Stanford Root

Schedule

Stanford Root

Schedule

STS 115

The Ethics of Developing Life-Saving Technologies for Children

UNITS:3
GRADING:Letter (ABCD/NP)
LEVEL:Undergrad
GER:WAY-ER

Implementing any new technology into healthcare involves negotiating practical, ethical, and social considerations. These include questions such as: "How is care currently given and how will this change it?"; "Why are we doing what we currently do?"; "How will this change make healthcare better, and for whom?"; "What will convince us that care is improved?" The focus of this course is to examine the ethical issues that accompany the implementation of cutting-edge technologies in today's society. We will do this through the lens of the development of care for children with cardiac disease - one of the most technologically and technically complex subfields in medicine. We will develop students' skills in asking critical questions of innovative technology because, by definition, what constitutes the "best" care choice or practice approach, and the impact on practical, ethical, and social concerns needs to be re-evaluated with every new implementation.

Syllabus for selected term:
View Winter 2027 Syllabus

Sections

1 Term
Lecture 1Open
ID: 12280
0 / 80 enrolled
DAYS:Monday, Wednesday
TIME:1:30 PM – 2:20 PM
LOCATION:TBD
INSTRUCTOR:
Char, Danton, Martinez, Nicole, Hollander, Seth
3units

STS 115: The Ethics of Developing Life-Saving Technologies for Children

3 units · Letter (ABCD/NP) · GER: WAY-ER

Implementing any new technology into healthcare involves negotiating practical, ethical, and social considerations. These include questions such as: "How is care currently given and how will this change it?"; "Why are we doing what we currently do?"; "How will this change make healthcare better, and for whom?"; "What will convince us that care is improved?" The focus of this course is to examine the ethical issues that accompany the implementation of cutting-edge technologies in today's society. We will do this through the lens of the development of care for children with cardiac disease - one of the most technologically and technically complex subfields in medicine. We will develop students' skills in asking critical questions of innovative technology because, by definition, what constitutes the "best" care choice or practice approach, and the impact on practical, ethical, and social concerns needs to be re-evaluated with every new implementation.

Offered in Winter 2027 at Stanford University.

Winter 2027 sections

  • Lecture — Monday Wednesday 1:30 PM – 2:20 PM — Char, Danton, Martinez, Nicole, Hollander, Seth (Undergrad)

More STS courses

  • STS 1: Introduction to Science, Technology & Society
  • STS 51D: Ethical STEM: Race, Justice, and Embodied Practice (AFRICAAM 151, ARTSINST 151C, CSRE 151C, ETHICSOC 151C, SYMSYS 151D, TAPS 151D)
  • STS 135: Constructing and Deconstructing Artificial "Intelligence"
  • STS 142: Performing The Economy: Markets, Measurement, and Expertise
  • STS 177: The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating: Technology, History, and Justice
  • STS 188: Reimagining Sustainability: Beyond Growth, Progress, and Technosolutionism
  • STS 191W: Doing STS: Introduction to Research
  • STS 199J: Editing a Science Technology and Society Journal
  • STS 200D: Technology, Agency, and Power: AI and Changing Human-Machine Relations
  • STS 200F: What's New? Interrogating Innovation as a Concept and Practice
  • STS 200G: Doing the History of Science and Technology (HISTORY 200D)
  • STS 200N: Funkentelechy: Technologies, Social Justice and Black Vernacular Cultures (AFRICAAM 200N, CSRE 314, EDUC 314)

All STS courses · All departments