Author: Russell, Cal

Tiana-Marie Blassingale: Jeezy’s Lessons from Adversity

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Please check out an excerpt from Philosophy Graduate Student Tiana-Marie Blassingale’s new review essay, “Jeezy’s Lessons from Adversity”:

On the surface, it seems like Adversity for Sale is a collection of short stories about a young Black man as he navigates his way through the street life into a position of an established entrepreneur who is capable of providing generational wealth for his family by any means. However, seen through a philosophical lens, the book highlights a new perspective on liberatory virtues and vices. It’s a curation of epistemology, learned through lived experiences, not only by Jeezy, but also by many others in the book and the hood, more generally speaking. The book provides a glimpse into a rich body of knowledge, which could be referred to as “Hood Philosophy,” otherwise known as “street smarts” or “street knowledge.”

You can read the full essay on the Blog of the APA here.

Congratulations, Tiana-Marie!

Thomas Meagher: Myisha Cherry’s Failures of Forgiveness Review

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Check out Thomas Meagher’s (PhD 2018) newest review essay: “Forgiveness, Obligation, and Cultures of Domination: A Review of Myisha Cherry’s Failures of Forgiveness”.

Below is an excerpt of the article, which you can read in full on the Blog of the APA here.

This diagnosis Cherry relates largely in the form of a discussion of the commonplace or “narrow” view of forgiveness. Cherry characterizes the common view as one in which forgiveness is, at heart, a means of letting go of anger. On such a view, the purpose or telos of forgiving must be to unburden the forgiver of emotions directed toward wrongdoers. Cherry shows, though, that this is an overly narrow conception of the emotional correlates of those contexts in which forgiveness is an option. 

Congrats, Thomas!

Hady Ba and Gregory Doukas: Academy of Advanced African Studies

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Congratulations to visiting research fellow Hady Ba and part-time faculty member Gregory Doukas on being rewarded with a fellowship at the Academy of Advanced African Studies in Bayreuth, Germany. This fellowship is for next year, 2025.

 

Ba and Doukas are also co-authors of a book in African philosophy and decolonial theory; in which an article about their work will be published in Philosophy and Global Affairs this summer.

Mitch Green: Volume 51 of Philosophia

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Congratulations to Professor Mitch Green on successfully completing Volume 51 of Philosophia as Editor-in-Chief. Furthermore, he has expanded the journal’s reach to a global audience by introducing the new subtitle: A Global Journal Of Philosophy.

You can find more information on the journal, it’s newest volume and issues, here.

Well wishes to you and your team, Mitch!

Tracy Llanera: Featured in The Daily Campus

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Congratulations to Assistant Professor Tracy Llanera on being featured in The Daily Campus! The article features Dr. Llanera’s presentation, “The Misfits of Extremism: Brides, Moms, and Daughters,” and discusses the premise of her upcoming book that is currently in progress.

 

“This book interrogates the role, value, and agency of marginal actors in white supremacist and Islamic terror movements,” Llanera stated. “While becoming extremists may temporarily enhance their agency and feelings of importance and belonging, I argue that the empowerment of marginal actors is conditional, pernicious and often lethal.”

 

You can read the rest of the article here.

Tracy Llanera: Marginal Actors in Extremist Movements

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Congratulations to Dr. Tracy Llanera, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and 2023-2024 University of Connecticut Humanities Institute (UCHI) faculty fellow, for her recent feature in UCHI's Spotlight Series discussing her recent project, The Misfits of Extremism. You can access the video below, or by visiting UCHI's YouTube Channel here.

Congratulations, Tracy!

Paul Bloomfield: “The Best Revenge” on 3 Quarks Daily

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Congratulations to Professor Paul Bloomfield on his newest piece, “The Best Revenge,” which is now accessible through 3 Quarks Daily.

You can read an excerpt from the article below:

If we defeat our enemy by acting like them, if they succeed in bringing us down to their level, then we have lost regardless of the outcome. Maybe we survive, but we survive through degradation: we become as bad as those we revile. We cut off our nose to spite our face.

You can read the remainder of the article here, or by going to the 3 Quarks Daily website.

Thomas Meagher: “Loving Commitment to Another”

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Check out UConn Philosophy Alum Thomas Meagher’s newest piece on the Blog of the APA titled “Loving Commitment to Another: A Reflection by way of Howard Thurman”. 

Romantic love, then, as a nominiously loving commitment to another—a particular other, and not just any other—can be understood as a discipline of the spirit, a mode of life creating its order so as to confront the daunting depths of existence.

You can read the full article here.