My social justice coursework has encouraged me to examine how inequality is produced, maintained, and experienced. Before entering the MA program, my education and political science studies had introduced me to questions about fairness and institutional responsibility. Graduate study deepened this foundation by asking me to consider why unequal outcomes persist, whose interests existing arrangements serve, and what meaningful change might require.
One of the most important developments in my thinking has been a greater awareness of the relationship between individual experiences and wider social conditions. An experience of exclusion or disadvantage cannot always be understood through personal circumstances alone. It may also reflect decisions about resources, longstanding hierarchies, or institutional practices that distribute opportunities unevenly. This perspective has become central to how I approach both my academic research and my professional interests.
Risk, Place and Social Justice was particularly relevant to my research on organ trafficking. The subject required me to consider how vulnerability is shaped by location, economic conditions, and access to protection. Examining organ trafficking through a social justice lens encouraged me to ask why some people face greater exposure to harm and why the benefits and risks of transplantation can be distributed so unequally.
Structural violence helped me develop this analysis. It provided a way to examine harm that arises through social arrangements, including restricted access to employment, healthcare, and other resources. Using this framework encouraged me to look beyond the immediate transaction and consider the conditions that precede it. My research became increasingly concerned with the circumstances that make selling an organ appear to be a possible response to financial hardship.
Dependency theory also encouraged me to examine the global dimensions of inequality. It helped me consider how economic relationships between wealthier and poorer settings can influence the movement of resources and the distribution of benefits. In my work, these questions brought attention to the unequal positions of people seeking transplantation and people whose financial circumstances leave them vulnerable to exploitation. At the same time, I learned that broad theories require careful application. They should guide questions without replacing attention to the particular context or the available evidence.
Social Determinants and Medicare extended my understanding of social justice into healthcare. The course helped me think about health in relation to income, living conditions, and access to services. This perspective strengthened the connection between my research interests and my goal of becoming a physician. It encouraged me to consider how healthcare professionals can respond to immediate needs while remaining attentive to the wider conditions influencing a person’s health.
My current coursework in Critical Race Studies and Racial Justice is adding another dimension to this analysis. It is encouraging me to examine how race and racialization shape institutions, public understandings, and experiences of inequality. In relation to organ trafficking research, this raises questions about whose lives are valued, whose suffering receives attention, and how affected communities are represented. Because this coursework is still in progress, I see these questions as part of my continuing development rather than as conclusions I have fully resolved.
Similarly, my current work in States, Violence, Revolutions and the Emergence of Global Capitalism is encouraging further reflection on the historical and political conditions surrounding contemporary inequalities. It provides an opportunity to connect present-day problems with longer processes of economic and institutional change. This helps me resist explanations that treat injustice as an isolated event without considering how it developed.
My social justice learning has also involved examining my own assumptions. When researching an issue that initially appears to have a clear solution, I have learned to ask whether that response addresses underlying conditions or only the most visible harm. Stronger enforcement may be important in responding to organ trafficking, for example, but it does not by itself remove poverty or unequal access to healthcare. This has encouraged me to consider several dimensions of a response, including protection, support, institutional accountability, and material opportunity.
A further lesson has been the importance of connecting critique with responsibility. It is possible to identify problems in broad terms without explaining how a proposed response would affect people. My coursework has encouraged me to be more specific about who might benefit, who could be overlooked, and what practical barriers might arise.
Through these experiences, social justice has become a continuing practice of questioning, listening, and revising my understanding. I have developed a stronger ability to connect theory with concrete problems while recognizing that no single framework provides a complete explanation. This approach will guide my future work in education, research, and healthcare, where questions of access and fairness have direct consequences for the people institutions serve.