Past Workshops and Events

Photograph: Romanell Center Workshop on Bioethics and the Philosophy of Medicine, May 11, 2019.

Photograph: Romanell Center Workshop on Bioethics and the Philosophy of Medicine, May 11, 2019. 

The Romanell Center Saturday Workshops and past events are featured on this page. The workshops connect to the Center's robust tradition of hosting seminars, speakers, conferences, debates, and other events. For further information about the Romanell Center workshops and events, contact David Hershenov, dh25@buffalo.edu  or Ali Hasanzadeh, ahasanza@buffalo.edu

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PAST EVENTS

Additional listing of 2022 events is forthcoming.

November 2022 Romanell Bioethics Workshop

“The Unbearable Porosity of Being: On the Failures of Insular Individualism"

Join us for the Romanell Center Bioethics Workshop on Saturday November 12, 2022. The full day event features the keynote address by Jeffrey P. Bishop, MD, PhD (Saint Louis University) on “The Unbearable Porosity of Being: On the Failures of Insular Individualism". Bishop's research interests include bioethics, philosophy of medicine, history of philosophy, medicine and spirituality. His latest book is Biopolitics After Neuroscience: Morality and the Economy of Virtue.

WORKSHOP PROGRAM 
Saturday, November 12, 2022
PARK HALL 141
9:30 a.m. to 5:50 p.m. 

9:00-9:45 Semi-Kosher breakfast 

9:30-10:30 John Lizza (Kutztown) “Metaphysical and Ethical Dimensions of the Too Many Thinkers Problem”

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-11:45 Chris Riddle (Utica) "Medical Aid in Dying: The Case of Disability"

11:45-1:45 Lunch 

1:45-2:45 Perry Hendricks (Purdue) “The Impairment Argument”

2:45-3:00 Break 

3:00-4:00 James Cordeiro (Romanell Fellow, Brockport/Oxford) "Some Moral Reflections on Assisted Gestation Technologies"

4:00-4:15 Break 

4:15-6:15 Keynote Address: Jeff Bishop (Saint Louis University) “The Unbearable Porosity of Being: On the Failures of Insular Individualism"

7:00-9:30 Dinner

For more information about the workshop or to receive advanced copies of the workshop papers, email David Hershenov at dh25@buffalo.edu

ON THIS PAGE:

January 25, 2022  4:00 PM, Dosoretz Room (2220A) JSMBS
Dr. Jobst Landgrebe, Founding Manager and Director, Cognotekt GmbH, Köln, Germany
Title: Ethics of germ line gene therapy in humans

This talk describes the technology used to genetically alter the human germ line and assesses its medical safety (risks of involuntary genome alternations and side effects). I then discuss 1. the Mendelian case constellations, in which germ line therapy can be adequately modelled to obtain a controlled, deterministic result, and 2. the non-Mendelian cases in which this is not possible. In conclusion, I evaluate each set of cases from an ethical perspective, and show why they call for a very different ethical assessment.

