Office: 305 A.B. Anderson Hall
Office Phone: 218.726.7714
Office Hours: 9:30am to 11:30am TR
but Check my Calendar
and use zoom: https://umn.zoom.us/my/schroer
Email: jschroer@d.umn.edu
Website: www.d.umn.edu/~jschroer/
I am an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Head of the Department of Geography and Philosophy and Chair of Philosophy and Cognitive Science. (If you have questions about those programs or need a Department Head, email me. Check the other tabs for more stuff. If you are enrolled in a class with me right now (or have been in the past) Canvas is where you want to go. If you are interested in inclusive pedagogy or anti-racist education check that “Projects” tab. If you are looking to meet up with me about something check my calendar and email me.
Check here for information about how I will be handling restrictions related to COVID-19.
Check here for information about how I will be handling restrictions related to COVID-19.
Teaching Philosophy
Student success is important to me. I recognize that there are *multiple* ways to learn and that this multiplicity should be acknowledged in the structure of university courses and the evaluation of their participants. Thus, I facilitate students registered in my courses to share their learning styles and comprehension requirements with me and I encourage more detailed discussions as needed during my office hours or at another arranged time, if necessary. Every student is entitled to a meaningful and stimulating learning experience.
Students whose access needs aren’t being met (due to a disability or any other kind of challenge) are strongly encouraged to avail themselves of the services provided by the Office of Disability Services — http://www.d.umn.edu/disability-resources — (218) 726-6130. This office can help you whether you have long-term difficulties (like learning disabilities, cognitive obstacles, sensory deficits, or other chronic illnesses) as well as short-term ones (like injuries that interfere with your ability to take notes or attend class). Even if you don’t avail yourself of disability services, I strongly encourage you to contact me at jschroer@d.umn.edu if you have accessibility needs regarding my courses that aren’t being met.
Any student who has difficulty affording groceries or accessing sufficient food to eat every day, or who lacks a safe and stable place to live, and believes this may affect their performance in the course, is urged to contact the Office of Student Life — vcsl@d.umn.edu — for support. Furthermore, please notify the me if you are comfortable in doing so. This will enable me to provide any resources that I may possess.
Students whose access needs aren’t being met (due to a disability or any other kind of challenge) are strongly encouraged to avail themselves of the services provided by the Office of Disability Services — http://www.d.umn.edu/disability-resources — (218) 726-6130. This office can help you whether you have long-term difficulties (like learning disabilities, cognitive obstacles, sensory deficits, or other chronic illnesses) as well as short-term ones (like injuries that interfere with your ability to take notes or attend class). Even if you don’t avail yourself of disability services, I strongly encourage you to contact me at jschroer@d.umn.edu if you have accessibility needs regarding my courses that aren’t being met.
Any student who has difficulty affording groceries or accessing sufficient food to eat every day, or who lacks a safe and stable place to live, and believes this may affect their performance in the course, is urged to contact the Office of Student Life — vcsl@d.umn.edu — for support. Furthermore, please notify the me if you are comfortable in doing so. This will enable me to provide any resources that I may possess.
Present
In the Spring 2020 semester I will be teaching Existentialism and The Arts and The Philosophy of Race and Racism.
- At 8am in 312 KPLZ on TR - PHIL 2001, Existentialism and The Arts.
- At 3pm in 235 ABAH 40 TR - PHIL 3025, The Philosophy of Race and Racism
Past
In the past I have taught:
Upper Level Courses:
- Ethics & the Health Professions
- Existentialism
- Feminist Epistemology
- Feminist Philosophy of Science
- Feminist Social Theory
- Feminist History of Philosophy
- Feminist Ethics & Aesthetics
- Philosophy of Race & Racism
- Philosophical Methods
- Values & Technology
Introductory Courses:
- Critical Thinking
- Existential Literature
- Introduction to Philosophy
- Introductory Logic
- Introduction to Sex Roles
- Introduction to Women’s Studies
Future
Right now I’m super excited about the development of a course of The Ethics and Politics of Black Horror.
Publications
- “Flirting with Allyship: Philosophy’s Failure of Attunement.” Forthcoming in Journal of Social Philosophy.
- Microaggressions and Philosophy. 2020. Routledge. Co-edited with Lauren Freeman.
- “The Message in the Microaggression: Epistemic Oppression at the Intersection of Disability and Race.” in Microaggressions and Philosophy edited by Lauren Freeman and Jeanine Weekes Schroer: Routledge, 2020. Coauthored with Zara Bain.
