FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Martha Reineke, chair, Hearst Lecture Series Committee, (319) 273-6233 or e-mail
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa— The first distinguished scholar in the 2000-01 Hearst Lecture Series at the University of Northern Iowa, will speak at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2 in the Maucker Union Expansion on “Cloning and Beyond: Making Ethical Public Policy on Controversial Issues.” His address is open to the public free of charge.
Thomas Murray, president of The Hastings Center, will discuss how ethically informed and reasonable public policy on a morally controversial issue, such as human cloning, can be made. He is the first of six noted thinkers who will reflect critically on key aspects of contemporary human experience during this year's series, according to Martha Reineke, chair of the Hearst Lecture Series Committee and a UNI professor of religion.
Murray heads a world-renowned center for the study of medical ethics and is one of the authors of a report by the National Bioethics Advisory Commission on the ethics of human cloning. He will describe ethical issues raised by cloning and the process by which a national commission searches for moral common ground.
The Department of Philosophy and Religion is the host for this year's series that is funded by the Meryl Norton Hearst Chair in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. The committee's mission statement says that, “Together, the Hearst Lecturers demonstrate in compelling ways that as we move into a new century, the humanities continue to make significant contributions to our efforts to understand each other and our communities, as we learn from the past, explore the present and shape the future.”
Murray's address is cosponsored by Project SERVE and the Kellogg Foundation, and Sartori Memorial Hospital.
Murray will also be a presenter for a workshop Tuesday, Oct. 3, on “Ethical Issues for the Health Internet,” from 1 to 4 p.m. in UNI's Wellness and Recreation Center, Room 252. This workshop, focused primarily toward nurses and social workers, will help identify the most important ethical issues surrounding the health internet; distinguish high quality, ethical sites from their opposites; and learn how to identify a good site that is ethical, safe and trustworthy.
Future speakers in the series will be: John Dominic Crossan, who will discuss “The Historical Jesus,” Oct. 23; Wendy Doniger, “Forgetful Husbands and Clever Wives: The Magic Ring in World Mythology, Nov. 14; Colleen McDannell, “Picturing Faith: Religious America in Government Photography, 1935-1943,” Feb. 15, 2001; Michael Eric Dyson, “African-American Religion and Culture in the 21st Century,” March 27; and, Judith Butler, “The Violence of Gender Dimorphism,” April 2.
For more information, contact Martha Reineke at (319) 273-6233 or e-mail .
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