Philosophy Professor Ann Cahill will give her talk, "In Defense of Big Words: Intersubjectivity and Scholarship," in LaRose Digital Theatre.
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Tuesday, April 17
Ann Cahill, “In Defense of Big Words: Intersubjectivity and Scholarship”
LaRose Digital Theatre, 6:30 p.m.
Elon University Distinguished Scholar Award Lecture
Why do philosophers use such big words? And what does scholarship have to do with theories of the self? In this presentation, Ann J. Cahill, Elon’s 2011 Distinguished Scholar, will explore the meanings of a central theme in her own writing (intersubjectivity), defend the practicality of multisyllabic words, and explain the connection between our understandings of the self and our understandings of scholarship.
Since joining Elon’s faculty in 1998, Cahill has written book chapters and numerous articles that have appeared in premier journals in the field of feminist philosophy, as well as two books on topics central to feminist thinking that had not been extensively explored. She has also co-edited two anthologies, presented at dozens of national and international conferences and received several fellowships and research grants, including five summer fellowships awarded by the Faculty Research and Development Committee at Elon.
Cahill’s work, which one colleague describes as “clear, thought provoking, original and compelling,” has become central to postmodern feminist philosophy and is frequently cited in that field’s literature and used as an instructional tool on college campuses across the country.
Her first book, Rethinking Rape (2001), drew from her dissertation at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she earned her doctorate in 1998. In it, Cahill sought to redefine the phenomenon of sexual violence by placing embodiment at its center: the mind does not have a body but rather is the body, therefore rape is a crime against the very self and not just a crime of property as it’s typically construed.
Her most recent book, Overcoming Objectification: A Carnal Ethics, published in December 2010, is a critique of the feminist notion of objectification. It explores an emerging theoretical approach to feminist thinking in which women aren’t considered objects but rather restrained from reaching their full potential by conforming themselves to how men define sexuality.