Some of the most important work we do in the Department of Philosophy is teaching, and Dr. S.M. Love has taught her fair share of students since joining the department as an assistant professor in 2018. In this interview with Dr. Love, we learn more about her research interests and her experiences teaching in our department.
Where did you go to school? What are your areas of specialization?
For college, I moved away from my home in Connecticut all the way to southern California to study at Scripps College, the women's college of the Claremont Colleges. I then went back home to Connecticut to earn my J.D. at Yale Law School. After that, I moved to Pittsburgh to get a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh. I also spent a year during my Ph.D. visiting the philosophy department at UCLA, which was a great experience. Right now I work mainly on Kantian and Marxian political philosophy.
What drew you to Philosophy?
During my freshman year at Scripps, I took an intro to philosophy class on a whim. At that point I didn't really know what philosophy was because I had gone to subpar public schools that certainly didn't have any philosophy classes. I loved that first philosophy class so much. Philosophy felt like studying systematically the things that I was always thinking about anyways. And the professor was wonderful and hilarious—I'm still friends with her to this day.
How long have you been teaching at GSU and in the department of Philosophy? What were you doing before you joined the department?
I've been at GSU since the fall of 2018. I came right after I got my Ph.D.!
What are your favorite classes and lessons to teach to students? What do you see students get most excited about?
My graduate students, just like I myself, seem to get most excited when imagining a different and better world. My undergrads, also like myself, are extremely interested in and care deeply about, issues of social justice. Regarding favorite classes, I'm really excited next year to be teaching a new course, PHIL3820: Legal Reasoning. I'll be teaching students the deductive reasoning skills required to do well in philosophy, on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), and in law school. I love teaching students these reasoning skills because I know that these skills will help my students tremendously throughout their lives.
What’s something memorable that has happened in a class?
Just this last semester, my graduate students and I were discussing Kathi Weeks's book, The Problem with Work. It talks about the ideological power of the capitalist work ethic and how it leads to self-exploitation. It's always very interesting, and slightly comical, to discuss self-exploitation in a room full of people where we exploit ourselves to the maximum and are doing so at that very moment.
Why would you encourage someone to major in Philosophy?
I believe there is no knowledge that is more important than the knowledge you get from philosophy. On an instrumental level, I'm also certain that philosophy is, by far, the best major to prepare a student for law school. Knowing how to evaluate and make arguments is what philosophy teaches you how to do, and it is also exactly what lawyers need to be able to do. Philosophy majors also tend to do very well on the LSAT.
Where do you see Philosophy outside the job? (media, daily life, etc)
I'm a moral and political philosopher, so I see philosophy in all of the critical issues that we as a world are currently facing. Most notably, the existential crisis of climate change is as huge a moral crisis as there ever could be.
What other interests and hobbies do you have outside of work?
My most recent hobby is nail art. I picked this hobby up during the COVID lockdown, although I haven't had time to paint my nails during this past semester. My longstanding hobbies are working out (particularly Pure Barre and [solidcore]), reading fiction, and watching Star Trek. I like talking about these special interests as much as I like talking about philosophy, so feel free to come chat with me about them.