Cassie Herbert

I research and publish on topics ranging from the pragmatics of slurs to the harms of sexual violations to the dynamics of gender-based online harassment. My work is at the intersections of social philosophy of language, feminist philosophy, and philosophy of sex.

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One of my deeply held commitments is to center perspectives, topics, and methodologies which have historically been excluded from dominant conversations. Both my research and my teaching are centrally engaged with anti-oppression philosophy. 

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As an undergraduate I studied philosophy and politics at Bates College in Lewiston, ME. After graduating, I spent several years working in voter education while living in the mountains of Montana. Eventually I returned to philosophy when I began my PhD at Georgetown University. 

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I wrote my dissertation, Exclusionary Speech and Constructions of Community, in social philosophy of language. In it I explore the complex ways language, social power, and identity entwine to structure social interactions and the contours of community boundaries. I examine how we use language to construct ingroups and outgroups, and how this sets up and perpetuates norms for the treatment of particular people. Throughout, I look at how seemingly promising strategies of resistance can unintentionally recreate the harm they were intended to mitigate.

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After completing my PhD, I was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY. I then joined Illinois State University in Normal, IL where I hold a joint appointment in Philosophy and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.