School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences

Social and political philosophy appointments

Philosophy is delighted to announce the appointment of two permanent faculty working in social and political philosophy

Tommy J. Curry

Tommy J. Curry, currently Professor of Philosophy at Texas A & M University, will join the University on July 1 as Professor of Africana Philosophy and Black Male Studies.

Curry is a leading figure in the philosophy of race and gender and in Africana philosophy. He is the author of The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood, which was recently awarded a 2018 American Book Award, and of Another white Man’s Burden: Josiah Royce’s Quest for a Philosophy of Racial Empire.

He has also re-published the forgotten philosophical works of William H. Ferris as The Philosophical Treatise of William H. Ferris: Selected Readings from The African Abroad or, His Evolution in Western Civilization, is editor of the first book series dedicated to the study of Black males (Black Male Studies: A Series Exploring the Paradoxes of Racially Subjugated Males, with Temple University Press), and is currently co-editing (with Daw-nay Evans) the forthcoming anthology Contemporary African American Philosophy: Where Do We Go from Here?.

His research has been recognized by Diverse magazine, which named him among the Top 15 Emerging Scholars in the United States in 2018, and his public intellectual work earned him the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy’s Alain Locke Award in 2017. He is a past president of Philosophy Born of Struggle, one of the oldest Black philosophy organizations in the United States.

In 2019-20, Curry will be teaching 4th-year seminars for undergraduates on the philosophy of race and gender.

Further information:

Philosophy of race focus for major new appointment

Filipa Melo Lopes

Filipa Melo Lopes, currently a PhD candidate in Philosophy at the University of Michigan, will join the University on July 1 as Lecturer in Social and Political Philosophy.

Melo Lopes works on a variety of issues in social and political philosophy, but in particular on the notion of social standing, which she takes to be fundamental to the way we understand and navigate our social world. In her dissertation, “Recognizing Social Subjects: Gender, Disability and Social Standing”, Melo Lopes examines the role of gender in social relations, arguing that gender is a fundamental element in the way that we attribute social standing.

Her 2018 paper “Perpetuating the patriarchy: misogyny and post-(feminist) backlash” (Philosophical Studies) examines how patriarchal regimes are perpetuated and reproduced, with a particular focus on what Melo Lopes calls (post-)feminist backlash, the rise of women-led movements reinstating patriarchal practices in the name of feminism.

At Michigan she has won awards for doctoral research that is “unusually creative, ambitious and impactful” and for “outstanding work to advance our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion mission”.

In 2019-20, Melo Lopes will be teaching on Morality & Value, as well as Year 3 Political Philosophy.