This past fall, Wailoo followed-up on the March conversation and approached Tilghman with the idea for a new course on the subject. Next semester, the two will co-teach WWS 354: Modern Genetics and Public Policy, a Monday evening seminar that will explore topics ranging from eugenics to FDA regulations, according to the course description.
Tilghman said that her and Wailoo’s “interests and expertise intersect and overlap in different ways.”
“I have more expertise in some areas of the science side while he has more expertise on the public policy side,” Tilghman said.
Wailoo said both he and Tilghman have “cross-disciplinary interests” and the course attempts to bring genetics and public affairs “into conversation with one another.”
“From the outset, President Tilghman and I knew the issues discussed in the course would be of interest to students in public policy but also of interest to students in the sciences and, beyond that, of interest to students who conceive of themselves as consumers of genetic information,” Wailoo said.
Tilghman said she would like to have a balance of students interested in the public policy side and the science angle. The course caps the number of Wilson School concentrators at 10 students, and all 25 places in the class filled after juniors enrolled in courses for their senior year on Monday.
Wailoo said that he would like the course to be offered again in the future and noted that the size and direction of the course would be determined after seeing how the course turns out next semester.
Prior to being named University president in 2001, Tilghman taught molecular biology for 15 years and served as the founding director of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics. She still frequently guest lectures in introductory molecular biology classes.
Tilghman has been teaching a freshman seminar called FRS 147: How the Tabby Cat Got Her Stripes for the past two years. Next fall, she will not be teaching the course because of her new responsibility as co-professor of the seminar.
Tilghman said she has managed to balance the responsibilities of teaching and serving as University president in the past, though it has taken a lot of discipline.
“I have to pretty much give up all my weekends, because that’s when I work on the course, but I do it because I really love to teach and love being with students,” she explained.
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