Heidi Grasswick

Science and Society
Science is not developed in a vacuum. Social circumstances influence the practice of science and in turn, science shapes how we organize ourselves as a society. We will investigate both directions of this relationship, asking such questions as: how do the values of society drive scientific research? What does it mean for science to be understood as objective? And how can socially and politically influenced scientific work be trusted? Drawing on the work of philosophers of science and interdisciplinary science studies scholars we will investigate what makes science such a powerful method of understanding the world, and how social and political pressures play a role in shaping and applying that understanding. We will also investigate the challenges of developing public trust in science by focusing on examples of socially significant scientific research such as climate science and research related to the Covid pandemic. 3 hrs. lect.

Philosophy and Feminism
This course will examine the contributions of various feminists and feminist philosophers to some of the central problems of philosophical methodology, epistemology, philosophy of science, metaphysics, and ethics. Are there gendered assumptions in operation in the way particular philosophical problems are framed? For example, do the politics of gender contribute to accounts of objective knowledge and rationality? Are some philosophical perspectives better suited to the goals of feminism than others? We will also examine the general relationship between feminism and philosophy, and we will reflect on the relevance of theorizing and philosophizing for feminist political practice.

Feminist Epistemologies: Knowledge, Ignorance and Social Power
As a philosophical field, epistemology investigates questions of what constitutes knowledge and understanding and how we acquire such goods. Feminist epistemologies seek to answer these questions while giving special attention to how social relations of power shape our practices and possibilities of knowledge and ignorance. In this seminar we will trace the vast development of feminist epistemologies from the 1980s to the present. We will explore both how these feminist approaches have contributed to a shift in the landscape of epistemology generally, and how they have offered crucial tools for feminist and critical race theorists seeking to understand the reality of and experiences of oppression. Topics will include situated knowing, objectivity, trust (and distrust) in testimony, and epistemic injustices due to bias. 3 hrs, sem.

Responsible Knowing: Issues of Trust, Expertise, and Agency
In this course we will explore a variety of contemporary philosophical accounts of testimony, expertise, and epistemic trust as articulated by the approaches of social and virtue epistemology. We will investigate how philosophers have incorporated this work into an assessment of what it means to know well—that is, what is it to be a responsible knower in a world where much of our knowledge is acquired through others? What additional challenges do we face with online sources of information? We will also assess accounts of how social power and oppression manifest themselves in our positionalities and thus our pathways to knowledge. Open to junior and senior philosophy majors/minors or by permission.

Senior Independent Research
In this course senior philosophy majors will complete an independent research project. The course has two components: (1) a group workshop in which students refine their research skills and develop parts of their projects, and (2) individual meetings with an adviser who is knowledgeable about the student's research topic. Students will engage in research activities such as tutorials and peer reviews. Before the course begins, students’ research topics and advisers will be decided in consultation with members of the department. (Senior majors.) 3 hrs. sem.