Multidisciplinary

Course Overview & Project Aims

In the Spring 2026 semester, I took the PHI 320: Bioethics course to learn more about ethical discussions, theories, and concepts that are relevant to research and industry work in the medical field. The course was structured to develop my ability to apply ethical theories to complex topics and case studies that were prominent in the field of biotechnology and engineering; I achieved this through discussion posts, journal writing, literature review and annotations, and video lectures.  

Each week, I worked on annotating two papers that highlighted an ethical theory in the context of a medical dilemma. One paper that stood out to me was that by Jackie Leach Scully, author of 'From “She Would Say That, Wouldn’t She?” to “Does She Take Sugar?” Epistemic Injustice and Disability.' Epistemic exclusion is the dismissal of knowledge by one community regarding another, often based on biases and lack of knowledge. In the article, she made a contrast that while epistemic exclusion of a community adversely impacts that community, it also has a negative impact on the society as a whole because the opinions of that community are not being circulated, limiting diversity of knowledge, insights, and innovation available to everyone. In the current times, it is essential to discuss the contrasts of popular beliefs because it allows for more comprehensive and productive discussions. This idea was especially thoughtful to me because it highlighted, to me, the disparities that people with disabilities undergo due to judgements and limited knowledge of those who itneract with them. 

Additionally, I worked on attaining 'feats' each week wherein I focused on learning and unlearning things, challenging myself, feeling hopeful of the current state of ethics and medicine, and setting goals for myself. Overall, this course left me enlightened and knowledgable about the incorporation of ethics in medicine.

Relation to Grand Challenges Theme: Health

An important dimension of medicine, healthcare, and engineering is the development of technologies that are inclusive and beneficial to all demographics that are interacting with it. While diversity and cultural backgrounds are incorporated, abstract ideas regarding the morality and ethics of a situation/innovation may be questioned. Therefore, as a biomedical engineer, I think it is absolutely necessary to recognize such situations and be knowledgable of the optimal methods to approach them. 

This course provided me that perspective. From learning more about epistemic exclusion to theories like Kantianism, this course directly connected to my Grand Challenges Theme of Health by itnroducing me to the ideologies of reknowned philosophers in the context of  medical situations that may evoke complex ideas and diverse opinions. 

Value Created

Having completed this course, I actively worked on understanding the theories presented holistically and applying them in the annotations that I made in the articles each week.  I was particularly interested in being able to learn more about the different theories like Kantianism, virtue ethics, and act-utilitarianism since I was able to make connections between each theory and how it fit to the context of the texts provided. through this process, I was able to extend my understanding of medicine outside of the scope of my coursework and critically think about abstract concepts with ethical reasoning. With epistemic exclusion, I learned to make connections to cases I have experienced either personally or vicariously through family members and realized the implicit biases people hold, including myself. I set goals to think critically about alternative viewpoints and let go of my biases.