Stanislaus State welcomes Dr. Katherine Filbert to the philosophy department as she joins our campus this semester. After teaching for over ten years in Pennsylvania, Dr. Filbert is ready to teach Stan State students how to be better versions of themselves through philosophy.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your teaching background?
A: I’ve been teaching for a little over ten years. I taught at Villanova University in Pennsylvania when I was doing my PhD, and then after that I was an assistant professor at Kings College. I like teaching, and I really like teaching philosophy. For most college students, philosophy is that thing that they have never done before.
Q: What do you want students to know about your teaching style?
A: Everybody can do philosophy. To do philosophy is to ask questions about our presuppositions, the ideas we already have about who we are and the world around us. We want to get the best things in life, but we should also want to get the best ideas for us. In my classroom, I am trying to give you the tools to be a better version of yourself. With conceptual frameworks, you can find the answers to these big questions.
Q: What can you tell us about your research background?
A: I have two very different research areas. One of them is twentieth century French philosophy, which asks about structure and how to think about these complicated structures. Using this, we can think about complicated problems such as justice, racism, and sexism. While that kind of philosophy is a bit abstract, my other area of specialization is ancient Chinese philosophy. The philosophers I’m interested in are asking questions about what it means to think well.
Q: What do you want Stan State to know about this research?
A: Thinking is complicated, and we develop habits that make us narrow, making us incapable of seeing things from other perspectives. I’m really interested in how these ancient Chinese philosophers theorize that changing habits of thinking can help us get beyond that obstacle of narrowness.
By, Ariana Espinoza
