Bioethics for High School Students

Bioethics for High School Students: Being Human in a Brave New World

"What is the value of life?”
“What does it mean to be human?”
“When does life begin?”
“When does life end?”
“Who decides?”

If questions like these pique your interest and spark your imagination, invest a week this summer exploring them (and many others) with experts in the fields of bioethics, medicine, religion, public policy, law and the humanities. “Being Human in a Brave New World” is an interactive, discussion-driven course adapted from The Ethics Institute’s nationally-known signature program, The Bioethics Project. You will be introduced to the foundational principles of bioethics and The Ethics Institute’s Ethical Decision-Making Method. You will use these tools to analyze and discuss real-life situations and cases, and you will be continuously challenged to answer the ultimate question: Just because we “can” do something, “should” we?

Meet the Facilitators

Karen Rezach, Director of the Ethics Institute
Lisa Goldman: Ethicist in Residence

Karen Rezach, Director of the Ethics Institute

Dr. Karen Rezach is the Ethics Institute's Founding Director and is a leader in primary and secondary school ethics education.

Her doctoral research, “Spiritual Leadership as a Model of Effective Leadership in Independent School,” explores the ways that educators can bring values and moral awareness into non-sectarian settings, and was the catalyst for the founding of the Ethics Institute at Kent Place School.

She has an M.Div. from Yale University, an Ed.D. from Seton Hall University is an ordained Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Newark and serves on numerous boards in the community.

Dr. Rezach is the coach of the National Champion Kent Place High School Ethics Bowl Team.

She has 23 years of experience as an independent school administrator, including Director of the Middle School at Kent Place and Assistant Head of School at St. Philip’s in Newark, New Jersey.

Lisa Goldman: Ethicist in Residence

Lisa Goldman is the Clinical Healthcare Ethics Consultant at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, New Jersey and a healthcare attorney with more than 30 years of experience.

Lisa is an “Ethicist in Residence” at the Kent Place School, where she co-teaches the school’s signature Bioethics Project and co-coaches their nationally-recognized Upper School Ethics Bowl team.

Lisa represents alleged incompetent persons in guardianship proceedings in the Superior Court of New Jersey, and addresses student and parent audiences as a member of the New Jersey Bar Foundation Speaker Bureau. Her academic research and advocacy interests include women’s access to healthcare and healthcare at the end of life, the responsible use of technology, and historic medical transgressions.

Lisa has a B.A. from Rutgers College and a J.D. from the National Law Center at George Washington University.

SAMPLE PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Day 1

Introduction to Ethics
Introduction to Bioethics
Introduction to Medical Professionalism

Day 2

What is life? What is the value of life? Who decides?
The Principle of Autonomy
Medical Decision-Making Capacity, Competence and Consent
What is Paternalism?
Understanding Substituted Judgment

Day 3

Religion and Bioethics
What is a “Parent?”
Assisted Reproductive Technology
Gestational Surrogacy
Biological Wills
Savior Siblings

Day 4

Medical Aid in Dying; A Global Issue
The Principle of Justice
Allocation of Scarce Resources

Day 5

The Principles of Beneficence and Non-Maleficence
Bioethics at the Bedside: Ethics in Daily Medical and Hospital Practice
Bioethics and Medical Humanities

*This schedule may change as we get closer to the program.

PROGRAM INFORMATION

DATES: July 21–25, 2025
9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

WHO: Rising 9th through 12th-grade students

LOCATION: Kent Place School, Summit, NJ
Field Trip

TUITION: $915, includes field trip, lunch, and snacks