Emmanuel College Newsletter from the
Values-Based Education Program Fall 2012
Note from the Editor
in this issue
Raymond J. Devettere Professor of Philosophy and Director of Values-Based Education
Failure to Translate: Can We Improve This Problem with ValuesBased Liberal Arts and Sciences Education?...................................... 2 Faith and Science at Emmanuel....... 5 Campus Ministry: A Precious Value ............................ 6 Teaching Bioethics in a Catholic College.............................. 7 A Personal Reflection on Four Years at Emmanuel College........... 11
Contact: Raymond J. Devettere Department of Philosophy Emmanuel College 400 The Fenway Boston, MA 02115 valuesnews@emmanuel.edu
Welcome to the sixth annual edition of the Values-Based Education Newsletter. Our feature article this year is the important and thoughtful piece by our Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Joyce De Leo, entitled “Failure to Translate.” She reminds us that the major value of medical research, especially the research sponsored by the federally-funded National Institutes of Health, is finding ways to help people live better lives by discovering new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat disease, disability and discomfort. Drawing on her experience as a researcher at Dartmouth Medical School, Dr. De Leo underscores the need for future scientists to begin absorbing a strong valuecentered ethical framework in their undergraduate years. In her view, the goal of publishing scientific results is not prestige, funding, tenure or promotion, but actually providing something important that will “translate” into helping people. All too often, she finds, this is not the case. For example, in some areas of research (on cancer, pain and neurodegenerative diseases), many treatments based on animal models “have been very disappointing,” yet many academic scientists continue to do them despite a history showing they do not translate well into human benefit. This suggests that some established standard experiments using and destroying animals should be challenged for ethical as well as scientific reasons. Her article highlights the importance of integrating ethics with scientific courses beginning at the undergraduate level. This, of course, is one aspect of what we try to do in our science courses at Emmanuel. Another article of importance is “Faith and Science,” a balanced approach to the ongoing faith and reason, science and religion debate. This article was written by Jon Paul Sydnor, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies. Universities established in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition have almost always welcomed science—Newtonian physics, evolution, relativity, quantum physics, genetics, neuroscience and so forth—as showing us important ways to understand creation. Also in this issue, Reverend John P. Spencer, S.J., our College Chaplain, and Samantha Ford, a member of the Class of 2012, share their thoughts about Emmanuel and its mission from two perspectives. Finally the issue contains a reflection on the unique and important role of bioethics courses at a Catholic college. Enjoy!
Ray Devettere