The Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University will host its fourth annual “Conversations in Bioethics” program on February 2, 2017 on the topic of “disability.” Event info

Thursday, February 2, 2017

JOIN US AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, OR TUNE IN ONLINE AT 6PM EST:

5:00pm Student Gallery, Healy Hall, first floor
(drinks and passed hors d’oeuvres)

6:00pm Panel Discussion, Gaston Hall
(will also be live-streamed; check back for link)

We hope to see you there! Stay up to date on this year’s conversation by joining the Institute’s mailing list.

THIS YEAR’S TOPIC

What is a disability, anyway?

In an era of ever-growing pharmaceutical enhancement, what counts as intellectually disabled, and why would that matter? How does the way we define disability (and normalcy) impact the just distribution of resources in society — and the way society treats those who happen to fall outside the norm? How are foundational concepts in ethics like dignity or autonomy complicated by reflection on the many ways we are dependent on others in the course of any “normal” human lifespan?

Each year, the Kennedy Institute of Ethics convenes a wide-ranging and personal conversation among expert panelists, preceded and informed by student work on the same topic. We can’t wait to share this year’s conversation, complicating the very notion of “disability.” Join us this February, in-person at Georgetown University, or digitally via live-stream, as our team goes deep on this thought-provoking and deeply important issue.

PANELISTS

JULIA WATTS BELSER, PH.D.

LYDIA X. Z. BROWN

TERESA BLANKMEYER BURKE, PH.D.

RICK GUIDOTTI

JOHN HOCKENBERRY

DONNA R. WALTON, ED.D., CCBT

Did you know? This year’s topic celebrates one of the issues at the heart of the KIE story: disability.

The Institute was founded in 1971 with support from the Rose and Joseph Kennedy Foundation, inspired in large part by the Foundation’s ongoing commitment to advancing the rights of the disabled. This year’s topic celebrates that founding vision of a world where the voices of the powerless are made powerful through thoughtful reflection and theory-driven advocacy, and it dives deep into some of the most complicated and interesting questions in disability ethics today.