c h r i s t i n a   h e n d r i c k s

Instructor
University of British Columbia

Contact Info

I started teaching at UBC in the Fall of 2004, after earning a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin in 2000, and spending the next four years as an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Rock County (a two-year, liberal arts, transfer campus of the University of Wisconsin system). I am currently teaching in both the Philosophy Department and the Arts One Programme (a multi-disciplinary, team-taught, first-year programme in the Faculty of Arts).

Research Interests

After focusing in graduate school on evaluating the views of Julia Kristeva and Michel Foucault on the political role of intellectuals, I am currently engaged in research under the broad theme of the role of the philosopher, and of philosophical thinking and argumentation, in efforts to bring about social and political reform. This is partly a historical project, as I am investigating how various Western philosophers have conceived of their own role in political change (my focus on Western philosophy is explained only by my lack of knowledge—as of yet—of other traditions and theorists). At the moment I am working on comparing and contrasting Kant and Foucault in this regard, yet there is a vast array of philosophers to whom I might turn next, who have theorized the need for philosophical theory and argumentation in the political realm.

Continuing throughout this research, I am working to refine and defend a normative conception of the political role of the philosopher, and/or philosophical theory, in groups governed democratically. An integral part of this long-term project is arguing for the educative value of philosophical thinking, including not only its role in educating children to participate in the public realm as democratic citizens, but also in facilitating self-education by encouraging critical reflection throughout one’s life. Accordingly, I have spent quite a bit of time in the last couple of years investigating the literature on critical thinking in the philosophy of education–what it means, what its value is, and how to encourage it in and beyond the classroom.