talia helena pic

Talia and Helena!

 

  Research Interests
Teaching Interests
Background
Office Hours


Performance Art
Links


 
 
WORKS IN PROGRESS
 
"Berkeley and Hume on the Self and Self-Consciousness"
"Berkeley's Dualism"
 
"Trans Identities and First Person Authority"
 
(comments welcome)

College of Arts & letters

Talia Mae Bettcher
Associate Professor


Office: E&T A423
Phone: 3-4179
Email: tbettch@calstatela.edu
Department of Philosophy Main Page


RESEARCH INTERESTS

Note: Downloading any of the accessible essays included here constitutes agreement that it is for personal use only. I include links to the publishers in case you need to use an essay for other reasons.

 
Trans Studies

I am interested in contemporary issues related to gender, sexuality, race, and the self. I currently focus on the nature of transphobic violence and its relationship to sexual violence and racial oppression. I am also co-editing a special issue of Hypatia entitled Transgender Studies and Feminism: Theory, Politics, and Gendered Realities with Ann Garry.

Publications include:

“Feminist Perspectives on Trans Issues” invited for Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Forthcoming (2008).

“Pretenders to the Throne” a commentary on Alice Dreger's “The controversy surrounding The Man Who Would Be Queen: A case history of the politics of science, identity, and sex in the internet age,” Archives of Sexual Behavior (June 2008), forthcoming, Author's Draft.

“Evil Deceivers and Make-Believers: On Transphobic Violence and the Politics of Illusion” Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, vol. 22, no.3 (Summer 2007).

“Gender, Identity, Theory, and Action” in Gender Identity, Equity and Violence (ed. Geraldine Stahly), monograph series Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Enduring Societal Issues, Stylus Publications, 2007.

“Appearance, Reality, and Gender Deception: Reflections on Transphobic Violence and the Politics of Pretence” in Violence, Victims, and Justifications (ed. Felix Ó Murchadha), Peter Lang Press, 2006.

 “Understanding Transphobia: Authenticity and Sexual Abuse” in Trans/Forming Feminisms: Transfeminist Voices Speak Out (ed. Krista Scott-Dixon), Sumach Press, 2006.

“Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender/Transsexual Individuals” - Chapter on LGBT issues and public health (co-authored with Emilia Lombardi). Social Injustice and Public Health (eds. Barry Levy and Victor Sidel), Oxford University Press, 2005.

 
Early Modern Philosophy

I focus on the immaterialist philosophy of George Berkeley (1685-1753). I am especially interested in his views about consciousness and the soul. Publications include:

Berkeley: A Guide for the Perplexed. Continuum Publishing. Forthcoming, scheduled publication: 2008.

“Berkeley and Hume on the Self and Self-Consciousness” in Topics in Early Modern Philosophy of Mind (ed. Jon Miller), Springer Verlag. Forthcoming, 2008.

“Berkeley on Self-Consciousness” in New Interpretations of Berkeley’s Thought (ed. Stephen Daniel), Journal of the History of Philosophy Books Humanity Press, 2008.

Berkeley’s Philosophy of Spirit: Consciousness, Ontology, and the Elusive Subject. Continuum Publishing, 2007.

Entries on T.E. Jessop and A.A. Luce in Thoemmes' Dictionary of Twentieth Century British Philosophers (General Editor: Professor Stuart Brown), Thoemmes Continuum, 2005.


TEACHING INTERESTS

I teach graduate seminars on the British Empiricists, Early Modern Philosophy of Self, and Contemporary Philosophy of Self. I have also taught a graduate seminar on Queer Theory and Feminism ("Theorizing Genders and Sexualities"). At the undergraduate level, I regularly teach the History of Modern Philosophy (Descartes through Kant) as well as other courses which allow me to focus on some of these major figures in greater detail. I also teach the GE courses "Philosophy, Gender, and Culture" and "Meanings of Human Life: A Multicultural Approach" (Phil 230). In these latter courses, I use service-learning as way to help students see the connections between philosophy and the everyday world. I am currently teaching the seminar "Intro to Trans Feminism." I have also taught several courses at UCLA including the interdisciplinary "Introduction to Transgender Studies" for the LGBT Studies Program.


EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

Ph.D Philosophy 1999
  UCLA, Los Angeles

BA Philosophy 1991
  Glendon College, York University, Toronto, Canada

For further information, see CV.


OFFICE HOURS

Monday 1:30-3:30 pm Engineering & Tech. A423
Wednesday 2:00-4:00 pm E&T A423


 
 

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