2021 WORKSHOPS

  • December Workshop
    11/30/22
    Join us for the Romanell Center Workshop, December 4, 2021 (Saturday) in 141 Park Hall, UB North Campus. Our day-long workshop features lively debates and discussions by Romanell Fellows and colleagues. Ben Bradley (Syracuse) will deliver the keynote, “Against Discounting Future Preferences.”
  • 2021 Romanell Center Annual Conference
    11/30/22
    Join us for the Romanell Center Annual Conference, November 5, 6, and 7, 2021 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) in Park Hall, UB North Campus. Our three-day conference features debates and discussions by Romanell Fellows and keynotes by: Christopher Boorse, “Human Psychological Nature: Why Attacks from Philosophy of Biology Fail” and “The Suicide of the Harmful-Dysfunction Analysis”; plus Maureen Condic, “When Does Human Life Begin? A Scientific Perspective and Counter-Arguments.”
  • Spring 2021 Speaker: Prenatal Injury, Abortion, and the Non-Identity Problem
    11/30/22
    June 11, 2021, Friday, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, join us online as Jeff McMahan  (Oxford University, White's Professor Moral Philosophy) delivers a talk on his paper,  “Prenatal Injury, Abortion, and the Non-Identity Problem”. The event is part of the Spring 2021 Speaker Series hosted by the Romanell Center. For further information contact Jonathan Vajda, jvajda@buffalo.edu
  • Spring 2021 Speaker: Does Enhancement Violate Human ’Nature’?
    11/30/22
    May 28, 2021, Friday, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, join us online as Jason T. Eberl,  Professor, Health Care Ethics and Philosophy, Director, Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics (Saint Louis University) delivers a talk on his paper, "Does Enhancement Violate Human ’Nature’?” The event is part of the Spring 2021 Speaker Series hosted by the Romanell Center. For further information contact Jonathan Vajda, jvajda@buffalo.edu
  • Spring 2021 Speaker: A Right Response to Anti-Natalism
    11/30/22
    May 21, 2021, Friday, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, join us online as  Dr. S. Matthew Liao,  Director of Center for Bioethic Arthur Zitrin Professor of Bioethics (NYU) School of Global Public Health) delivers a talk on his paper, “A Right Response to Anti-Natalism". The event is part of the Spring 2021 Speaker Series hosted by the Romanell Center. For further information contact Jonathan Vajda, jvajda@buffalo.edu
  • Constructing the Death Elephant: A Synthetic Paradigm Shift for the Definition, Criteria, and Tests for Death
    11/30/22
    May 14, 2021, Friday, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, join us online as Alan Shewmon (UCLA Medical School Emeritus) delivers the read ahead workshop on “Constructing the Death Elephant: A Synthetic Paradigm Shift for the Definition, Criteria, and Tests for Death”. The event is part of the Spring 2021 Speaker Series hosted by the Romanell Center. For further information contact Jonathan Vajda, jvajda@buffalo.edu
  • Narcissism and the Architecture of Praise and Blame
    11/30/22
    April 30 2021, Friday from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, join us online as David Shoemaker delivers the talk, "Narcissism and the Architecture of Praise and Blame". The event is part of the Spring 2021 Speaker Series hosted by the Romanell Center. For further information contact Jonathan Vajda, jvajda@buffalo.edu
  • What Should Be the Overarching Natural End (Goal) of Human Life?
    11/30/22
    April 23, 2021, Friday from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, join us online as Patrick Lee delivers the talk, "What Should Be the Overarching Natural End (Goal) of Human Life?". The event is part of the Spring 2021 Speaker Series hosted by the Romanell Center. For further information contact Jonathan Vajda, jvajda@buffalo.edu
  • 2021 Speaker: Bioethics Collapses —The Problem of Coming to Own One’s Self
    11/30/22
    March 19, 2021, Friday from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, join us online as Stephen Kershnar delivers the talk, "Bioethics Collapses: The Problem of Coming to Own One’s Self". The event is part of the Spring 2021 Speaker Series hosted by the Romanell Center. For further information contact Jonathan Vajda, jvajda@buffalo.edu
  • How Harms Can Be Better than Benefits: Reply to Carlson, Johansson, and Risberg.
    11/30/22
    Join us online January 29, 2021, Friday, 3:00 p.m. EST,  as Neil Feit delivers the talk:  “How Harms Can Be Better than Benefits: Reply to Carlson, Johansson, and Risberg.” The online event is part of the Spring 2021 Speaker Series hosted by the Romanell Center. Contact Dr. David Hershenov, dh25@buffalo.edu  
  • A new approach to disease, risk, and boundaries based on emergent probability
    11/30/22
    February 19, 2021, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, join us online as Patrick Daly, MD, delivers the talk:  “A new approach to disease, risk, and boundaries based on emergent probability.” For further info contact David Hershenov, dh25@buffalo.edu  

2020 Events

  • The Impossibility of Digital Immortality
    11/30/22
    The Romanell Center for Clinical Ethics and the Philosophy of Medicine is pleased to announce the Fall 2020 Speaker Series is being delivered in the virtual format of Zoom. On October 14, Barry Smith delivered the first talk, “The Impossibility of Digital Immortality.”  A recording of Smith's presentation is here
Photograph: The February 2020 Workshop presentation, "Identity, Integration, and Transitivity of Identity: A Puzzle about the Existence of the Early Embryo”, by David Hershenov included his original visual aides.

Photograph: The February 2020 Workshop presentation, "Identity, Integration, and Transitivity of Identity: A Puzzle about the Existence of the Early Embryo”, by David Hershenov included his original visual cues.

Fall 2019 Events

Themes from Wear: Romanell Center Workshop

Themes from Wear: November 16, 2019 Romanell Workshop speakers (pictured left to right): Jonathan Vajda, Jack Freer, Tim Madigan, Patricia Marino, Harvey Berman, Peter Koch, Shane Hemmer, and Larry McCullough.

Themes from Wear: November 16, 2019 Romanell Workshop speakers (pictured left to right): Jonathan Vajda, Jack Freer, Tim Madigan, Patricia Marino, Harvey Berman, Peter Koch, Shane Hemmer, and Larry McCullough.

Saturday November 16, “Themes from Wear” — Workshop in Honor of Steve Wear’s Retirement

Location: Park Hall 141, UB North Campus; 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

1. Lawrence McCullough (Baylor University, Hofstra University) Topic TBA

2. Jonathan Vajda (University at Buffalo) "Problems Representing Permissions: Informed Consent and Deontic Roles." 

3. Tim Madigan (Saint John Fisher College, Romanell Center) “Ingelfinger Redux: Is Informed Consent a Polite Fiction?”

4. Peter Koch (Villanova University, Romanell Center) “Why Ethics Consultants should be Cowboys and Break the Law”

5. Shane Hemmer (University at Buffalo, Romanell Center, Veterans Administration) “Moral Diversity and Conscientious Objection"

6. Patricia Marino (University of Waterloo) “Moral Pluralism, Bioethics, and the Complexities of Informed Consent”

Fall 2019 Lectures & Workshops

September 4, 2019, Lecture
Wednesday, 3:00 pm, Jacobs Medical School 2220
Alex London
 (Carnegie Mellon)
“AI, Adaptive Trials and Ethics: Can We Integrate Innovation, Rigor, and the Best Interests of Study Participants?”  
Abstract: Scientific innovation is not limited to the development and evaluation of novel products, procedures, or technologies. Scientific innovation also occurs within the trial designs and statistical methods used to evaluate and assess new technologies. Just as we are considering how to evaluate machine learning and artificial intelligence systems that make diagnostic or prognostic decisions once reserved solely for clinicians, the standard fixed size, randomized clinical trial is being challenged as the scientific gold standard by novel study designs that involve a range of adaptive design features. In this talk I will describe a set of values that should govern research with human subjects and outline an argument to the effect that these values cannot all be satisfied at the same time. If this argument is true, it would have profound implications for the methods that could ethically be used to evaluate novel interventions and for the type of study designs that could be used in that process. I argue that this argument rests on a very plausible but ultimately mistaken assumption about how we should think about and model uncertainty in medical research. The ethical and scientific consequences of this result are explored in the context of evaluating AI systems and deploying adaptive clinical trial designs.

