During her year as a Townsend Fellow, Jodi Halpern, who is both a philosopher and an assistant professor of medical humanities, will work on a book project entitled "Biologic and Social Determinants of Human Agency: Is the Ethical Ideal of Autonomy Outmoded?" This project, Professor Halpern points out, is a “philosophy book,” making use of knowledge of neurosciences, genetics and social theories of the emotions. It will argue that the ideal of autonomy is a necessary normative construct for any human deliberation viewed from the perspective of the agent. But in light of increasing evidence that dispositions influencing self-sufficiency or the exercising of autonomy are themselves biologically and socially determined, Halpern seek to interrogate how a notion of autonomy can retain its normative role. Professor Halpern received both the Ph.D (Philosophy) and M.D. from Yale.