Marcus Düwell, Simone Abram & Gunter Bombaerts: An Ethicist, an Anthropologist and an Engineer

Today’s episode is an experiment to stretch out disciplinary boundaries by paring up academic debates of philosophy & engineering (& of course anthropology). We are delighted to have with us academics & practitioners representing those different disciplines. What are the personal definitions of multidiscipinarity that make sense to Simone, Gunter and Marcus? We discuss proliferation of academic output, disciplines and increasing number of journals. Our speakers share their worldviews on disciplinary boundaries and experiences with complex cultural engagements, which do not always give the intended results. Listen to the episode to follow this reflexive conversation about intellectual development and current academic changes.

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Marcus Düwell is a philosophical ethicist. He holds a PhD from University of Tübingen. Previous positions among others include – chair for philosophical ethics at Utrecht University, director of the Ethics Institute at Utrecht University, director of the Netherlands Research School for Practical Philosophy. His research interests centre on the foundations of moral and political philosophy, philosophical anthropology, bioethics and climate ethics.

Simone Abram is a professor of anthropology at Durham University where she is also a co-Director of the Durham Energy Institute. She holds a BSc in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, an MSc and PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology. Simone is currently a researcher at the National Centre for Energy Systems Integration (CESI) in which she brings anthropological methods and perspectives to the process and conceptualisation of energy modelling.

Gunter Bombaerts is assistant professor at Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences department at TU Delft. He holds a master’s degree in Nuclear Physics from KU Leuven and PhD in Ethics from University of Ghent. Gunter’s research interests are Ethics, Philosophy, Value Sensitive Design and Empowerment.

Mentioned in podcast:

 Silvast, A., Laes, E. J. W., Abram, S., & Bombaerts, G. (2020). What do energy modellers know? An ethnography of epistemic values and knowledge models. Energy Research and Social Science, 66, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101495

Social media:

Simone, LinkedIn

Marcus, Biography

Gunter, LinkedIn