Saturday, September 28, 2019 Workshop
Park Hall 141, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

10:00-11:00. Steve Kershnar (SUNY Fredonia, Romanell Center) “Can the Counterfactual do the Work Required of it by the Counterfactual Comparative Theory of Harm?” 

11:15-12:15. Travis Timmerman (Seton Hall, Romanell Center) “Annihilation isn't Bad For You"

12:30-1:30. Alex Gillham (St Bonaventure University) “A Dilemma for the Impairment Argument”

2:30-3:3.0  David Hershenov (University at Buffalo, Romanell Center) “The I’m Personally Opposed to Abortion But…Argument”

3:45-4:45. Jonathan Livengood, Nir Ben Moshe, Ben Levinstein (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign) “Probability and Informed Consent”

5:00-6:00. Michael Fiorica (University of Southern California) “Like Clockwork: Normal Functioning, Mental Illness and Criminal Insanity 

 

Wednesday, October 16, 2019, Debate
6:00 pm, 20 Knox Hall 20
Should Physician-Assisted Suicide be Legal?
Dr. Stephen Kershnar (SUNY Fredonia Philosophy Department Chair)
Versus
Dr. Phillip Reed (Canisius College Philosophy Department Chair)

Saturday, October 26, Workshop

1.

Location: Park Hall 141, UB North Campus

9:30-10:00 Breakfast 

10:00-11:00. Steve McAndrew (University at Buffalo) "Internal Morality of Medicine and Physician Autonomy”

11:15-12:15. Steve Kershnar (SUNY Fredonia, Romanell Center) “Does Bioethics Rest on a Crumbling Foundation? Rights in the Crosshair”

12:30-1:30. Neil Feit (SUNY Fredonia, Romanell Center) “Counterfactuals and Comparative Harm” 

1:30-2:30 Lunch

2:30-3:30 David Hershenov (University at Buffalo, Romanell Center) “An Alternative to the Pro-Life Rational Substance View”

3:45-4:45 Don Marquis (University of Kansas) "Potentiality, Abortion, and the Wrongness of Killing" 

5:00-6:00 John Lizza (Kutztown University) “Potentiality, Futures of Value, and Abortion” 

ROMANELL SUMMER 2019 CONFERENCE: “DEATH, DISEASE, AND IDENTITY”

July 25, 26, 27, 2019

John M. Fischer.

John M. Fischer

Keynote by John Martin Fischer 
(UC Riverside)
"Near-Death Experiences:
To the Edge of the Universe"

 

About the speaker:
John Fischer’s main research interests lie in free will, moral responsibility, and both metaphysical and ethical issues pertaining to life and death. He is the author of The Metaphysics of Free Will: An Essay on Control; with Mark Ravizza, Responsibility and Control: A Theory of Moral Responsibility; and My Way: Essays on Moral Responsibility. His recent work includes a contribution to Four Views on Free Will (in Blackwell’s Great Debates in Philosophy series) and three collections of essays all published by Oxford University Press: My Way: Essays on Moral ResponsibilityOur Stories: Essays on Life, Death, and Free Will; and Deep Control: Essays on Free Will and ValueSee faculty profile.

Conference Schedule

DAY I: Thursday, July 25 - DEATH

9:30-10:00 Breakfast

10:00-11:00 Talk #1 Travis Timmerman (Seton Hall) “The Timing Problem is Nota Problem

11:00-11:15 Break

11:15-12:15 Talk #2 Jim Delaney (Niagara University) “Hope, Unrealistic Optimism & Autonomy”

12:15-1:00 Lunch

1:00-2:00 Talk #3 Tim Madigan (Saint John Fisher College) “When a Body Meets a Body: The Ethics of Displaying Human Cadavers”

2:00-2:15 Break 

2:15-3:15 Talk #4 Phil Reed (Canisius College) “Suicide by Doc” 

3:15-3:30 Break

3:30-4:30 Talk #5 Adam Taylor (University of North Dakota, Fargo) "Death, Immortality, and Monism about Persons”

4:30-4:45 Break

4:45-6:15 Keynote Talk #6 John Martin Fischer (UC Riverside)."Near-Death Experiences: To the Edge of the Universe"


DAY II: Friday July 26 -
 IDENTITY

9:30-10:00 Breakfast 

10:00-11:15 Talk #1 Jonathan Vajda (UB Philosophy Grad) – “Creating Human/Non-Human Chimeras”

11:15-11:30 Break

11:30-12:45 Talk #2 Barry Smith (UB Philosophy) “Minds made of Software vs. Minds made of Flesh”

12:45-2:45 Lunch and Discussion of John Fischer’s “Responsibility and Autonomy: the Problem of Mission Creep” and “The Frankfurt-Style Cases: Extinguishing the Flickers of Freedom”

2:45-3:00 Break

3:00-4:15 Talk #3 David Hershenov (UB Philosophy) “Thinking Animals or Thinking Brains?” 

