Research

My research focuses broadly on animal philosophy, feminist philosophy, social & political philosophy, Latin American philosophy, and philosophy of biology. I am currently researching and developing articles on the following topics, of which the first two are derived from chapters in my dissertation:  

• “Constructing the Worlds of Animal Knowers.” (in preparation): I argue that nonhuman animals are epistemic agents, by drawing from 4E Cognition, Developmental Systems Theory, and Niche Construction Theory. I pair this with a radical externalist view of justification to argue that the organism-as-developmental-system is the entity that we attribute knowledge to. 

• "Traveling to Animal Worlds." (in preparation): I draw from the work of Gloria Anzaldua, Maria Lugones, and Emilio Uranga to argue for an ethical affinity with nonhuman animals and use Lugones's notion ot world-traveling in conjunction with the work of Jakob von Uexkull to travel to animal worlds. 

• “’It’s Just a Joke:’ Thinking Online Politics with Jorge Portilla.” (in preparation): I argue that Mexican philosopher Jorge Portilla and his concepts of relajo and community-as-horizon help us understand the dynamics and effects of online spaces on human agency and political radicalization.

• "Interspecies Civic Epistemologies." Providing a sketch of an interspecies civic epistemology that enables us to incorporate the framework developed in my dissertation into the political realm. To do so, I set out two fulfill two main tasks: 1) Show how current discussions within the political turn have not engaged with nonhuman animals as knowers, and argue that doing so is necessary for understanding the construction of politically relevant knowledge that is relevant to interspecies political deliberation; 2) Propose norms and practices for the inclusion of nonhuman animal knowers in knowledge production, knowledge communication, and incorporation of animal knowledge into political deliberations.

• "Cultural Heritage and Animal Lifeways." I aim to expand on my previous work on animal cultures more generally by bringing it together with work in the ethics of cultural heritage and environmental justice. While my dissertation focuses on the epistemic life of animals and notes the importance of culture for social cognition, animal cultures as distinct traditions and epistemic lifeways are also in peril. Biologists have recently argued that protecting these cultural traditions is vital for conservation efforts (beyond merely sustaining populations); I contend that the preservation of these cultures should go beyond conservation and be considered a matter of justice. To do so, I draw from various North American Indigenous traditions that conceive of animals as nations with which we must maintain good relations.