This seminar explores the possible benefits of using illegal drugs as medical treatments. As the name implies, we will discuss marijuana but also a plethora of other drugs that are not at the forefront of medicinal discussion.
This seminar encourages discussion around early childhood development and how technology - in particular, technology involving screens - affects both children and parents.
This seminar explores family leave policies in all its forms. How does family leave policy in the U.S. compare to other countries? What does family leave look like across socioeconomic status? How should family leave policy respond to the changing workforce? Should men receive it as well? This seminar explores what is and what could be.
Food deserts refer to communities, typically in pouring neighborhoods, where there is limited access to low cost, healthy food.
In October 2009, New York Times reporters Tara Siegel Bernard and Ron Lieber compared a hypothetical married couple with an equivalent-earning unmarried gay couple, to see just how much difference those extra privileges made. Here's what they found: In our worst case, the couple's lifetime cost of being gay was $467,562. But the number fell to $41,196 in the best case for a couple with significantly better health insurance, plus lower taxes and other costs. This is unfair. The solution? Bernard and Lieber argue that "the federal government [should legalize] same-sex marriage." But in fact, legalizing gay marriage only solves the problem for a few. Many more single people (gay and straight)—more than half of the population—continue to suffer from institutionalized singlism, the discrimination of individuals based on marital status.
Explore the role of media and photography in perception of war.
In this seminar, we will explore the historic relationship between the US and Russia and discuss events such as the annexation of Crimea.
After one of the most divisive elections in American history, people are wildly polarized in their politics. People are hurt and upset by the opinions and decisions of the people they consider close. It is not healthy nor productive for us as a society to shun others' ideas or write them off as monsters. Instead, we need to be able to talk with the people we care about most about the issues of our time. The real test is understanding what topics should be discussed and how to talk about them with respect for all participants. We want to be capable of holding true to our political stances without losing the people we love.
The United States is known to have one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. Our recidivism rate is also astounding, a recent report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics concluded that inmates released from state prisons have a five year recidivism rate of 76.6%. Why is the US criminal justice system such an anomaly in the world? And what can be done to change this?
We will discuss these questions in general, and any specificity of your own university’s governance is welcome. However, for the purpose of a degree of commonality, let’s talk about this with a particular look at what happened at UVa two years ago (readings attached). The intention of our discussion is to not talk about UVa, but rather consider it a case of the broader seminar on the role of a public university.
Autonomous vehicles hold great promise for society. But there are also risks and ethical questions. This topic explores the societal implications and hurdles, the regulatory environment, the moral implications of the "trolley problem", the social dilemma created by these technologies, and the value (or range of values) of a human life.
Stem cell research has been exploding in the 21st century as a new medium to understand and manipulate the human body for therapy and development. In the field of regenerative medicine, there are a number of ethical limitations that prevent the onset of future research. In the past, there was a high focus on the use of embryonic stem cells. However, we are at a period of large scientific growth privately, which has caused a new set of developments in human-animal chimera. These technologies are designed specifically to assist in the large organ shortage issue, but can have major implications and unintended consequences due to the experimental nature of the work.
With the rise in millennials using social media along with the Internet of Things (IOT) comes a massive amount of data, Big Data as it is called, to be exploited. An ethical dilemma comes into play regarding who should be able to use Big Data. Companies use it for monetization, politicians for campaigning, and terrorists for recruitment to name a few. Where do we, the users, fall into all of this?
Americans have been divided over the U.S. Draft for decades. Even though no American male has been drafted since 1973, the U.S. Selective Service has been under scrutiny in the 21st century for its exclusion of women. In an era where the nature if war is different than ever before and women are serving in more and more roles previously excluded to them, we will discuss if any reforms to the Selective Service System are required and what including women in the draft would mean for not only the Armed Forces, but American society as a whole.