Lilly grants have funded two related projects. The first brought together a group of scholars in 1991-92 to explore the role of religious belief in American moral discourse and the development of a new research paradigm that combined ethnographic description with normative assessment. The successor project, "Religion, Morality and the Professions in America," continued that line of inquiry, sponsoring a three-year seminar whose participants conducted independent research in business, law, journalism, medicine and scientific research.
The current project's co-investigators will conduct two studies. David H. Smith's work will consist of a theologically informed critique of the ethos of physicians in general medical practice and other professionals. Smith will interview health care providers and members of the clergy, seeking information about the roles played by religious or spiritual beliefs and professional values as adult patients confront death. Also of interest will be the impact on care providers of patients' beliefs.
In the second study, Richard B. Miller, Religious Studies, will examine the moral culture of pediatric care, drawing from fieldwork in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and research in medical and professional ethics. His study will focus on the extent to which professionals go beyond treating the physical trauma of accident or illness and attend to the religious and psychological dimensions of recovery and reconstruction in the face of life-shattering catastrophes.
Finally, Smith and Miller have assembled a group of eight scholars in theological ethics and medical ethics who will meet as a continuing seminar to review their research projects. In addition, each seminar participant will contribute an essay to a collection of papers related to the renewal of theologically informed professional ethics.
The group met for the first time in October to hear preliminary status reports on Smith and Miller's research projects. Each participant presented preliminary thoughts on essay topics for the proposed book. Seminar members are John Barbour, Religion, St. Olaf College; Courtney Campbell, Philosophy, Oregon State University; Paul Lauritzen, Religious Studies, John Carroll University; Gilbert Meilaender, Theology, Valparaiso University; Margaret Mohrman, Pediatrics, University of Virginia; Ann Mongoven, Religious Studies, IU; Louis Newman, Religion, Carleton College; and Allen Verhey, Religion, Hope College.
Our new home is a three-story Queen Anne frame house, c. 1910, which must have been a distinguished residence in its day. When we first saw it, however, it was in a sad state. The front porch was dominated by a massive air conditioning unit on a metal stand. Inside, the compressor sprouted a Rube Goldberg network of exposed ductwork covered with fraying quilted silver insulation that arced over the Coke machine. The ceilings were stained acoustical tile, supporting antiquated fluorescent fixtures, and conduit snaked over almost all the walls. Broken spindles left gaps in the handsome staircase.
Under these unfortunate alterations, however, the house retained distinguished elements. The foyer boasted glowing cherry paneling; the dining room, also panelled, had a graceful curved bay window with a built-in window seat; the parlor's handsome pocket doors were intact. And, like many old houses, 618 offered some wonderful surprises. Removing the carpet revealed parquet floors in all of the first floor rooms. Best of all, when the acoustical tiles were pulled off in the parlor, a spectacular coffered walnut ceiling miraculously appeared.
The house has ghosts. Badly charred rafters attest to a long-ago fire, and patched floors suggest vanished closets. Broken linoleum in a small second floor office reveals hexagonal white ceramic tiles, suggesting the room once may have been a bathroom. Among the pigeon skeletons and other debris, contractors have unearthed some allusive artifacts -- a cancelled $2 check, dated 1941 and drawn on a North Carolina bank; cork-lined pop bottle caps labeled "Red Lightning Cream Soda" and "Sunshine Imitation Orange Soda"; and tobacco tins bearing 2-cent tax stamps dated 1910.
The university has owned the house for thirty years or more. Professor Robert Borkenstein is said to have invented the Breathalyzer in the basement laboratory when it housed Police Administration. Earlier still, the campus elders allege, Wendell Willkie resided at 618 while an IU student.
We are trying to track the pre-IU history of the house. The entry floor offers one tantalizing clue -- ceramic tiles in white, blue and rust that form the letter "R." Demolition turned up an oak board with the pencilled name "S. K. Rhover, Bloomington, Ind." Does "R" stand for "Rhover"? Was S. K. the original owner?
The university is doing a first-rate job of restoring the house to the appearance it deserves. We are very excited about the prospect of becoming this gracious building's next tenants.
Faculty members who know how to resolve conflict at an early stage have a much better chance of retaining good students and preventing misconduct and allegations of misconduct in their departments.
In a seminar that will accompany this year's workshop on "Teaching Research Ethics," faculty members will participate in facilitated discussions about specific areas of possible conflict using video vignettes as conversation triggers and will learn interest-based approaches and skills for negotiation and conflict resolution and establishing collectively agreed-upon departmental understandings of mutual expectations and responsibilities.
