Welcome!
Instructor: Carina Fourie
Contact Details: Use Canvas Inbox
Class times & location: TTH 12.30-2.20pm in FTR 106
Student hours: TUE 2.15-3.15pm SAV 389; WED 2.15-3.15pm ZOOM
What Is This Course About?
How should we respond to vaccine hesitancy?
Does the United States have obligations towards the health of people in the Global South?
Which health inequalities are unjust and why?
These are the kinds of questions we will explore together in the course.
Public health ethics examines the conceptual and normative dimensions of health interventions and policies that affect populations. Taking a philosophical approach, the course explores how core concepts - such as population, health, and health inequity - should be understood, and how ethical problems in public health ought to be assessed and addressed. Topics include ethical challenges related to disabilities, racial injustice in health outcomes, vaccine hesitancy and public health misinformation, the allocation of scarce health resources, environmental ethics, and HIV/AIDS policy and stigma in global health.
What You’ll Gain
By the end of the course, you’ll have developed:
Knowledge of:
- key concepts and debates central to public health ethics
- theories of justice and injustice as they apply to public health issues
Skills of:
- Ethical reasoning: Analyze and evaluate public health ethics arguments and policies
- Philosophical thinking: Clarify concepts, challenge assumptions, and build strong arguments
- Communication: Express ethical perspectives clearly in writing and discussion
- In-depth reading and writing: Engage with philosophical texts and write persuasively about ethical conflicts.
Course Overview
Week 1: Foundations - Public, Health, Ethics (Mar 30-Apr 5)
Week 2: Foundations - Public, Health, Ethics (Apr 6-12)
Week 3: Health inequities & theories of injustice (April 13-19)
Week 4: Health interventions & AI (April 20-26)
Week 5: Black Health (April 27-May 3)
Week 6: Vaccine Hesitancy & Misinformation (May 4-10)
Week 7: Social & Individual Responsibility for Health (May 11-17)
Week 8: In-Class Essay & Environmental Ethics (May 18-24)
Weeks 9-10: Global Health, HIV-AIDs & In-Class Essay (May 25-June 7)
Grading
The final grade you will receive depends on two aspects:
1. The additive total:
You will receive points that add up to 32:
- Reading responses & in-class worksheets: 13 points
- Essays: 15
- Writing journal & portfolio: 3 (with possibility of extra credit)
- Syllabus quiz: 1
Your final score will be converted to a grade on a 4.0 scale, so long as you also fulfill the writing credit requirements. According to the scale, 95% and above is a 4.0. 62% is 0.7 and the pass threshold. The grading scale will be posted on Canvas under the “finals week” module.
2. The writing credit requirements:
As successfully completing this course automatically leads to a writing credit, additional writing requirements need to be achieved to receive a passing grade. To achieve the writing credit, in conjunction with a passing score based on the additive total, you must submit three essays (out of four), the writing journal & portfolio, and at least 8 credit-worthy reading responses (out of a total of 16).
Graduates
For graduate philosophy students, your grade will be based on points out of 100. The primary assignment for the course will be a 3000–4000 word term paper with a deadline in finals week. You will also be assigned points for reading responses and in-class work, and writing a draft term paper.
• Reading responses & in-class work: 13
• Draft term paper: 35
• Term paper: 52
Please contact me to discuss your assignments in more detail.
Course Participation
This course requires in-depth discussion and engagement with the readings and with other students' experiences and perspectives. It also requires submitting reading responses in-person along with in-class worksheets and two in-class essays. For this reason, you are expected to attend and participate in classes.
Of course, I recognize that over the quarter “life happens” and students may need to miss a few days of class. For this reason, we have the following built-in safety nets for possible absences:
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Reading responses & in-class work: You will have 16 opportunities to submit these in class. If you miss up to 3 this will have no effect on your points. Once you have missed 3, there is no possibility to make up for further absences as the reading responses and in-class work are an essential part of the skills we are developing in the course, and the learning objectives cannot be achieved. The only exception to this tends to be DRS-accommodations.
