Students Join Bioethics Project at Kent Place

 is proud to announce 12 students selected for participation in the inaugural Bioethics Project 2012: The Medically Modified Human offered through the partnership of The Ethics Institute atKent Place and The Hastings Center, a nonpartisan bioethics research institute with offices in Garrison, NY and Washington, D.C.

In order to be considered for inclusion in the project students had to engage in a rigorous application process. They were required to submit a 500-word essay on an ethical dilemma that they personally encountered and their response to the dilemma; two recommendations from Kent Place faculty; a written application that included short-answer questions; and complete an on-campus interview with the Bioethics Project 2012 Selection Committee.

“The application process for students was a competitive and demanding one, as it required them to demonstrate the academic skills necessary for the successful completion of this scholarly pursuit,” stated Dr. Karen Rezach, co-director of the project and director of both The Ethics Institute and the Middle School at Kent Place.

The 2012 Kent Place student participants: Natalie Camponovo '13 of Mendham, Veronica Child '14 of Morristown, Mariana Do Carmo '13 and Olivia Parker '15 of Newark, Anna Fountain '13 of Madison, Ashley Gapusan '14 of Chatham, Alexis Kim '15 of New Providence, Natalie Kwan '14 of Saddle River, Madison Mastrangelo '15 of Far Hills, Madeline Pensiero '13 of Verona, Brianna Velez '13 of Elizabeth and Nita Whelan '14 of Westfield.

This talented group of students will engage in a dynamic, in-depth exploration of the use of medicine for human enhancement, a major topic in bioethics. Their research will be conducted under the mentorship of Hastings Center scholars. They will present and discuss topics such as cosmetic surgery and performance-enhancing drugs. The results of the project will be presented to parents and community members at a public forum and published on a public website.

The Kent Place community as a whole will have the opportunity to learn from students throughout the project. The community will also witness this groundbreaking approach that partners a world-class research institution with an independent school.

Head of School Sue Bosland notes, “This partnership will offer our students the exciting opportunity to work with experts in the realm of biomedical ethics, including the processes of conducting research, synthesizing their findings and presenting their conclusions at a culminating symposium.”

In addition to providing an intellectually rich and stimulating learning experience for the group of Kent Place students, the project will explore how The Hastings Center's methodology can be applied more generally as an educational tool in high schools. Using what they learn in this pilot project, Hastings and The Ethics Institute aim to create resources that would allow teachers and students in the United States and elsewhere to use this methodology to investigate a series of bioethics issues.

The Hastings Center is an independent bioethics research institute founded in 1969 to address ethical, legal, and policy issues in medicine, health and the life sciences. Much of the Center's research is in three broad areas: care and decision making at the end of life, public health priorities and new and emerging technologies. Visit The Hastings Center online at www.thehastingscenter.org.

The Ethics Institute at Kent Place School,founded in 2007, fosters the study of ethics and ethical decision-making in primary and secondary school communities and provides ethics resources and programs to Kent Placeconstituents, independent schools, private schools, public schools and the greater community.

For more information about the Bioethics Project please visit www.kentplace.org/hastingscenter.  




By Joanna R. Dugan, KPS Communications Assistant