Since l985, the Choices and Challenges forum series has brought eminent philosophers, scientists, historians, sociologists, and policy analysts to the Virginia Tech campus to participate in forums designed to examine social and ethical aspects of advances in science and technology.

As part of our committment to public service, community, and educational programming, we offer tapes and transcripts of past forums for your use to present information, stimulate discussion, and launch class projects and assignments in a variety of undergraduate courses or at your community event.

The Choices and Challenges project staff can also visit your classroom or event using videotape excerpts as a discussion springboard. We would be happy to work with you to tailor our presentation and discussion to suit the needs of your class or organization. We can also facilitate the class or meeting in your absence.

Please see our complete list of past forums to determine whether this opportunity if right for you, your class, or your organization.

IEdited tapes excerpts were made possible in partnership with with the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies and Video Broadcast Services at Virginia Tech, with additional support from PBS Adult Learning Services and the Virginia Tech Center for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (CEUT).

Reinventing the Human: The Six Million Dollar Body (2000)
Among the most dramatic achievements in modern medicine is the ability to replace body parts. Kidneys, hearts, livers can all be transplanted from one human to another. Artificial joints, bones, or heart valves can
substitute for the real thing. These procedures have been used to promote the quality of life and extend the lives of the recipients.

Such remarkable advances are providing many new treatment choices. But
they are also creating a number of challenges: Who is entitled to receive
human organs when the supply is so limited — the youngest, the sickest, the nearest, the wealthiest? These procedures can be extremely expensive. How do we balance the costs against other urgent medical needs? And how do we decide?

Research currently underway — exploring the use of animal organs or of organs derived from stem cells — is raising still more challenges: Are these acceptable sources of organs? Are there limits to what should be done to extend an individual life? Is medicine changing what it means to be human?

Note: Also available through PBS Adult Learning Services.

Panelists: George Annas (moderator), research scientist David Ayares, medical ethicist Haavi Morreim, organ transplant surgeon William Payne, historian Sheila Rothman, animal welfare advocate Andrew Rowan, and ethicist Evelyne Shuster.

Tape I: The panelists explore the history, ethics, and practice of human-to-human organ transplantation. (30 minutes)

Tape II: Discussion then turns to other transplantation options, and the panelists debate the social and ethical implications of using mechanical or animal organs, or body parts derived from stem cells. (30 minutes)

Explore the online module structured around these excerpts.

Reinventing the Human: Designer Children (1999)
Babies made to order. Parents picking the particular traits they want
in their children. Is this possible?

New genetic-engineering procedures now permit human genes to be
identified and transferred. These procedures are being developed to
cure disorders and correct serious childhood health problems. But they could also be used, before birth or during infancy, to endow healthy children with traits they would not otherwise possess or to enhance the ones they do. The possibilities go beyond changing physical appearance (height and build). They might include intelligence, athletic skills, personality, and behavior.

Is it desirable — or even acceptable — to create the ideal child through genetic technology? And who decides what "ideal" means?

Note: Also available through PBS Adult Learning Services.

Panelists: Nancy Buc (moderator), physician Robert Murray, Jr., political scientist Diane Paul, child psychiatrist Gail Ross, philsopher Anita Silvers, and ethicist LeRoy Walters.

Tape I: The panel explores the ethical and social issues surrounding genetic enhancement of children. (30 minutes)

Tape II: In a question-and-answer format, the panel and audience explore this topic. The panelists conclude with policy recommendationations for the future. (30 minutes)

Explore the online module structured around these excerpts.

Quality of Life in the Global Environment:

Preparing for the Next Century (1997)
Examines environmental and economic projections for the earth's environment and the human condition in the year 2050.

Sharing the Earth's Water Supply (1996)
Explores how we have come to our current views of nature, focusing on the use of water. Includes case-study overviews of the Colorado River Basin and Florida Everglades.

Explore the online module structured around excerpts from these forums.

Quality of Life in the Electronic Village (1995)
The expansion of computer network technologies may soon significantly alter traditional patterns of human existence; however, little attention has been given to the human consequences. These new forms of communi-cation and information exchange are certain to have revolutionary effects on nearly every aspect of human life and thought. Questions include: What will be the consequences for education, the workplace, government, health care, and social interaction? How will we balance increased access to information with the need to keep some types of information private? As greater reliance on these new technologies is encouraged, how do we provide access for individuals who might lack the resources or knowledge to participate?

Panelists: Paul Peters (moderator), telecommunications analyst Stephen Acker, ethicist Deborah Johnson, physician and medical communications specialist Donald Lindberg, anthropologist Bryan Pfaffenberger, and privacy advocate Marc Rotenberg.

Tape I: Acker, Pfaffenberger, and Lindberg describe the effects of the information highway on education, the workplace, and medicine. (31 minutes)

Tape II: Johnson discusses social issues, including "electronic rape." Rotenberg raises concerns about privacy. (31 minutes)

Tape III: The panelists discuss issues of equity on the internet. (16 minutes)

Tape IV: Lindberg discusses telemedicine, including "Nintendo surgery." (28 minutes)

Explore the online module structured around these excerpts.

