GENAE E. MATTHEWS
Dept. of Philosophy, 240 East Cameron Avenue • Chapel Hill, NC 27599
(805) 760-1012 • genae@email.unc.edu • www.genaematthews.net
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION AND COMPETENCE:
AOS Epistemology, feminist philosophy, normativity
AOC Social and political philosophy, ethics
EDUCATION:
2026 (expected) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ph.D., Philosophy
Dissertation: “Emancipatory Inquiry: Essays in Standpoint Epistemology”
Committee: Alex Worsnip (chair), Sarah Stroud, Jim Pryor, Ram Neta
My dissertation provides novel interpretations and defenses of the central theses within standpoint epistemology. Chapter 1 argues that facts about marginalized people’s social locations provide higher-order support for certain of their beliefs about the workings of marginalization. Chapter 2 develops a novel account of a ‘standpoint,’ and Chapter 3 argues that achieving knowledge of facts about injustice constitutively involves becoming disposed to have the emotional responses that those injustices in fact merit.
2022 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.A., Philosophy
M.A. Thesis: “What, if Anything, Is Essential about Indexicals?”
Committee: Ram Neta (advisor), Jim Pryor, Carla Merino-Rajme
2019 Wellesley College
B.A. Philosophy, magna cum laude, with honors
Honors Thesis: “Imagination as a Guide to Knowledge of Possibilities”
Advisor: Catherine Wearing
PUBLICATIONS:
1. (forthcoming) ‘Fit-Related Reasons to Inquire’ Australasian Journal of Philosophy
ADDITIONAL PAPERS: (Drafts available upon request)
1. [a paper about resistance to oppression] (R&R as of 4/7/2025)
2. “Social Location and Higher-Order Evidence’
3. ‘The Epistemic and the Affective’
4. ‘What Standpoints Must Be’
5. ‘A User’s Guide to Standpoints’
6. ‘There Might be an Epistemic Advantage to Being Oppressed: Reframing Recent Debates in Standpoint Epistemology’
7. ‘Practical Reasons for Belief and the Basing Relation’
TALKS: (Refereed unless otherwise noted) †=invited
2025 “Standpoint Epistemology and Higher-Order Evidence,” Epistemic Advantage Revisited, COGS Workshop
2025 “There Might be an Epistemic Advantage to Being Oppressed: Reframing Recent Debates in Standpoint Epistemology,” Eastern APA
2024 “Standpoint Epistemology and Higher-Order Evidence,” CPA Annual Meeting†
2023 “What is a Standpoint?,” PPE Society Seventh Annual Meeting
2024 “Practical Reasons for Belief and the Basing Relation,” Eastern APA Colloquium
2023 “What Resistance Requires,” PPE Society Annual Meeting
2023 “What Resistance Requires,” North Carolina Philosophical Society
2023 “Fit-Related Reasons to Inquire,” Wellesley College Proctor Workshop 2023†
2023 “Fit-Related Reasons to Inquire,” PPE Society Annual Meeting 2023
2022 “Fit-Related Reasons to Inquire,” Applied Epistemology Project at UNC WIP Series
2021 “Context Probabilism and the Modal Dilemma,” UNC Philosophy WIP Series
COMMENTATOR:
2024 On Brian Talbot, The End of Epistemology as We Know It
CONCEPT Philosopher Meets Critics Series
2024 On Deborah Cocheo, “Monstrous Bewilderment”
Central APA Symposium
2022 On Carolina Flores and Elise Woodard, “Epistemic Norms on Evidence-Gathering”
4th Annual Chapel Hill Normativity Workshop
HONORS, AWARDS, AND FELLOWSHIPS:
2022-Ongoing UNC Applied Epistemology Project Graduate Fellow
2022-Ongoing UNC Parr Center for Ethics Graduate Fellow
Summer 2023 UNC Applied Epistemology Project Graduate Research Assistant
Summer 2023 Oxford Global Priorities Institute Open Student Workshop Fellow
2022 UNC Travel Grant Recipient ($800)
2022-2023 Maynard Adams Fellowship for Public Humanities Outreach ($2500)
2020-2021 Horace Williams Fellowship ($17000)
2018-2019 Jerome A. Schiff Fellowship for Honors Thesis Research ($1500)
2017-2018 Madeline Albright Institute for Global Affairs Fellow
TEACHING EXPERIENCE: Primary Instructor
Spring 2024 Ideology, Capitalism, and Critique (~40 students)
A philosophical analysis of how (oftentimes implicit) ideological commitments shape our culture and
our social reality.
