Alia Al-Saji is James McGill Professor of Philosophy at McGill University. ^[1] Her work focuses on bringing 20th century phenomenology and French philosophy into dialogue with critical race and feminist theories. ^[1] Al-Saji believes that feminist phenomenology must take an intersectional approach to its work, one that accounts for the fact that gender cannot be treated in a vacuum apart from other axes of oppression. ^[2]

Education and career

Al-Saji received a bachelor's degree from McMaster University in 1993, a master's degree in philosophy from KU Leuven in 1995, and a doctorate in philosophy from Emory University in 2002. ^[1] After receiving her doctorate, Al-Saji accepted a teaching position at McGill University, an institution she is still at. ^[1] In her time at McGill (and previously, as a graduate student,) Al-Saji published a number of papers in peer-reviewed journals. ^[1] She is also working on a manuscript, tentatively titled The Time of Difference: Thinking memory, perception and ethics with Bergson and Merleau-Ponty. ^[1]

Al-Saji is the editor of the feminist philosophy section of the journal Philosophy Compass. ^[3] She is a co-editor of the Symposia on Gender, Race and Philosophy. Al-Saji has held a number of fellowships, including one at the Institute of Advanced Study at Durham University in 2012, where she carried out research related to the theme of time, ^[4] and one at The Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. ^[5]

Research areas

Much of Al-Saji's work has represented an effort to forge links between 20th century phenomenology and French philosophy and critical race and feminist theories. ^[1] A significant theme of her work has been the question of time. ^[4] Al-Saji's research has two distinct tracks: the first looks at questions of embodiment, memory, and intersubjectivity, and the second attempts to develop a phenomenology of "cultural racism," especially through feminist analysis of the depiction of Muslim women in modern western contexts. ^{[4] [6]} Al-Saji's work has touched upon the work of many scholars before her, including Henri Bergson, ^{[7] [8]} Edmund Husserl, ^[1] Maurice Merleau-Ponty, ^[1] Jean Paul Sartre, ^[1] and many others, although her work has primarily focused on Bergson and Merleau-Ponty. ^{[1] [9]}

References