Research-Based Education
FemPhil seeks to inclusion feminst perspectives in philosophical education. At the moment, we offer two courses exclusively dedicated to feminist philosophy.
FIL-1025 Feminist Philosophy (BA level)(10 ECTS)
Educator: Lovisa Andén, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Philosophy (Spring 2023)
Course description: Feminist philosophy studies prerequisites for equality, with a focus on gender, gendered structures, and the oppression of women in a historical and contemporary perspective. The introductory subject covers the most important normative theories about the meaning of gender in philosophical theory and has a special focus on current issues.
The themes in feminist philosophy can be divided into three sections:
(1) We look at feminist philosophy's contribution to philosophical theoretical traditions in both a contemporary and historical perspective. The subject focuses on issues such as the relationship between biological and social gender (sex/gender) and topics such as sexual orientation, justice, marginalization and gender, culture, and ethnicity.
(2) We examine psychology and scientific theory to see how structural and cultural conditions in academia and society in general can contribute to producing and maintaining stereotypes, conscious and unconscious gender bias, gendered ideals of scientific quality, as well as gendered epistemic injustice.
(3) We discuss the application of feminist theory to issues such as sexual harassment, work and family life, birth and death, parenthood, nature, pornography, abortion, language, and norms of appearance.
FIL-3022 Philosophy & Gender (MA level)(10 ECTS)
Educators: Kjersti Fjørtoft, Professor at the Department of Philosophy and current Head of the Center for Women's and Gender Research (Fall 2021), Melina Duarte, Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy (Spring 2024)
Course description: The course focuses on contemporary philosophical discussions about structural injustice and gender justice, including theories of sexual diversity, as well as critical analysis of historical approaches to questions concerning gender roles and gender justice. The subject contains both a contemporary and a historical component, but the focus may vary from year to year. The concurrent components of the course will focus on political-philosophical, ethical, and social epistemological theories and discourses that deal with conditions for equality for women and sexual minorities. The theories can be applied to current issues such as sexual harassment, equality for sexual minorities, discrimination in working life, prerequisites for equal opportunities for democratic participation, as well as how feminist theory can be applied to issues of sustainable development or global justice. The philosophical component of the course focuses both on traditional philosophical analyzes of gender and gender roles and on how these have been challenged and criticized in the attempt to reconstruct the philosophical canon. A historical approach studies historical texts, of the reception of women philosophers and of previously marginalized philosophical texts and positions.
History of philosophy
In fall 2023 a new introcutory course on history of philosophy, FIL-1028 Innføring i filosofi - Filosofihistorie, will be introduced where a main goal is to present important women philsophers through the ages (up tp 1800). The instructer in this course is Erik Lundestad. In fall 2024 the advanced course in history of philosophy, FIL- 2041 Filosofihistorie, will focus on Elisabeth of Bohemia and her discussions with René Descartes. These disussions include three important philosophcal diciplins; metaphysics, ethics and political philosophy. The instructer in this course is Fredrik Nilsen.
See also study programs offered at the Center for Women's and Gender Research.
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Research
Gender Equality & Structural Injustice
In cooperation with the Center for Women's and Gender Research, FemPhil's research on gender equality has been primarily driven by three ongoing externally financed projects:
IMPLISITT (RCN 2021-2023/321031): Academic philosophy has been male dominated with regards to both scientific staff and canon. The question of why philosophy persists as a male dominated field has been widely discussed. Among some of the explanations are the lack of female/gender diverse role models, the lack of harmony between philosophical methodologies/theories and women´s experiences and ways of thinking, and masculine debate culture. This project asks how implicit gender bias may affect methods of argumentation, conceptions of scientific excellence, as well as social interaction at the workplace. IMPLISITT implements research-based measures designed to reduce the negative impact of implicit gender bias in academic philosophy and aims at promoting cultural and structural changes in the field. The project is carried out via organization of seminars and conferences, as well as via production of tools for reflection on equality and diversity in academia.
PRESTIGE (RCN 2018-2023/281862): The Prestige-project has a threefold-goal: (1) advance knowledge on how gender affects career opportunities and the distribution of power and resources in research at UiT; (2) inform and encourage the promotion of research-based organizational changes at UiT towards gender equality (in collaboration with the Equality and Diversity Committee); and (3) connect and contribute to the development of the BALANSE projects at UiT and partners (in collaboration with our network).
NOS-HS (ID 123966/2021-2023): Intersectional Gender Equality in Academia - Exploring Sustainable Futures in the Arctic North (NordForsk funding, coordinated by University of Oulu consisting all Arctic Five universities UiT, LTU, UmU, UOulu and ULapland).
History of Philosophy
An important research matter for FemPhil is to highlight women’s and non-western thinkers’ contributions to the history of philosophy. The traditional philosophical canon is extremely male- and western-dominated. There are indeed many women and non-western thinkers who have participated in the development of the ideas and the shaping of philosophical concepts, but these contributions have to a very far extent been neglected in the historical writings. A reinterpretation of the history, which also includes changes in the criteria for inclusion in the canon, is therefore highly necessary. We also work on rereading the established philosophical canon in order to look for and highlight sexism and racism as well as resistance towards these discrimnative practices.
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