Tuskegee, AL (December 14, 2016) -- The National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care (National Bioethics Center) at Tuskegee University has partnered with Concordia College Alabama of Selma to offer a hybrid course (in the traditional classroom and virtually) in Special Topics in Bioethics and Research Ethics to undergraduate and graduate students around the world, and for adult education credits to residents of Macon and Dallas County.
Brian Johnson, PhD, President of historic Tuskegee University emphasized, “The population of people of color is increasing in America but the number of persons working in public health and medical professions is not growing. This academic partnership between Concordia College and the National Bioethics Center will help to increase the number of working people of color in vulnerable communities.”
Dr. Constance Smith Hendricks, RN, FAAN, Division Chair for Health Sciences at Concordia College Alabama commented, “This Collaboration will provide the citizens as well as the Concordia College Alabama family in West Alabama an opportunity to have access to the great work being done in the National Center for Bioethics and Health Care at Tuskegee University. Working together we can narrow the knowledge divide that exists among those residing in East Alabama and those of us in West Alabama by providing ‘soul food for the whole person’. ”
Historically, Booker T. Washington, the first principal of the historic Tuskegee Institute provided counsel to Dr. Rosa J. Young, who is known as the “mother of Black Lutheranism” to help her find funding to establish Concordia College in Selma, AL. Concordia College in Selma is the only historically black college amid the ten colleges and universities in the Concordia University System. The course, PHIL 295b builds on the historic relationship between these two institutions.
PHIL 295b-Special Topics in Bioethics and Research Ethics, is a 3 credit hours course. This seminar will address topics in bioethics, public health ethics, health disparities, health equity and public health media and communications ethics. Undergraduate and graduate students who are taking the course for credit will pay Tuskegee University a fee for the 3 credit hour course. In addition, residents of all Alabama counties can take the seminar for free of charge, however, specific guidelines must be followed in order to receive a certificate for taking the course. All students must register online via the Tuskegee University website.
This course which is offered Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. CDT during the 2017 Spring semester is opened to anyone who qualifies to register for a course at Tuskegee University.The inaugural faculty for Special Topics in Bioethics is Stephen Sodeke, BA, MT(ASCP), MS, PhD, MA; Wylin Wilson, PhD, MDiv, MS; and Joan R. Harrell, DMIN, M.Div, MS. Special Topics in Bioethics includes taking a critical look at the unethical treatment of people of color, impoverished populations, religious intolerance and how fake media reports impact health disparities. For more information contact the National Bioethics Center at 334-724-4554. Registration for the course has been extended to end at close of business, Friday, January 13, 2017.
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The National Bioethics Center for Research and Health Care at Tuskegee University is the only U.S. Presidential mandated bioethics center in the United States of America.
Concordia College, one of ten postsecondary institutions in the Concordia University System of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, is a historically black, four-year, coeducational college, where the Christian faith is taught.