Bioethics Symposium

Charlie is a brilliant scientist whose life is upended when she is diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease that leaves her stuttering, shaking, and forgetful. Charlie’s wife Maggie selflessly plunges into a new role as Charlie’s caretaker. Over the years, both settle into their new identities. When Charlie finds out about an experimental neurostimulation brain implant, she is determined to undergo the procedure. Charlie’s transformation, however, is more than either she or Maggie bargained for, and the two suddenly become strangers in their own home. Impelled by the vainglorious neurosurgeon Ava and the adoring graduate student Tyler, Maggie and Charlie are pushed to their breaking points. As they negotiate the problematic gift of Charlie’s Faustian bargain, they must each confront themselves in excruciating and disorienting ways. Entangled in each other’s identities, the lives of Charlie and Maggie crescendo into a devastating climax that leaves their marriage incapable of being like it was before. The play was written by Karola Kreitmair, PhD, associate professor of medical history and bioethics.

Eran Klein, MD, PhD

Brain pioneering together: Voices of shared agency in neural device research

Eran Klein, MD, PhD, is a neurologist specializing in dementia at Oregon Health and Sciences University and the Portland VA Medical Center. He co-leads the Neuroethics Research Group within the Center for Neurotechnology at the University of Washington. His work focuses on ethical issues related to neurotechnology, such as effects on human agency, relationality, and privacy, as well as ethical and philosophical implications of dementia.

Ariela Tubert, PhD

Existential Choices in Homo Ex Machina

Ariela Tubert is professor of philosophy and Dolliver-NEH Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Puget Sound. She specializes in moral philosophy and philosophy of artificial intelligence. Some of her recent work explores the implications of various existentialist themes – such as the human capacity to make existential choices – for our current understanding of AI. Her book project Robot Existentialism: Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of Rationality is being supported by a collaborative research grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and she is co-director of the Dolliver NEH project “The Humanities and Artificial Intelligence” at the University of Puget Sound.

Arthur Derse, MD, JD

“The Play’s the Thing,” among Others, in Bioethics and Medical Humanities Education

Arthur R. Derse, MD, JD, is the David and Julia Uihlein Chair in Medical Humanities, director of the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities and professor of bioethics and emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). He is director of the MCW Medical Humanities Program. He teaches several courses in bioethics and medical humanities in the medical school and graduate program in bioethics and co-directs the medical school’s Scholarly Concentration in Bioethics and Medical Humanities. His research has focused on emergency medicine and ethics, law and bioethics, confidentiality, informed consent, end-of-life decision-making and the doctor-patient relationship.

In support of improving patient care, the University of Wisconsin–Madison ICEP is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Questions about this event? Contact SMPH Signature Events at smphevents@med.wisc.edu.

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The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is committed to accessibility. If you need an accommodation to attend or participate in this event, please contact the SMPH signature events team at smphevents@med.wisc.edu. We ask that accommodation requests be made no less than two weeks before an event. We will make a thorough attempt to fulfill requests made after this date but cannot guarantee they will be met.

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