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Please note: Course availability is subject to specific semester. Please refer to the above tabs for current course offerings.

GPH-GU 1005: Advanced Introduction to Bioethics (3 credits, Fall)
This seminar is intended to introduce students to the central methods and concerns of contemporary bioethics. We will consider topics including the grounds for respecting human (and other) life, the concepts of well-being and autonomy, decisions about future people, and justice in distribution of scarce medical resources. Students will develop familiarity with these concepts as well as the conventions and standards of bioethical debate.

GPH-GU 1006: Advanced Introduction to Environmental Ethics (3 credits, Spring)
This course situates theoretical developments in practical ethics broadly and in environmental ethics specifically. The course builds on the theoretical materials by examining a series of cases including ethics and agriculture, corporate responsibility and environmental injustice, and the environmental health consequences of war.

GPH-GU 1008: Topics in Bioethics – Body Parts: The Ethics of Organ, Tissue, and Cell Transplantation (4 credits)
Three main issues related to organ transplantation include the fundamental morality of transplanting body parts, the ethics of organ procurement, and the ethics of allocation. Does organ transplantation involve too much control of nature, and lead to scenarios of “playing God”? The technological and medical advancements associated with organ transplantation have saved the lives of many, but scarce organ resources have contributed to many social issues regarding allocation. There are over 100,000 candidates on the waiting list in the United States, and the organ supply is scarce. Who should get the available organs, and by what criteria should this decision be made?

GPH-GU 1008: Topics in Bioethics – Creating Persons (4 credits)
This seminar will examine conceptual and ethical issues arising from the ways in which we are able to create and recreate human persons. We will start with the most obvious sort of person-creation: biological reproduction and the selection of future people. We will then consider childhood development and the roles of education and enculturation in shaping the values that constitute personal identity. And we will consider how social practices and emerging biotechnologies allow us to recreate ourselves and others throughout the human lifespan. Our focus will be on the tension between moral respect for autonomy and the extraordinary power to (re)create autonomous persons.

GPH-GU 1008: Topics in Bioethics – Mind & Language (4 credits)
Technophilosophy is a two-way interaction between philosophy and technology.  First, philosophy illuminates technology, via philosophical reflection on various technologies. Second, technology illuminates philosophy, with reflection on technology shedding light on traditional issues in philosophy.  This seminar will explore both sorts of technophilosophy. Technologies that we will focus on will include (especially) artificial intelligence and virtual reality, as well as internet technologies and issues about computation and information.  We will examine issues in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, the philosophy of mind and language, and other parts of philosophy.

GPH-GU 1165: Research Ethics: Human Subjects (3 credits)
This course will begin by examining the historical scandals that launched the field of human subjects research ethics and the principles and regulations that have emerged in reaction. The next part of the course will focus on the interpretation, justification, and especially the critical evaluation of these principles and regulations, both in domestic contexts and international contexts. In the final part of the course we will examine the use of animals in research and evaluate several moral critiques of our current practices. Among the questions to be addressed in the course: is it permissible to deceive subjects when necessary to obtain valid results; is it permissible to use a placebo control when proven effective care for the condition exists; should we be more liberal about enrolling children, the cognitively impaired, and pregnant women in risky research; are there any reasons to limit payment for participation in risky research; is there an obligation to participate in research; are animals models useful; how much weight if any should be assigned to the interests of non-human animals relative to the interests of humans.

GPH-GU 1210: Justice in Health and Healthcare (3 credits)
This course surveys philosophical theories of justice, applying them to population bioethics with a particular focus on environmental health justice. Case studies will include environmental racism and injustice in the United States as well as environmental and global justice dimensions of climate change, food systems, pollution, and infectious disease.

GPH-GU 1220: Controversies and Ethics (4 credits)
Bioethicists are centrally concerned with matters of public controversy and political debate. What difficulties and responsibilities does this fact entail for the practice of bioethics? In this seminar we will examine several controversial bioethical issues. Our focus will not be on the arguments themselves, but on what we should make of the fact that they are controversial. Should bioethical inquiry take account of intractable moral disagreement? What are the distinctive roles of religious and secular perspectives in public debate? Can bioethicists legitimately claim authoritative expertise in a democracy? We will address the questions by reading work from philosophy and political theory, and also through case study of historical and contemporary issues including: the removal of homosexuality from the DSM, the ‘Philosophers’ Brief’ on assisted suicide, and the regulation of new gene-editing technology.