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Essays: Your score for essays will be for the best of 3 (out of 4 essays).
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For your finals week project, you will be provided with an opportunity for extra credit.
For information on access and accommodations for disabilities please see the full syllabus, under “Access and Accommodations”.
Lateness Penalties & Extensions
As most of the work we do is in-class, lateness penalties and extensions do not apply to the majority of assignments. Reading responses are credit or no-credit and must be submitted at the beginning of class (with a 15-minute grace period after class starts).
For the take-home essays and writing portfolio, you will have a grace period after the deadline and during which no lateness penalties apply. If you need more time to do your best work, please ask for an extension before the grace period has passed to avoid lateness penalties. Once the grace period is over and no extension has been given, a 5% lateness penalty for every 12 hours after the end of the grace period will apply.
Access & accommodations
Your experience in this class is important to me. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS) please communicate your approved accommodations to me at your earliest convenience so you can discuss your needs in this course.
If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but are not limited to: mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at 206-543-8924 (Voice & Relay) or uwdrs@uw.edu or disability.uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions. Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS. It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.
Undocumented students
I am committed to working with and for undocumented students. Resources and further information are available for you at this UW link. Please feel free to speak to Carina about any additional help you may need due to your undocumented status or its implications.
Multilingual learners (MLL)
If you would like to improve your speaking, reading or writing in English, consult the English Department’s webpage for a list of resources.
Health & wellbeing
Call 911 in an emergency.
For resources on health and well-being, including possibilities for counseling, please consult the UW’s website Husky Health and Wellbeing. For 24/7 mental health services, please contact the Husky Helpline.
SafeCampus provides several important resources including:
- Call 206-685-SAFE (7233) to report non-urgent threats of violence and for referrals to UW counseling and/or safety resources. TTY or VP callers, please call through your preferred relay service.
- Don't walk alone. Campus safety guards can walk with you on campus after dark. Call Husky NightWalk 206-685-WALK (9255).
To prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, follow this advice:
If you’re sick, or develop COVID-19 related symptoms, stay home and follow the UW COVID-19 public health flowchart. For more information on COVID-19, including vaccination and testing, please click on this link.
Let's work together to keep each other safe!
Use of plagiarism detection software notice
The University has a license agreement with SimCheck, an educational tool that helps prevent or identify plagiarism from Internet resources. I use this service by requiring that assignments are submitted electronically to be checked by SimCheck. The SimCheck Report will indicate the amount of original text in your work and whether all material that you quoted, paraphrased, summarized, or used from another source is appropriately referenced.
Please consider submitting your essay well before the deadline so that, if needed, you are able to revise your essay taking account of the SimCheck report. I will not release a grade for your paper until it is accompanied by a SimCheck report.
Use of ChatGPT, Co-Pilot and other AI Tools
You will not learn and refine the skills from this course if you use AI to summarize course materials or to produce or revise your written work. Your assignments in this course must be completed by you. Except as otherwise stated, you may only use ChatGPT, Co-Pilot or other AI Tools to proof-read and correct errors in written assignments, e.g. you can ask it to correct typos and grammatical errors.
To remove the temptation to use AI, we will use many low-stakes scaffolding writing exercises to help you to build and refine your philosophical and writing skills and two of the essays in the course will be completed in class without the use of electronic devices (with the exception of authorized DRS accommodations).
The rest of the document is not specific to PHIL 406; it is applicable to all courses offered through the Philosophy Department.
Information for Students: University of Washington, Department of Philosophy
Policies and Resources
Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct, including plagiarism, is prohibited by the Student Conduct Code for the University of WashingtonLinks to an external site. and is taken very seriously by the UW. According to the student conduct code, academic misconduct includes:
"Cheating" which includes, but is not limited to:
The use of unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests, or examinations, or completing assignments;
The acquisition, use, or distribution of unpublished materials created by another student without the express permission of the original author(s);
Using online sources, such as solution manuals, without the permission of the instructor to complete assignments, exams, tests, or quizzes; or
Requesting, hiring, or otherwise encouraging someone to take a course, exam, test, or complete assignments for a student.
