Release

Bonnie Steinbock on “Choosing Our Children’s Genes”
March 10 lecture is part of the Friends of the Libraries’ spring 2005 semester program

Contact: Catherine Herman (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 2, 2005) -UAlbany philosophy professor Bonnie Steinbock will lecture on “Choosing Our Children’s Genes” on March 10, 4-6 p.m. in the Standish Room, New Library, located on the University at Albany uptown campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Professor Steinbock has taught and lectured widely on topics in bioethics, with particular emphasis on reproduction and genetics. She has served on a number of working groups in the United States and Europe, most recently a Hastings Center working group on reprogenetics. Recent articles have been on defining parenthood, moral status, embryonic stem cell research, payment to egg donors, and sex selection. She is the area editor in Fertility and Reproduction for the 3rd edition of Encyclopedia of Bioethics (Macmillan, 2004). She is the author of Life Before Birth: The Moral and Legal Status of Embryos and Fetuses (Oxford, 1992; paperback 1996) and the editor of Legal and Ethical Issues in Human Reproduction (Ashgate Publishing, 2002). Steinbeck is the co-editor (with John Arras and Alex John London) of Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine, 6th edition (McGraw-Hill, 2002), the co-editor (with Alastair Norcross) of Killing and Letting Die (Fordham, 1994), and the co-editor (with Dan Beauchamp) of New Ethics for the Public's Health (Oxford, 1999). She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in ethics, bioethics, and philosophy of law, as well as graduate courses in public policy and public health. Professor Steinbock is also a member of faculty in Bioethics, Albany Medical College and Union University.

Professor Steinbock’s talk is part of the University Libraries’ semester-long program, “What Is ‘Nature’ in the 21st Century?”, a series of programs, panel discussions, and films that amplify some of the themes in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Co-sponsors and participants in this spring 2005 series include Albany’s University Libraries, the University Art Museum, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Science Library Colloquia, the Friends of the Libraries, the New York State Writers Institute, Women’s Studies, the Institute for Research on Women, the Center for Humanities and Techno Science, the Department of English, the Program in Journalism, and the School of Information Science and Policy. All events are free and open to the public.

Albany’s University Libraries are ranked as one of the top 100 research libraries in the United States by the Association of Research Libraries. The Libraries serve the University’s community, the citizens of New York State, and scholars and researchers from around the world. For up-to-date information about the University’s Libraries, visit: http://library.albany.edu.

Note to editors and writers: for updated information on the semester-long programming, visit our Website. On the Website, you will find information about the traveling exhibit, Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature, on display at UAlbany’s New Library Atrium, December 22, 2004-February 18, 2005. Funded by the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH), the National Library of Medicine (NLM), and the American Library Association (ALA), the exhibit encourages audiences to examine the intent of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein. Our program lets people view Shelley’s novel from literary, social, historical, and political points of view. Some current artists-working in film, sculpture, painting, and new synthetic forms-also give expression to Shelley’s themes. What is the nature of being “human” and how have definitions changed in our new century? What are the implications of using our power for manipulating the “natural” world? What are the ethical implications of biomedical and biotechnical research and engineering?