GPH-GU 1225: Democracy and Scientific Expertise (3 credits)
In a democratic society, policy is set by the public and its representatives. But making good policy sometimes requires scientific expertise that the public lacks. Certain contentious topics, such as climate change and evolution are marked by a significant gap between scientific consensus and public attitudes, with many people unwilling to trust scientific findings. This course will begin with a brief exploration of core ideas from democratic theory, before focusing on tensions between the value of democracy and the value of scientifically-based policy. Drawing on examples from recent U.S. politics, we’ll consider philosophical work on the possible sources of these tensions, individual responsibilities in light of them, and structural approaches to addressing them.

GPH-GU 1230: Advanced Introduction to Public Health Ethics (3 credits)
This course examines the ethical foundations of public health and ethical issues that arise in the context of public health work. Topics will include, for example, balancing individual autonomy and community health, rights to health and healthcare, culturally respectful global health interventions, and the risk of generating stigma through public health campaigns. We will also discuss the ethics of public health research, exploring topics such as privacy considerations in data gathering and informed consent in a community health context.

GPH-GU 2025: Reproductive Ethics (4 credits)
The course will examine ethical issues that arise in reproductive medicine and women’s health. Specifically, we will address ethical questions that arise in the context of providing assisted reproduction services and family planning services. Possibly topics to be explored include genetic pre-implantation screening and the ethical considerations involved in deciding which genetic interventions are morally permissible.

GPH-GU 2026: Neuroethics (4 credits)
Neuroethics has two branches: the neuroscience of ethics and the ethics of neuroscience. The former is concerned with how neuroscientific technologies might be able to shed light on how we make moral decisions, as well as on other philosophical issues. The latter is concerned with ethical issues raised by the development and use of neuroscientific technologies. Topics include whether neuroscience undermines deontological theories; whether our moral reasoning is inherently biased; whether there is a universal moral grammar; the extended mind hypothesis; the ethics of erasing memories; the ethics of mood and cognitive enhancements; “mind‐reading” technologies; borderline consciousness; and free will and addiction.

GPH-GU 2027: Moral Indeterminacy
Moral intuitions play a key role both in ethical reflection and in everyday practice such as deciding whether one should withdraw aid to a patient in persistent vegetative state. In recent years, questions about the nature and epistemic status of moral intuitions have received much attention not only in philosophy but also in social psychology, neuroscience and evolutionary theory. In this course, we shall examine and discuss key, new and work‐in‐progress, articles from this growing literature. We shall critically review some of the most influential philosophical and empirical research in the field and consider its potential philosophical, ethical and practical significance. The topics we shall discuss include: the evidentiary status of moral intuitions; the role of emotion and cognition in intuition; evolutionary and neuroscientific ‘debunking’ arguments; the relation between ethical theory and moral psychology; whether intuitions are heuristics; whether intuitions are biased; and whether and how we can improve our intuitions so that we can make better practical judgments.

GPH-GU 2028: Nonconsequentialism (4 credits)
Nonconsequentialism is a type of normative theory according to which the rightness or wrongness of an act is not determined solely by consequences. In particular, it holds that even when the consequences of two acts are the same, one might be wrong and the other right. In this course, we shall examine factors (prerogatives) that permit an agent to act in ways that do not maximize the good, and factors (constraints) that limit what an agent may do in pursuit of the good. We shall discuss topics such as the moral difference between harming and not-aiding; intending and foreseeing harm, i.e., the Doctrine of Double Effect; whether constraints are absolute; and how nonconsequentialists should address issues such as aggregation and the so-called paradox of deontology. We shall also investigate how one might be able to provide a plausible, theoretical foundation for nonconsequentialism.

