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Featured Projects from Members of the Centre
We encourage you to explore the following publications, each of which includes contributions on some level from members of the Centre for Bioethics. The subject of bioethics is both diverse and multifaceted, and we are proud to see that very same breadth reflected in these publications.
Tourette's Syndrome, Stigma, and Society's Jests
This book explores the profound and multifaceted impact of stigma on individuals with Tourette’s syndrome. It critically examines how stigma, rooted in historical misconceptions continues to shape societal perceptions and attitudes, and marginalises those with the condition across education, employment, media, and interpersonal relationships.
Drawing on personal narratives, Tourette’s Syndrome, Stigma, and Society’s Jests investigates how humour and media representations both reinforce and challenge societal stigma. It evaluates systemic barriers that maintain inequality and exclusion and confronts traditional medicalised views of Tourette’s syndrome. Significantly, it advocates for an intersectional approach that emphasises inclusivity, empowerment, and society’s accountability in addressing stigma and fostering change.
Co-authored by Rachel Forrester-Jones
Consenting Children: Autonomy, Responsibility, Well-being
Children are treated differently compared to adults in many domains, including in health care, education, employment, and criminal justice. The differential treatment of children—to adults, and in the case of younger children and adolescents, to each other—makes it both practically and theoretically important to examine the justification of when and why this treatment is permissible. Because the justifications of children’s differential treatment typically appeal to foundational normative considerations—matters of autonomy, responsibility, and well-being—they provoke considerable controversy and disagreement in law and ethics, especially, though not exclusively in the contexts of health care, sexual relations, and criminal justice. Consenting Children brings together philosophers and academic lawyers to grapple with these matters and domains and to share disciplinary and interdisciplinary insights and understanding.
Co-edited by Anthony Skelton
Public Health Law and Policy in Canada, 5th Edition
Now in its fifth edition, Public Health Law and Policy in Canada provides a timely and comprehensive analysis of the legal foundations of public health in Canada, shaped profoundly by the COVID-19 pandemic. Edited by leading health law scholars Jacob J. Shelley, C. Tess Sheldon and Ubaka Ogbogu, and featuring a wide range of expert contributions, this edition continues to be the leading resource on the evolving relationship between law, policy, and public health.
More than a simple update, this edition reflects a significant shift: a reimagining of public health law that challenges the dominance of Western legal traditions and centres equity, human rights, and systemic transformation. It critically explores contemporary public health issues – including mental health, disability, pharmaceutical regulation, bodily integrity, and Indigenous health – while highlighting the impacts of systemic racism, colonialism, and ableism on health outcomes.
Co-edited by Jacob J. Shelley