Hypatia Society

The mission of the Hypatia Society is to promote the retention and success of women and other gender minorities in the discipline of philosophy. Toward this end, the group aims to create a supportive, friendly, and open space to discuss issues related to gender, diversity, and discrimination; as well as to voice our concerns to the broader community, to work toward easing tensions, search for solutions, and collaborate with other groups committed to increasing diversity in their disciplines.

Hypatia connects women at all stages of their philosophical careers.   The graduate organization works to mentor undergraduate women interested in philosophy.  This mentorship involves group events, and personal connections between members of Hypatia and students at UC Irvine.
Hypatia also provides current members with connections to an increasingly broad alumni network of female philosophy faculty.  These connections give current Hypatians access to advice on graduate careers, the job market, and early years as faculty.

Some of the most important relationships in Hypatia are between women at similar career stages, who provide joint mentorship and support.

The Hypatia Society members are from the UCI Department of Philosophy and the UCI Logic and Philosophy of Science Department. The faculty sponsor is Professor Cailin O'Connor (cailino@uci.edu) from UCI Logic and Philosophy of Science Department.

Resources for Women in Philosophy

Hypatia Events/Activities:

1. Perspectives on Gender Conference:

October 24th and 25th 2014

A multi-disciplinary conference presented by the University of California Irvine  Hypatia Society and  UCI MAP Chapter at University California Irvine

Program Committee: Cailin O'Connor, Ashley Dressel, Maura Priest, Valentina Ricci, Simona Capisani

The conference aims to present a forum through which multi-disciplinary research and thought can be presented, shared, and discussed. The conference will focus primarily on issues pertaining to assumptions about gender that underpin critical social, legal, and cultural norms. Attention to recent debates over the status of women in the field of Philosophy will be an additional element of the conference and will be the subject of a roundtable discussion session.

The conference will consist of eight contributed talks and four invited speaker presentations. Our invited speakers are accomplished scholars working on a range of topics related to gender including but not limited to women's rights, feminism, feminist epistemology, gender-based violence, privilege and pedagogy, and masculinity. The titles of our four invited speakers' presentations are listed below:

Azizah al-Hibri (Richmond) - "Gender and the Islamic World View"
Ann Cudd (University of Kansas) - "Domestic Violence as Relational Injustice"
Helen Longino (Stanford) - "Sex, Race, and Sciences of Human Behavior"
Michael Messner (USC) - "Male Allies and the Politics of Feminist Accountability"

2. Feminist Reading Group (FRG)

The Feminist Reading Group hosted by the Hypatia Society at UCI meets every quarter and is open to graduate students interested in reading and discussing work in feminist philosophy. The reading group works to supplement access to areas of philosophical study that are under-represented in the discipline. Graduate students and participating faculty suggest a theme that sometimes carries over to the following semester. Participants jointly construct a reading list and meet several times a month to discuss such readings. The reading group also offers an opportunity for participants to discuss their own current work with peers, to receive feedback, and to collaborate on joint research projects.

FRG Reading List (by quarter):