Catherine Villanueva Gardner
Catherine Villanueva Gardner is an associate professor in the university’s philosophy department who also teaches courses for the interdisciplinary women's studies program.
I teach mainly ethics courses, but I am going to start teaching the occasional course in the history of philosophy. The project I have spent the most time on recently--and am proudest of--is organizing the revision of the curriculum for the philosophy department.
Much of my recent research has been on recapturing forgotten women philosophers. I have been particularly interested in why they disappeared from the philosophical tradition.
Gardner has a BA, with honors, from the University of Leicester (UK), a MA from the University College of Swansea (Wales), and a PhD from the University of Virginia.
Throughout all my three degrees I have specialized in ethics. I have studied a variety of subfields: theory, bioethics, moral philosophy and literature, history, and feminist ethics.
Overall, I am interested in critique of the philosophical tradition. I am moving from actually doing it to answering "metaquestions" about how it should be done.
Gardner is the author of a book published in 2002; Historical Dictionary of Feminist Philosophy, a reference book that she just finished; and numerous articles, including one in a collection comparing women philosophers and canonical male philosophers, to be published in 2005/6. While she spends a lot of time researching and writing, she loves being in the classroom, and relishes the engagement her philosophy students have with their chosen field:
What I enjoy about our majors is that many of them really want to take advantage of their educational experience. Indeed, in a sense they make our discipline and our department their own. Even if I have not taught a student before, s/he will come to my class projecting a sense of belonging and familiarity both in the class and in the intellectual arena. Professors always talk about trying to break down the student-teacher power structure and how to accomplish this. Philosophy majors do it for me!
Reflecting on her women’s studies students, she notes that the passion she brings to the classroom is often reciprocal:
Teaching women's studies classes is completely different. The students involve me on many different levels: intellectual, emotional and political. I always leave intellectually stimulated, sometimes moved, and sometimes fired up about social inequalities.
Gardner joined the university’s faculty in 2001, so 2005 was a special year for her:
It may seem a small thing to some people, but one of the most memorable experiences I’ve had here was seeing the graduation of students whom I taught when they first started at UMass Dartmouth.
She hopes her graduating students leave the university with a thirst for knowledge and a desire to understand, question and shape the world they live in.
Last Updated On: 11/7/05
