Assigned readings will be either be linked in the class schedule below or posted on Go Post.

If you are unable to access Go Post, email dbassett@u.washington.edu.

This course is part of Nano-ethics on the World Wide Web: Helping Faculty Enhance Graduate Education (EESE 07-541) a project funded by the National Science Foundation to develop nanoethics educational materials for graduate students. This project will involve developing a comprehensive, multifaceted web resource for faculty to utilize in incorporating social and ethical issues in nanotechnology (SEIN).  The goals of the project are to:

• Bring awareness to the importance of ethics training for the emerging nanotechnology workforce,
• Provide faculty with free access to instructional materials available in multiple formats,
• Encourage graduate students to gain an appreciation of the application of ethics training in their everyday research activities as well as the larger implications of their research, and
• Provide a centralized resource for nano-ethics teaching materials.

A comprehensive web resource of existing nanoethics materials, coupled with a large symposium planned for September 2009 and the development of case studies will provide faculty with a new perspective on nanotechnology ethics in the development of professional skills to share with their graduate students. The web resource will generate long-term improvement in ethics education for graduate students in multiple ways. This resource can be utilized by institutions nationally in providing them with a variety of ways to incorporate nano-ethics training.  The presentations at the proposed conference will be recorded and edited to create short 15 minute modules on a subject that can be downloaded or streamed from an internet site.  The nanoethics course will focus on the development of case studies of nanotechnology ethics in order to develop real world situations that graduate students may be confronted with in the course of their research. These case studies will be made available for faculty and students to access online.