New York University’s Master’s program in Bioethics: Life, Health, and Environment examines value issues in both health and environment with special attention to their mutual relevance and illumination. Students may choose to follow a health track or an environment track but in both cases they will receive training in a broader Bioethics whose theories and applications encompass life in all its forms. Based in the Graduate School of Arts and Science, the Program draws on courses and faculty in Philosophy, Environmental Studies, Law, Sociology, Anthropology, Medicine, Global Health, and Public Policy. Below is a description of why the program is well-suited for students interested in pursuing the Environment Track of the Bioethics MA Program.

 

What is the Environment Track?

 

The Environment Track of the Bioethics MA emphasizes interdisciplinary study of ethical issues surrounding the environment including climate change ethics, distribution of resources and environmental policy. The program offers comprehensive training in the foundations of bioethics while giving students and professionals in environment-related fields the flexibility to focus on in-depth study in their area of interest through a wide array of electives with faculty from across the University.

 

During their electives, students will explore questions such as:

-      What matters morally and why?

-      What kinds of ethical issues, including compensation, adaptation, and mitigation, arise due to climate change?

-      How are corporate responsibility and environmental injustice related?

-          What are the environmental health consequences of war?

-          What special moral considerations arise with non-human animals?

-          How does culture influence our understanding of “nature” and the environment?

 

Students can also choose to complete a practicum with an environmental organization in the community.  The experience will allow them to deepen their understanding of bioethics by exploring ethical issues as realized and experienced in the field.  For example, students may choose to:

-          Intern with groups setting policy targets for New York City’s air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

-          Intern with environmental justice groups, observing how environmental topics are prioritized, framed, and responded to.

     For more information about the NYU Bioethics Program, please visit http://bioethics.as.nyu.edu/page/graduate.