Christia Mercer is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and the Gustave M. Berne Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Columbia University. She is known for her work on the history of
early modern philosophy
Early modern philosophy (also classical modern philosophy)Richard Schacht, ''Classical Modern Philosophers: Descartes to Kant'', Routledge, 2013, p. 1: "Seven men have come to stand out from all of their counterparts in what has come to be known ...
, the history of
Platonism
Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary platonists do not necessarily accept all of the doctrines of Plato. Platonism had a profound effect on Western thought. Platonism at l ...
, and the history of
gender
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most culture ...
. She has received national attention for her work teaching in prisons and advocating for educational opportunities for incarcerated people. She is the Director and Founder of the Center for New Narratives in Philosophy at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, which "supports innovative research in the history of philosophy and promotes diversity in the teaching and practice of philosophy." She is the editor of ''Oxford Philosophical Concepts'', co-editor (with Melvin Rogers) of ''Oxford New Histories of Philosophy'', and was elected to serve as president of the
American Philosophical Association
The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarl ...
, Eastern Division, 2019–20.
Life and career
Born and raised in
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...
, Mercer studied
art history
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...
before living in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
where she studied
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
with
Reginald Foster at the
Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy.
The Gregorian originated as ...
. She received a PhD in Philosophy from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
in 1989 under the supervision of
Margaret Dauler Wilson
Margaret Dauler Wilson (29 January 1939 – 27 August 1998) was an American philosopher and a professor of philosophy at Princeton University between 1970 and 1998.
Biography
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wilson earned a BA from Vassar Coll ...
and a
Fulbright Scholarship
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
to study in the Leibniz Archives in the
University of Münster
The University of Münster (german: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.
With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of stud ...
in 1984. She taught at the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...
and the
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...
before moving to Columbia in 1991.
Mercer has been the Guest Professor, Seminar für Geistesgeschichte und Philosophie der Renaissance,
University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
, 2003; gave the
Ernst Cassirer
Ernst Alfred Cassirer ( , ; July 28, 1874 – April 13, 1945) was a German philosopher. Trained within the Neo-Kantian Marburg School, he initially followed his mentor Hermann Cohen in attempting to supply an idealistic philosophy of science.
A ...
Lectures at the
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vo ...
, 2006; and was visiting professor at the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
(2012–15).
She has held fellowships from the
Humboldt Foundation
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (german: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung) is a foundation established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Resea ...
(1993–94),
NEH (2002),
Herzog August Bibliotek, the
National Humanities Center The National Humanities Center (NHC) is an independent institute for advanced study in the humanities. The NHC operates as a privately incorporated nonprofit and is not part of any university or federal agency. The center was planned under the ausp ...
(2012), the
American Academy in Rome
The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome.
The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.
History
In 1893, a group of American architects, ...
(2013), the
ACLS (2015–16),
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
's
Villa I Tatti
Villa I Tatti, The Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies is a center for advanced research in the humanities located in Florence, Italy, and belongs to Harvard University. It houses a collection of Italian primitives, and of Chinese ...
Library (2015), and the
Folger Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materia ...
(2016). In 2012, Mercer was awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...
and in 2018-19 was chosen the Mildred Londa Weisman Fellow at the
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...
. From 2004 to 2015, Mercer was the North American Editor for
Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie. Her teaching awards include the 2008 Columbia College Great Teacher Award
and the 2012 Mark van Doren Award, which annually recognizes a professor for "commitment to undergraduate instruction, as well as for humanity, devotion to truth and inspiring leadership."
At Columbia, Mercer has been active in
interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...
pursuits. From 2010 to 2012 and 2013–2014, she was the chair for the
Core Curriculum
In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...
course
Literature Humanities an interdisciplinary course on the masterpieces of
Western literature
Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, as well as several geographically or historically related languages such as Basque and Hungarian, an ...
and
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...
taken by all first-year undergraduates at
Columbia College.
