Vanessa Schipani is a PhD candidate in her 4th year in the Philosophy Department. Prior to starting the PhD, she was a science journalist for 10 years, working most recently for FactCheck.org, where she vetted claims made by politicians about climate change to public health. As a philosopher, she examines the importance of science communication in maintaining a healthy democracy. She is particularly interested in analyzing why people deny science, how such denial might harm individuals and society and how we might avoid such denial in the first place. Research in the science of science communication informs her work. She also has keen interests in teaching and public philosophy. In particular, she aims to find ways to create partnerships between scientists, science journalists and philosophers of science. This includes organizing a session on the philosophy of science journalism at the 2022 Philosophy of Science Association Conference and writing for the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media.
Research Interests
- Areas of Specialization: Philosophy of Science, Political Philosophy
- Areas of Competence: Social Epistemology, Bioethics, Pragmatism, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Philosophy of Biology
- Research Topics: Science Denialism, Misinformation, Science Communication and Education, Public Reason, Science in Democracy, Free Speech
Teaching
- Philosophy of Science
- Philosophy of Mind
- Philosophy of Climate Change
- Bioethics
- Social Contract
- Intro to Philosophy