Mark your calendars and join leading thinkers concerned with the emerging bioethical crisis in our culture as they converge on the campus of Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois for the 14th Annual Conference on Bioethics, July 12-14th, 2007. This year’s theme, “Bioethics Nexus: The Future of Healthcare, Science, and Humanity” looks to advance beyond the success of previous conferences hosted by the Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity by revisiting the history and present context of healthcare and biotech issues, while envisioning and preparing for the emerging technologies and treatments of tomorrow. The breadth of this year’s speakers and topics is designed to meet the interests and needs of a wide spectrum of participants ranging from those actively involved in the medical professions (e.g., Physicians, Nurses, Lawyers, Physicians Assistants and Chaplains) and the academy (Ethicists, Philosophers, Educators and Students) to Public Policymakers, Congregational Clergy, Media Professionals, and anyone interested in bioethical challenges of our day.
Participants in our Bioethics Nexus Conference can expect to be equipped to:
• Understand the history of medical ethics in the 20th century, with particular reference to its Hippocratic orientation and emphasis on the patient’s well being.
• Anticipate developments and develop effective strategies for engaging the future of healthcare, science, biotechnology, medical law, and the impact on humanity.
• Appreciate the relationship of the epistemological interaction between science, medicine, and biotechnology.
• Prepare to addressthe future ethical challengesin bedside caregiving and bioethics law and engagement.
• Learn ways that literature and the humanities can impact healthcare and medicine.
• Gain an awareness of the globalization of medicine and biotechnology, especially as it relates to bio-policy and bio-law.
The Bioethics Nexus schedule includes an exciting array of distin- guished speakers. Each day, participants will be greeted by Joni Eareckson Tada, founder of Joni & Friends, via a video feed.
Thursday evening’s opening plenaries feature sober assessments of the historical backdrop and present context of bioethics that include:
• Nigel M. De S. Cameron, Director of the Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future, opens the conference by locating the past 25 years of bioethics engagement. Dr. Cameron is actively involved in public policy discussions in both the US and UK concerning emerging biotechnologies and has published in both print and electronic media.
• Alvin Plantinga, internationally renowned Professor of Philosophy at University of Notre Dame will address the present context of bioethics, and specifically the problem of naturalism in science. Among Dr. Plantinga’s extensive publications include God, Freedom & Evil (Eerdmans, 1977) and Warranted Christian Belief (Oxford University Press, 1999).
Friday’s plenary addresses offer a variety of interdisciplinary sessions that include:
• Christina Bieber Lake, Professor of English at Wheaton College will present on the innovative topic of the future of bioethics and the humanities. Dr. Lake’s recent research has been to investigate fiction’s response to posthumanism, specifically in the area of biotechnology.
• Beverly Hancock, M.S., R.N., Rush University Medical Center brings a wealth of experience to her presentation on the future of bedside care.
• O. Carter Snead, former General Counsel to The President’s Council on Bioethics and Associate Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame Law School, brings his expertise to bear by discussing the future of bioethics and law.
Saturday’s concluding plenary sessions reflect on the future of bioethics research and its broad impact. Sessions include,
• Brent Waters, Director of the Center for Ethics and Values and Assistant Professor of Christian Social Ethics at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, will address the topic of the future of the human species. Dr. Waters will be speaking from material related to his recently published, From Human to Posthuman: Christian Theology and Technology in a Postmodern World (Ashgate, 2006).
• David Prentice, Senior Fellow for Life Sciences at the Family Research Council, will speak to the issue of the future of global bioethics. Dr. Prentice is a founding member of Do No Harm: The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics and serves as a fellow for a number of other ethics related organizations.
• Finally, C. Christopher Hook of the Mayo Clinic will be joined by our Director, C. Ben Mitchell in a closing ses- sion on the future of bioethics engagement.
For more information on our speakers, please consult our website at www.cbhd.org/conferences.
Throughout the conference a number of break-out sessions will be devoted to topic-specific networking and interest groups. This year’s networking groups will provide the opportunity to expand your social and professional contacts in the areas of: End-ofLife; Healthcare Organization and Economics; Reproductive Technologies; and Alternative and Complementary Healthcare. The Topic-Specific Interest Groups will provide for focused discussion on the cutting-edge topics of contemporary bioethics: Genetics, Neuroethics and Emerging Biotechnologies, Stem Cell Research and Cloning, and Clinical Ethics.
In addition to these top quality presentations, all participants are invited to join in a special evening commemorating 10 years of quality education through Trinity Graduate School. Participants will be treated to an outdoor evening of food and fun, culminating with live entertainment provided by the improv comedy group ComedySportz™. This event will be jointly sponsored by Trinity Graduate School, a partner of the Center in the Bioethics at Trinity initiative of Trinity International University.
As in the past few years, the Center is pleased to continue the practice of educational offerings for both continuing education credits (CME for Physicians through our relationship with CMDA, Certificate of Attendance for Nurses through our relationship with NCF, and CE units through Trinity International University) and academic credits (through Trinity International University). Continuing Education credit requests must be submitted by the end of the conference. Academic Credits (at both the undergraduate and graduate levels) may be earned through a menu of various intensive opportunities: including Wrap-Around Conference Courses (July 12-14th), Institute Courses (July 9-14th) and PostConference Seminar Courses (July 16-18th, graduate credit only). Institute and Post-Conference Seminars are taught by a national faculty of leading Christians in bioethics, which includes many of the past and present conference speakers, and may be taken with or without credit. Topics include: Intensive Bioethics Institutes (offered at both introductory and advanced levels), Bedside Caregiving, a Pre-Med/Undergraduate Institute, the Healthcare Provider and Conscience, and Remaking Humanity. For more information on these CE and Academic Credit options or to obtain Institute/Seminar syllabi, please see our information page at www. cbhd.org/conferences/2007 or contact us at 1.888.246.3844. For your convenience you may register either by phone or through our website www.cbhd.org.
Finally, July is an exciting time to be in the greater Chicagoland area, marked with some of our best weather days of the year. Located on Trinity International University’s campus, the conference is within comfortable driving distance to all of the great museums, shopping and entertainment venues that Chicago has to offer. More locally, the Northern Suburbs surrounding Trinity offer the opportunity for strolling through the stunning Chicago Botanic Gardens, a quiet afternoon in the historic Village of Long Grove, or relaxing under the stars of a concert at Ravinia (including Chicago Symphony Orchestra performances of a number of Mozart’s Concertos and Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto).
We look forward to seeing each of you this July.