4:15-4:30 Break

4:30-5:45 Talk #4 Shane Hemmer (UB Philosophy Grad). "Personal Identity and Autonomy" 

 

DAY III: Saturday July 27 - DISEASE

9:30-10:00 Breakfast

10:00-11:15 Talk #1 Steve Kershnar (SUNY Fredonia English or Political Science). “Heaven, Drab Eternity, and Everlasting Life: How Should Christians Prioritize Lifesaving Medical Resources?”

11:15-11:30 Break 

11:30-12:45 Talk #2 Pat Daly (Boston College Lonergan Institute). "Risk Factors and Disease."  

12:45-1:45 Lunch

1:45-3:00 Talk #3 Eric Merrell (UB Philosophy Grad Student). “Capacities and Brain Processes”  

3:00-3:15 Break

3:15-4:30 Talk #4 David Limbaugh (UB Philosophy Department Postdoc). “Warranted Diagnosis”


Drafts of the papers will be available on July 18. To request any or all of the papers, send an email to dh25@buffalo.edu

Spring 2019

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Saturday, 10:00am to 6:00pm, Park Hall 141
1. Allison Thornton  (University of Southern Alabama), Topic: Personal Identity
2. Phil Reed (Canisius College), “Against Suicide”
3. David Hershenov (UB), “The Moment that You Die and Cease to Exist”
4. Eric Merrell (UB grad), "Life and Metabolism: how to Freeze your Cat and have it too"
5. John Keller (Saint Joseph University), Topic: TBA
6. Jake Monaghan (UB grad), “Biological Ties and the Biological Account of Moral Status”

Saturday, March 2, 2019

Western New York Workshop on Bioethics and the Philosophy of Medicine*

LOCATION — Park Hall 141, UB North Campus

PROGRAM —

9:30-10:00 a.m.  Breakfast 

10:00-11:15  The Thomas Percival Lecture 
Shane Hemmer (UB Ph.D. Candidate, VA Hospital) 
"Why Bother Evaluating Medical Decision-Making Capacity?" 

11:30-12:45 The Antonin Scalia Lecture: 
Stephen Gilles (Quinnipiac Law School).
"A Conceptual Analysis (and Critique) of Constitutional Abortion Rights" 

12:45-1:45 The Danny Wegman Lunch 

1:45-3:00 The Neo-Locke Lecture:
David Hershenov (University at Buffalo) 
“Harming the Mindless: Modifying McMahan’s Time-Relative Interests Account”

3:15-4:30 The ICORUSMEDNETTECHLOGOSPCXXINFO Lecture 
Dave Limbaugh (Romanell Center Fellow; Intelligence Community Postdoc ORISE) 
“Medical Cognitive Process Ontology”

4:45-6:00 The Gray’s Anatomy Lecture
Barry Smith (University at Buffalo) 
Topic: Response to Kingma on Fetuses as Parts of their Mothers

7:00 Dinner

*Workshop papers will be available for distribution on Monday, February 25. To obtain any of the papers, send an email request to David Hershenov at dh25@buffalo.edu

Friday, April 5, 2019

Bioethics Workshop
Niagara University, 350 Bisgrove Hall
1:30 – 6:15pm
Four Romanell Center Fellows will present original papers on various issues related to medical ethics, philosophy of medicine, and bioethics. James Delaney, Shane Hemmer, David Hershenov, and Stephen Kershnar. Each session will last one hour and will consist of a presentation of the paper followed by discussion with audience. The workshop, made possible by the Rose Bente Lee Ostapenko Center for Ethics in Medicine and Healthcare, is dedicated to investigating ethical issues related to healthcare and medicine facing our local and global communities. The event is free and open to the public. See program here.

Romanell Workshop, April 13, 2019

Western New York Workshop on Bioethics and the Philosophy of Medicine*

9:30-10:00 The Robert Wegman Breakfast

10:00-11:15 The Thomas Linacre Plenary Lecture
    Jason Eberl (Saint Louis University )
    “Conscientious Refusals in Health Care: Developing World Cases and Systemic Responses in Solidarity”

11:30-12:45 The Bernard Lonergan Plenary Lecture
    Pat Daly (Boston College)
    Topic: Lonergan-Inspired Critique of Wakefield’s Hybrid Account of Disease

12:45-1:45 The Danny Wegman Culinary Experience

1:45-3:00 The Patrick Romanell Plenary Lecture in Medical Naturalism
    David Hershenov (University at Buffalo)
    A Naturalist Response to Kingma’s Critique of Naturalist Accounts of Disease

3:15- 4:30 The Joel Feinberg Plenary Lecture
    Neil Feit (SUNY Fredonia)
    “Preemption Cases and the Normative Relevance of Harm”

4:45-6:00 The Anti-Hippocrates Plenary Lecture
    Steve Kershnar (SUNY Fredonia)
    “Should Physicians be Allowed to have Sex with their Patients?”

