Peer 2 Peer University: Neuroethics and International Biolaw

I just signed up for an online course at the Peer 2 Peer University. I love the idea behind the project:

The Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU) is an online community of open study groups for short university-level courses. Think of it as online book clubs for open educational resources. The P2PU helps you navigate the wealth of open education materials that are out there, creates small groups of motivated learners, and supports the design and facilitation of courses. Students and tutors get recognition for their work, and we are building pathways to formal credit as well.

I find the most interesting course to be the one on Neuroethics and International Biolaw. this is also the course that is most compatible with my studies at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. Additionally, I think the course harmonizes well with other topics I like to read, think and write about. Here are the course objectives:

The goals of the course are to give you an overview on Neuroethics and a first introduction to International Human Rights Law. We will discuss the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights and develop an understanding of the connection between neuroethical issues, human rights and their protection. This course is intended for Law students and legal professionals who would like to know more about Neuroethics field and to neuroethicists who would like to have a first introduction to international human rights law.

Although I’m neither a law student or legal professional nor a neuroethicist, I just completed the application form. I’m so excited. They required of me to state the reasons for wanting to take the course. Here is my answer:

First of all, I’m really interested in this topic in general. I know next to nothing about international law, but I’m a philosophy, psychology and biology student (German degree system: double degree) and I would like to investigate the interface of these subjects and the implications Neuroscience has for real world problems. I’m a curious person and would love to know more about law. Secondly, I would like to improve my English proficiency in an academic context. It would be great if I were offered the opportunity to hone my abilities to express my opinions on complex issues and find peers who can indicate which aspects of writing I should work on. Aside from these reasons, I hope to add some interesting posts to my English blog. This might make my blog more attractive to readers and help me sustain a learning environment with peer bloggers beyond the duration of this online course. Last but not least, I use MIT OpenCourseWare on a regular basis and love the concept of making education available to everyone. I really like your program and would love to participate.

Reconsidering my answer, I thought of a million things I should have written… I’m really excited :-)