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Research and Events in Philosophy

The Humphrey Professorship in Feminist Philosophy

This is a distinguished visiting professorship awarded once per year

The University of Waterloo wishes to honour an internationally acclaimed feminist philosopher and to provide a significant learning opportunity to students and colleagues at the University.

Dr. Anne (Humphrey) Minas, who retired from the Department of Philosophy February 1, 2002, established the endowment for this professorship from an inheritance left to her by her father, Judge Alex Humphrey, and her grandfather, Judge Churchill Humphrey.

I made this donation in memory of my parents and grandparents; in gratitude to the University of Waterloo, where I had the honour of serving in the Department of Philosophy from 1966 to 2002; and with the commitment to the flourishing of feminist philosophy at the University of Waterloo. (Anne Minas, January 11, 2004)

Each Humphrey Professor will have her own title, that she will hold for life.

Christine Overall, PhD, FRSC Charlton, Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Queen’s University, who was in residence at UW Spring Term 2003, is Humphrey Professor in Feminist Philosophy, Inaugural.

It has been an honour to serve as the inaugural appointee to the Humphrey Professorship in Feminist Philosophy. I am grateful to Dr. Anne Minas for her generosity in endowing this position, and I admire her forethought and commitment to the teaching of feminist philosophy. I very much enjoyed meeting students, faculty and staff at the University of Waterloo, and having the opportunity to discuss and study with them some key issues and debates in feminist philosophy. (Christine Overall, August 4, 2003)

Dr. Overall taught Philosophy 402/673 Modern Feminism, subtitled “Sex and Gender.” She also gave a senior lecture series “Ethics and Increasing Human Longevity,” open to the public.

Dr. Marilyn Frye (University Distinguished Professor, Department of Philosophy, Michigan State University, was in residence at the University of Waterloo Spring Term 2004, and is Humphrey Professor of Feminist Philosophy II.

The appointment to the Humphrey Professorship is an honor and a great opportunity. It provided me a comfortable and productive teaching situation and invaluable time and space for my work. It’s a perfect opportunity to finish a book, or start one. I know of no other such generous support dedicated specifically to research and teaching in feminist philosophy. I believe that over the years the Humphrey Professorship in Feminist Philosophy will become widely known as the nurturing site of important advances in feminist philosophy. (Marilyn Frye, July 5, 2004)

Dr. Frye offered Philosophy 402/673 Modern Feminism, subtitled “Feminists Theorizing Bodies.” In addition, she has given two public lectures entitled “Ignorant Agency: On Not Knowing What You’re Doing,” and “Category Trouble: Helping Feminist Theory Out of a Bind.”

Janna Thompson, BPhil is a Reader/Associate Professor at LaTrobe University in Melbourne Australia, and the former head of the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at Melbourne University. She is in residence at the University of Waterloo during the Winter 2007 term and is the Humphrey Professor of Feminist Philosophy III.

I want to thank Dr. Anne Minas, members of the University of Waterloo Philosophy Department and the Dean of Arts, Professor Ken Coates, for the opportunity to become the third Humphrey Professor in Feminist Philosophy. My visit to the University of Waterloo was extremely productive, not only as far as my own work is concerned, but also because of the contacts I was able to make. Thanks to the support of the Professorship I was able to organize, with the help of other women at the University, an International Women’s Day Symposium called, Women in a Global World: Feminist Values and Human Rights Issues, in which women from several universities participated, including Professor Carol C. Gould from Temple University. I enjoyed talking to the students and meeting faculty members, and I appreciate the support that I was given.

She is offering Philosophy 402/673 Modern Feminism subtitled “Communal Allegiances and Feminist Interventions.” She will also offer three public lectures, titled Giving the Dead their Due: Justice and Past Generations; Fair Play Between the Generations: Gratitude and Justice in a Multi-generational Society; and Sustainability and Duties to Future Generations.