7:00 Dinner

*Workshop papers will be available for distribution on Monday, April 8. To obtain any or all of the papers, send an email request to David Hershenov at dh25@buffalo.edu

Romanell Workshop, May 11, 2019

UB NORTH CAMPUS, Park Hall 141, 9:30 am – 6:00 pm

9:30-10:00 Breakfast 

10:00-11:00 Phil Reed (Canisius College Philosophy Department )
“Disvaluing the Disabled: Prenatal Testing, PAS, and the Expressivist Objection”

11:00-11:15 Break

11:15-12:15 Plenary Address: Thomas Molony (Elon Law School)
“Liberty Finds No Refuge:  The Doubt-Filled Future of Casey’s Undue Burden Standard” with a discussion of abortion and disability 

12:15- 1:15 Lunch 

1:15-2:15 David Hershenov (University at Buffalo Philosophy Department) 
“If Pro-Lifers Believe that Embryos are Persons then why don’t they Demand a Massive Redistribution of Research Funds for Miscarriage Prevention?”

2:15-2:30 Break

2:30-3:30 Keynote Address: Michael Rembis (UB Disabilities Center Director) 
“Challenging the Impairment/Disability Divide: Disability History and the Social Model of Disability"

3:30-3:45 Break

3:45-4:45 Peter Koch (Villanova University Philosophy Department) 
“Welfare and Disability”

4:45-5:00 Break

5:00-6:00 Barry Smith (University at Buffalo Philosophy Department) 
Topic: Disability

NOTE: Workshop papers will be available for distribution on Monday May 6. To obtain any or all papers, send an email request to David Hershenov at dh25@bufffalo.edu

Fall 2018

Sept. 7, 2018
3:30, Park Hall 141
Governor’s Lecture: David Hershenov (UB) and Rose Hershenov (Niagara University) “Do Fission Puzzles Provide Reason to Doubt that your Organism was ever a Zygote?”

Sept. 14, 2018
3:30, Park Hall 141
Governor’s Lecture: Barry Smith (UB) "The Chicken and the Egg: Response to Kingma on Babies as Parts of Their Mothers”

Sept. 20, 2018, Working Dinner
7:00-10:00 pm
End of Life Issues Reading group. Neil Feit choice: Jens Johansson’s “The Preemption problem” Philosophical Studies.

Sept. 25, "Defining Disability"
Tuesday, 10:00 a.m.
UB Medical Campus
77 Goodell Street, Buffalo, NY
Presentation by Barry Smith

Friday/Saturday, Oct.5/6, Ostapenko Center Symposium
"Doctor-patient Relationship: Does Christianity Make a Difference?"
Contact: Jim Delaney, Director, Ostapenko Center for Ethics in Medicine and Health Care, Niagara University
Speakers include David Hershenov and Phil Reed.
See program here.

Friday Oct. 19, Patrick Lee (Franciscan University)
“New vs. Old Natural Law Theories”

3:30-5:30 pm, Governor’s Lecture, Park Hall 141
7:00-10:00 pm, Working Dinner

Monday, Oct. 22, 6:00-7:30 pm, Physician-Assisted Death: Panel Discussion
Dozoretz Auditorium (Room 2220), Jacobs School of Medicine
Phil Reed, Panelist. See flyer here.

Friday Oct. 26, 3:30-5:30, Park Hall 141 
Governor’s Lecture: Eric Merrell topic: van Inwagen, death, and suspended animation

Romanell Workshop

Saturday Oct. 27, 141 Park Hall

Workshop Program:
10:00 – 10:50am, No Longer a Young Scholar Award Lecture:  David Hershenov (UB) and Rose Hershenov
(Niagara University). “The Metaphysical Error Underlying Tooley’s Defense of Infanticide”

11:00-11:50am, Elie Wiesel Profile in Courage Weekend Lecture: Harvey Berman. (UB Medical School) “Conscientious Objection: Whose Conscience? Whose Burden”?

12:00-12:50pm, The Scholar who is Least Likely to ever Win the American Catholic Philosophical Association’s Aquinas Medal Lecture: Steve Kershnar. (SUNY Fredonia); “The Doctrine of Double Effect Fails Miserably: Jim Delaney’s, John Keller’s and Phil Reed’s Ethical Theory Gets Two in the Back of the Head”

2:00-2:50pm, My Earlier Temporal Part Memorial Lecture: Shane Hemmer. (UB) Topic: Personal Identity

3:00-3:50pm, Keynote Lecture: Michael Rembis. (UB History, Director of UB Center for Disability Studies). “Nothing about us, without at least, perhaps, possibly, hopefully some of us”

4:00-4:50pm, Runner up for the Keynote Lecture: Travis Timmerman (Seton Hall University). “How to be an Actualist and Blame People.”

5:00-6:00pm, Panel Discussion: “What do Embryos Rescue Cases Reveal about the Moral Status of the Unborn”  

5:00-5:20pm, Plenary Lecturer: Jim Delaney (Niagara University – but on the job market). “Embryo Rescue”

5:20-5:40pm, First Runner up for Plenary Lecturer: Steve Kershnar. (SUNY Fredonia, but on probation) “Of course you Save the Adult over the F****** Embryo.”

