Life, Death and Medicine in Cinema
Spring Semester, 2016
Cinema shapes the way we see and live fundamental questions regarding birth, dying, illness and the challenges of contemporary medicine. It is inspired by reality but it also opens new paths for reality to follow. We will explore these questions with a series of movies that will be first screened and then discussed with thinkers from various backgrounds in the natural, human and social sciences and the audience.
All screenings take place in the auditorium of the Henwood-Oshry Life Sciences Teaching Laboratories Building (38)
Gattaca
Andrew Nicol, 1997
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at 6 p.m.
This movie seems to have set the agenda for all future discussions about human enhancement and future of both medicine and our civilization. Yet the most immediate interpretations can be very misleading, and we invite you to join us in challenging at least some of them.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with Prof. Nadav Davidovitch (Health Systems Management), Prof. Dani Filc (Politics and Government) and Dr. Anat Rosenthal (Health Systems Management).
My Sister's Keeper
Nick Cassavetes, 2009
Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 6 p.m.
The movie explores the theme of a savior sibling, a child who was chosen because of her genetic makeup to be a tissue donor for her sick sister. Surprisingly, the moral challenges of this unusual situation are quite different from those that we might expect.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with Prof. Aviad Raz (Department of Sociology and Anthropology), Dr. Ari Schick (Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics) and by Dr. Anna C. Zielinska (Jacques Loeb Centre).
Contagion
Steven Soderbergh, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2016 at 6 p.m.
The problem of global pandemic, as illustrated in Soderbergh's movie, is a constant threat for international public health. In the discussion, we will consider the plausibility of the proposed (worst-case) scenario.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with Dr. Mark Katz, Dr. Anat Rosenthal (Health Systems Management) and Dr. Anna C. Zielinska (Jacques Loeb Centre).
The Farewell Party – מיתה טובה
Tal Granit and Sharon Maymon, 2014
Wednesday June 15, 2016 at 6 p.m.
Our fourth movie explores the theme of the mastery of the end of life, one of the most important questions of contemporary medicine, anthropology and ethics.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with Dr. Marta Spranzi (Université de Versailles St-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France) and Dr. Anna C. Zielinska (Jacques Loeb Centre).
Sponsoring Institutions:
The Jacques Loeb Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
Department of Life Sciences
Health, Humanism and Society Center of the Negev
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Organizers: Prof. Nadav Davidovitch (Health Systems Management), Prof. Dani Filc (Politics and Government), Prof. Aviad Raz (Anthropology), Dr. Anat Rosenthal (Health Systems Management), Dr. Anna C. Zielinska (Jacques Loeb Centre).
Contact: annazie@post.bgu.ac.il
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