Hastings Center News
Playing God: From Frankenstein to Gene Editing
What lessons does Frankenstein hold for us today, when powerful new technologies such as gene editing and artificial intelligence are bringing us closer than ever to playing God? That question...Bioethics Forum Essay
The Lady Writer and the Valkyrie: Magda Szabo’s Novel The Door
An old woman desperately needs medical attention. Yet she fiercely refuses every offer of help from friends, neighbors, and the local doctor. No one will get past her door, she...Read “The Lady Writer and the Valkyrie: Magda Szabo’s Novel The Door”
Hastings Center News
In New Frankenstein Edition, Hastings Scholar Asks, What Do We Owe Our Creations?
What do scientists and engineers owe to their creations? What responsibility do they bear for harms that their creations cause? How does being responsible for our creations change us? These...Read “In New Frankenstein Edition, Hastings Scholar Asks, What Do We Owe Our Creations?”
Bioethics Forum Essay
Should We Get Ready for Prime Time?
For the first few years after my husband Howard died, I talked to him often. These were not ghostly, paranormal encounters; I was just thinking out loud about my life...Hastings Center News
Hastings Scholar on Public Radio’s “Science Friday”: “Frankenstein” at 200
Frankenstein, published 200 years ago this month, asked what it means to be human. In the age of CRISPR and artificial intelligence, that question endures. On Public Radio International’s “Science...Read “Hastings Scholar on Public Radio’s “Science Friday”: “Frankenstein” at 200”
Hastings Center News
Documentary Series Premiere on Genetic Medicine Features Hastings Scholars
Hastings Center president Mildred Z. Solomon and director of research Josephine Johnston were featured speakers at the premiere screening of The Code, a series of three documentaries on the origins...Read “Documentary Series Premiere on Genetic Medicine Features Hastings Scholars”
Hastings Center News
What Can Frankenstein Teach Us About Living in the Genetics Age?
Join us to mark the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein with a panel discussion that will explore the novel from the perspectives of bioethics, literary criticism, and science...Read “What Can Frankenstein Teach Us About Living in the Genetics Age?”
Bioethics Forum Essay
What Dr. Seuss Saw at the Golden Years Clinic
“Improving patient experience” has become the mantra of many health care facilities in a highly competitive and regulated environment. But just what is it about the patient experience that needs...Bioethics Forum Essay
Rationality as Understood by a Neanderthal
The new indie movie William explores the question, What would it be like if a Neanderthal were born and raised in a modern, industrialized society today?Hastings Center News
National Endowment for the Humanities Supports New Hastings Center Project on Disability, Technology, and Flourishing
Through a series of public events featuring writers, scholars, and artists with disabilities, the project will explore how technologies can be used to promote or thwart human flourishing.Hastings Center News
December 3–Belonging: On Disability, Technology, and Community
Read “December 3–Belonging: On Disability, Technology, and Community”
Hastings Center News
Yes, We’re Animals: Why We Should Face Up to This Reality Now
In an age of new biotechnologies, from gene editing to neural enhancement, is there a tension in the idea that humans have special value because they’re somehow different or exceptional in nature? Dwelling on the idea that there’s something extraordinary about being human – and ignoring our kinship with life on our planet – is becoming a problem, says Melanie Challenger, an award-winning British writer and a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics who has been a visiting scholar at The Hastings Center in November.Read “Yes, We’re Animals: Why We Should Face Up to This Reality Now”
Bioethics Forum Essay
Quixote Reimagined: Magical Realism Meets the Opioid Epidemic
Read “Quixote Reimagined: Magical Realism Meets the Opioid Epidemic”
Hastings Center News
Award-Winning Essay: Technology Can’t Fix Algorithmic Injustice
The Hastings Center is pleased to announce the winner of the 2020 David Roscoe Award for an Early-Career Essay on Science, Ethics, and Society.Read “Award-Winning Essay: Technology Can’t Fix Algorithmic Injustice”
Hastings Center News
What Does It Mean to Move Through the World with a Disability?
The answer to that question is not straightforward, as was made vivid in “Navigating: On Disability, Technology, and Experiencing the World,” a recent virtual event. It was the second in...Read “What Does It Mean to Move Through the World with a Disability?”
Hastings Center News
Call for Nominations: 2021 David Roscoe Award for an Early-Career Scholar’s Essay on Science, Ethics, and Society
Artificial intelligence, Crispr gene editing, and other powerful new technologies have profound implications for society. They will likely bring both potential benefits and safety concerns and have other ethical and...Hastings Center News
Michele Moody-Adams Elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Hastings Center board member Michele Moody-Adams was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. She is the Joseph Straus Professor of Political Philosophy and Legal Theory at Columbia...Read “Michele Moody-Adams Elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences”
Hastings Center News
Disability as Metaphor
A new article in English Literary History by Liz Bowen, the Rice Family Fellow in Bioethics and the Humanities at The Hastings Center, explores the use of metaphors characterizing disability....Bioethics Forum Essay
Contemporary Circus Draws on Ethics to Support Diversity
Even though the circus exists in the same world as theater and movies, it has been largely exempt from public criticism, apart from accusations of animal cruelty. But under the broad rubric of “contemporary circus,” this familiar entertainment genre is distancing itself from its past and creating a new and vibrant art form. And underlying this transformation is an ethical commitment to social justice, inclusion, and equity.Read “Contemporary Circus Draws on Ethics to Support Diversity”
Hastings Center News
Roscoe Award for Early-Career Scholar’s Essay on Science, Ethics, & Society
Artificial intelligence, gene editing, and other powerful new technologies have profound implications for society. They will likely bring both potential benefits and safety concerns and have other ethical and social...Read “Roscoe Award for Early-Career Scholar’s Essay on Science, Ethics, & Society”
