This past week I had an opportunity to attend the Rutgers Summer Institute for Diversity in Philosophy. The week long institute was founded by Howard McGary as a way to recruit underrepresented students into philosophy and has been going strong for 20 years. Each day students read the work of philosophers and then engaged themselves in the talks and discussions with the philosophers.
It was a very thoughtful time. The staff were great. The atmosphere was highly philosophical yet fun and filled with gracious people willing to share information about the journey towards professional philosophy. I was present for the talks of Kristie Dotson(whose passion for her work and presentation on epistemic oppression blew me away), Luvell Anderson (his presentation on slurs makes me now curse with reason) and Lawrence Blum (his talk will make me forever question the use of the term “race”). Below are just a few of the talks that I went to, along with a link to the work the participants discussed.
Kristie Dotson:
Philosophy: Epistemology
Work: “How is this work Philosophy”
“A Cautionary Tale on Limiting Epistemic Oppression”
Lawrence Blum
Philosophy: Philosophy of Race
WORK: “Racialized Groups”
Luvell Anderson
Philosophy: Philosophy of Language
Work: “Slurring Words”