Research

In Progress Projects: 

• Resisting Sexual Oppression (Dissertation) 

  • This project characterizes the way that oppression interacts with our sexual lives. I suggest that oppression as it relates to our sexual lives has particularly harmful consequences on moral agency. I hypothesize that certain non-standard sexual practices may be liberatory. ​

• A Strange Case of Discursive Injustice

  • I argue for an adapted version of Quill Kukla's account of discursive injustice. ​

• Crime, Punishment, and Civic Respect

  • I argue that our "default" response to crime is punishment. But what if there was another way of responding? What if we responded to crimes by asking ourselves how our treatment of the lawbreaker exhibits the Kantian norm of civic respect? Instead of justifying punishment as a response to crime, I look at what we want to do in our response to crime. Only from there, from a position that looks at the appropriate action that honors victims of crimes, perpetrators of crimes, and communities affected by crime, can we decide if actions like punishment are appropriate. ​

• Princess Elisabeth, Descartes, and Medical Gaslighting

  • In this project, I use the correspondence between Princess Elisabeth and Rene Descartes as a robust historical example that allows us to explore a key feature of medical gaslighting: that it can be done with good intentions. I use Kate Abramson's framework of gaslighting and why it's morally harmful and apply the historical example to show how nuanced (and nevertheless harmful) medical gaslighting can be. ​

Publications​

"Nonbinary Pronoun Use: A Qualitative Analysis"

with Jieyi Cai, Nic Rider, and Richard Lee 

International Journal of Transgender Health, 2024​

We interviewed 20 nonbinary emerging adults about their experience with pronouns. Using Braun and Clarke's (2006) method of inductive thematic analysis, we coded recurrent elements in participant interviews. These were then structured into  four "themes": "Beyond Binary Gender Restrictions," "Pronouns as a Tool," "Pronouns and Outness," and "Nonbinary Enough." Participants reported finding strength in their gender nonconformity while balancing complicated demands from their communities and from society at large. They also described their pronouns as playing important roles in social relationships and in identity affirmation.

 

"Toward Epistemic Sanctuary: Reflections on a Year of Nonbinary Philosophy"

with Ray Pedersen and Áila O’Loughlin

Under Review

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Presentations

• "A Strange Case of Discursive Injustice" 

  • Presented at: University of Minnesota Department Meeting, October 2024​

    • Minneapolis, MN

• "Oppression and Moral Damage" 

  • Presented at: University of Minnesota Department Meeting, February 2024​

    • Minneapolis, MN​

• "The Mafia and Norms of Hypermasculinity: Why Men Buy Into a Losing Game" 

  • Presented at: University of Minnesota Department Meeting, October 2023​

    • Minneapolis, MN​

•  “Bias and Mental Attitudes: What algorithms and the red king effect tell us about prejudice”

  • Presented at: Nature of Bias, April 2023

    • Claremont, CA

• “Seeking Legal Accountability Without Punishment” 

  • Presented at: University of Minnesota Department Meeting, February 2023

    • Minneapolis, MN

• "A Year of Nonbinary Philosophy” with Ray Pedersen and Aila O’Loughlin

  • Presented at: Thinking Trans/Trans Thinking, October 2022

    • Baltimore, MD

  • Presented at: What is Gender, Vol. III, September 2022

    • Virtual