The seminar leader will be Karen Klomparens, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, Michigan State University (MSU). Dr. Klomparens worked with John Beck of the School of Labor and Industrial Relations at MSU to develop this approach with funding from the Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-secondary Education (FIPSE) and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
The seminar will meet on Saturday, June 27, on the Bloomington campus of Indiana University; lunch is included. It will be the final session of the fifth annual TRE Workshop, but workshop attendance is not required to attend this seminar. The registration fee is $15 (waived for TRE participants).
A second presentation the same day will feature "Model Curricula in Research Ethics." No fee will be charged for participating in this session, but advance registration is required for both sessions.
The TRE workshop, directed by Research Associate Kenneth D. Pimple, is designed to enable science faculty to incorporate research ethics into their graduate courses. The 1998 workshop will convene June 24-27.
Last year's workshop was a resounding success. The 1997 event was the first workshop organized without funding from FIPSE, which supported the program for its first three years. The 1997 workshop was financed through workshop fees and support from the university members of the Committee for Institutional Cooperation. The 1997 TRE workshop drew a capacity crowd of participants from 16 states (mostly in the Midwest, but also Texas and Alaska), Canada, Mexico and Norway.
Details on the 1998 TRE workshop and the two Saturday meetings, including the exact workshop schedule, can be found at the TRE home page (http://www.indiana.edu/~poynter/tre.html). If you want to be added to the TRE mailing list and receive a flier, notify program director Ken Pimple, 410 N. Park Ave., Bloomington, IN 47405; 812/855-0261; fax 812/855-3315; pimple@indiana.edu.
Although the subject seems heavy and difficult, the project has been a wonderful experience. We cannot overstate the generosity of our respondents, who shared the most moving stories with remarkable candor and grace.
We summarize with great trepidation; it's difficult to generalize from a sample of 26, which constitutes less than 1 percent of Paoli's total population and makes no pretense of representativeness. (We should note that we defined the study's geographical limits to include the neighboring communities of Orleans, Mitchell, French Lick and Pumpkin Center -- an area Ken Pimple describes as "Greater Paoli.")
Our respondents' accounts reflect the dramatic changes in dying wrought by medical advances during this century. Many recalled a time when dying was domestic and familiar, when people usually died at home without much help from medicine. Now, people all too often face wrenching decisions about terminating treatment. They described great reticence toward discussing death with their loved ones, which may help to account for the lack of advance directives.
Most of our respondents found support through caring and practical help from their community, particularly their churches. Many commented that this help may be more forthcoming in a small town like Paoli than in a city. Almost without exception, they attested to the comfort provided by religious belief, and they reported reliance on professionals, including health care givers and funeral directors.
Most dreaded was a lingering death; our respondents resisted the idea of nursing home placement for themselves or loved ones. Their negative feelings about nursing homes seemed to stem from the idea that they represented the family's inability to care for the dying person at home.
Although our respondents reported their reluctance to discuss death, it seemed to us that they would welcome opportunities to initiate this discussion, perhaps through their churches. Hospice, new to the community, may help improve the experience of death, building on the conviction expressed by many respondents that "Death is a part of life." Finally, we concluded that it is important to preserve Paoli's sense of community, continuity and rootedness -- bulwarks in times of bereavement.
The one-year project was financed by a grant from the Open Society Institute's Project on Death in America.
The meeting's keynote speaker will be Harold Shapiro, President of Princeton University. His topic will be "Ethical Systems and Public Policy: The National Bioethics Advisory Committee Experience." William F. May, Director, Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, Southern Methodist University, will be the guest speaker at the Friday evening banquet. May's topic will be "Money and the Professions."
Another meeting highlight will be a plenary session on Sidgwick's Practical Ethics, introducing APPE's Oxford University Press Series on Practical and Professional Ethics. The session will be convened by Sissela Bok, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. Presenters will be Michael Pritchard, Western Michigan University; Michael Davis, Illinois Institute of Technology; and Karen Hanson, Indiana University.
Of interest to Annual Meeting participants is a one-day conference scheduled for Wednesday, February 25, sponsored by the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility at Southern Methodist University. "The Ethics of Contract and Other Promises" will convene on the SMU campus, about fifteen minutes from downtown Dallas. Annual Meeting participants may attend the conference free of charge. Pre-registration is required one month in advance. For information, contact the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, PO Box 750316, Dallas, TX 75275-0316; phone 214/768-4225; fax 214/768-3391.
