other disciplines might approach problems they encounter in their work with seniors, what other resources are available to assist them in their work with seniors, and how to work in a truly interdisciplinary manner with professionals from multiple disciplines.
LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM432/532 |
LAW741 |
CCFM1410 |
------ |
CCFM6410 |
------ |
PSC700 |
------ |
------ |
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Medical Anthropology - 3 credits
John Townsend, Ph.D.
Anthropology, Syracuse University
The fundamental tenets of health care delivery are analyzed and the concepts
of "health," "illness," "patient," "cure,"
and "efficiency" are explored. Western medical practices are compared
to practices in other cultures; implicit premises and deficiencies in western
medicine are highlighted. Topics include analysis of status and roles in hospitals;
socialization into the culture of medicine; magical curing; economic barriers
to better health care; problems introducing western medicine into alien cultures;
and the patient’s role.
LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM416/516 |
ANT465 |
CCFM1452 |
CCFM452 |
CCFM6452 |
ANT422 |
ANT665 |
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Medicine in Literature and Film - 3 credits
Deirdre Neilen, Ph.D., Center for Bioethics and Humanities
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Joel Potash, M.D., Center for Bioethics and Humanities
SUNY Upstate Medical University
The relationships between artistic creators and medicine will be explored through
the study of novels, film, short stories, and essays about medical situations,
characters and themes. Thematic areas to be examined include the responsibility
of medical research; the hospital as environment; relationships between health
care workers and patients; illness as metaphor and as reality; and the experience
of disease. Discussion on what writers/directors are communicating and how they
do so will emphasize characterization, setting, tone, and point of view.
LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM422/522 |
ETS405 |
CCFM1423 |
CCFM423 |
CCFM6423 |
ENG455 |
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Representations of the Nurse in Literature, Film, and Television - 3 credits
Rebecca Garden, Ph.D., Center for Bioethics and Humanities
SUNY Upstate Medical University
How the nurse has been represented historically in literature, film and television is explored, focusing specifically at the relationships among images of nurses, ideologies of nursing, and the practice of nursing. Representations of nursing in late nineteenth-century and twentieth-century texts are examined in relation to larger class and gender issues, including the ways in which the nurse threatened traditional notions of women. The social contexts of representations of nurses in late twentieth-century culture are analyzed, from Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to the gay male nurse Belize in Angels in America, and stereotypes and iconoclastic figures are identified. Focusing on more recent literature, film, and television, the figure of the nurse is considered in relation to contemporary concerns about the nursing profession, such as the relationship between nurses and physicians, the economy of the hospital and health care, and the nursing shortage.
LMC |
SU |
Upstate Med |
Upstate CON |
Upstate CON Grad |
CCM434/534 |
ETS405 |
CCFM1411 |
CCFM411 |
CCFM6411 |
