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AKU-ISMC Launches first step towards Research Plan on Bioethics
21 September 2007
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Participants included scholars and medical professionals from around the world |
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On the 14th of September, Aga Khan University - Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) hosted a planning meeting with scholars from a wide range of institutions as the first step in a process that will lead to a research plan focused on bioethics.
The bioethics planning meeting was attended by scholars and medical professionals from around the world, including Professor Abdallah Daar of the University of Toronto, Dr Sherine Hamdi of Brown University, and Dr Thomas Eich of Ruhr-Universität, Bochum.
Over a number of sessions, the participants explored the history of bioethics, surveying issues that have been addressed, perspectives that have been adopted and responses that have been developed. Within this, participants examined 'secular' and 'religious' (especially Muslim, Christian and Jewish and the dialogue between them) responses to bioethical issues and key challenges in bioethics today. Responses and emerging responses to these challenges by Muslims formed an important element of the discussion.
The meeting included three presentations - Is there such a field as Islamic bioethics? by Sherine Hamdy, Bioethics in Pakistan by Farhat Moazam and Capacity development for research on bioethics - role of the AKU bioethics group by Aasim Ahmad. These presentations were complemented by two open discussions, the first of which dealt with questions related to the contemporary status of bioethics. This included an exploration of key research themes, gaps in knowledge, theoretical impasses, and predominant concepts and assumptions, with an emphasis on discussions about bioethics by Muslims.
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AKU-ISMC hopes to develop a bioethics research plan based on the results of the planning meeting |
The second session examined how best to move forward, theoretically and empirically, beyond current discourses. During this session, participants explored what questions should be asked and what methodologies need to be considered in ordered to respond to existing discourses.
Through this meeting, AKU-ISMC has started to develop a well-rounded understanding of the current state of research on bioethics, particularly in the field of religion and bioethics. In this regard, the expertise and input from international scholars during the planning meeting served as an important stepping stone for the Institute as it begins to develop a research plan on bioethics.
Online Resources
- To view all participant profiles, please click here
- To view the bioethics pages of the Institute's website, please click here
External Links*
* Links to sites does not imply endorsement of the contents of those sites.
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