Marquette philosophy professor receives prestigious career enhancement fellowship

MILWAUKEE — Dr. Desiree Valentine, assistant professor of philosophy in Marquette University’s Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, has received a Career Enhancement Fellowship from the Institute for Citizens and Scholars, formerly the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

The Career Enhancement Fellowship Program seeks to increase the presence of minority junior faculty members and other faculty members committed to eradicating racial disparities in core fields in the arts and humanities.

“This is truly an exciting opportunity for Dr. Valentine that reflects her multifaceted talent and potential,” said Dr. Heidi Bostic, dean of the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences. “This fellowship will allow her to develop her scholarly engagement with the topics of racial and disability justice, which are extremely important to Marquette and to broader national and global conversations. Reflecting and enhancing innovative areas within the discipline of philosophy, Dr. Valentine’s work is a great example of the interdisciplinary excellence we prize and develop within the college, across Marquette and in our public-facing efforts to promote social justice.”

Valentine will be afforded the opportunity by this fellowship to devote time and resources to ongoing projects in the field of racial, disability and reproductive justice. In addition to a six-month sabbatical, she will also receive added resources to support her project and publication goals.

“The practice of philosophy at its best allows one to be visionary, take risks in thought and practice, and gain precision and clarity in the process,” Valentine said. “I strive to embody this practice in my teaching, service and research as a professional philosopher, which is concretized in my attention to matters of diversity, inclusion and accessibility. To me, these are not words, but actions, and should be embodied as an ongoing way of life.”

A 2010 alumna of Marquette, Valentine joined the faculty in 2018 with the first cohort of the Race, Ethnic, and Indigenous Studies (REIS) Program and specializes in critical philosophy of race and feminist philosophy. She completed her dual Ph.D. in philosophy and women’s, gender and sexuality studies, from Pennsylvania State University in 2018 and was a Mitchem Fellow at Marquette for the 2016-17 academic year.

The Institute for Citizens and Scholars prepares leaders and engages networks of people and organizations to meet urgent education challenges. The overarching goal is to shape an informed, productively engaged, and hopeful citizenry. The Career Enhancement Fellowship, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, supports the Mellon Foundation’s mission to strengthen, promote, and, where necessary, defend the contributions of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and to the well-being of diverse and democratic societies.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.