She was the Director for the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at Columbia from 2000 to 2001. She has also written articles on
plagiarism
Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and though ...
,
Literature Humanities,
and
queer identity for the
Columbia Daily Spectator
The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as the ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after '' The Harvard Crimson'', and ha ...
undergraduate newspaper.
She was elected to serve as president of the Eastern Division of the
American Philosophical Association
The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarl ...
for 2019–20.
Philosophical work
Mercer began her career working primarily in
early modern philosophy
Early modern philosophy (also classical modern philosophy)Richard Schacht, ''Classical Modern Philosophers: Descartes to Kant'', Routledge, 2013, p. 1: "Seven men have come to stand out from all of their counterparts in what has come to be known ...
. Her book, ''Leibniz's Metaphysics: Its Origins and Development'' (CUP, 2001),
offers a new interpretation of Leibniz's philosophical development.
She has published widely on Leibniz and on the diversity and importance of early modern Platonisms.
Mercer has begun to devote herself more and more to contextualizing the
history of philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
. She has designed a book series
Oxford Philosophical Concepts that enlists prominent international scholars to think creatively about the "lives" of concepts in the history of philosophy. There are more than 20 volumes in various stages of production, and more than 15 published.
These include ''Animals, Dignity, Efficient Causation, Embodiment, Eternity, Evil, The Faculties, Memory, Moral Motivation, Persons, Pleasure, Self-Knowledge,'' and ''Sympathy''. Each of the volumes traces the historical development of central philosophical concepts and includes interdisciplinary "reflections."
She is also the editor of th
Oxford New Histories of Philosophyseries, which she launched with the late Eileen O'Neill and now co-edits with Melvin Rogers, and which "speaks to a growing concern to broaden and reexamine philosophy's past". The first book in this series is titled ''Mexican Philosophy in the 20th Century'' (2017) and was edited by Carlos Alberto Sanchez and Robert Eli Sanchez. Mercer has written about the importance of inclusive history of philosophy in op-eds for the
' and the
Washington Post'.
Motivated by her friend, Eileen O'Neill, she has become increasingly devoted to discovering and articulating the ideas of
early modern and
late medieval
The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...
women. Her paper, "
Descartes' Debt to
Teresa of Ávila
Teresa of Ávila, OCD (born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada; 28 March 15154 or 15 October 1582), also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Spanish Carmelite nun and prominent Spanish mystic and religious reformer.
Active during t ...
, Or Why We Should Work on Women in the History of Philosophy," in ''Phil Studies'', August, 2016, exposes that the famous
evil deceiver argument in the
Meditations on First Philosophy is indebted to
Teresa of Ávila
Teresa of Ávila, OCD (born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada; 28 March 15154 or 15 October 1582), also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Spanish Carmelite nun and prominent Spanish mystic and religious reformer.
Active during t ...
and asks how this crucial fact has been overlooked for centuries. Alongside her book on the philosophy of the English philosopher
Anne Conway she is publishing a new edition and translation of Conway's ''Principles'' with Andrew Arlig, Laurynas Adomaitis, and Jasper Reid. Her forthcoming book, ''Feeling the Way to Truth: Women, Reason and the Development of Modern Philosophy,'' argues that historians of philosophy need to rethink core assumptions about
seventeenth-century philosophy and that the writings of women play a much more significant part in that history than has been recognized.
Political and activist work
In 2015, Mercer became the first Columbia University professor to teach in a prison as part of Columbia's Justice In-Education Initiative. At Taconic Correctional Facility, she taught female prisoners texts including the
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Gree ...
's ''
Oresteia
The ''Oresteia'' ( grc, Ὀρέστεια) is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BCE, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end o ...
'',
Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars ...
's ''
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jaso ...
'',
Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his ...
's ''
Lysistrata
''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', "Army Disbander") is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponne ...
'', and
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...
''. She has been active in the education and prison reform movements, publishing op-eds and posts in the ''Washington Post'' and other outlets about philosophy's
gender bias
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...
