Vol. 2, No. 1
5 February 1997
PROGRAM NOTES
Short Notes on a Long Art
Newsletter of the Program in Human Rights & Medicine
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
John M. Dolan, Editor
Life is short, the art long; opportunity fleeting,
judgment difficult, experiment, dangerous.
HippocratesWithout music, life would be an error.
Frederick Nietzsche
I. Program News
Program Web Site
As many of you already know, the Program's web site has been up
and running since the second week of October. We urge you to
visit the site if you haven't already done so. We also remind you
that every scholar associated with the Program is invited to
submit a biography for inclusion in the web site. At the moment,
we have biographies for only a dozen of the Program's scholars.
If we don't have yours, please send it in electronic form to our
e-mail address: phrm@tc.umn.edu. Our web site address is:
http://www.umn.edu/phrm.
Benhams Rescue Little Girl in
China
We reported in the last issue that Pat and Randy Benham, inspired
by remarks of anthropologist Steven Mosher at one of our
seminars, would be adopting an infant Chinese girl. They left for
China on the 20th of January to complete the complex process of
adoption. With considerable joy, we just learned that their new
daughter, Alexandria, is in splendid health and safely in their
custody. By the time this newsletter reaches you, the three of
them should have completed the journey back to the United States.
Pat and Randy are very grateful for the prayers many of you
offered on their behalf and Alexandria's.
Mary Krumholz Now Mary Clifford
Mary Krumholz, RN, BA, Associate Program Director of our Program
was wed on the 27th of December. Her husband, Larry Clifford,
also a health professional, shares Mary's deep interest in
medical ethics, and has been involved in the Program's activities
for more than a year. Mary's fellow officers wish her and Larry
every happiness and promise to make a serious effort to learn to
refer to her by her new name.
The Program's Hours
Just a reminder that the Program's new home is in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Minnesota, and that our address is:
Program in Human Rights and Medicine
Box 164 Mayo University of Minnesota
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
420 Delaware Street SE
Minneapolis MN 55455
Our office is in room 12-190 Moos Tower, located in the Health Sciences complex on the East Bank campus. The Program office hours are 1-5 PM, Monday through Friday. Our telephone number is (612)626-6559. We have voicemail, so it is possible to leave messages anytime. Faxes can reach us at (612)626-0665. Our e-mail address is: phrm@tc.umn.edu. Our web site address is: http://www.umn.edu/phrm.
II. This Year's Calendar
Internship and Essay Contest Results to be Announced
The deadline for our student human rights internship competition and prize essay competition was the 31st of January, and the submissions are all in. The results of the competitions will be announced in March. Advisory board member Noam Chomsky, who is speaking here under our sponsorship in April, will be presenting the awards to the successful students.
Dr. Paul Byrne and Controversial Film Open Bioethics Film
Festival
Our "Bioethics Film Festival" opens on a dramatic note
on Saturday, the 8th of February, with a screening of a
controversial and rarely seen BBC documentary, "Are the
Donors Really Dead?" The documentary, which calls into
question widely accepted "brain death" criteria,
includes an interview with Dr. Paul Byrne, a neonatologist who is
traveling here to discuss the issues raised in the film and
answer our questions. The screening of the forty-minute film will
start at 3PM on the 8th of February in room 2-650 Moos Tower,
located in the Health Sciences Complex on the East Bank campus.
Readers of this newsletter are welcome without charge.
Remaining Films in Bioethics Film Festival
The two remaining films in our Bioethics Film Festival" are
"Rain Man" (which will be screened on the 20th of
February at 7PM) and "The Verdict" (which will be
screened on the 27th at 7PM). Each screening will be followed by
a discussion led by various faculty members. The faculty for the
"Rain Man" session includes John Makepeace, Rod Rosse,
PhD, LP, and John M. Dolan, PhD. Dr. Rosse is a friend of the
autistic man with whom Dustin Hoffman associated for an extended
period in order to place himself in a position to portray a
person with autism. The faculty for the "Verdict"
session will be Steven E. Calvin, MD, and Jasper Hopkins, PhD,
RN. Both of these films will be shown in 2-230 Owre Hall. Nurses
attending the films can earn continuing education credit (without
cost).
