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Katherine Brichacek, Teaching Fellow for 2020-2021

Congratulations to Katherine Brichacek! Katherine is one of our current PhD students who will be a Teaching Fellow (Graduate School) this coming year. Read on to learn more about her pedagogy and research.

I am interested in uprooting the commonly held perception that a philosopher is necessarily an academic--one that stereotypically conjures image of a white haired, turtle-necked man. In my undergraduate courses as instructor of record, I am excited to encourage students to step into the role of a philosopher in their everyday lives by, for example, developing an Aristotelian virtue of their choice over the course of a week (or more!). As a Teaching Fellow for the Graduate School I will be sharing my experience and zeal for active learning so that Loyola's next generation of instructors can share in a truly transformational education that disrupts the banking model of knowledge.

In my dissertation I reexamine Hannah Arendt's concept of political action through the lens of nonideal theory. We are living in an Arendtian renaissance--The Origins of Totalitarianism sold out on Amazon after Trump's election--and given the resurgence I argue that it is crucial we keep in mind Arendt's Eurocentrism and anti-Black racism when looking to her for guidance on political action in an age of simmering authoritarianism.