Professor & Department Chair

Contact Information
364 Savery Hall
Office Hours
by zoom and by appointment; email me to set up a time
Biography
Ph.D. from University of Colorado, Boulder, 1998
Curriculum Vitae
(338.24 KB)
Sara Goering is Professor of Philosophy, Core Faculty for the Program on Ethics, and the Disability Studies Program. She is adjunct in the Department of Bioethics and Humanities. She co-leads the UW neuroethics research group and is affiliated with the UW Center for Neurotechnology. She's currently co-PI on an NIH R01 grant in neuroethics focused on Caring for BRAIN Pioneers (R01MH130457). She teaches courses in bioethics, ethics, philosophy of disability, feminist philosophy, and philosophy of medicine.
Research
Selected Research
- Eran Klein and Sara Goering "Can I hold that thought for you? Dementia and shared relational agency" Hastings Center Report 5: 17-29.
- Jones, Nic R., Debi Talukdar, and Sara Goering. 2022. “Can Pre-College Philosophy Help Academic Philosophy’s Diversity Problem?: Reflecting on What Diverse Philosophers Say about Early Exposure to Philosophy.” Precollege Philosophy and Public Practice 4: 5-31. https://doi.org/10.5840/p4202241323.
- Goering and Klein (2020) “Fostering Neuroethics Integration with Neuroscience in the BRAIN Initiative: Comments on the NIH Neuroethics Roadmap (2020)” AJOB Neuroethics 11:3, 184-188, https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2020.1778120
- Goering, S. and Klein, K. (2020) "Embedding Ethics in Neural Engineering: An Integrated Transdisciplinary Collaboration" in A Guide to Field Philosophy: Case Studies and Practical Strategies (eds. Brister and Frodeman), pp. 17-34, Routledge.
- Goering, Sara and Eran Klein. "Embedding Ethics in Neural Engineering: An Integrated Transdisciplinary Collaboration.” In Philosophy for the Real World: An Introduction to Field Philosophy with Case Studies and Practical Strategies, edited by Evelyn Brister and Robert Frodeman. Routledge, (forthcoming).
- Goering, Sara, and Eran Klein. "Neurotechnologies and Justice by, with, and for Disabled People." In The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Disability. Oxford University Press, 2019. http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190622879.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190622879-e-33.
- Pham, Michelle, Sara Goering, Matthew Sample, Jane E. Huggins, and Eran Klein.“Asilomar Survey: Researcher Perspectives on Ethical Principles and Guidelines for BCI Research.” Brain-Computer Interfaces 5 (2018): 1-15. DOI: 10.1080/2326263X.2018.1530010
- Goering, Sara. “Thinking Differently: Neurodiversity and Neural Engineering.” In The Routledge Handbook of Neuroethics, edited by L. Syd M. Johnson and Karen S. Rommelfanger, 37-50. New York: Routledge, 2017.
- Specker Sullivan, Laura, Eran Klein, Tim Brown, Matthew Sample, Michelle Pham, Paul Tubig, Raney Folland, Anjali Truitt, and Sara Goering. “Keeping Disability in Mind: A Case Study in Implantable Brain-Computer Interface Research.” Science and Engineering Ethics published online June 2017; DOI 10.1007/s11948-017-9928-9
- Goering, Sara, Eran Klein, Darin Dougherty, and Alik Widge. “Staying in the Loop: Relational Agency and Identity in Next Generation DBS for Psychiatry.” AJOB Neuroscience 8.2 (2017): 59-70.
- Brown, Timothy, Patrick Moore, Jeffrey Herron, Margaret Thompson, Tamara Bonaci, Howard Chizeck, and Sara Goering. "Personal Responsibility in the Age of User-controlled Neuroprosthetics." in the proceedings of the 2016 IEEE International Symposium on Ethics in Engineering, Science and Technology (ETHICS), pp. 1-12. IEEE, 2016.
- Brown, Timothy, Margaret C Thompson, Jeffrey Herron, Andrew Ko, Howard Chizeck, and Sara Goering. “Controlling Our Brains – a Case Study on the Implications of Brain-Computer Interface-Triggered Deep Brain Stimulation for Essential Tremor.” Brain-Computer Interfaces, September 14, 2016: 1–6.
- Klein, Eran, Sara Goering, Josh Gagne, Conor V. Shea, Rachel Franklin, Samuel Zorowitz, Darin D. Dougherty, and Alik S. Widge. “Brain-Computer Interface-Based Control of Closed-Loop Brain Stimulation: Attitudes and Ethical Considerations.” Brain-Computer Interfaces 3, no. 3 (2016): 1–9.
- Goering, Sara, Eran Klein, Timothy Brown, Matthew Sample, and Anjali Truitt, “Engineering the Brain: Ethical Issues and the Introduction of Neural Devices.” Hastings Center Report 45, no. 6 (2015): 26-35.
- Goering, Sara, "Eugenics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2014/entries/eugenics/
- Goering, Sara, Shudak, Nicholas, and Wartenberg, Thomas, eds. Philosophy in Schools: An Introduction for Philosophers and Teachers. New York: Routledge, 2013.
- Goering, Sara. “Postnatal Reproductive Autonomy: Promoting Relational Autonomy and Self-Trust in New Parents.” Bioethics 23.1 (2009): 9-19.
- Goering, Sara. “’You say you’re happy, but…’: Contested Quality of Life Judgments in Bioethics and Disability Studies.” Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 5 (2008): 125-135.
- Goering, Sara, Holland, Suzanne, and Fryer-Edwards, Kelly. “Transforming Genetic Research Practices with Marginalized Communities: A Case for Responsive Justice.” Hastings Center Report 38.2 (2008): 43-53.
Courses Taught
Spring 2025
Autumn 2024
Spring 2024
Winter 2024
Autumn 2023
Spring 2022
Winter 2022
Autumn 2020
Spring 2020
Winter 2020
Affiliations
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