Children of the Clones: The Kids are Taking Over Bioethics
Hear me now and believe me later: the kids are taking over bioethics. Mega conferences in bioethics hosted by undergraduates are a bit like those hosted by law students, which most of us are more familiar with: they tend to be a bit overhyped, which is fine, but they also tend to stress only the most cutting edge issue and then to invite only the most visible speakers - to do their least substantial presentations. Far too often these super-important next wave conferences, which attract tons of students and lay people alike, end up reinforcing stereotypes of what bioethics "does" among those who are critical of the discipline. But now there is a chance for that trend to reverse itself - three super big new conferences by undergrads are coming up soon: Arizona State's offering, and Toronto's conference, and of course the whompum bad daddy of them all at Penn. For starters, all of these folks are honest about the fact that it is a student-oriented conference. Looks like good stuff. Prepare to be replaced. [updated]contribute a comment
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Yes, eventually the kids will take over bioethics, as they will every other field that exists for more than one professional generation. And if we hope for the field to continue and improve, it is essential that the kids that take over are some of the best and brightest amongst current undergraduate students. These conferences may be overhyped and may focus on the current popular media issues, but what is so wrong about that? The fact is that they are undergraduate conferences. These kids are not JDs, MDs, or PhDs and most of them probably do not even know what bioethics is. Conferences like these may just get them interested in the field, which will hopefully lead them to seek more information, maybe read a journal article or two, and learn about the field. A lecture focusing one fine aspect of a particular dispute that the students know little about is not likely to spark such interest. Just like doctors and lawyers and politicians, the field should not be defined by public opinion or undergraduate conferences but what does sparking a little interest hurt?
- by Lesli on Feb 15, 2005 at 5:51 PM | link
lesli i can't think of any terrible problem with it. seems like they are a good thing. but i think his point was that these conferences are taking the place of other more thoughtful events in universities that will only sponsor one or two things a year, and that they put forward the idea that bioethics is all hype and no scholarship. maybe that is true and maybe it isn't, but i can see his point ... can you imagine a bunch of undergraduate physics students putting on a conference on string theory that makes it look like a TV series long before the basic issues about string theory have been hashed out? it would make people think that string theorists are crazy, and that the faculty are clueless about advising their students. it is a particular problem in bioethics, which seems to attract undergraduates who believe that all it takes to be an authority in bioethics is bravado and a semester or two of philosophy.
- by JTerry MD ABD Cornell on Feb 15, 2005 at 9:37 PM | link