[Work in progress: Intersection of Design and ”X” Research Papers] Global means local too: Integrating anti-oppressive practice into community-based capstone design projects.
As global health challenges grow increasingly complex, engineering students are motivated to develop innovative solutions that are both technically sound and socially equitable. This paper presents the design and implementation of a senior capstone course at Duke University, a predominantly white, private university in the southern United States. The course integrates principles of human-centered design (HCD), project-based learning (PjBL), and anti-oppressive pedagogy (AOP) to foster students' critical understanding of their roles as engineers addressing global and local health challenges. Through community-based projects, the course emphasizes ethical responsibility, cultural humility, and sustainable design practices, encouraging students to shift from designing for communities to designing with them. Through student reflections and evaluations, this work in progress model for design shows initial trends towards a shift in the students’ perspectives on biomedical engineering, the role of engineers, and global health. By combining technical training with critical reflection on systemic inequities, this course equips students with the skills and mindsets necessary for inclusive, impactful engineering practice. The findings underscore the potential of integrating AOP into engineering education to cultivate socially conscious, globally engaged engineers capable of co-creating equitable solutions with diverse communities.