5:40-6:00pm, Second Runner up for Plenary Lecturer. David Hershenov (UB). “Even a Cloned Embryo of Steve Kershnar Deserves to be Saved"

 

Saturday, Nov. 11, 2018 Conference, San Diego, CA.
American Catholic Philosophical Association
Romanell Center Satellite Session, 3:30-5:30p.m.

"What do embryo rescue scenarios reveal about the moral status of the unborn?” The panel consists of three Romanell fellows, David Hershenov, Jim Delaney and Steve Kershnar. The moderator is Jason Eberl. See conference program here.

Thursday, November 15, 7:00-10:00 pm
Working Dinner: Pat Daly (Boston College) “Concise Guide to Clinical Reasoning”Journal of Evaluation of Clinical Practice 

Friday Nov. 16, 3:30-5:30, Park Hall 141
Governor’s Lecture: Pat Daly (Boston College) “An Integral Approach to Health Science and Health Care” Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics

Friday Nov. 30, 3:30-5:30, Park Hall 141 
Governor’s Lecture: Shane Hemmer (UB)
"The Conceptual Incoherence of Biological Approaches to Personal Identity."

TEDMED 2018 Simulcast

TEDMED Live 2018  in Palm Springs, CA 
Simulcast for UB Community, Nov. 14, 15, 16
Streaming On-Demand to Dec. 4

Where: http://tedmedlive.org
UB Access Code: L78443

The entire program, direct from the TEDMED stage, is simulcast via the Internet, live and on-demand. Content can be streamed on personal computers, laptops, tablets, mobile devices, and projected in classrooms and auditoriums. Each session lasts approximately 90 minutes and is comprised of 5-7 curated talks on important and/or provocative health and medicine topics.

See Full Program - https://www.tedmed.com/event/stageprogram

SUMMER 2018 ROMANELL CONFERENCE

Conference poster by Antonette Thérèse Nolan.

Third Tuesday Lecture Series

All Lectures: Third Tuesday at Noon, at locations listed on the UB Downtown Campus.

SPRING 2018

March 20, 2018
Phil Reed
“Does Morphine Kill?: Opioids and Double Effect at the End of Life”
JSMBS, Room 6128, 955 Main St.

April 17, 2018
Peter Koch
“The good life for patients with psychiatric disorders”
CTRC
, Room 7002

May 15, 2018
Joseph Fins (Cornell)
"Covert Conscious in Severe Brain Injury: Clinical and Ethical Challenges”
CTRC, Room 5019

June 19, 2018
Dan Miori
"Applying the ethics of belief to medical decision-making in a big data era"
Location TBA

2017 -2018 Third Tuesday Lectures

  • 11/21/2017 David Limbaugh, UB,  "The Harm of Disorder as Harm in the Damage Sense"
  • 12/19/2017 Tim Madigan, St. John Fisher College, Rochester, “Patrick Romanell: Pioneer in Medical Ethics”
  • 1/16/2018  Stephen Kershnar, Fredonia, "On what basis should medical schools admit students?"
  • ​2/20/2018  Harvey Berman, UB

2017-2018 Romanell Working Committees/Reading Groups Schedule

Note: Committees meet the third Tuesday of each month.

  • June 20, 2017, Ontology of Medicine Reading group. David Hershenov paper choice, Kingma’s “Naturalism about Health and Disease: Adding Nuance for Progress”, and David Limbaugh’s “Harm in the Damage Sense: The Concept of ‘Harm’ in the Concept of Mental Disorder”.
  • July 22, 2017, Romanell Conference keynote papers by Schechtman, Marquis and Lizza on personal identity and our Origins.
  • September 19, 2017, Health, Harm and Well-Being reading group. Jim Delaney paper choice, "Harm and the Boundaries of Disease” by McGivern and Sorial.
  • October 17,  2017,  End of Life Issues Reading group. Neil Feit choice “The Time of Death’s Badness” by Jens Johansson.
  • November 21, 2017, Clinical Ethics Reading Group. Harvey Berman paper choice, tba.
  • December 19, 2017, Creation and Enhancement Reading group. Rose Hershenov paper choice, tba.
  • January 16, 2018, Ontology of Medicine Reading Group. John Keller paper choice, Peter Graham selections from George Graham’s An Introduction to Philosophy of Mind and Mental Illness.
  • February 20, 2018, Autonomy, Addiction and Accountability Reading Group, Rob Kelly paper choice, “Addiction and the Concept of Disorder by Jerry Wakefield.
  • March 20, 2018, Foundations of Bioethics Reading Group. Steve Kershnar paper choice, “Can Consequences be Right Makers”.
  • April 24, 2018, Health, Harm and Well-Being Working group. David Limbaugh paper choice, Stephen M. Campbell's: The Concept of Well-Being.
  • May 22, 2018, Geert Craanen paper choice, Onora O’Neil’s “Autonomy and Trust in Bioethics”.
  • June 19, 2018, End of Life Reading Group: Phil Reed paper choice, Jukka Varelius “ Mental Illness, Natural Death, and non-Voluntary Passive Euthanasia.”
  • July 17, 2018, Keynoter papers in preparation for 2018 Romanell Conference.