"Falsification," which is the intentional use or submission of falsified data, records, or other information including, but not limited to, records of internship or practicum experiences or attendance at any required event(s), or scholarly research.
"Plagiarism," which is the submission or presentation of someone else's words, composition, research, or expressed ideas, whether published or unpublished, without attribution. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:
- The use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment; or
- The unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or acquired from an entity engaging in the selling of term papers or other academic materials.
- Unauthorized collaboration.
- Engaging in behavior specifically prohibited by an instructor in the course of class instruction or in a course syllabus.
- Multiple submissions of the same work in separate courses without the express permission of the instructor(s).
- Taking deliberate action to destroy or damage another's academic work in order to gain an advantage for oneself or another.
- The recording of instructional content without the express permission of the instructor(s), unless approved as a disability accommodation, and/or the dissemination or use of such unauthorized records.
(Source: WAC 478-121 - Academic Misconduct)
Plagiarism may lead to disciplinary action by the University against the student who submitted the work. Any student who is uncertain whether his or her use of the work of others constitutes plagiarism should consult the course instructor for guidance before formally submitting the course work involved.
Incompletes
Incomplete grades may only be awarded if a student is doing satisfactory work up until the last two weeks of the quarter and has furnished proof satisfactory to the instructor that the work cannot be completed because of illness or other circumstances beyond the student’s control. (Sources: Office of the Registrar – Incomplete Grades), UW General Catalog, Student Guide – Grading System)
Grade Appeal Procedure
A student who believes that the instructor erred in the assignment of a grade, or who believes a grade recoding error or omission has occurred, shall first discuss the matter with the instructor before the end of the following academic quarter (not including Summer Quarter). If the student is not satisfied with the instructor’s explanation, the student, no later than ten days after their discussion with the instructor, may submit a written appeal to the chair of the Department of Philosophy with a copy of the appeal also sent to the instructor. The chair consults with the instructor to ensure that the evaluation of the student’s performance has not been arbitrary or capricious. Should the chair believe the instructor’s conduct to be arbitrary or capricious and the instructor declines to revise the grade, the chair, with the approval of the voting members of his or her faculty, shall appoint an appropriate member, or members, of the faculty of the Department of Philosophy to evaluate the performance of the student and assign a grade. The Dean and Provost should be informed of this action. Once a student submits a written appeal, this document and all subsequent actions on this appeal are recorded in written form for deposit in a School file. (Source: UW General Catalog, Student Guide – Grading System)
Concerns About a Course, an Instructor, or a Teaching Assistant
If you have any concerns about a philosophy course or your instructor, please see the instructor about these concerns as soon as possible. If you are not comfortable talking with the instructor or not satisfied with the response that you receive, you may contact the chair of the program offering the course (names available from the Department of Philosophy, 361 Savery Hall).
If you have any concerns about a teaching assistant, please see the teaching assistant about these concerns as soon as possible. If you are not comfortable talking with the teaching assistant or not satisfied with the response that you receive, you may contact the instructor in charge of the course. If you are still not satisfied with the response that you receive, you may contact the chair of the program offering the course (names available from the Department of Philosophy, 361 Savery Hall), or the Graduate School at G-1 Communications Building (543-5900).
Equal Opportunity
The University of Washington reaffirms its policy of equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, or status as a disabled veteran or Vietnam-era veteran in accordance with University of Washington policy and applicable federal and state statutes and regulations.
Access and Accommodations
For information on access and accommodations, please see the earlier section of the syllabus, headed "Access and Accommodations".