GPH-GU 2029: Controversies and Politics (4 credits)
While medicine may aspire to objectivity, it remains a human practice that is often shaped by our personal values and political commitments. In this course, we will examine some of the ways in which medicine is ‘value-laden’, and in which our political commitments may inform our medical practices. We will ask questions like: how do we define health and disease? How do we draw the line between mental illness and mere mental difference? What role should a medical professional’s personal values play in their practice? Should doctors have a right to refuse to perform medical procedures that violate their personal moral commitments? To what extent should medical systems accommodate patients’ religious and cultural practices? We will address these questions, among others, by reading work from philosophy, political theory, and by examining case studies.

GPH-GU 2032: End of Life (4 credits)
Central to philosophical discussions about the end of life is a well-known argument about the rationality of fearing death. That argument raises several puzzles about our asymmetrical attitudes concerning time, and about the badness of death. In addition to the value of death, this course will address related topics from among the following: definitions of death; personal identity; dementia and moral status; the meaning of life; the coherence and desirability of immortality; assisted death, advance directives, and end-of-life care; whether one can be harmed by being born. The general aim of the course is to strengthen your skills in analytical thinking and in substantive philosophical debate of these issues.

GPH-GU 2085: Autonomy, Capacity, and Consent (3 credits)
This course investigates the nature of and relationship between autonomy, decision-making capacity, and informed consent. It is divided into three parts. The first part asks: what is it to act autonomously and why is autonomy important? The second part asks: what is required to have decision-making capacity, understood as the ability of subjects to make their own medical and health-related decisions, and what is its relationship to autonomy? The third asks: what is consent, and why is it important? Although the focus of the course will be on general moral, metaphysical, and legal questions such as these, it will also consider a range of case studies arising in medical, research, and public health settings.

GPH-GU 2105: Thinking Critically & Ethically (1.5 credits)
This course is an introduction to critical thinking, ethics, and writing for public health professionals, who need to communicate public health content and identify communication strategies for different audiences. At the heart of such communications is persuasive writing. The first module introduces students to core reasoning skills such as what counts as a good reason for one’s belief, what is an argument, the difference between a deductive argument and an inductive argument, and so on. Public health professionals are also often involved in devising policies that should be guided by sound ethical principles. The second module introduces students to key ethical theories and ethical issues that illustrate how the promotion of public health can conflict with autonomy, privacy, and social justice.

GPH-GU 2222: Clinical Ethics (3 credits)
Physicians, nurses, and/or ethicists will present each week, for discussion and theoretical analysis, ethical issues that they encounter in their work. Topics include the ethics of using placebos, conflicts of interest and clinical trials, ethics consultations in health care, pain management and end of life, incapacity and surrogate decision-making, balancing patient well-being with patient choice, and reconciling individual with public health. Readings will be drawn from medical and philosophy literature. Students will form Mock Ethics Committees and analyze clinical cases as an actual Hospital Ethics Committee would, and students will also have the opportunity to visit and participate in Hospital Ethics Committees. By the end of the course, students will learn about ethical issues arising out of clinical settings and how to think through these issues.

GPH-GU 5170: Introduction to Public Health (0 credits, Spring)
This course provides an introduction to foundational principles, concepts, and methods in public health. Topics include: the history of public health; public health values and principles; core functions of public health; the role of biostatistics and epidemiology in measuring population health; the use of evidence; environmental, social, and behavioral influences on health; and globalization and health. Note: This class is online and must be taken during your first spring semester.

Pre-Approved Non-Bioethics GPH Electives

Note: These courses do not require additional approval to be used as electives.
Availability is subject to specific semester. Courses beginning with a 5xxx are offered online.

