Mutcherson
Constitutional Law is recommended.
The global HIV/AIDS epidemic is one of the greatest public health crises of the past two decades
and has resulted in significant legislation and public policy geared toward both infected and
affected communities. This course explores the legal and ethical landscape of the HIV/AIDS
epidemic with a major focus on domestic issues and some discussion of international issues.
Students are challenged to think critically about the relationship between individual rights and
public health and the ways in which race, class, gender, and sexual orientation have impacted and
continue to impact the U.S. response to the local and global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Topics covered
include HIV testing, confidentiality, and reporting; access to and the ethics of HIV/AIDS
research in the U.S. and abroad; mandatory and voluntary partner notification programs;
immigration restrictions; criminalization of HIV transmission; mandated medical treatment;
patent protections for anti-HIV medications; and anti-discrimination law.