This page lists a sample of professors  doing real research and teaching despite the forces of flimflam, fear-mongering, and truthiness. Suggest more for this list through the contact us page.

Linda Martin Alcoff Epistemologist who shatters old ideas about who gets to do what.

Amy Allen Thinks critically about power.

Linda A. Bell Has published work on existential and feminist ethics and asked students to read and think critically about the interconnections among anti-Semitism, classism, homophobia, racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination.

Roger Berkowitz Teaches political theory and human rights and runs the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College.

Wendy Brown Works on critical legal studies and feminist theory.

Anthea Butler Engages students in thinking deeply about women and Christianity.

Judith Butler  Explores precarity in an age of conformity.

Ann J. Cahill Thinks about dangerous things like justice, sex, bodies, and equality

Edward Casey Encourages colleagues to find their own philosophical voice.

Meredith Clark Journalism prof and sociologist of the Black Twitter-sphere.

Alyson Cole Stands by victims and those who refuse to relinquish ressentiment. 

Alice Crary Believes that merely being human, or an animal, matters—and is committed to the theory and practice of liberating social criticism

Chris Cuomo Shows how feminists can help save the planet.

Paul Dean Teaches students how to organize for social justice.

Enrique Dussel Works from the underside of history via liberation philosophy.

David Dwyer Linguist specializing in West African languages, peace and civil rights activist, known for his kindness.

Tracy Everbach Teaches journalism students about race and gender in the media.

Robert Melchior Figueroa A pioneer in the philosophy of environmental justice for greater inclusion of voices, places, and recognition justice.

Lori Gruen Teaches about the ethics of captivity for humans and others.

Gary Gutting A philosopher with broad interests in continental as well as analytic philosophy, Gutting has done much good for the profession, serving as an editor of the well-regarded Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews and having written a series of articles for the New York Times opinionator blog.

Jürgen Habermas Trying to finish that pesky project of enlightenment.

Maurice Hamington  He cares. A lot.

Sandra Harding  Feminist philosopher of science and early advocate of standpoint theory. Also  attacked by the John Birch Society and named one of the 10 “most dangerous feminists” in the journal Reason.

Sally Haslanger Does feminist metaphysics.

Bonnie Honig Works on democracy and all that troubles it.

Axel Honneth Looking for enlightenment in recognition.

Matthew W. Hughey Examines white supremacy and identity and was once chided for “talking too much about ethnicity and race” in his sociology of ethnicity and race course.

Alison Jaggar Pioneer in bringing together philosophy and feminism.

Morris B. Kaplan Teaches compassion, wisdom, and sexual justice via Plato, Arendt, and Foucault.

Amber Katherine Teaches students not only the fundamentals of philosophy but how to think critically for themselves.

Jean Keller Dares to point out that it’s morally wrong not to care for each other.

Douglas Kellner A leading Marcuse scholar and incisive cultural and media critic. Named in 2006 to the “Dirty Thirty” roster of “subversive” professors at UCLA.

Eva Feder Kittay Teaches us a lot about what it is to be human.

Lisa Kretz Encourages students to not just think more about ethics but be more ethical.

Helen Lauer Teaches African students to work for sustainability without the lure of profit. 

Alasdair MacIntyre Communitarian Catholic fed up with liberalism.

Bonnie Mann Thinks philosophically about creeps, flirts, and other sexed things.

Julie E. Maybee “Corrupts” the youth (i.e. students) by examining how hierarchies of race, class, gender and (supposed) ability affect people’s lives and life-chances.

Noëlle McAfee Pyschoanalyzes the political unconscious.

John McCumber Historian of philosophy and its sociopolitical contexts, especially the McCarthy Era.

Eduardo Mendieta Carrying out a decolonization of philosophy from South to North.

Mark Crispin Miller Sees through propaganda, including that of his far-right critics.

Elizabeth Minnich Writes about the evil of banality and the importance of thinking.

Vasuki Nesiah Teaches critical legal studies and human rights.

Kelly Oliver Philosopher with a cowgirl alterego out to right wrongs.

Iris Outlaw Runs the multicultural student program at Notre Dame. The scurrilous watchlist listed her, offended that she talked about white privilege. Apparently the young man over there never noticed that he had any. In any case, it is hard to see anything but wonderful work that Outlaw is doing, helping students of various backgrounds succeed in college. What audacity she has. Yes — and brava!

Jasbir Puar Writes critically about the U.S. understanding itself to be so sexually tolerant and liberated as a way of asserting its superiority over other peoples.

Mary Rawlinson Rescues bioethics from the philosophy of the same.

Christina Rawls Philosophy professor who believes in continued efforts towards understanding, free thinking without cruelty or bias, and educating oneself as much and as often as possible.

Robert Reich Tirelessly denounces inequality and kleptocracy, in America and abroad.

Melvin Rogers A democratic theorist with republican sensibilities.

Michael Sandel Has taught more students about justice than anyone since Plato.

Naomi Scheman Knows what it is to know about sex and gender.

Cynthia Stark Teaches theories of distributive justice.

Shari Stone-Mediatore Encourages students to question authority.

Lynne Tirrell Traces titrations of  toxic speech, gainsays genocidal language games, and probes the politics of discourse and the discourse of politics.

Anthony Weston Writes, teaches, and practices the re-imagination of the world.

Cynthia Willett Enters philosophy through humor, irony, and music.

Jason Wirth Audaciously brings together East and West.

Laura Wright English professor who protested her home institution’s acceptance of a  $2 million gift from  the Charles Koch Foundation for the “study of free enterprise.”

Subha Xavier Rethinking the nation at every turn by suggesting that it does not exist and that migrants are the way of the future.

George Yancy Points out what ought to be obvious to white folks but, because of white privilege, isn’t.