Romanell Center Spring 2018 Workshop

MARCH 10, 2018
Saturday Afternoon
Park Hall 141, UB North Campus

11:00-12:15 Yuichi Minemura (UB Alum)
A  Romanell Lecture
“The Transplant Intuition and Animalism”

12:15-12:45 Lunch

12:45-2:00 John Lizza (Kutztown University)
Lynne Baker Memorial Lecture
“Is Brain Death a Legal Fiction”

2:15-3:30  Jack Freer (UB Med School),
Harvey Berman (UB Med School)
People’s Choice Award Lecture.
Topic: Dissociative Identity Disorders and Psychological Accounts of Personal Identity

3:45-5:00  Peter Koch (Villanova)
The "I Can't Let Go Of Grad School" Dissertation Re-Defense Lecture
“Capabilities and the Welfare of Patients with Disorders of Consciousness”

5:15-6:30 Barry Smith (UB)
NCOR Workshop on Defining “Capability” Lecture
“What Do IQ Tests Measure?”

Barry Smith Lecture Multimedia Resources
MULTIMEDIA SPOTLIGHT

Romanell Center Spring 2018 Workshop

FEBRUARY 17, 2018
Park Hall 141, UB North Campus

12:00-1:00 David Limbaugh (UB).
Western New York Philosophical Hall of Fame Inductee Lecture

Paper Title: Potential, Degrees, and Patrick Lee: The powers of the fetus and the powers of me”

1:15-2:15 Rose Hershenov (Niagara University) and Derek Doroski (Franciscan University)
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" Fission and Fusion Lecture.

Paper Title: “Twin Inc.”

2:30-3:30 Rob Kelly (UB).
The Betty Ford Recovery Lecture
.
Paper Title: "The Systematic Loss of Control in Addiction: Beyond Disease and Choice"

3:45-4:45 Shane Hemmer (UB)
I Should Have Written a Dissertation in Bioethics Lecture

Paper Title: "Conscientious Objection and the Internal Morality of Medicine"

5:00-6:00 David Hershenov (UB)
The Dewey-Like Lecture

Paper Title: “Three Mistakes about Personal Identity and Harm to Embryos”

Romanell Center Fall 2017 Workshop

NOVEMBER 18, 2017
Park Hall 141 (Seminar Room)
UB North Campus

12:30-1:30pm Governor’s Lecture:  Steve Kershnar (SUNY Fredonia)
“Desert and Organ Transplantation:  Should Addicts, Criminals, or Welfare Recipients go the End of the Line?

1:45-2:45pm Derek Parfit Memorial Lecture: David Hershenov (University at Buffalo)
“Are Psychological Accounts of Personal Identity Compatible with the Whole Brain Death Criterion?”

3:00-4:00pm Regents Lecture: Jake Monaghan (University at Buffalo)
“Informational Obligations and Consent”

4:15-5:15pm The Phil Reed Friends Lecture: James Delaney (Niagara University)
“Causing/Removing Disability and Noninterference”

Debate: Drs. John Keller and Stephen Kershnar debate the moral status of abortion

November 7, 2017 at 7:00pm, in Science Center 105, SUNY Fredonia

Romanell Conference, July 28 & 29, 2017

Media Coverage of 2017 Romanell Conference

The Romanell Conference on Bioethics and the Philosophy of Medicine recently featured keynotes by Jerome Wakefield and Christopher Boorse, pictured above on Buffalo's Niagara River shore, with Canada's shore on the horizon.

PANTC 2016

PANTC 2015

PANTC 2014

PANTC 2013

2016-2017 Featured Speakers

  • David Koepsell JD, PhD, Mexico Comisión Nacional de Bioética, "The Blockchain and Personal Genomics: tracking rights and responsibilities securely", 9/20/16.
  • Stephen Kershnar, JD, PhD, Fredonia, "People are not morally responsible and why this matters for medical ethics", 10/18/16.
  • Miriam Shuchman MD, University of Toronto, 11/15/16.
  • Barry Smith PhD, UB, "Document-Driven Healthcare", 12/20/16.
  • Joseph Fins MD, Cornell Univ, 1/17/17.
  • David Essi, UB, Comparative Effectiveness Research: Case studies in Germany & the United States, 2/21/17.
  • Steven Fliesler PhD, UB, "Scientific Misconduct: The Nature of the Beast", 3/21/17.
  • Heather Ochs-Balcom, UB, 4/18/17.
  • Susan Smith, UB, 5/16/17.
  • Peter Koch, Baylor, 6/20/17.

