Name Michele Moody-Adams | ||
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Books Fieldwork in Familiar Places: Morality, Culture, and Philosophy Education Harvard University, University of Oxford, Wellesley College | ||
Michele Moody Adams, "What Difference Can Theory Make to Practice?"
Michele Moody-Adams is an African-American philosopher and academic administrator. Between July 1, 2009, and September 2011 she served as Dean of Columbia College and Vice President for Undergraduate Education at Columbia University. She was the first woman and first African-American to hold the post. She has since resigned as dean, citing the decreasing autonomy of Columbia College. She remains a faculty member in the department of philosophy.
Contents
- Michele Moody Adams What Difference Can Theory Make to Practice
- Michele moody adams on the compatibility of liberalism and feminism
- Early life and education
- Career
- Personal life
- References
Michele moody adams on the compatibility of liberalism and feminism
Early life and education
Moody-Adams grew up in Chicago, graduated from Wellesley College in 1978 with a B.A. in philosophy. She attended Somerville College at Oxford University on a Marshall Scholarship, and received a B.A. in philosophy, politics, and economics, in 1980. She earned her Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard University in 1986. Moody-Adams wrote her dissertation on “Moral Philosophy Naturalized: Morality and Mitigated Skepticism in Hume" under the supervision of John Rawls.
Career
Before joining the faculty at Cornell University in the fall of 2000, Moody-Adams worked at Indiana University, Bloomington, where she was a Professor of Philosophy, as well as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education. At Cornell, she was vice provost for undergraduate education and Hutchinson Professor of Ethics and Public Life. In February 2009, Moody-Adams co-sponsored with university funds a controversial student display on the Cornell campus by the Islamic Alliance for Justice consisting of signs and 1300 flags representing dead Palestinians and Israelis. Moody-Adams responded to the September 11 attacks by asserting that "Vengeance is not the answer here," and that the result of an American military response could be the end of everything worth fighting for, "even the end of the species."
When she was appointed to her Columbia post, administrators at Cornell praised her, "Michele is an exceptional scholar and administrator," said Provost Kent Fuchs. "Her breadth of experience working on many issues of vital importance to the university and her deep academic insights have enriched Cornell in multiple ways. We will miss her leadership, insights and intellect."
On August 20, 2011, Moody-Adams announced her resignation from the deanship, effective the following June 30, after only two years on the job, citing changes in Columbia University policy toward Columbia College that made it impossible for her to remain in her post.
Personal life
She is married to James Eli Adams, a specialist in Victorian literature, who is a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University.