I've been on the ISU faculty since 1993, and I love it here. My research interests are medical ethics, healthcare policy, and epistemology. My current work deals particularly with end-of-life decision making, pharmaceutical ethics, and research ethics. In addition to dealing with these issues in the classroom, I have been a member of the local hospital ethics committee for more than a decade. I'm also a Certified IRB Professional, and chair the university’s institutional review board (IRB) which is responsible for ensuring that all research involving human beings follows federal guidelines. My company, Baergen Consulting, provides ethics training for healthcare professionals and social workers.

I'm married to an absolutely splendid person, and we have three wonderful children (and 2 dogs, 2 or 3 cats, as well as rats, hamsters, and an object I insist is a ski boat). At home, I sit on my balcony with a cup of coffee, look out over the valley toward the Sawtooth mountains, and can't believe how lucky I am.

Selected Publications

An Historical Dictionary of Epistemology (Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Scarecrow Press, 2006).

Ethics at the End of Life (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2001). (edited collection)

Contemporary Epistemology (Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace and Co., 1995).

Baergen & Christopher Owens: “Revisiting Pharmacists’ Refusals to Dispense Emergency Contraception,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 108, no. 5 (2006): 1277 – 82.

“How Hopeful is Too Hopeful: Responding to Unreasonably Optimistic Parents,” Journal of Pediatric Nursing, vol. 32, no. 10 (2006): 482 – 86.

“Assessing the Competence Assessment Tool,” Journal of Clinical Ethics, vol. 13, no. 2 (Summer 2002): 160-164.

Courses Taught

• Intro to Philosophy (Phil 101)
• Intro to Ethics (Phil 103)
• Medical Ethics (Phil 230)
• Theories of Knowledge (Phil 460)
• Ethics in Healthcare (Phil 600)

Office: LA 247
Office Phone: 282-3371
baerralp@isu.edu