Pensiero Picked For Bioethics Project

The Kent Place School has announced that junior Madeline Pensiero of Verona was selected for participation in the inaugural “Bioethics Project 2012: The Medically Modified Human”. The program is being offered through the partnership of The Ethics Institute at Kent Place and The Hastings Center, a nonpartisan bioethics research institute with offices in Garrison, N.Y. and Washington, D.C.

To be considered for inclusion in the project, students were required to submit a 500-word essay on an ethical dilemma that they personally encountered and their response to the dilemma; two recommendations from Kent Place faculty; a written application that included short-answer questions; and complete an on-campus interview with the Bioethics Project 2012 Selection Committee.

Pensiero and the group of 11 additional Kent Place students will engage in a dynamic, in-depth exploration of the use of medicine for human enhancement, a major topic in bioethics. Their research will mentored by Hastings Center scholars and they will present and discuss topics such as cosmetic surgery and performance-enhancing drugs. The results of the project will be presented to parents and community members at a public forum and published on a public website.

The Ethics Institute at Kent Place School, founded in 2007, fosters the study of ethics and ethical decision-making in primary and secondary school communities and provides ethics resources and programs to Kent Place constituents, independent schools, private schools, public schools and the greater community.