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The Center for Human Dignity in Bioethics, Health, and the Holocaust

Center for Human Dignity, Health, and the Holocaust
advisory board center for human dignity

Mission Statement:

The mission of the Center for Human Dignity in Bioethics, Health, and the Holocaust is to foster a deepened understanding of medical practices and their ethical ramifications. The Center promulgates knowledge about domestic and international practices, both past and present. Because of the active participation of the medical community in shaping the policies and practices that led to genocide, the Holocaust can provide a unique framework for exploring modern issues in bioethics, health care practice and policy, and human rights. The Center serves as a natural extension of Misericordia University’s mission and expertise in the humanities and health sciences and its dedication to promoting equality, health, and well-being for humankind.

What We Do:

The Center for Human Dignity in Bioethics, Health, and the Holocaust has three primary goals:

  1. Examine the ongoing, systematic involvement of the medical community in the ethical violations that took place during the Holocaust and the ramifications for current issues in bioethics, health care practice and policy, and human rights issues
  2. Provide educational resources and programming to explore the ethical issues currently impacting society
  3. Mobilize the community to become active agents of change by advocating for human dignity in bioethics, medicine, and health care

Issues We Address:

  • Bioethics and the Holocaust
  • Social Justice
  • Patient/Personal Autonomy
  • Medical Research and Experimentation
  • Death and Dying
  • Environment and Human Health
  • The Ethics of Mental Health Care
  • Disability Studies
  • Beginning of Life Care/Reproductive Technology
  • End of Life Care/Physician-Assisted Suicide
  • Human Subject Research
  • HIPAA/Right to Privacy
  • Compassion within Health Care Organizations
  • Structural Racism
  • Patient Advocacy
  • Disparities within Health Care
  • Vulnerable Populations

Click here to read Misericordia University students' perspectives on critical issues within the field.

World Bioethics Day 2020: What Can Nazi Medicine Teach Us About Our Current Public Health Crises?

Hosted and Recorded by Misericordia University on October 19, 2020. A mediated panel discussion about the concept of biopower and the role it has played in shaping public health policy throughout history. Discussion includes COVID-19 and state enforced isolation/vaccination, the relative valuation of life, public health as an exercise in political power, and the ethical questions surrounding the politicization of medicine and health care policy.

Remember the Past, Protect the Future - #RememberTogether 2020

The virtual reading of the names of the victims of the Holocaust. This video was compiled by The Center for Human Dignity in Bioethics, Health, and the Holocaust with individual readings from 20 students, staff, faculty, administration, and community members. The final reading is from Dr. Alex Kor, son of Holocaust survivors Eva Mozes Kor and Mickey Kor.

Programs:

Candles and Pledge

A Commitment to Preserve Human Dignity in Health Care

Group Photo at Deadly Medicine Event

Deadly Medicine: How Healers Became Killers

In the News:

Resource Links:

The following list represents important resource links related to the Center for Human Dignity in Bioethics, Health, and the Holocaust. Check back for additional resources.

Visit The Maimonides Institute for Medicine, Ethics, and the Holocaust