Duke University 2009-2010 - Office of the Registrar - Duke University

For Graduate Students Only
311. Philosophy and Medicine. The scope of medicine as a philosophical problem, the concept of health, and investigation
of ethical issues arising in medical contexts. Consent of instructor required. Instructor: Golding. 3 units.
317S. The Evolution of Bioethics in the 20th Century. This course will address important themes in Bioethics and how
they evolved through the 20th Century. Issues will include the ethical conduct of human subjects research (including
study of misadventures like the Tuskegee syphilis project); contemporary thought regarding end-of-life decisions; the
effect of advancing technology on ethical reasoning regarding pregnancy (prenatal genetic testing, the changing limits
to viability of newborns, and attitudes toward abortion); research in children; and the issues of public health like
quarantine and the right to refuse vaccination. Instructors: McKinney, Sreenivasan, Baker, Humphreys, Lyerly. 3 units.
335. Thinking About God. Analytical examination of bases for belief in God and possibility of After-life, relation
between faith and reason, and interrelated issues concerning justification for content of religious belief. considers
similarities and differences on these issues among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Instructor consent required.
Instructor: Staff. 3 units.
359S. Principles in Cognitive Neuroscience I. 3 units. C-L: see Psychology 359S; also C-L: Neurobiology 349S
360S. Principles in Cognitive Neuroscience II. 3 units. C-L: see Psychology 360S; also C-L: Neurobiology 350S
Philosophy of Biology (Certificate Program)
Professor Robert Brandon, Director of Graduate Studies (209 West Duke)
The Duke Center for the Philosophy of Biology offers a formal interdisciplinary graduate certificate in the
philosophy of biology. The program draws upon course work and faculty from the Duke departments of biology and
philosophy, as well as from those at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State
University. It is designed to enable students with substantial backgrounds in one of the two disciplines to learn about
the major issues that animate research and scholarship on the intersections between biology and philosophy. The
philosophy classes enable students to acquire experience in methods of philosophical analysis and to explore the
broader philosophical background of problems in the philosophy of biology. The biology classes provide exposure to
theoretical questions in biology that raise conceptual issues, to experimental methods and quantitative modeling with
substantive and often unarticulated philosophical implications. Students generally apply to the program in their first or
second years of doctoral study.
The interdisciplinary certificate will require at least two 200-level seminars in the Philosophy Department in
philosophy of biology, at least two 200-level courses in Evolutionary and/or Developmental biology in the Biology
Department; a directed reading class supervised by a faculty member in the Center for Philosophy of Biology, which
eventuates in a capstone research paper; and regular participation in the philosophy of biology seminar over a two-year
period. The certificate will have as prerequisites prior enrollment in at least one 100-level class in the philosophy of
science or the philosophy of biology, and at least two courses in biology at the 100 level.
Photonics (Certificate Program)
Adjunct Professor Bob Quenther, Director of Graduate Faculty (2579 CIEMAS)
The purpose of the Graduate Certificate Program in Photonics is to broaden the scope of the typical disciplinary
graduate student education program. Students are encouraged to develop interdisciplinary and transferable sets of
skills in their course work and research activities. The program is designed to accommodate both Masters of Science
and PhD students who have been admitted to one of the participating departments. The certificate program helps to
guide students toward this broad view by requiring the completing of a survey course entitled Introduction to
Photonics; three courses from the approved course listing; one formal presentation in the Fitzpatrick Center Seminar
Series; attend at least four Fitzpatrick Center Seminars a year (as documented by the student’s advisor); and if the
student is pursuing a PhD, two members of the center should be on the PhD dissertation committee. For more
information about the program, contact Bob Guenther, Box 90305, Duke University Fitzpatrick Center, Durham, NC
27708; (919) 660-5598.
Physics
Professor Gauthier, Chair (137B Physics); Professor Teitsworth, Associate Chair for Teaching; Professor Palmer,
Director of Graduate Studies; Professors Aspinwall, Baranger, Behringer, Chang, Edwards, Gao, Gauthier, Goshaw,
Greenside, Han, Howell, Johnson, Liu, Mueller, Oh, Palmer, Petters, Samei, Smith, Thomas, Tornow; Associate
Professors Bass, Chandrasekharan, Curtarolo, Finkelstein, Kotwal, Kruse, Mehan, Plesser, Scholberg, Socolar,
Springer, Teitsworth, Wu; Assistant Professors Arce, Duchler, Walter, Yasuda; Professors Emeriti Bilpuch, Evans,
Fairbank, Meyer, Roberson, Robinson, Walker, Walter, Weller; Associate Research Professor Phillips; Assistant
Research Professors Ahmed and Tonchev; Adjunct Professors Ciftan, Dutta, Everitt, Guenther, Lawson, Skatrud, West;
Adjunct Assistant Professor Daniels; Visiting Professors Brown, Krim; Visiting Associate Professor Hastings
The Department of Physics offers graduate work for students wishing to earn the PhD degree. In addition to a
balanced program of basic graduate courses, the department offers specialized courses and seminars in several fields
Departments, Programs, and Course Offerings 182