- “Putting psychology before metaphysics in moral responsibility: Reactive attitudes and a ‘gut feeling’ that can trigger and justify them.” Philosophical Psychology 32(3): 357-387 [Early Access: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09515089.2018.1555800]
- "For the Love of the Feminist Killjoy: Solving Philosophy’s Woman White Male Problem." in Surviving Sexism in Academia: Strategies for Feminist Leadership edited by Kirsti C. Cole and Holly Hassel: Routledge, 2017. Coauthored with Melissa M. Kozma.
- “Giving Them Something They Can Feel: On the Strategy of Scientizing the Phenomenology of Race and Racism.” Knowledge Cultures 3 (1), 2015.
- "Getting the Story Right: A Reductionist Narrative Account of Personal Identity." Philosophical Studies 171(3), 2014. Coauthored with Robert Schroer.
- “Purposeful Nonsense, Intersectionality, and the Mission to Save Black Babies.” In Why Race and Gender Still Matter: An Intersectional Approach, edited by Namita Goswami, Maeve O’Donavan, and Lisa Yount.: Pickering & Chatto, 2014. Coauthored with Melissa M. Kozma
- “The Terrifying Tale of the Philosophical Mammy” The Black Scholar 43(4), Winter 2013.
- “Two Potential Problem with Philosophical Intuition” Philosophia 41(4), December 2013 coauthored with Robert Schroer
- "Campus as Community: A Better Approach to Sexual Harassment Policy" in The American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Feminist Philosophy, 2011.
- “Arthur Ashe: Philosopher in Motion.” in Tennis and Philosophy: What the Racket is All About. David Baggett, editor. The University Press of Kentucky, 2010.
- “Fighting Imperviousness with Vulnerability: Teaching in a Climate of Conservatism.” Teaching Philosophy 30, no. 2 (2007): 185-200.
Presentations
- “Race, Grace and Intractable Moral Problems” presented at the University of Minnesota Morris, February 27, 2019.
- “Access Denied: Sex, Booze, and Title IX.” Faculty Keynote for the Third Annual Undergraduate Women’s Conference at Metropolitan State University Denver, Colorado, April 15, 2018.
- “ Privilege, Vulnerability, and Risk: Strategies for Intersectional Analysis in this Challenging Time.” Keynote for Duquesne Women in Philosophy Conference, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, April 7, 2018.
- “The Worst Greatest Gift: Confederate Monuments Concretizing of Concrete-Relations-With-Others” for Invited Session on Aesthetics of Monuments and Monumentality at the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, San Diego, CA, March 29, 2018.
- “Allies, Accomplices and Other Nonsense: Rethinking #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen” Invited Session on Intersectionality and Solidarity at the Easter Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Savannah GA, January 3 - 6, 2018.
- “Understanding Racial Slurs and Conceptualizing Racism” invited Session on the Philosophy of Race at the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Seattle WA, April 13, 2017.
- “Toxic Masculinity, Stereotype Threat, and Resilience” at the 2017 Philosophy Desert Workshop, Moab UT, March 25, 2017.
- “Reconsidering ‘Fragility’: What Nonsense Can Do For You?” (with Melissa M. Kozma and Megan T. Mitchell”) panel discussion at the Society for Analytic Feminism session at the Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Kansas City MO, March 4, 2017.
- “Do we have to choose between good sex and consensual sex?” presented at University of Connecticut’s Public Discourse Project - Seminar on Contested Sexual Consent, Storrs, Connecticut, September 9 - 11, 2016.
- “Interrogating Bully: What it Might Mean and What it Definitely Doesn’t” presented at Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, March 25, 2016.
- “Integrity Privilege: Why No One Who Likes You Calls You a ‘Social Justice Warrior’” Jeff
- presented at Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, March 24, 2016.
- “The ‘Bully’ Narrative: How Creating Precarity Becomes Child’s Play” presented at the 36th Annual National Women’s Studies Association, Milwaukee, WI, November 14, 2015.
- “Integrity Privilege: The Hows and Whys of Who Gets to be a Social Justice Hero” presented at the 112th Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, St. Louis, MO, February 19, 2015.
- “Bullies, Trolls, & #Feminism” presented at the National Women’s Studies Association Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico, November 14, 2014.
- “Intersectionality: Why Race and Gender Still Matter” (with Namita Goswami, Melissa Kozma, Maeve O’Donovan, Heather Rakes, Jennifer Scuro, and Lisa Yount) presented at Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, New Orleans, Louisiana, October 23, 2014.
- “Women Undergraduates, Justice, and the Future of Philosophy” (with Stephen Bloch-Schulman, Jean Keller, and Kathryn Norlock) presented at the American Association of Philosophy Teachers, Collegeville, Minnesota, August 1, 2014.