David Bryden on Rape and Affirmative Action
Later this year Professor David Bryden, advisory board member and
the Gray, Plant & Mooty Professor of Law at the University of
Minnesota's Law School, will be giving a sequel to the
enthusiastically received seminar on "Redefining Rape"
which he led under our auspices in May of 1995. The sequel will
draw on a book length monograph he has recently completed on that
topic.
In March Professor Bryden will be conducting a seminar on another controversial topic, "Affirmative Action: Are Compromises Tenable?" This seminar will take place on the 27th of March at 7:00 PM, in Room 365 Ford Hall, in the Philosophy Department library.
Chomsky to Lecture & Present Awards in April
On the 15th of April, at 12:20 PM, Noam Chomsky will be
presenting a major address under our sponsorship in the Great
Hall of Coffman Union. The title of his lecture is
"Democracy and Rights: Reflections on the Current
Scene." He tells us that he plans to deal with "leading
contemporary themes, ranging from 'the common good' and
'democracy' on." As we've mentioned before, Chomsky always
attracts a vast crowd, so it is best to plan to arrive early in
order to be sure of finding a seat.
Philip Regal on the Bonobo
Professor Philip J. Regal, PhD, of the University's Department of
Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, who is writing a book on the
primate biologically closest to human beings, the Bonobo, is
presenting a seminar on the Bonobo for our Program in May.
Scheduled at 7 PM on the 14th of May (a Wednesday), the seminar
is titled: "The Bonobo: Our Closest Primate Cousin is Near
Extinction. What is Being Lost?" The seminar will be held in
room 365 Ford Hall.
Program Organizes Conference for Medical Professionals
Steven Calvin and John Dolan, the co-chairs of our Program, have
organized a conference for medical professionals titled
"Vulnerable Patients and the Aim of Medicine."
Sponsored by the Program in Human Rights and Medicine, Human Life
International, and the University's Department of Continuing
Medical Education, the conference has a faculty staff which
includes several distinguished local physicians (Ruth Bolton,
former member of the Department of Family Practice, Ron
Hoeckstra, of Children's Hospital, Mahmoud G. Nagib, of the
University's Department of Neurosurgery, and Konald A. Prem, from
the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology) and distinguished
scholars and physicians from abroad. The event carries 6.0 hours
of continuing medical education credit, and has a modest
registration fee of $30 (which includes a box lunch). It will be
held in Bloomington, Minnesota on Saturday, the 19th of April.
Brochures are available at our Program office in 12-190 Moos
Tower. Call (626-6559) or stop by to get one.
III. Scholarly Activity
Kirk Allison
Kirk Allison, regular participant in our seminars and graduate
student of German at the University of Minnesota, is in Salzburg,
Austria this academic year, writing a doctoral dissertation on
the topic "Gottfried Benn, Physician and Expressionist
Poet." In addition, he will be teaching three courses,
"Translation Techniques," "American Media,"
and "Contemporary American Society," this coming
semester at the University of Salzburg.
G.E.M. Anscombe
Professor G.E.M. Anscombe, LLD, of Cambridge University,
co-founder of the Program and member of our advisory board,
recently concluded her teaching and lecturing duties in the new
chair endowed by the Prince of Liechtenstein and conferred on her
by the Internationale Akademie für Philosophie im Fürstentum in
Liechtenstein. Her inaugural lecture, titled "Die Wahrheit
Thun" ("To Do the Truth"), examined the idea of
"doing the truth," which has its earliest known
expression in the 1st Epistle of St. John (I, vi).