Fall 2023 Ethics of Peace, War, and Defense (~40 students)
An analysis of ethical issues that arise in peace, war, and defense, e.g., the legitimacy of states, just war theory, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction.
Spring 2022 Making Sense of Ourselves (~40 students)
An examination of some of the most influential attempts to understand human beings, their lives, and their moral and political values.
Fall 2022 Moral and Philosophical Issues of Gender in Society (~40 students)
A survey of feminist perspectives on topics such as the meaning of oppression, sexism and racism, sex roles and stereotypes, ideals of female beauty, women in the workplace, pornography, rape.
Summer 2022 Ethics of Peace, War, and Defense (~25 students)
An analysis of ethical issues that arise in peace, war, and defense, e.g., the legitimacy of states, just war theory, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE: Teaching Assistant
Fall 2021 Values, Virtues, and Happiness (for Geoff Sayre-McCord) (~50 students)
A survey exploration of different philosophical perspectives about right and wrong, personal character, justice, moral reasoning, and moral conflicts.
Spring 2022 Introduction to Critical Thinking (for Ram Neta) (~50 students)
A course on how to identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments by other people and how to construct arguments. Topics include argument reconstruction, informal logic, fallacies, introductory formal logic, probabilistic reasoning.
DEPARTMENTAL, UNIVERSITY, AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICE:
2024 – 2026 Minorities and Philosophy International Co-Director
Complete executive duties (e.g., taxes, communication with sponsors, reimbursements) at Minorities and Philosophy (MAP), run weekly meetings, serve as a resource for and liaison between MAP chapters, organize MAP events, post jobs to the MAP job board, provide resources and advocate for the interests of marginalized groups in philosophy.
2024 – 2025 Minorities and Philosophy International Organizer
Serve as a resource for and liaison between MAP chapters, organize MAP events, post jobs to the MAP job board, provide resources and advocate for the interests of marginalized groups in philosophy.
2023 – 2025 UNC Philosophy Graduate Student Council President
Serve as a liaison between graduate students and Departmental Leadership, organize graduate student committees, oversee graduate student surveys, help with prospective students’ weekend.
2025 3rd Annual Duke-UNC Philosophy Conference Organizer
Reviewed abstracts and helped construct the conference program.
2023 – 2024 UNC Philosophy Syllabus Diversification Initiative Member
Assisted faculty in diversifying their introductory course syllabi, both with respect to assigned readings and assignments.
2023 – 2024 UNC Philosophy Teaching Assistant Coordinator
Organized two, day-long, teaching workshops, observed and provided feedback to first-time Teaching Assistants, served as a liaison between the Teaching Assistants and the Department Teaching Coordinator, facilitated a department-wide workshop on teaching.
2024 UNC Applied Epistemology Project Hiring Committee Member
Participated in the hiring of the UNC Applied Epistemology Project Post-Doc.
2023 UNC PPE Hiring Committee Member
Participated in the hiring of two UNC-PPE Teaching Assistant Professors.
2021 – 2021 UNC Philosophy Faculty-Graduate Student Liaison
Advocated for graduate student interests in faculty meetings and served as a liaison between graduate students and faculty members concerning departmental affairs.
2020 – 2023 UNC Philosophy Diversity Committee Member
Advocated for underrepresented graduate student interests to faculty and helped draft a proposal to amend a Graduate Program Requirement to better suit diverse student needs.
PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY EXPERIENCE:
2023 – Ongoing Carolina Meadows Retirement Community
Conducted public philosophy talks on standpoint epistemology and the political importance of emotions
2025 – Ongoing Smith Middle School
Conducted Ethics in Action workshops for 7th grade students
2021 – Ongoing National High School Ethics Bowl
Case-writer and judge
REFERENCES:
Dr. Alex Worsnip
Professor of Philosophy and Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Philosophy, UNC-Chapel Hill
aworsnip@unc.edu
+1 (919) 843-4500
Dr. Ram Neta
Professor of Philosophy
Department of Philosophy, UNC-Chapel Hill
neta@ad.unc.edu
+1 (919) 962-3321
Dr. Sarah Stroud
Professor of Philosophy
Department of Philosophy, UNC-Chapel Hill
+1 (919) 962-3317
Dr. Mariska Leunissen (teaching)
Professor of Philosophy and Associate Chair
+ 1 (919) 962-7291