our genes: our choice

From the advent of stem cell research to the ethical implications of imposing Western-style medicine in the developing world, bioethics is and will continue to be a subject of primal importance for both the public and specialists in the field. University curricula seldom regard these issues as important for students who will become the next generation of lawyers, doctors, legislators, and professionals; those who will be bound to face, not just the bioethical challenges of today, but the increasing complexity of tomorrow.

Throughout this conference, students from across North America will engage with these issues with the hope of effecting some change in their understanding of bioethics. As some have invoked Dante’s remark, “a mighty flame follows a tiny spark.” We hope to inspire those of you attending to return to your home universities and continue to engage these challenging issues, to bring forth others into the fray as you, not the nameless They, wrestle to define the boundaries and topology of the future bioethical landscape.

Through an array of diverse approaches, we hope to engage you in current issues in bioethics as they ppaly to your professional and personal lives. Lectures will convey broader critical issues, while panel discussions and discussion groups will allow interaction between you and those who, in their own professional lives, are making the societal decisions that you may eventually make. It is a dialogue between those who do and those who will do.

If you are excited about impacting the way some of the today’s most important societal issues will play out over the course of your lives, if you are someone who would rather act upon and contribute to the society in which you live rather than be told how things will operate, if you are someone who believes in the power of the individual to effect change, then come together with others like you and take a step into the future that you will create. In the end, it’s your choice to make.

Sincerely,


Michael Hunter