Amy Stewart

Amy is a PhD student in the Department of Philosophy at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where she specializes in psychoanalysis, existential phenomenology, continental feminist thought, and philosophies of gender, race, and sexuality. Amy’s ongoing research projects include a Lacanian and Kristevan psychoanalytic examination of racial violence and identity at the turn of the century through an analysis of lynching photographs, racist postcards, and contemporary artwork; as well as an existential phenomenology of transgender being-in-the-world, with specific focus on the politics of liminality and an ethics of trans* mothering.

Amy began studying feminist philosophy and teaching gender studies at Kennesaw State University, where she completed a B.S. in Psychology. While at Kennesaw, Amy worked as a research and teaching assistant, and interned with the Student Health and Counseling Services at Emory University. She then developed her theoretical approaches in psychoanalytic and feminist studies at Simmons College in Boston, where she completed an M.A. in Gender/Cultural Studies. At Simmons, Amy worked as the Hazel Dick Leonard Inaugural Research Fellow on Gender, helping to design an interdisciplinary seminar on gender for the College of Arts and Sciences. There, she also became active with local social justice efforts through a community outreach internship with YW Boston. Today, Amy is pursuing a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where she is working as a Graduate Administrative Assistant in the Graduate School. Soon, she will be teaching for the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program, where she is offering a seminar on Transgender Histories, Identities, and Politics. Amy’s professional goal is to teach feminist philosophy and gender/women’s studies and participate in local trans* activist work, and her dream is to eventually become a Director for a Gender Studies program.