Current Research
I am currently working on one major research project and will begin some new major projects shortly.
The Politics of Nonsense: The Dangerous Space Between Truth and Lies. This is a monograph being co-authored with Melissa Kozma. This purpose of this book is an extended analysis of the concept of purposeful nonsense. Our contention is that much public discourse -- especially where it concerns political and social power -- has shifted in focus and intention. This new discursive strategy is deceptive without being deception; it is earnest without being truthful. Purposeful Nonsense, we argue, is driving current discourse around race, gender, class, sexuality, and ability, both when these topics appears in formally political contexts -- in legislation, in debates in the national and state congresses, in briefs brought before and formal judgments made by the nation federal and state supreme courts, and in journalism (broadly defined) about the matter -- and especially when they appear in less formally political contexts -- i.e., mass media . Progressive, conservatives (and everyone in between) are taking advantage of the power of this discursive strategy. Our contention, however, is that despite the intentions of those taking advantage of purposeful nonsense, the outcome is always to sustain a status quo that disenfranchises the poor, marginalizes non-whites, disempowers women, and objectifies the disabled. In short, the final outcome of purposeful nonsense (no matter what the journey) is always creating and/or sustaining oppression.
The Politics of Nonsense: The Dangerous Space Between Truth and Lies. This is a monograph being co-authored with Melissa Kozma. This purpose of this book is an extended analysis of the concept of purposeful nonsense. Our contention is that much public discourse -- especially where it concerns political and social power -- has shifted in focus and intention. This new discursive strategy is deceptive without being deception; it is earnest without being truthful. Purposeful Nonsense, we argue, is driving current discourse around race, gender, class, sexuality, and ability, both when these topics appears in formally political contexts -- in legislation, in debates in the national and state congresses, in briefs brought before and formal judgments made by the nation federal and state supreme courts, and in journalism (broadly defined) about the matter -- and especially when they appear in less formally political contexts -- i.e., mass media . Progressive, conservatives (and everyone in between) are taking advantage of the power of this discursive strategy. Our contention, however, is that despite the intentions of those taking advantage of purposeful nonsense, the outcome is always to sustain a status quo that disenfranchises the poor, marginalizes non-whites, disempowers women, and objectifies the disabled. In short, the final outcome of purposeful nonsense (no matter what the journey) is always creating and/or sustaining oppression.
This space tells you a bit about what I look like outside of school.
Quiet Life
(Here are some birds with arms.)
Despite performance to the contrary, I am an introvert who most enjoys quiet time with friends and family. My family consist of many critters, some intentional cultivated and many more cared for incidentally. Two philosophers (including me); two dogs, Brontë and Fitz; two cats, Jack and Turk; 14 hens; 19 baby chicks; and several thousand bees. But also a duck family in the back swamp; birds, deer, chipmunks and squirrels, and most recently a bear that we are hoping to scare off.
Community Work
I do a lot of different work in the community. (Including hand modeling for campaigns supporting victims of sexual violence.)
- I do work with PAVSA
- I do anti-racist work with Family Freedom Center and a number of other organizations and in a number of other contexts.
In the media
I’ve been featured in the press a bit, especially lately. I have conflicting feelings about my engagements with the press. Usually, if someone wants my opinion it’s bad news — I am most often asked to talk about my expertise on race and racism, sometime sexual assault. Lately, the media has been engaging more seriously with questions about race, racism, and white supremacy so I’m pretty happy to participate.
So you see what I mean about what a bummer I am when I show up in the media. Still it’s important to talk about and I’m grateful to do it.
- I participated in a panel discussing race and racism in Duluth particularly as represented in a recent film — I Can’t Breathe: A CJM Memorial Documentary — by DanSan Creatives.
- I was interviewed on Almanac North about Systemic Racism
- I was quoted in an article “Who Duluth’s Lynchings left behind”
- I was included in episode five of this podcast on The Duluth Lynchings but I recommend the entire six episodes.
- I was included in this WDIO piece “How to Move Forward and Heal After Tragedy”.
- The “It’s more than that” podcast hosted by Paula Pedersen.
So you see what I mean about what a bummer I am when I show up in the media. Still it’s important to talk about and I’m grateful to do it.
Philosophy in Action (At a safe Social Distance)
Check out these talks as substitutions for in-person philosophy colloquium, and you can document online those substitutions using this form.
Upcoming Colloquium
Because of the very necessary closure of UMD due to COVID-19. We do not currently have any talks schedule for the Spring 2020 semester.