Salvatore Chiara, Sami Sehar, Youssef Sandra, Schmidt Markus, Wolbring Gregor
Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N4N1 Canada.
BIOFACTION, Vienna, Austria.
Nanoethics. 2025;19(1):6. doi: 10.1007/s11569-025-00467-y. Epub 2025 Mar 27.
Advancements in neurosciences and neurotechnologies pose various ethical and social challenges, warranting public/stakeholder engagement. Art, such as short films, can expose audiences to the social aspects of neuro-advancements. The 2019 BIO·FICTION Film Festival, for instance, examined how neurotechnologies shape society, the human body, and mind. Students are one important group of stakeholders, as they are expected to be critical thinkers and change agents. The lived reality of disabled people is impacted by neuro-advancements in many ways. Critical disability studies students are therefore key stakeholders, as their programs and courses encourage them to identify and address social challenges faced by disabled individuals. Therefore, they need to be able to evaluate the social impacts of neuro-advancements. Few studies exist that ascertain the views of critical disability studies students on the social impact of neuro-advancements. Our study sought to amplify the voices of critical disability studies students by analyzing the responses of 89 undergraduates from three courses to six top films from the BIO·FICTION festival. Conducted asynchronously due to COVID restrictions, students watched the films independently and responded to four guiding questions about: a) general thoughts about the films, b) their perceived impact on those watching, c) implications for their anticipated careers involving disabled people, and d) the social impact of neuro-advancements on disabled people. Our findings indicated that the topical (non-)fictional short films effectively prompted students to reflect on the social aspects of neuro-advancements and were well received. However, responses also indicated a need for follow-up discussions - virtual or in-person - to address questions about film content and deepen the discussion and class engagement. Such discussion setups could also inform film festivals aiming to raise awareness about the societal implications of emerging technologies.
神经科学和神经技术的进步带来了各种伦理和社会挑战，需要公众/利益相关者的参与。艺术，如短片，可以让观众了解神经科学进步的社会层面。例如，2019年的生物科幻电影节探讨了神经技术如何塑造社会、人体和思维。学生是重要的利益相关者群体之一，因为他们有望成为批判性思考者和变革推动者。残疾人的现实生活在许多方面受到神经科学进步的影响。因此，批判性残疾研究专业的学生是关键的利益相关者，因为他们的课程鼓励他们识别和应对残疾人面临的社会挑战。因此，他们需要能够评估神经科学进步的社会影响。很少有研究确定批判性残疾研究专业的学生对神经科学进步的社会影响的看法。我们的研究旨在通过分析来自三门课程的89名本科生对生物科幻电影节六部顶级影片的反应，来放大批判性残疾研究专业学生的声音。由于新冠疫情限制，该研究以异步方式进行，学生们独立观看影片，并回答了四个指导性问题，这些问题涉及：a）对影片的总体看法，b）他们认为影片对观看者的影响，c）对他们未来涉及残疾人的职业的影响，以及d）神经科学进步对残疾人的社会影响。我们的研究结果表明，这些主题性的（非）虚构短片有效地促使学生思考神经科学进步的社会层面，并且受到了好评。然而，学生的回答也表明需要进行后续讨论——无论是虚拟讨论还是面对面讨论——以解决有关影片内容的问题，并深化讨论和课堂参与度。这样的讨论形式也可以为旨在提高对新兴技术的社会影响认识的电影节提供参考。