Steven E. Calvin
Last term, Dr. Steven Calvin, Co-Chair of the Program, delivered
a lecture on abortion to the law school course taught by advisory
board member David Bryden and John M. Dolan. This term, he is,
once again, with John M. Dolan and Jasper Hopkins, teaching the
graduate course, Philosophy 5325, "Biomedical Ethics,"
required of graduate students minoring in bioethics. On February
13th, Dr. Calvin will speak on the topic of "Abortion
Practices Past the First Trimester" at a session of the
annual Winter Lecture Series sponsored by the Student Committee
on Bioethics at the University of Minnesota. Later this month, on
the 27th, with Jasper Hopkins, Dr. Calvin will be making a
presentation on the ethical issues raised by the film, "The
Verdict." In April Dr. Calvin will visit Northwestern
College in Orange City, Iowa; he has been invited to spend a day
meeting with students to discuss with them the significance of
the Christian perspective in issues of medical ethics.
Noam Chomsky
During the break between the fall and spring semesters, advisory
board member Noam Chomsky, PhD, Institute Professor of
Linguistics and Philosophy at M.I.T., spent a month in South
America and a shorter time in Europe giving lectures on topics in
linguistics, philosophy, foreign policy, and human rights. During
the extended trip to South America, which he characterized as
both exhilarating and harrowing, Dr. Chomsky spent time in
Brazil, Chile, and Argentina, delivering lectures at the
University of Rio de Janeiro and the University of Sao Paulo in
Brazil, the University of Concepcion in Chile, and the University
of Buenes Aires in Argentina. In Europe, Dr. Chomsky visited
Italy and Spain, delivering lectures at the Instito S. Raffaele
in Italy and at the Universitat de les Illes Balears in Mallorca.
Over the past eighteen months or so, while maintaining his normal
crushing load of public lectures all over the planet, discharging
his demanding teaching and graduate duties at M.I.T., and
conducting research into topics over a broad range of subjects,
Dr. Chomsky has published three new books: Power and Prospects,
World Orders Old and New, and The Minimalist Program. He has
underway several book projects at the moment, and other scholars
also have in the works book length publications of hitherto
unpublished material by him.
John M. Dolan
John M. Dolan, PhD, who had the title "Morse-Alumni
Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy" conferred on
him last year, will be delivering four papers at the Human Life
International conference in April of 1997 and two papers at the
conference for medical professionals the Program in Human Rights
and Medicine is holding in the same month. His article, "Is
Physician-Assisted Suicide Possible?," appeared in a special
issue of the Duquesne Law Review devoted to assisted suicide
(Volume 35, No. 1 [Fall, 1996]). Another of his papers is
included in an anthology on suicide scheduled to appear later
this year.
This fall, Professor Dolan and Donald Davidson, the eminent philosopher who holds an endowed chair at Berkeley, will be teaching two courses at the University of Minnesota, an upper division course devoted to philosophy of language and a graduate seminar focused on moral philosophy. Davidson, who was awarded a Hill Professorship at the University of Minnesota for the fall term, will deliver several public lectures in addition to the teaching he will be doing with Dolan. During his visit, Davidson and the distinguished minimalist artist Robert Morris will participate in a symposium devoted to a remarkable series of drawings by Morris which incorporates substantial texts by Davidson. These very large drawings, entitled "Blind Time Drawings with Davidson," have been exhibited at the Guggenheim in New York, the Centre George Pompideau in Paris, and other major centers around the world. Two will be shipped to the University to be exhibited in connection with Davidson's symposium with Morris.
Jasper Hopkins
Jasper Hopkins, PhD, RN, advisory board member, professor of
philosophy at the University of Minnesota, and internationally
recognized authority on the thought of Nicholas of Cusa and the
thought of St. Anselm, gave the third annual Cusanus Lecture
("Faith and Reason in the Thought of Nicholas of Cusa:
Prolegomena to a Sketch of his View") at the University of
Trier, Germany, last academic year and is currently teaching a
graduate course in medical ethics with Drs. Steve Calvin and John
Dolan. The Institut für Cusanus-Forschung (in Trier, Germany)
has invited him to deliver an address next academic year. The
lecture he will be giving is entitled "Die Tugenden in der
Sicht des Nikolaus von Kues. Ihre Vielfalt, ihr Verhältnis
untereinander undihr Sein." ("Nicholas of Cusa's View
of the Virtues: their Diversity, their Relation to One Another,
and their True Nature").
