Academic Programs Catalog

Lyman Briggs College

Undergraduate Program

Minor in Bioethics

The Minor in Bioethics, which is administered by Lyman Briggs College, is available as an elective to students who are enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs at Michigan State University. The minor is designed to prepare students to engage with the evolving set of ethical issues in biomedicine that they will encounter in their careers or their daily lives. The minor's interdsciplinary character fosters students' abilities to understand and question health care systems from a wide variety of intellectual viewpoints. Such interdisciplinary study also promotes communication across disciplinary boundaries.

Students wishing to pursue careers in health-related fields may find the minor particularly appealing. In addition, students pursuing academic programs outside health-related fields often find that the minor complements their major. With the approval of the department and college that administer the student’s degree program, the courses that are used to satisfy the requirements for the minor may also be used to satisfy the requirements for the bachelor’s degree.

Requirements for the Minor in Bioethics

1. Both of the following courses (3 credits):
LB 240 Bioethics: Theories and Methods 2
LB 440 Bioethics Capstone 1
2. Complete 15 credits from at least four courses. No more than 8 credits may be from the same discipline. Students should work with the advisor for appropriate substitution requests. 
ANP 270 Women and Health: Anthropological and International Perspectives 3
ANP 370 Culture, Health, and Illness 3
ANP 423 Psychological Anthropology 3
ANP 425 Issues in Medical Anthropology 3
ANP 471 The Anthropology of Alternative Medicine 3
ANS 427 Environmental Toxicology and Society 3
CEP 470 Disability in a Diverse Society 3
EC 498 Economics of Health Care (W) 3
ENG 473A Literature and Medicine 3
EPI 390 Disease in Society: An Introduction to Epidemiology and Public Health 4
GEO 435 Geography of Health and Disease 3
HNF 375 Community Nutrition 3
HNF 406 Global Foods and Culture 3
HST 420 History of Sexuality since 18th Century 3
HST 425 American and European Health Care since 1800 4
KIN 445 Sport and Physical Activity in Society (W) 3
LB 324A Science and Sex, Gender, Sexuality – Arts and Humanities (W) 4
LB 324B Science and Sex, Gender, Sexuality – Social Sciences (W) 4
LB 326A Medicine and Health – Arts and Humanities (W) 4
LB 326B Medicine and Health – Social Sciences (W) 4
LB 355 Philosophy of Technology (W) 4
MC 351 Science and Social Policy 4
PHL 344 Ethical Issues in Health Care 4
PHL 380 Nature of Science 3
PHL 444 Philosophical Issues in Biomedicine 4
PHL 480 Philosophy of Science 4
PHL 485 Philosophy of Social Science 3
PSY 280 Abnormal Psychology 3
PSY 320 Health Psychology 3
REL 385 Religion, Health, and Healthcare 3
SOC 368 Science, Technology and Society 4
SOC 451 Dynamics of Population 3
SOC 475 Health and Society 3
SW 472 Social Work in Health Care 3
WS 304 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LBGTQ) and Sexuality Studies 3