Brant entrekin
PhD candidate in philosopy
[email protected]
About
Hello! I am Brant Entrekin. I am a PhD candidate in philosophy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I am also in graduate certificate programs for religious studies and for women, gender, and sexuality studies.My research is primarily in social/political philosophy and applied ethics. I am currently completing a dissertation on allyship in social justice movements.I also have research interests at the intersection of philosophy of religion and religious studies. I am primarily interested in the relationship between philosophy and technology, thinking about how religious traditions utilize new technologies in practice.I am also very passionate about teaching. I have taught a variety of courses, including introduction to philosophy, various courses in applied ethics, critical thinking, and introduction to world religions.
Research
Social and Political Philosophy
My work in social and political philosophy focuses on oppression, privilege, and social movements. My current project examines the nature and norms of allyship. I analyze allyship via a role ethics framework to argue that allyship requires a transformation of the various social roles that a privileged person occupies that contribute towards structural injustice. From that, I then consider the questions of when allies should defer to the marginalized, when they have the standing to take initiative on their own, and how these norms change over time.Applied Ethics
A second strand of my research focuses on applied issues that result from persistent oppression and structural injustice. I am interested in applied philosophy of language to investigate how oppression reproduces itself via mechanisms like dogwhistles, echo chambers, and structural gaslighting. I am also interested in the rather ordinary, mundane ways that structural injustice can implicitly shape our lives. I am currently co-authoring a paper on how structural ableism can cause injustice in romantic life for those with disabilities.Religious Studies
I also work in religious studies and philosophy of religion. Here, my research has primarily focused on how religious traditions change in interaction with new technologies. I have published a paper on how A.I. chatbots might be utilized for mystical religious practices. I am also interested in the way that American evangelical Christianity has utilized new technologies like film and social media to support and justify right-wing political movements.My recent published work can be found on my PhilPeople page:
Teaching
I am very passionate about teaching philosophy. My teaching is focused on introducing students to the skills and virtues they need to think philosophically and how to apply those lessons to issues in their everyday life.In the classroom, I often use a variety of active-learning strategies that require students to interact with the material rather than passively consume it. For example, I have organized a professional responsibility course in a "fishbowl" style, I frequently require students to serve as discussion facilitators and create original questions for classroom discussion, and I will employ various games and workshops to illustrate philosophical ideas.For assessments, my main focus is on having students apply philosophical reasoning and scrutiny to issues in their everyday life. For instance, I have utilized a journal activity in multiple courses that requires students to use our course content to investigate the world around them in a new way, such as interviewing a friend or family member about a moral issue and then reconstructing their argument in the language of the course. I also frequently utilize public philosophy assignments to have students create a philosophical argument that is rigorous but accessible to demonstrate how philosophical thinking can be broadly applied. Students in my courses have created TikToks, podcasts, op-ed articles, and short films, and I look forward to expanding my public philosophy pedagogy in future courses!Click the button below to see a sample of the various syllabi I have developed and utilized in the past.
cv
Click the button below to access a current copy of my CV!
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