Carl M. Kjellstrand
Carl M. Kjellstrand, MD, PhD, member of our advisory board and
member of the faculty at the University of Alberta, is on
sabbatical conducting research at the Department of Public Health
Sciences of the Bowman Gray School Of Medicine in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina. Starting in March, he will be carrying out his
studies in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of
Washington in Seattle.
Sandra Menssen
Sandra Menssen, PhD, advisory board member and associate
professor of philosophy at the University of St. Thomas, helped
to arrange and participated in an ecumenical, interdisciplinary
philosophy of religion symposium held at St. Thomas last summer.
Other participants came from Ireland, Texas, Kentucky, and
Minnesota, and represented the disciplines of Mathematics,
Economics, Law, Theology, and Philosophy. She and her colleagues
are planning a second symposium in Ireland in 1998.
Dr. Menssen chaired St. Thomas's Diversity Committee during the school's recent major curriculum review and oversaw the development of criteria for a new undergraduate requirement in courses on human diversity. She now serves on St. Thomas's Diversity Review Committee, which approves courses proposed to satisfy the new requirement.
In September Dr. Menssen's article "Must God Create?" (co-author: Thomas D. Sullivan) was published in Faith and Philosophy. She and Dr. Sullivan presented a paper entitled "Unnoticed Assumptions in the Free-Will Defense" at the Minnesota Philosophical Society meetings in October. In March she will present a paper entitled "Maximal Wickedness vs. Maximal Goodness" at the American Catholic Philosophical Association Annual Meeting in Buffalo, New York. Her article "Grading Worlds" is due to be published this spring in the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly.
Konald A. Prem
Konald A. Prem, MD, member of our advisory board and former head
of the University of Minnesota's Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, attended the annual meeting of the Board of Directors
of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and
Gynecologists in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from January 31 to
February 2. He also is attending the 1st Annual Post-Graduate
Course sponsored by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
which is being conducted in Tucson, Arizona, the first week of
February. On the 19th of April, he will make a presentation at
the Program's conference for medical professionals.
Leo B. Twiggs
Leo B. Twiggs, MD, Head of the Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology and member of our advisory board, traveled to China in
the fall of 1996 to meet with Yong-liang Gao, MD, Director of
Zhejiang Provincial Cancer Research Institute in Zhejiang, China.
While there, Dr. Twiggs worked with a number of physicians to
establish research opportunities at the University of Minnesota,
and developed a mission statement and goals for a continuing
relationship between the two institutions. During his visit, Dr.
Twiggs also helped plan an ongoing cooperative educational effort
to be developed between the University of Minnesota's
Comprehensive Cancer Center and Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, and the Zhejiang Tumor Hospital in Hangzhou, China.
While in China, Dr. Twiggs gave presentations on "Laparoscopic Staging of Endometrial Carcinoma: A Model for the Application of Minimally Invasive Surgical Techniques" and "The Role of HPV Typing and Testing in Cervical Carcinoma." This winter Dr. Twiggs also has presented papers at several national and international congresses, including one in Seoul, Korea, and one in Paris, France. In January of 1997 Dr. Twiggs oversaw the publication of the first issue of "The Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease," for which he serves as editor-in-chief.
David Weissbrodt
Professor David Weissbrodt, member of our advisory board and
Co-Director of the Human Rights Center, is in Geneva where he is
working with the United Nations on the preparation of a book to
provide guidance to the monitoring efforts of on-site U.N. human
rights field operations. The book deals with observing
assemblies, elections, trials, and the process of returning
refugees as well as visiting refugee camps and prisons. In
January 1997 he chaired a meeting of experts to provide
guidelines for the U.N. Decade on Human Rights Education.
Professor Weissbrodt taught a course on human rights at the
Graduate Institute of International Studies of the University of
Geneva during the fall term 1996, and will teach a seminar on the
right to a fair trial during the spring semester of 1997. In
August 1997 Professor Weissbrodt will serve for the second year
as the U.S. member on the U.N. Sub-Commission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. In 1997-98 he will
be returning to the University of Minnesota Law School, where he
has just been re-appointed for another seven years as the Briggs
& Morgan Professor of Law.