Teaching / Research:
Area of Specialization: Ancient Philosophy
Area of Competence: Continental Philosophy
Spring 09:
PHIL 210: Ethics-6
PHIL 210: Ethics-7
PHIL 210: Ethics-8
PHIL 331: Feminist Philosophy of Science
Fall 08:
PHIL 210: Ethics-4
PHIL 210: Ethics-9
PHIL 220: Ancient Philosophy
Current research:
I am currently working on a book chapter called "Hospitality and Women in Exile: Recasting the Power of the Guest and the Host." It is planned for the upcoming volume Feminism and Hospitality: Gender in the Host/Guest Relationship edited by Dorothy Miller and Maurice Hamington, to be published by Lexington Books. I am exploring the relationship that exists between women who are exiled to a new country, and their hosts. In many cases the relationship of guest and host is unilateral, i.e. hospitality travels only from the host to the guest. I propose that this relationship, when understood in a bilateral manner (i.e. where the hospitality flows from the guest to the host also), provides a much more fruitful and respectful exchange. The bilateral model of a guest-host relationship can be used as a model to transform other relations where there is an imbalance of power.
Also, I continue my research in different areas of the philosophy of food. With roots in the philosophy of Aristotle I am particularly interested in the connection that exists between food and happiness; I see a connection between the formation of habits in eating and the formation of habits to finding ways of being happy. I am also interested in the spiritual dimension of food that one observes when food is talked about but not consumed. Some of the other aspects in the philosophy of food I am interested in are recipe writing, celebrity chefs, what counts as "food", locavorism, the slow food movement, the perceptual component of eating, the description of flavors and the experience of eating, and the patterns of cooking and eating across cultures.