On Thursday morning, fourteen college and university teams from all over the country will compete in The Fourth Intercollegiate Ethics BowlSM, which is funded by Sears, Roebuck and Co.'s Office of Ethics and Business Policy. Competitors are California State University Chico, Dartmouth College, DeKalb Community College, DePaul University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Loyola University Chicago, Manhattan College, University of Montana, Ouachita Baptist University, St. Petersburg Community College, Texas A&M, Texas Wesleyan University, Western Michigan University and US Air Force Academy.
To enter a team or to obtain more information about Ethics BowlSM, contact Robert Ladenson, Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL 60616; phone (312) 567-3474; Fax (312) 567-3016; E-mail: ladenson@charlie. cns.iit.edu; World Wide Web: http://www.iit.edu/~csep. Deadline for team applications is January 15, 1998.
APPE activities will kick off Thursday afternoon with a colloquium for directors of ethics centers and their representatives, planned by Vivian Weil. The discussion willl focus on "Acquiring Resources and Defnining a Mission." Concurrent sessions on Friday and Saturday will focus on a variety of topics designed to appeal to academics and practitioners. Receiving attention this year, among other issues, will be managed care, civility in the academy, ethics education in architecture, ethical communication, research ethics, and religion and ethics.
The meeting will continue several popular features from past years. Members may sign up for Breakfast with an Author on Friday and Saturday mornings. This event provides an opportunity for informal discussion with authors who have recently published books. The Resource Room will display the wares of 20 to 30 publishers; books on display will again be sold at the end of the event.
For information on the program, accommodations and logistics for APPE's Annual Meeting, contact APPE, 410 N. Park Ave., Bloomington, IN 47405; 812/855-6450; FAX 812/855-3315; Internet: appe@indiana.edu; http://php.ucs.indiana.edu/~appe/home.html.
A native of St. Louis, she received her bachelor's degree in telecommunications from Indiana University and her master's degree in communications studies and film studies from the University of Iowa. She has been working on a PhD in comparative literature and film studies at Indiana University.
Outside the work day, Millie plays jazz piano and practices hatha yoga. With her husband Bill Elliott, who is a senior communications specialist in financial management systems at IU (technical writing and web design) , she enjoys ballroom dancing. The Elliotts have been known to enter a competition or two, but not lately. (No time.) Millie and Bill share their home with two cats and a house plant garden that includes a blooming jade plant -- a rarity for these latitudes.
Former APPE assistant Kimberly Hurley is applying to the master's degree program in speech and language pathology at IU. Kim had begun coursework while still at APPE. While pursuing her graduate degree, she is working part-time as a career counselor in the Placement Office of the E. W. Kelley School of Business.
Senior Scholar Roger Dworkin's book, Limits: The Role of the Law in Bioethical Decision Making, published this year by Indiana University Press, has received favorable reviews in the Times Literary Supplement and the Phi Beta Kappa Key Reporter. The Press recently informed us that Limits has been selected as a recipient of the Choice Outstanding Book Award for 1997.
Former Research Associate William Meyer has moved from the Great White North to the Volunteer State. Bill has left Concordia College in Morehead, Minnesota, where he has been teaching since leaving Bloomington. He has been appointed Assistant Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Maryville College, Maryville, Tennessee. Bill reports that he, wife Cindy and son Robby are adjusting well to their move south.
Former graduate assistant Amy Andrews and her husband Brett Robbins welcomed Luke Andrew Robbins in September. The Robbins have been living in Rochester, New York, where Brett has completed a combined residency program in pediatrics and internal medicine at the University of Rochester and Amy has been teaching school.
The special edition of the newsletter is available free of charge and may be ordered by contacting Ann Krueger (541-737-5648; kruegera@ucs.orst.edu) or Courtney Campbell (541-737-6196; campbell@orst.edu).
You can find the Poynter Center and all its works at http://www.indiana.edu/~poynter/index.html.
As we go to press, plans for next semester's seminar series are under way. Leading off the spring lineup is Peter Cherbas, Biology, who will discuss "When Understanding Is Demonized in the Name of a Good Cause: Thoughts Stimulated by Some Reactions to Research in Human Genetics" (January 12). His presentation will be followed by as-yet untitled sessions: James Wall, Editor, The Christian Century (February 8); Steve Stowe, History (March 11); and Terry Dworkin, Business Law (March 25).
Also scheduled are two public lectures. Yale Kamisar, Clarence Darrow Distinguished University Professor, University of Michigan Law School, will discuss "Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: The Significance of the Heart-Wrenching Case" on March 5; Frederick Mark Gedicks, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, will discuss " 'No Man's Land': The Place of Latter-day Saints in the Culture Wars" on April 15.
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