---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mari Mikkola <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Subject: CONF: Feminist Philosophy and Bias
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc: Jennifer Saul <[log in to unmask]>


HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITÄT ZU BERLIN, GERMANY

INSTITUT FÜR PHILOSOPHIE



SYMPOSIUM SERIES:  FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY AND…



THE INAUGURAL EVENT ON



BIAS



25 – 26th August 2011

Location: Kleiner Senatssaal (Humboldt-Universität Main Building,
Unter den Linden 6, Berlin)

The concept of bias has played a key role in shaping feminist
epistemology and philosophy of science. It is not, however, an
uncontested concept. Feminist philosophers disagree amongst themselves
on how the concept should be understood, and whether bias is
inevitable. They further disagree on how feminists should respond to
and deal with bias. For instance, are biases always detrimental to our
knowledge seeking activities? Or, can certain explicit biases (like
feminist and anti-racist ones) make our epistemic practices more
robustly truth-seeking?



More recently, political and ethical discussions have started making
use of the concept of bias. Both philosophers and psychologists alike
have begun examining certain sorts of widespread implicit biases about
members of stigmatised social groups. The holders of these biases are
generally unaware of them, and often have sincere and explicit
egalitarian beliefs. On one understanding, implicit biases are
unconscious prejudices that unduly affect our ways of both positively
and negatively perceiving, evaluating, and interacting with others.
The recognition and analysis of such biases has wide-ranging
consequences for feminist philosophy and politics, as well as for
every other movement seeking social justice. Implicit biases may
explain why members of particular groups still find it hard to ‘make
it’, despite the lack of overt obstacles to positions of power and
authority.  Given its centrality to a number of feminist debates, this
conference examines the notion of bias (broadly conceived).





CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:



Louise Antony (University of Massachusetts, Amherts, USA) "Different
Voices or Perfect Storm? Explaining the Dearth of Women In Philosophy"



Jennifer Saul (University of Sheffield, UK) "Formal Equality of
Opportunity and Affirmative Action"



Matthew Drabek (University of Iowa, US) “A Model of Feedback Bias in
the Social Sciences”



Catherine Hundleby (University of Windsor, Canada) “Bias and Fallacies
of Argumentation: The Case of Androcentrism”



Kristen Intemann (Montana State University, US) & Inmaculada de
Melo‐Martín (Weill Cornell Medical College, US) “Bias and the
Commercialization of Scientific Research: Can a Feminist Conception of
Impartiality Help?”



Peter Kirwan (University of California, Irvine, US) “Implicit Bias:
Mapping the Dark Matter of Social Psychology”



Heidi Lockwood (Southern Connecticut State University, US) “Why does
Diversity Matter in the Academy”



Susanne Pohlmann (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany) “Accountability
and Underpinning Attitudes of Biased Beliefs”



This conference also serves as the inaugural event for the new
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Symposium Series Feminist Philosophy
and…. It will be followed by further regular events on topics relevant
and of interest to feminist philosophers and all philosophers working
on issues to do with social justice. Planned future topics include
Feminist Philosophy and: Gender, Pornography, Race, Sex work.



Attendance is free but places are limited. To register, email
[log in to unmask] by 11th August 2011. For further information about
the Symposium Series and the event on Bias, please contact Prof. Dr.
Mari Mikkola ([log in to unmask]).


-- 
_________________________________________________
Professor Jennifer Saul
Department of Philosophy
University of Sheffield
45 Victoria Street, Sheffield S3 7QB

Ph: 0114 222 0578
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
<http://www.shef.ac.uk/philosophy/staff/profiles/saul.html>