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 interdisciplinary 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. Students are able to declare the minor upon completion of LB 240 by contacting the Lyman Briggs College.

Requirements for the Minor in Bioethics

1. The following course (2 credits):
LB 240 Bioethics: Theories and Methods 2
2. One of the following courses (4 credits):
LB 326A Medicine and Health - Arts and Humanities (W) 4
LB 326B Medicine and Health - Social Sciences (W) 4
PHL 344 Ethics Issues in Health Care 4
3. 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. Courses used in Requirement 2. cannot be applied to these 15 credits.
ANP 270 Women and Health: Anthropological and International Perspectives 3
ANP 370 Culture, Health, and Illness 3
ANP 425 Issues in Medical Anthropology 3
ANS 427 Environmental Toxicology and Society (W) 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 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 480 Philosophy of Science 4
PSY 280 Psychological Disorders 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