Passed my doctoral dissertation defense!

I am pleased to announce that I was able to successfully defend my dissertation and complete my Ph.D. The dissertation, “Modulating Agency: the Moral and Aesthetic Import of Deep–Brain Stimulation,” is a collection of three papers assessing how deep–brain stimulation (DBS) devices impact their users’ experiences of and ability to exercise agency. In it, I argue that current views on DBS’s influence on user authenticity, identity, and/or autonomy are limited insofar as they characterize DBS as an external threat or aide to these features of self-hood. Thanks to everyone who helped me along the way: my dissertation committee (Drs. Sara Goering, Andrea Woody, Carina Fourie, and Gina Campelia), my excellent colleagues in the Center for Neurotechnology, my supportive friends & family, and most of all…my partner Sandra.

Stay tuned for everything that comes next!