New Voices in the History of Philosophy Extending New Narratives in the History of Philosophy

In this episode, Olivia speaks with Jorge Sanchez-Perez, a former postdoctoral researcher in the Extending New Narratives in the History of Philosophy project who is currently an assistant professor in philosophy at the University of Alberta. We discuss Jorge’s postdoctoral work on the Huarochirí manuscript – one of the few surviving records of indigenous Andean philosophy in the Quechua language – and talk about the metaphysical ideas Jorge has worked to uncover in the text. Jorge also offers some advice for people interested in studying indigenous philosophy in an academic context that can sometimes be hostile to indigenous methodologies and traditions. 

In this episode, Olivia Branscum speaks with Phil Yaure – assistant professor of philosophy at Virginia Tech – about the political philosophy of Frederick Douglass. Douglass was born into slavery, but eventually became one of the most influential black abolitionists of the 19th century after escaping his enslaved condition and learning to read and write. Phil’s research focuses on Douglass as a political philosopher, with special concern for Douglass’s conception of the US constitution as an anti-slavery document and his belief that citizenship is a function of one’s contribution to a polity (in contrast to thinking of citizenship as a status that is conferred upon someone by the powers of the state). Phil argues that Douglass considers abolitionist resistance itself to be a way of contributing to American society, which leads to the conclusion that enslaved people fighting against the injustice of slavery make themselves American citizens in doing so. We also discuss the philosophical value of the autobiography genre, and Phil offers listeners some recommendations for where to begin if they want to incorporate Frederick Douglass into their history of philosophy courses. 

In this special collaborative episode, Haley and Olivia speak with Élaina Gauthier-Mamaril, a philosopher and podcaster who produces and hosts the Philosophy Casting Call podcast. Philosophy Casting Call shines a spotlight on thinkers, topics, and themes that are underrepresented in academic philosophy, which listeners will recognize as a mission dear to our own podcast as well. We highly recommend giving Philosophy Casting Call (and Élaina’s other podcasts) a listen! While our conversation emphasizes the theme of podcasting as scholarship, we reflect on a range of topics throughout, including getting started in podcasting, the differences between general-audience podcasting and podcasting for scholarly audiences, how podcasting has changed our other work in philosophy, and how each of our podcast journeys brought us to where we are today!

In this episode, Haley Brennan speaks with Elliott Chen, New Narratives Post-Doc and Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Xavier University starting Fall 2022, about his work on two early modern women philosophers of science: Émilie du Châtelet and Laura Bassi. We talk about du Châtelet’s arguments against essential gravity and Newtonian attraction, and Bassi’s experiments with electricity. We talk about why it is worth taking on projects on figures like Bassi, how you get going on this kind of project, and the variety of work you can do. This episode is the second in a series of interviews with New Narratives Postdocs, past and present.

In this episode, Haley Brennan speaks with Dalitso Ruwe, Assistant Professor of Black Political Thought at Queen’s University, about his project of locating and understanding genealogies of Black and African philosophy. We talk about 18th century ontological and Biblical arguments against slavery, the relationship between practical and intellectual revolutions, and what it means to disrupt a system. We also discuss the value of each person’s own philosophical genealogy, and how to find philosophical content in a text.  This episode is the first of a series of interviews with New Narratives Postdocs, past and present.

In this episode, Haley Brennan talks with Kathryn Sophia Belle, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Penn State University and founder of the Collegium of Black Women Philosophers, about Black Feminist critiques of Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex. We talk about her forthcoming book on the topic, with chapters on Claudia Jones, Lorraine Hansberry, Maria Stewart, Anna Julia Cooper, and Audre Lorde among others. We also talk about the philosophical-historical origins of the concept of intersectionality and the triple oppression thesis, what it looks like to offer alternative accounts to Beauvoir’s, and creating the spaces and projects that you need in academic philosophy.