Katheryn Doran, associate professor of philosophy, hosted the second Philosophy of Film Without Theory conference on Oct. 21-22. Doran’s talk “I May Destroy You: TV and the Growth of Understanding” grew out of conversations with students in her Philosophy of Film course about the paucity of treatment in film and TV of all but stereotypical violent sexual assault by strangers.
Doran argues in the paper that the PBS series I May Destroy You contributes to a much more nuanced understanding of sexual assault, by having viewers consider a wide range of thought experiments that might think about their own harmful beliefs about, among other things, consent and resistance.
The conference featured 17 talks, with speakers from Australia, Chile, Croatia, and the UK, as well as the U.S., including philosophers John Gibson, Paul Guyer, Paul Taylor, Malcolm Turvey, and a paper by Noël Carroll.
Professor of Cinema and Media Studies Scott MacDonald hosted a pre-conference screening on Oct. 20: "Is the Video Essay the New Avant-Garde?"