Quality of Life at the End of Life (1994)
With machines, drugs, and surgical measures, death and dying have become greatly altered in our society. Patients, families, health-care workers, and government policy planners are now being forced to confront a number of exceedingly difficult ethical and social questions. Among these are: How much control should individuals have in making their own life and death decisions? Should access to expensive medical care be restricted?

Panelists: attorney Nancy Buc (moderator), physician-philosopher Howard Brody, Oregon health policy analyst Michael Garland, theologian Therese Lysaught, ethicist Haavi Morreim, and attorney Charles Sabatino.

Tape I: A dramatic vignette presents the case of a woman requesting assisted suicide. The panel discusses the merits and risks of providing this controversial option. (30 minutes)

Tape II: A second vignette shows the same woman demanding instead that extraordinary and expensive measures be taken to extend her life. The panel and audience wrestle with questions of limits to care. (38 minutes)

Tape III: Both vignettes (described in Tapes I and II) without panel discussion. (14 minutes)

Explore the online module structured around these excerpts.

The Genie in the Genome: The Human Genome Project (1992)
The Human Genome Project is intended to locate, map, and decipher the chemical structure of every one of approximately 100,000 that are part of the human genetic make-up. This information may alter health care, allowing genetic defects which bring about disorders to be detected even in the early embyonic stage and permitting our susceptibility to disorders to such as heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease to be known years before any symptoms are observed. This information could also be misused.

Tape I: Science policy analyst Robert Cook-Deegan and scientist Martin Rechsteiner disagree on the value of the Human Genome Project. In the subsequent question-and-answer segment, historian David Kevles and scientist Norton Zinder join the fray. (33 minutes)

Tape II: Science policy analyst Robert Cook-Deegan provides background on the goals of the Human Genome Project. Abbey Meyers, founder of the National Organization for Rare Disorders, responds by pointing out some of the possible social and ethical consequences of the scientifc effort. (26 minutes)

Tape III: Historian Daniel Kevles presents an overview of the history and politics behind the eugenics movement which flourished in the first half of the twentied century. He goes on to examine whether the Human Genome Project may be the source of new types of discrimination. (16 minutes)

Food Fights —
Deciding How to Decided About Diet and Disease (1990)
We are bombarded with health claims linking specific foods with beauty, fitness, and the prevention of a number of dreaded diseases. How real is the connection between diet and health? Can we actually protect ourselves against the onset of serious illness by altering what we eat? What should be the role of government, the food industry, consumer organizations, and the medical community in influencing our food choices?

Tape I: Medical ethicist Haavi Morreim discusses limitations associated with carrying out research and the difficulties of drawing conclusions. This presetation could be used in any course where research and its limitations are discussed. (17 minutes)

Tape II: Biologist David Klurfield summarizes research studies used to establish the relationship between cholesterol levels and mortality, and offers his criticism of these studies as well as other food and drug-related research. His assertions are challenged by cardiologist Dennis DeSilvy and consumer advocate Michael Jacobson. (24 minutes)

Tape III: Consumer advocate Michael Jacobson challenges deception in the food industry and laziness in regulatory agencies. A lively discussion with cardiologist Dennis DeSilvey and biologist David Klurfeld follows. (14 minutes)

The Pesticide Dilemma (1989)
To some, pesticides are key elements in food production, environmental stability, and disease control. Others claim that pesticides contaminate the food supply, pollute the environment, and cause devastating health effects. How can we deal with responsibility with the many issues raised by pesticide use?

Tape I: Following an introductory segment outlining the nature of the pesticide dilemma, environmental historian Thomas Dunlap describes the history of pesticide use in the U.S. (23 minutes)

Tape II: John Thorne, Allan Abramson, and Charles Benbrook present contrasting viewpoints on the safety and effectiveness of pesticide use from the perspectives of industry, of the EPA, and of advocates for alternatives strategies. Safety analyst William Lowrance adds his perspective. (43 minutes)

Altering the Aging Process (1988)
Inquiry into the factors responsible for the aging process has been at the core of an increasing number of research programs in recent years, making the study of aging one of the most important areas in biomedical research.

Tape I: Biologist Richard A. Lockshin explains why life extension should be an ethical issue. Sociologist Georget Maddox presents the case for public interest in the concerns of the aging. Gerontologist Harry Moody suggests new ways to approach difficult decisions about priorities when making policy for both healthy and disabled elderly. (14 minutes)

Tape II: Demographer Robert Clark discusses male/female differences in retirement patterns. Members of the panel and audience respond to issues of work and family. (25 minutes)

Tape III: Complete Maddox presentation plus audience response. (27 minutes)

Intelligence Testing (1986)
Intelligence testing has been described as one of the most important technologies to emerge in the field of psychology. In the decades since its first appearance, I.Q. testing has been simultaneously endorsed and attacked, encouraged and suppressed.

Tape I: Psychologist Arthur Jensen defends his contention that intelligence is a fact of nature. He explains the "g-factor" and maintains that it is correlated with a number of physical attributes. Psychologist Jonathan Baron offers a different definition of intelligence and intelligent thinking, especially in relation to educational programs. Philosopher Richard Burian responds to the ideas put forth by Jensen and Baron. (29 minutes)

Tape II: Jensen's complete presentation. (42 minutes)

Tape III: Baron's complete presentation. (42 minutes)