The Dutch Research School of Philosophy (OZSW) and Radboud University Nijmegen invite participants to register for ‘Lifting the Blinds‘, a workshop on diversity and exclusion in philosophy.
Organizing university
Date(s)
Location
Radboud University, Erasmus Building, room E 15.39.
Type of activity
Primary target group
If places available, also open to
Application/registration deadline
September 20th
About the topic
While gender, racial and ethnic diversity flourishes in many other disciplines, philosophy departments in Europe, North America, and Australia remain startlingly true to an age-old formula: predominantly white, Western males studying the thought of other white, Western males. In the Netherlands, only 4.5% of “hoogleraren” (full professors) of philosophy were women in 2011.
The curricula of domestic Bachelor programmes display a similar monoculture: references to feminist philosophy are virtually non-existent, out of eight programmes only three offer courses on non-Western traditions, and “Global Philosophy” is a mandatory course at only one university. To be sure, these are but a few glimpses of the exclusionary matrix that is at work in academic philosophy.
This workshop is a call to reflection and action, aimed at philosophy students who are dissatisfied with the lack of diversity and the persistence of exclusion in their discipline. In the course of one day, we will consider the white, Western, male dominance in philosophy from a variety of angles. Our main sources of inspiration will be feminist and post-colonial theory as well as gender, sexuality and disability studies.
Aim / objective
The following questions will be explored:
- What types of exclusion are at play in philosophy?
- What is at stake in exclusion and diversity? Are we facing a problem to begin with? If yes, is it a problem of justice, politics, epistemology, or a combination of these?
- Is diversity an appropriate response to exclusion? Do we need more radical approaches instead?
- How can one use certain micro-strategies (e.g., gender-sensitive discussion techniques) to promote the inclusivity of the philosophical practice ?
Program
Friday 29 September, 2017
9.30 Welcome/registration
9.50 Hans-Georg Eilenberger and Rose Trappes: Introduction
10.00 Seunghyun Song: Identity-based discrimination in academia
11.00 Coffee break
11.15 Annemie Halsema & Roos van Unen: Diversifying Philosophy. A Best Practice at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
12.15 Lunch break
13.45 Jeremiah Lasquety-Reyes: What Can Philosophy Learn from Indigenous and Tribal Cultures? The Case of Filipino Virtue Ethics
14.45 Coffee break
15.00 Katrine Smiet: Feminist philosophy, situated knowledges and intersectionality
16.00 Coffee break
16.15 Panel discussion: Diversity in Philosophy
17.45 Reception
Costs
The event is free of charge, but registration is required.
How to apply / register
Please register using the event website. The registration deadline is September 20th.
Organizers
Hans-Georg Eilenberger (Radboud University)
Rose Trappes (Radboud University)
Contact info
For practical enquiries, please contact the OZSW at secretariaat@ozsw.nl.