[418] FOOD SECURITY, ACCESS TOPIC OF FREE APRIL 17 PHILOSOPHY LYCEUM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 14, 2009
CONTACT: Department of Philosophy, 615-898-2907.


FOOD SECURITY, ACCESS TOPIC OF FREE APRIL 17 PHILOSOPHY LYCEUM
Guest Lecture & Author Lisa Heldke Delivers Open Talk, Q&A and Reception to Follow

(MURFREESBORO)—Philosophy Professor Lisa Heldke will present a free and open lecture, “Food Security: Three Conceptions of Access,” at 3:30 p.m. Friday, April 17, in Room 304 of MTSU’s James Union Building.
Sponsored by the Department of Philosophy at MTSU, the lecture is part of the department’s annual Applied Philosophy Lyceum. The purpose of the lyceum is to provoke philosophical reflection by bringing distinguished scholars to the MTSU campus to address crucial contemporary issues. Guest lecturer Heldke is professor of philosophy at Gustavus Adolphus College. Her main research interests include questions about the nature of justice, questions about oppression and resistance and questions surrounding human liberation, especially as it relates to racism, sexism and heterosexism.
Heldke also is committed to exploring the philosophical significance of food, a topic about which philosophers historically have had very little to say. Her current research interests include an examination of the dichotomy between cosmopolitanism on the one hand, and localism on the other, using the lens of "local food" as her focusing device; the development of a notion of "radical listening" as a tool for making social change; and an exploration of the question of how a college might use food as a vehicle for realizing its mission statement. She is the author of Exotic Appetites: Ruminations of a Food Adventurer, co-editor of Cooking, Eating, Thinking: Transformative Philosophies of Food and The Atkins Diet and Philosophy. After the free lecture, a question-and-answer session will be held, with an informal reception afterward. For more information, please contact the MTSU philosophy department at 615-898-2907.