UofL Health Care Ethics

04/22/2026

The MA in Applied Philosophy is delighted to invite you to our 2025-2026 Research and Fieldwork Presentations. This year, our graduate students completed longitudinal research studies on the ethical and structural complexities of s*xual health amongst adolescents in the pediatric emergency department, developed a more patient-centered care approach for autistic children in emergency pediatric medicine; developed a 3-year health equity curriculum for neonatology fellows; and worked at the KY Department of Public Health developing and publicizing grant and funding opportunities for health equity across the Commonwealth. Presentations will take place on Thursday, April 23, 10:30-12:30, BAB 128. Free and open to the public.

02/18/2026

📍The fourth (and final!) talk in our 2025-2026 Virtual Health Care Ethics Spring Speaker Series will take place TOMORROW: Wednesday, February 18, 12-1 pm ET.

🩺 The topic of this year’s series is Children’s Autonomy in Health Care. Professor Bryanna Moore (University of Rochester) will deliver a talk titled, “Authenticity as an Ethical Consideration in Pediatric Care.”

✏️Registration is required (link in comments).

☑️Continuing Education credit in Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work will be offered (additional registration required, link also in comments)

Hope to see you there! Please spread the word.

01/23/2026

In what context do we think that it's okay for patients to literally feel organs being taken out of their bodies? You guessed it! In the context of women's reproductive health. Did you know that 8% of C-section patients in the United States –- which is over 100,000 patients per year –- are able to feel their surgery? In this short blogpost at Bioethics Today, UofL Professor Lauren Freeman and UofL alum, Professor Heather Stewart discuss what structural changes are already happening in response to this pervasive problem and what still needs to be done. Check it out!

It’s an unfortunate reality that in medical contexts, women’s pain continues to be ignored, overlooked, or treated as an acceptable part of what it means

01/20/2026

🩺The third talk in our Virtual Health Care Ethics Spring Speaker Series will take place this Wednesday, January 21, 12-1 pm ET. The topic of this year’s series is Children’s Autonomy in Health Care and New York Times journalist, Sarah Wildman, will deliver a talk titled, “Refusing Fear: Honest conversations in Illness, Prognosis and End of Life for Children and Families.”

📌Registration is required (link in comments).

📌Continuing Education credit in Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work will be offered (additional registration required, link also in comments)

Hope to see you there! Please spread the word.

01/09/2026

📍SPREAD THE WORD and please encourage your top undergraduate students who are interested in graduate school to apply to our MA in Applied Philosophy (with a track in Health Care Ethics; also dual degree programs in Law, Medicine, and Social Work).

Our program is unique in offering students the opportunity to write a final research paper 📑 OR, to do an internship at the state Department of Public Health🩺 OR, at the Envirome Institute 🌳(research center focused on working for environmental justice here in Louisville).

⚖️ Our students have worked on cutting-edge legal and policy work at the state level, including helping to craft legislation surrounding cannabis legalization in KY, helping to improve state-funded care for the elderly, updating the state census language surrounding s*x and gender, helping to cut down va**ng amongst youth in KY, and working to improve refugee access to health care and mental health care access in Louisville. Our graduates have been accepted to top Law Schools, Medical Schools, and PhD programs in Bioethics.

📅Deadline to be considered for funding is Thursday, January 15 (deadline to be considered without funding is May 15.

Links to more information (including graduate school application) in the comments. Feel free to put students in touch with me if they have any questions. And please share this far and wide!

11/10/2025

This is a big week for social justice events in the city, specifically TWO hosted by the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research. You are invited to attend. Registration is requested, but not required, at each. Posting each event separately. THIS ONE is on Friday morning, 9-11. Please spread the word.

11/10/2025

This is a big week for social justice events in the city, specifically TWO hosted by the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research. You are invited to attend. Registration is requested, but not required, at each. Posting each event separately. THIS ONE is on Thursday evening, 6-7:30. Please spread the word.

10/21/2025

Dear friends and alumni of UofL Health Care Ethics / Bioethics & Medical Humanities:

Happy ! We are grateful to an alum for offering a challenge grant: if 5 people donate to any Philosophy department fund, we will unlock a $200 donation, and if 15 people donate, another $200 will be donated to our undergraduate and graduate scholarships.

You can support our ethical leaders! If you click through to the donation page and designate your gift via College of Arts & Sciences / A&S Departments / Philosophy / Healthcare Ethics Fund, 100% of your donation will support the Paul Simmons Ethical Leadership Scholarship fund! This enables students to persevere and complete the MA program. Thank you!

Raise Some L and make your gift today to join me in moving forward together!

10/13/2025

The second talk in our Virtual Health Care Ethics Spring Speaker Series will take place this Wednesday, October 15, 12-1 pm ET. The topic of this year’s series is Children’s Autonomy in Health Care and Prof. Joseph Millum (St. Andrews University, Scotland) will talk about “Medical Decision-Making for Minors: Two Puzzles.”

Registration is required (link in comments).

Continuing Education credit in Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work will be offered (additional registration required, link also in comments)

Hope to see you there! Please spread the word.

10/13/2025

🩺The second talk in our Virtual Health Care Ethics Spring Speaker Series will take place this Wednesday, October 15, 12-1 pm ET. The topic of this year’s series is Children’s Autonomy in Health Care and Prof. Joseph Millum (St. Andrews University, Scotland) will talk about “Medical Decision-Making for Minors: Two Puzzles.”

Registration is required (link in comments).

Continuing Education credit in Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work will be offered (additional registration required, link also in comments)

Hope to see you there! Please spread the word.