2004 CONFERENCE PROGRAM
ADDRESSING QUALITY OF LIFE: A CHALLENGE FOR JEWISH BIOETHICS
WELCOME - CONFERENCE
Welcome to the inaugural conference of the Academic Coalition for
Jewish Bioethics! The enthusiastic response to the news of this
undertaking confirms the need for the ACJB.
Responding to the moral challenges resulting from the rapid changes in
medical science and healthcare delivery requires fresh methodological
thinking and approaches to an astonishing array of new questions.
This conference demonstrates the capacity and desire of the scholars and
practitioners in the field of Jewish Bioethics to work together across the
lines of background, training and affiliation that could divide us.
Together we are participating in a dialogue for the benefit of individuals
and society as a whole. That dialogue includes Judaic scholars, rabbis and
doctors, social workers, lawyers and policymakers, nurses, chaplains and
patients.
This event has been made possible by the ACJB's sponsoring academic
centers and generous funders, by the diligent efforts of the members of
the ACJB Board, by our speakers and facilitators, by the prodigious
efforts of ACJB Coordinator Donna Kirshbaum, by the Reconstructionist
Rabbinical College, which serves as ACJB's office host, and by all of you
who gathered here.
Thank you for joining us in this effort.
David A. Teutsch
President
All meals and refreshments, including Sunday breakfast, lunch, dinner, and Monday breakfast will be glatt kosher.
Sunday, February 29, 2004
| 7:45 am | Registration and Continental Breakfast Wyndham Foyer C |
| 8:30 | FIRST PLENARY: What is Quality of Life? Wyndham Ballroom C |
| Rapid changes in medical technology have created unprecedented opportunities for preserving life. The traditional emphasis on preserving life has increasingly been balanced in secular bioethics by a consideration of quality of life issues. What is the place of quality of life in Jewish bioethics and by what methods can we best approach that question? | |
| Moderator Rabbi David Teutsch, Ph.D. Panelists Paul Root Wolpe, Ph.D., Rabbi Noam Zohar, Ph.D., Laurie Zoloth, Ph.D. |
| 10:30-12:00 | Breakout Session: Case Study #1 Room Assignments TBA |
| 12:30-1:30 pm | Lunch Horizons Ballroom |
| 2:00–4:00 | SECOND PLENARY: Therapy vs. Enhancement: Defining Disability/Perfection Wyndham Ballroom C |
| The traditional medical concern with curing and healing has recently expanded to include “perfecting.” From plastic surgery to genetic testing, ethical questions abound, particularly when classical Jewish notions of diversity are considered. This panel will utilize halakhah as well as narrative and values theories to analyze these issues. | |
| Moderator Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D. Panelists Thomas Cole, Ph.D., Rabbi William Cutter, Ph. D., Rabbi Mordechai Halperin, M.D., Louis E.Newman, Ph.D. |
| 4:30–5:30 | Breakout Session: Case Study #2 Room Assignments TBA |
| 5:30 | Mincha Salon 1 |
| 6:00-7:00 | Dinner Horizons Ballroom |
| 7:30–9:30 | Keynote Address and booksigning Horizons Ballroom |
| JEROME GROOPMAN, M.D. ”The Role of Hope in Clinical Decisions” Introduction of Keynote Speaker Rabbi Gerald Wolpe Respondent Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Ph.D. |
Monday, March 1, 2004
| 7:30 am | Shacharit Minyanim Salons 1 and 2 |
| 8:00 | Breakfast (final general conference meal) Wyndham Foyer C |
| 9:00–11:00 | Third Plenary: Moral Challenges in Caregiving Wyndham Ballroom C |
| How should the quality of life for the patient be weighed against the quality of life of volunteer caregivers and their families? How should these considerations affect the locus of care in the home or in institutions? Should the difficulties faced by people in these circumstances affect the goals of caregiving? Should any of these moral issues have an impact on court actions or legislation regarding the regulation or funding of caregiving? What does a Jewish perspective contribute? | |
| Moderator Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D. Panelists Nancy Dubler, L.L.B., Rabbi Dayle Friedman, M.S.W., Deena Zimmerman, M.D., M.P.H. |
|
| 11:00 | Closing Remarks |
| Rabbi David Teutsch, Ph.D., President, ACJB Wyndham Ballroom C | |
| 11:15–12:45 pm | Breakout Session: Case Study #3 Room Assignments TBA |
| 1:00 | End of Conference Program |
| 1:00–2:30 | Methodology Group Lunch Meeting Logans 1 (lobby level) |
| 3:00-5:00 | ACJB Board meeting |
