Debating Science Courses

The Debating Science courses formally begin with the workshop in Missoula and continue throughout the fall of 2008 online. At the workshop, participants will be treated to talks by leading scientists and ethicists in the areas of nanotechnology, biotechnology and climate change. In addition, the course instructors (Bendick, Preston and Scott) will meet with students in a seminar format to introduce them to the Online Deliberation Center (ODC), essentially a web-based tool for facilitating deliberation over policy issues.   Students will leave Missoula familiar with this new technology and the goals of this project.  Perhaps most importantly, participant will interact and make friends with a wide variety of graduate students from around the country who are interested in the ethical implications of science.
The three Debating Science courses take place throughout the fall on the Online Deliberation Center (ODC). One of the goals of this project is to test the ODC as an educational tool. During the first year of this project we gained many insights into how to make the ODC a useful educational tool. During the second year we will implement and test many new features and instructional techniques.

This technology creates exciting new possibilities for cooperative, democratic deliberations between people with different areas of expertise located at universities across the country. Working on the ODC provides participants with the opportunity to reflect on the ethical and social contexts for research. This project is designed to provide graduate students with the unique opportunity to step back and look at the bigger picture.

In order for this project to be successful, participants must commit to consistent participation. This means reading assigned articles, conducting research, and working online with their cohort every week. Over the course of the term participants will regularly log on to the ODC to discuss issues and collaborate in writing analyses and recommendations. Commitment to regular participation by all participants is essential to the success of this project. All students who are accepted into this program must take the course for credit and grade.

"I was very impressed with my fellow participants
and I look forward to interacting with them
over the coming semester and beyond"

Course Instructors

(Workshop speakers —professors Colvin, Thompson, Raymond, etc.—are scheduled to make guest appearances during the online portion of the courses)

Practical Reason and the Climate Change Debate

Rebecca Bendick is Assistant Professor of Geophysics at The University of Montana. Her primary scientific interest is neotectonics, which generates interactions with government and community groups regarding earthquake hazard assessment and planning, most recently with the Higher Education Commission and Army of Pakistan. She has participated in a range of scientific outreach programs, including earthquake education materials in Pakistan and Nepal, science television documentaries with the BBC and the Discovery Channel, and radio journalism with the BBC World Service. She teaches, speaks, and writes on communicating science to nonscientists, so that they may make informed decisions based on tested data. Finally, she teaches an undergraduate course at The University of Montana called ‘Science and Society’ which explores the interactions of scientific and social information in human communities.

Practical Reason and the Agricultural Biotechnology Debate

Dane Scott is Director of the Center for Ethics at The University of Montana and Associate Professor of Environmental Studies. He became interested in debates over science and technology while studying the international debate over genetically modified organisms. Since 2001, these studies have produced several publications and professional presentations in the United States and Europe. Dr. Scott is currently completing a book dealing with practical reasoning, precaution and the biotechnology debate. These interests also led Dr. Scott to team-teach a course on ethics and biotechnology with biologist Jim Costa. In addition, Dr. Scott has taught several courses on practical reasoning and ethical dialogue, including a graduate course at the University of Montana focusing on ethical reasoning and the biotechnology debate in 2006. Dr. Scott holds a B.S. in Soil Science from the University of California at Riverside, an MA from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Vanderbilt University. When not working, Scott is out riding his mountain bike, skiing, hiking or climbing in the beautiful mountains surrounding Missoula.

Practical Reason and the Nanotechnology Debate

Christopher Preston is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at The University of Montana and a Fellow at the Center for Ethics. He teaches classes in ethics and environmental ethics to majors from all across campus.  In his previous position at the University of South Carolina, he participated in an initiative to investigate the societal and ethical dimensions of nanotechnology. He also worked there with marine scientists to bring ethical and cultural consideration into their scientific research.  As part of the New Directions Initiative now based at the University of North Texas, he traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia to map the Neva River from multiple disciplinary perspectives.  He has just finished a biography of environmental philosopher Holmes Rolston III, charting his views on the intersection of science, ethics, and religion.  His comfort level at the intersection of science and ethics recently led to him being solicited to edit the ethics chapter in a popular environmental science textbook widely used both in the United States and overseas.  Dr. Preston has also worked many summers outside of his academic environment in the fishing, park, and conservation industries in Alaska, giving him a fairly unique hands-on perspective relative to other philosophers.  Each of these experiences gives him good preparation in how to teach ethical concepts to non-philosophers.