2008 Romanell - Phi Beta Kappa Lecture Series
"Kinds of People: Ontology and Politics"
Marilyn Frye
University Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and
Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, College of Arts and Letters,
Michigan State University
Wednesday, February 6, 4:00 p.m., MSU Union Gold Room AB
"Kinds of Kinds: Models and Metaphors"
Thursday, February 7, 4:00 p.m., MSU Union Gold Room AB
"Being a Kind: Will and Social Ontology"
Friday, February 8, 7:30 p.m., MSU Union Ballroom
"The Powers of Labels: 'I’m (just) a person!'"
All lectures are free and open to the public.
A reception will follow the lecture on Friday, February 8, at Cowles House. The public is welcome; please RSVP to Bets Caldwell at caldwell@msu.edu or (517) 432-2479.
"People reject being labeled and sometimes that’s more than justified. But humans make and need structured social environments, which means we are organized into kinds or categories; it can’t be avoided. Feminist, queer and anti-racist movements grapple with understanding and living within/against race and gender categories. We have urgent questions about what social categories are, what that has to do with what we are, and how that is connected to morals and politics. Those questions will be the subject of my lecture series." -- Marilyn Frye
About Marilyn Frye
Marilyn Frye is the Romanell – Phi Beta Kappa Professor in Philosophy for 2007-08. The professorship is presented to an American philosopher each year in recognition of distinguished achievement and ongoing contribution to the public understanding of philosophy.
Frye is recognized internationally for her work in the fields of feminist philosophy, social theory, and the philosophy of language. She is the author of The Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory (1983), considered a classic in the field, and Willful Virgin: Essays in Feminism 1976-1992 (1992). Her recent work has addressed the topic of social categories.
She received a PhD in philosophy from Cornell University in 1969, joined MSU in 1974, and was named University Distinguished Professor in 2003. In 2006 she took on additional duties as associate dean of graduate studies in the College of Arts and Letters.
She has been a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University of Oregon, a senior fellow and Rockefeller humanist-in-residence at the Center for Advanced Feminist Studies at the University of Minnesota, and a fellow at the National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. She was named Distinguished Woman Philosopher of the Year by the Society for Women in Philosophy in 2001.
Frye’s philosophy informs her own practice as a citizen. As the co-founder of Bare Bone Studios for Women’s Art, located in Lansing, Mich. (1996-2006), she set an example for scholars in the humanities and the arts who are committed to progressive social change. Bare Bone Studios provided space, facilities and community for working artists, with a special emphasis on the development of women art-makers.
About Phi Beta Kappa and the Romanell Professorship in Philosophy
The Romanell-Phi Beta Kappa Professorship in Philosophy is made possible by an endowment from Patrick and Edna Romanell. Patrick Romanell, a Phi Beta Kappa member from Brooklyn College, is retired H.Y. Benedict Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas, El Paso.
Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s oldest academic honor society. It has chapters at 276 institutions and more than half a million members throughout the country. Its mission is to champion education in the liberal arts and sciences, to recognize academic excellence, and to foster freedom of thought and expression. Among its programs are academic and literary awards, lectureships, a fellowship, a professorship, and publication of The American Scholar, an award-winning quarterly journal. For more information, visit www.pbk.org.
The Michigan State University Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa (“Epsilon of Michigan”) received its charter in 1968 and inducts well over 100 undergraduate liberal arts and sciences majors every year.More than 200 MSU faculty and staff members are members of Phi Beta Kappa.
The 2008 Romanell – Phi Beta Kappa Lecture Series is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the College of Arts and Letters, the Department of Philosophy, and Phi Beta Kappa ~ Epsilon of Michigan.
For more information about the Department of Philosophy at Michigan State University, visit www.msu.edu/unit/phl.
Read the Phi Beta Kappa press release here.