Bioethics and Infectious Disease

Harvard HMS

This course will cover selected topics related to bioethics and infectious disease. Drawing upon historical and contemporary examples of disease outbreaks in the US and abroad, we will consider how concepts like beneficence, human dignity, utility, individual liberty, solidarity, and equality inform decision-making with respect to individual wellbeing and population health. We will pay particular attention to the unique feature of contagion and examine how it generates complex and distinct…