GPH-GU 2106/5106 Epidemiology
GPH-GU 2110/5110 Health Care Policy
GPH-GU 2112/5112 Public Health Management & Leadership
GPH-GU 2130 Global Health Diplomacy
GPH-GU 2140/5140 Global Issues in Social & Behavioral Health
GPH-GU 2153/5153 Global Environmental Health
GPH-GU 2217 Food Policy for Public Health
GPH-GU 2242 Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication
GPH-GU 2250/5250 Health & Human Rights
GPH-GU 2265 Climate Change in Global Public Health
GPH-GU 2285 Global Women’s Health Programs: Analyzing the Evidence to Improve Women’s Lives
GPH-GU 2292 Public Health Law
GPH-GU 2357 LGBTQ Health Disparities
GPH-GU 2430 Advanced Health & Human Rights
GPH-GU 2995/5995 Biostatistics for Public Health
GPH-GU 3185 Health Services and Policy Research
GPH-GU 3260 Complex Systems, Disasters, and the Social Ecology of Health
GPH-GU 5288 Perspectives on Migrant Health & Human Rights
GPH-GU 5312 Global Perspectives in Reproductive Health & Human Rights
GPH-GU 9228 Global Food Policy in Public Health
GPH-GU 9345 Public Health Emergency Preparedness & Response: A Global Perspective

Pre-Approved Electives Outside of GPH

Note: These courses do not require additional approval to be used as electives.
Availability is subject to specific semester.

GSAS Electives:
ANTH-GA 3393 Cultures of Biomedicine
EHSC-GA 1005 Ecotoxicology: Hudson River Case Study
EHSC-GA 1006 Toxicology
EHSC-GA 1007 Terrorism: Biological, Chemical, and Psychological Warfare
EHSC-GA 1010 Weather, Air Pollution, and Health
EHSC-GA 1011 Global Issues in Environmental Health
EHSC-GA 2033 Aerosol Science
EHSC-GA 2301 Radiological Health
POL-GA 3500 Comparative Political Seminar: Sustainable Economic Development
SOC-GA 2401 Sociology of Medicine

Steinhardt Electives:
ENYC-GE 2019 Fundamentals of Environmental Thought
ENYC-GE 2020 Contemporary Environmental Debates
ENYC-GE 2021 Environmental Politics
ENYC-GE 2070 Environmental Education
MCC-GE 2295 Values Embodied in Information and Communications Technology
OT-GE 2764 Scholarly Inquiry in Occupational Therapy III: Philosophical

Wagner Graduate School of Public Service Electives:
HPAM-GP 1830 Health and Medical Care
HPAM-GP 2466 Current Issues in Environmental Politics
HPAM-GP 2836 Current Issues in Health Policy
HPAM-GP 2849 Economic Analysis of Global Health
HPAM-GP 4652 Ethical Issues in Healthcare Management
PADM-GP 2472 Environmental Economics
URPL-GP 1603 Introduction to Urban Planning, Development, and Decision Making
URPL-GP 1605 Land Use Law: Planning Perspective
URPL-GP 2126 Risk Management in Environmental Health and Protection
URPL-GP 2127 Environmental Law
URPL-GP 2234 Ecoleadership
URPL-GP 2237 Urbanization in Developing Countries
URPL-GP 2470 Transportation Policy
URPL-GP 2610 Environmental Impact Assessment
URPL-GP 2612 Adapting the Physical City
URPL-GP 2613 Sustainable Cities in a Comparative Perspective
URPL-GP 2615 Environment and Urban Dynamics
URPL-GP 2625 Workshop in Environmental Planning-Urban Waterfront
URPL-GP 2641 Urban Transportation Planning
URPL-GP 2665 Decentralized Development Planning and Policy Reform in Developing Countries
URPL-GP 2666 Water Sourcing and Delivery in an Era of Climate Change

Courses within the Philosophy Department and the Law School require additional approval between the student, their advisor, and the instructor of the course.

Law School Courses:
NYU non-Law graduate students may request a Law course by submitting the “Law Course Registration Request for Non-Law NYU Students” form to the Law Registrar Service Desk.  The form can be found at: https://www.law.nyu.edu/academicservices/forms The link to the Law Registrar Service Desk can be found in the lower right corner of courses.law.nyu.edu. The form requires permission from the professor and the home school before submission to the academic services office. If a request is approved, the Office of Record and Registration works with the University Registrar to register the student.

Philosophy Department Courses:
Graduate courses (intended for PhD students) are by request only, and require permission of the Bioethics Center & the Philosophy course instructor. An application form is involved; be prepared to share a CV & Writing Sample. (Please plan ahead and allow plenty of time if requesting one of these courses for an upcoming semester). If you are interested in taking a Philosophy course (starting in your second semester), the form can be found here: