Molly Kelly

molly [dot] elizabeth [dot] kelly [at] emory [dot] edu

PhD Candidate

Education

PhD Philosophy, Emory University, 2018 – Present

MA Philosophy, Emory University, 2021

MA Public Policy, Philosophy, and Social Policy, George Washington University, 2018

BA Political Science (Minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies), Boston University, 2015

Research Interests

  • Phenomenology (esp. Husserl and Critical Phenomenology)
  • Social and Political Philosophy
  • Feminist Philosophy
  • 19th and 20th Century Continental Philosophy
  • Bioethics
  • Philosophy of Psychology and Psychoanalysis

Selected Honors and Awards

  • Laney Graduate Dean’s Teaching Fellowship, 2023-2024
  • Laney Graduate Fellowship, 2018 – 2023
  • George Washington University Columbian Women’s Scholarship, 2017
  • Cory L. Richards Memorial Scholarship, 2017
  • GWU College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Fellowship, 2016 – 2018
  • BU Today Student Spotlight Recipient, 2015
  • Liberty Bank Fellowship, 2011 – 2015

Professional Publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles:

2021. “Fearing the Worst Yet to Come: Derrida and Health Anxiety.” Theory & Psychology 31 (4): 632-645.

2020. “Estrangement, Epochē, and Performance: Bertolt Brecht’s Verfremdungseffekt and a Phenomenology of Spectatorship.” Continental Philosophy Review 53 (4): 419-431.

Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters: 

2019. “Strong ‘For a Girl’: Sports Science, Femininity, and Athletic Gatekeepers of Gender.” In Women, Social Change and Activism: Then and Now, edited by Dawn Hutchinson and Lori Underwood, 33-40. New York: Lexington Books.

Book Reviews: 

2023. The Political Logic of Experience: Expression in Phenomenology by Neal DeRoo. Puncta 6 (1): 43-9.

Professional Presentations

“The End of the World as ‘We’ Know It? Psychoanalysis, Doomsday Prepping, and White Apocalyptic Fetishism,” Emory University Symposium for Psychoanalysis and Politics, Atlanta, GA, October 2022.

“The Anarchy of the Soundscape: A Phenomenological Approach,” Thinking Sonic Environments: Soundscapes of Nature, Communities, and Art-works Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, September 2022.

“Soundscapes of Grief: Place, Power, and the Phenomenology of Keening,” American Philosophical Association (APA) Pacific Division Meeting, SoPheRE Session, Vancouver, BC, April 2022.

“‘Silence Becomes Something Else’: Cage, Al-Saji, and a Phenomenology of (Sonic) Hesitation,” ReVIEWING Black Mountain College International Conference, Asheville, NC November 2021.

“Ruptures in Meaning: Husserl, Orientation, and a Critical Phenomenology of Expression,”  Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (SPEP), virtual conference, September 2021.

“Untimely Perceptions: Freud, Husserl, and Traumatic Awakenings,” American Philosophical Association (APA) Pacific Division Meeting, colloquium session, virtual conference, March 2021.

Sounding Queer: Sound Studies, Queer Phenomenology, and Sexual Orientations in Sonic Space,” PhiloSOPHIA, Vanderbilt University, May 2020 (canceled due to COVID-19).

“Strong ‘For a Girl’: Sports Science, Femininity, and Athletic Gatekeepers of Gender,”  Global Status of Women and Girls Conference, CNU, March 2018.

“An Ethic of Trauma,” American Philosophical Association (APA) Central Division Meeting, Midwest SWIP session, Chicago, IL, February 2018.

“An Ethic of Time: Establishing a Temporal Dimension in the Original Position,” Midwest Society for Women in Philosophy (SWIP) Conference, Cleveland State University, November 2017.

“Beyond Butler: Transnormativity and Gender Superpositions,” Graduate Consortium for Women’s Studies Conference, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, April 2017.

Teaching Experience

As Instructor of Record at Emory University: 

  • Special Topics: Ethics and the Philosophy of Sound (PHIL 185), Spring 2024
  • Introduction to Bioethics (PHIL 116), Summer 2023
  • Introduction to Ethics (PHIL 115), Spring 2023
  • Introduction to Bioethics (PHIL 116), Fall 2022

As Co-Instructor at Emory University:

  • Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (PHIL 200), Dr. Bredlau, Spring 2020

As Teaching Assistant at Emory University:

  • History of Moral and Political Philosophy (PHIL 220W), Dr. McAfee, Fall 2019

As Teaching Assistant at George Washington University:

  • Arab Politics (IAFF 2190W), Dr. Charles Kiamie, Spring 2018
  • Politics and Cultures of the Middle East (2190W), Dr. Charles Kiamie, Fall 2017
  • Arab Politics (IAFF 2190W), Dr. Charles Kiamie, Spring 2017
  • Business Law and Ethics (BADM 4101), Dr. de los Reyes, Spring 2017
  • Politics and Cultures of the Middle East (2190W), Dr. Charles Kiamie, Fall 2016

Research Experience

  • Research Intern, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2017
  • Legislative Aide to Representative Farley-Bouvier, Massachusetts State House, 2015
  • Field Organizing and Research Intern, MassEquality, 2012

Service

In the Department: 

  • Graduate Representative, 2019 – 2020
  • Treasurer, Friday Philosophy Forum, 2019 – 2020
  • Board Member, Friday Philosophy Forum, 2018 – 2019

In the Profession:

  • Graduate Assistant, Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, 2020 – 2022

In the Community:

  • Emory University’s First-Generation Graduate Women’s Collective, 2020 – 2021