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is defined as the use of one’s authority or power, either explicitly or implicitly, to coerce another into unwanted sexual relations or to punish another for his or her refusal, or as the creation by a member of the University community of an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or educational environment through verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
If you believe that you are being harassed, seek help—the earlier the better. You may speak with your instructor, your teaching assistant, the undergraduate advisor (363 Savery Hall), graduate program advisor (366 Savery Hall), or the chair of the philosophy department (364 Savery Hall). In addition, you should be aware that the University has designated special people to help you. For assistance you may contact: SafeCampus; Office of the Ombud. (339 HUB, 206-543-6028); Title IX Investigation OfficeLinks to an external site. (for complaints that a University student has violated the sexual misconduct provisions of the Student Conduct Code); University Complaint Investigation and Resolution OfficeLinks to an external site. (for complaints concerning the behavior of University employees, including faculty, teaching assistants, and other student employees).
Integrity
The Office of Research Misconduct Proceedings (ORMP) coordinates the University’s handling of allegations of research misconduct against members of the University community, in consultations and cooperation with the University’s schools, colleges, and campuses.
University rules define scientific and scholarly misconduct to include the following forms of inappropriate activity: intentional misrepresentation of credentials; falsification of data; plagiarism; abuse of confidentiality; deliberate violation of regulations applicable to research.
Students can report cases of scientific or scholarly misconduct either to the ORMP, to their faculty adviser, or the department chair. The student should report such problems to whomever he or she feels most comfortable.
(Sources: Executive Order No. 61 – Research Misconduct Policy; Office of Research Misconduct Proceedings; minutes of Grad School Executive Staff and Division Heads meeting, 7/23/98.)
SafeCampus
Preventing violence is everyone's responsibility. SafeCampus is the University of Washington’s Violence Prevention and Response Program. They support students, staff, faculty, and community members in preventing violence.
SafeCampus staff will listen to your concerns and provide support and safety plans tailored to your situation. Caring, trained professionals will talk you through options and connect you with additional resources if you want them.
If you're concerned, tell someone.
Always call 911 if you or others may be in danger.
Call 206-685-SAFE (7233) to report non-urgent threats of violence and for referrals to UW counseling and/or safety resources. TTY or VP callers, please call through your preferred relay service.
Don't walk alone. Campus safety guards can walk with you on campus after dark. Call Husky NightWalk 206-685-WALK (9255).
Stay connected in an emergency with UW Alert. Register your mobile number to receive instant notification of campus emergencies via text and voice messaging. Sign up for UW Alert.
For more information visit the SafeCampus website.
Religious Accommodations
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).
Food Insecurity and Hardship
Any student who has difficulty affording groceries or accessing sufficient food to eat every day, or who lacks a safe and stable place to live and believes this may affect their performance in the course, is urged to contact the UW Any Hungry Husky Program. Any Hungry Husky provides hunger relief free of judgment or stigma. Go to https://www.washington.edu/anyhungryhusky/. for information about the food pantry and food security grants. In addition, UW offers emergency aid for students experiencing unexpected financial hardships that may disrupt their education or get in the way of completing their degree. Go to https://www.washington.edu/emergencyaid/ for more information about how to apply.
Guidance to Students Taking Courses Outside the U.S.
Faculty members at U.S. universities – including the University of Washington – have the right to academic freedom which includes presenting and exploring topics and content that other governments may consider to be illegal and, therefore, choose to censor. Examples may include topics and content involving religion, gender and sexuality, human rights, democracy and representative government, and historic events.
If, as a UW student, you are living outside of the United States while taking courses remotely, you are subject to the laws of your local jurisdiction. Local authorities may limit your access to course material and take punitive action towards you. Unfortunately, the University of Washington has no authority over the laws in your jurisdictions or how local authorities enforce those laws.
If you are taking UW courses outside of the United States, you have reason to exercise caution when enrolling in courses that cover topics and issues censored in your jurisdiction. If you have concerns regarding a course or courses that you have registered for, please contact your academic advisor who will assist you in exploring options.