Dr. Carolina Flores
Carolina Flores received their PhD in Philosophy from Rutgers University. Their research is driven by questions about how our cognitive structures and the social world interact. They are especially interested in how cognition can be hijacked in ways that contribute to the perpetuation of oppressive social structures---and in how we can fight back. Their dissertation was on evidence-resistance beliefs: what their role in cognition is, how changeable they are, and what they tell us about the nature of belief and the human mind. At UC Irvine, they are planning to focus on belief and social identity. They plan to look at how social identities are implemented in our minds (is centering a social identity a matter of one’s beliefs, or does it involve other attitudes?) and at how they shape how we interact with evidence. In addition, they are keen on addressing systemic marginalization in academia. While in graduate school, they directed Minorities and Philosophy, the leading network in philosophy concerned with addressing questions of marginalization in academic philosophy, organized a conference on oppression and resistance, and founded a feminist philosophy reading group and speaker series in their department.
PPFP Research Topic Title: Belief and social identity
Mentor: Dr. Annalisa Coliva and Dr. Kate Ritchie
Department, School: Department of Philosophy, School of Humanities
https://inclusion.uci.edu/funding-programs/postdoctoral-fellowship-programs/ppfp/