, the
history of Christianity
The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish te ...
, and the
prison-industrial complex. In 2015, her post on the Columbia prison divestment campaign was publicly challenged by Jonathan Burns, director of public affairs for the
Corrections Corporation of America
CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas W. Beasle ...
, who accused her of making "multiple misleading and false statements about our company." Mercer's response argued that "Mr. Burns's demand for corrections exemplifies the tortured logic of the corporation he represents."
Mercer is the founder o
Just Ideas which "brings together Columbia interns and some of the most talented professors in New York City to engage on equal terms with people in New York prisons." Her experience with teaching incarcerated students was featured in a nationally broadcast segment on
CBS This Morning' and described in her op-ed for the
Washington Post' and in a piece about her experience for
Columbia News'. She has also taught in Metropolitan Detention Center, a Federal Prison in Brooklyn, which she wrote about in
NBC Think'. Since early 2018, she has organized mini-courses that are available to the men of Metropolitan Detention Center.
Each year, roughly 250 MDC men graduate from a mini-course, and a dozen professors and two dozen Columbia undergraduates take up the opportunity to teach.
In 2018, she published an op-ed arguing for the importance of making access to books available to incarcerated people. She was interviewed on this topic by
WBUR
WBUR-FM (90.9 FM) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Boston University. It is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, along with WGBH and WUMB-FM and produces several nationally distributed program ...
's
On Point
''On Point'' is a radio show produced by WBUR-FM in Boston and syndicated by American Public Media (APM). The show addresses a wide range of issues from news, politics, arts and culture, health, technology, environmental, and business topics, t ...
. In 2019, she published an article on "the philosophical origins of
patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males ...
" in ''The Nation''.
Recent awards and positions
*President of the
American Philosophical Association
The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarl ...
, Eastern Division, 2019–20.
*
Radcliffe Institute Fellowship, 2018–19.
*Fellowship,
Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materi ...
, Spring, 2016.
* Senior Professor,
Villa I Tatti
Villa I Tatti, The Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies is a center for advanced research in the humanities located in Florence, Italy, and belongs to Harvard University. It houses a collection of Italian primitives, and of Chinese ...
, Florence, Italy, Fall, 2015.
* Resident Fellow,
American Academy, Rome, Italy, Spring, 2013.
* Sovereign/Columbia Affiliated Fellowship, American Academy, Rome, Italy, 2010–11.
* Gustave M. Berne Professor of Philosophy, 2009–present.
* Great Teacher Award, Society of Columbia Graduates, Columbia College, 2008.
* Gustave M. Berne Professorship in the Core Curriculum at Columbia College, 2003–2009.
* North American Editor, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, 2002–2015.
* Guest Professor, Centre Alexandre Koyré, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, December 2003, November 5, December 7.
* Ernst Cassirer Lectures, Ernst Cassirer Guest Professorship, Philosophy Faculty, University of Hamburg, Spring 2006.
Books
*''Oxford New Histories of Philosophy'', Series Editor (co-edited with Melvin Rogers)
*''Oxford Philosophical Concepts'', Series Editor
* ''Early Modern Philosophy: Mind, Matter, and Mechanism'' (co-edited with Eileen O'Neill), Oxford University Press, 2005.
* ''Leibniz's Metaphysics: Its Origins and Development'', Cambridge University Press, 2001; paperback edition, 2006.
References
External links
Columbia University, Department of Philosophy, Faculty WebpageChristia Mercer's home pageChristia Mercer's Twitter profileOxford Philosophical ConceptsOxford New Histories of PhilosophyCenter for New Narratives in PhilosophyJust IdeasArchiv für Geschichte der PhilosophieLiterature Humanities in the Core Curriculum of Columbia CollegeInstitute for Research on Women and Gender at ColumbiaChristia Mercer's articles for the Columbia Spectator
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercer, Christia
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