In teaching introductory philosophy courses, I find that most of my young students want to adopt one of two pretty extreme general orientations. Either there is one universal truth or standard, or everything is completely relative. I often find myself turning to the work of feminist scholars to illustrate more nuanced alternatives to these positions. … Continue reading Women in Philosophy: Linda Martín Alcoff →

Most of us are familiar with liberation movements that center on some specific aspect of social identity: women’s rights, African American rights, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrants’ rights, etc.  As identity politics continues to reassert itself in evolving and intriguing ways, the work of Kimberle Crenshaw is crucial. If her name isn’t familiar you still might have … Continue reading Women in Philosophy: Kimberlé Crenshaw →

Last week my family and I had a lovely little break and enjoyed some quality time together. Vacation. What a treat! Thanks for your patience as this site idled. I want to wade back into blogging by highlighting the work of some brilliant philosophers. Guess what, they're women! Academic philosophy is overwhelmingly homogeneous in terms of … Continue reading Women in Philosophy: Val Plumwood →

As should be evident by now to those who have followed my blog, I am philosophically interested in race and racism. As an individual, I am committed to acknowledging white privilege and upholding ideals of racial equity. Yet, Black History Month came and went without me writing anything specifically connected to acknowledging it. Before February … Continue reading Black History Month →

This month marked the one year anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. That day a gunman walked into his former school, killed 17 people, and wounded 17 others. The students of the Parkland community responded heroically, coming together in their pain and anger, and inspiring young people … Continue reading Lockdown →

I dedicate this post to everyone who takes a little bit longer to process what they hear and articulate their response, and to all of my fellow procrastinators.   Does everyone remember last week’s spectacle of political theater? In the meme age, this may be all we’re left with: DOUG MILLS/GETTY IMAGES And now the … Continue reading The State of the Union Is… →

Season three of Serial received quite a bit of buzz for getting back to its criminal justice roots when it released its third season last year. The team reported from a Cleveland courthouse week by week, following ordinary cases as they unfolded and telling the complicated story of what justice looks like in America. I … Continue reading Podcast Recommendation: In the Dark →

I was recently asked to do some more work on gender and food sovereignty for a forthcoming book project. So this week, while I get some thoughts together on that and some other ongoing projects, I thought I’d share a couple of abstracts for my more formal work. The readers of this blog are almost … Continue reading Recent work →

I wanted to write a loose follow up to my last piece. After reading it, my husband said to me, “I’m not really sure where you land on this.” Making my claims clear and explicit rather than suggestively gesturing toward them has always been a challenge for me. My dissertation advisor, Vicky Davion, used to … Continue reading Oh yeah, James Watson is racist too. →

“[T]he male is by nature superior and the female inferior, the male ruler and the female subject” – Aristotle “I am apt to suspect the Negroes, and in general all other species of men…to be naturally inferior to the whites” –David Hume “In the hot countries the human being matures earlier in all ways but … Continue reading So Kant was a racist. What now? →