2011 to 2016 Archive Listing

  • Sean Philpott PhD, Union Graduate Program in Bioethics. "Gonorrhea, Guatemala and Gung-Ho Researchers: The Scandalous History of Research Ethics." 10/17/11.
  • Stephen Wear PhD, UB. "Informed Consent." 12/19/11.
  • Katie Grimm MD, UB: "Population Health: Applying an ethics lens to public health initiatives." 02/20/12.
  • Susan Smith PhD, UB: "The Use of Race in Clinical Research and Practice." 03/19/12.
  • Miriam Shuchman MD, University of Toronto: "Doing research on a vulnerable population: the case of psychotic individuals." 04/16/12
  • Peter Winkelstein, MD, MBA, UB: "Medicine 2.0: Ethical Challenges of Social Media for the Health Profession." 05/21/12.
  • Ana Iltis PhD, Wake Forest: "'Research ethics consultation in a clinical and translational science setting." 06/18/12.
  • David Doukas MD, University of Louisville: "Cultivating Humanism in the Clinical Scientist." 07/24/12
  • Jack Freer MD, UB: "Return of individual research results." 09/18/12.
  • Harvey Berman PhD, UB "How Vioxx exposed conflicts of interest at FDA and The New England Journal." 10/16/12.
  • Barry Smith PhD, UB. "Ethics, Informatics and Obamacare." 11/20/12.
  • Stephen Wear PhD, UB, "Informed Consent: what should it ideally/practically involve?" 01/15/13.
  • Steven Fliesler PhD, UB. "Research Misconduct: The Nature of the Beast." 02/19/13.
  • Jim Lavery MSc, PhD, Univ Toronto, "Re-thinking the ethical foundations of community engagement in research." 03/19/13.
  • Dorothy Wright MA, MLS, UB, "Informed Consent: The Role of Trust and Assurances." 04/16/13.
  • Nancy Rourke PhD, Canisius, "Swallowing Sacrament: Dementia and the Eucharist." 05/21/13.
  • Jack Freer MD, UB, "Vulnerability and research at the end of life" 06/18/14.
  • D.Alan Shewmon MD, UCLA, "Vegetative State: Clinical and Ethical Update." 08/20/13.
  • Diane Schwartz MLS, Kaleida, UB, "Evidence Based Medicine & Critical Appraisal of the Literature; Supporting Ethical Clinical Decisions." 09/17/13.
  • Stephen Wear, PhD, UB, .Lies to the Sick and Dying Revisited. 11/19/13.
  • Nicoleta Voian, MD, MPH, RPCI, "Ethics and Genetics", 12/17/13.
  • Barry Smith, PhD UB, ""Clinical Trial Data Wants To Be Free: Lessons from the NIAID Immunology Database and Analysis Portal", 01/21/14.
  • Harvey Berman PhD, MPH, UB, "Noninvasive Prenatal Testing: Has the slippery slope become slipperier?" 02/18/13.
  • Jason Eberl PhD, Marian University and Indiana University Center for Bioethics, Richard Gronostajski PhD, UB, Western New York Stem Cell Culture and Analysis Center (WNYSTEM), "Societal Issues in Stem Cell Research." 03/18/14.
  • Camille Wicher PhD, RN, RPCI,"What Research Reveals about the African American Perception of Hospice", 04/15/14.
  • Jack Freer MD, UB, "The Research-Treatment Distinction.an obsolete concept?" 05/20/14.
  • David Hershenov PhD, UB Philosophy, Rose Hershenov PhD, Niagara U Philosophy, "Health, Harm and Potential", 06/17/14.
  • Laurene Tumiel-Berhalter PhD, UB Family Medicine. "Patient Voices Network: Ethical considerations in Participatory Research", 09/16/14.
  • Miriam Shuchman MD, UB, U Toronto, "Research Collaborations Between High- and Low-income Countries -- equity, ethics, and Ebola research", 10/21/14.
  • Lisa Lehman MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School, "High Value Care and the Physician-Patient Relationship", 11/18/14.
  • Kim Griswold MD, UB Family Medicine, "Ethical issues in providing services to refugee and asylum seekers", 12/16/14.
  • Nicoleta Voian, MD, MPH, RPCI, "Ethical aspects of genetic testing for hereditary cancer syndromes", 1/20/15.
  • Steven Fliesler PhD, UB Ophthalmology, "Plagiarism: Walking on the Dark Side", 2/17/15.
  • Barry Smith PhD, UB Philosophy, "Ontology of Aging and Death", 3/17/15.
  • David Kaye MD, UB Psychiatry, "Ethical Questions in Pediatric Primary Care/Psychiatry Collaborative Care Programs", 4/21/15.
  • James DuBois DSc PhD, Washington Univ St. Louis, "Responding to Wrongdoing in Research", 5/19/15.
  • Stephen Kershnar PhD, Fredonia, "Quantifying Health", 6/16/15.
  • Camille Wicher PhD, RN, RPCI,"Incidental Findings in Research", 10/20/15.
  • Harvey Berman, PhD, UB Pharmacology, "Scientific Fraud." 11/17/15.
  • Timothy Quill MD, Univ of Rochester, "Last Resort Options for Intractable Suffering: What is possible in New York now and in the future?" 12/15/15
  • Nancy Rourke PhD, Canisius, "The Ethics Beyond Ugly Sweaters: Lying and Advanced Dementia", 1/19/16.
  • David Hershenov PhD, UB Philosophy, "Death and Dignity." 2/16/16.
  • Phillip Reed PhD, Canisius, "Suicide and Assisted Dying." 3/15/16.
  • Jack Freer MD, UB Medicine, ".Decision Making Capacity and Aphasia." 4/19/16.
  • Laurene Tumiel-Berhalter PhD, UB Family Medicine, (co-presented with Sarah Reilly, UB IRB), "Describing the role of community members in research: Researcher and IRB perspectives." 5/17/16.
  • Geert Craenen MD, Buffalo VA, UB Ophthalmology, "The Moral Agency of Virtual Surgical Simulators." 6/21/16.