MEGAN BURKE, PHD
Philosopher | Social Theorist | Applied Ethicist

ABOUT
I draw on the tools of philosophy to study and think about the meanings, structures, and norms of gender, race, sexuality, class, and nationality. I ask how these social and political phenomena are made and lived, and I am curious about how they shape one's possibilities in the world and one's relationships with others. My research interests are in the harms posed and created by racial, gendered, and sexual norms, sexual ethics, the ethics of gender affirmation, and the ethical visions crafted by marginalized groups and social movements.
Much of my published work considers how an individual's experience of time is inflected by colonial histories of gender-based violence and sexual domination. Currently, I am working on two books—one on the life and work of Simone de Beauvoir and another on the moral harm of anti-trans politics.
PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY
#SCHOLARSTRIKE
The Lived Time of White Rape Myths
CENTER FOR ETHICS, LAW, & SOCIETY
Public/Community Lecture

Life Without Gender: Rethinking Feminist Suspicion and Gender Neutrality
CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS
Does the Confederate flag symbolizes southern heritage or a hateful history of racism? Discussion with faculty from Oklahoma State University and Langston University.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
July 2021 to current
Department of Philosophy, Sonoma State University
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
August 2018 to June 2021
Department of Philosophy, Sonoma State University
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
August 2015-July 2018
Program of Gender and Women's Studies and the Department of Philosophy, Oklahoma State University
GRADUATE TEACHING FELLOW
September 2010-June 2015
Departments of Philosophy and Women's and Gender Studies, University of Oregon
EDUCATION
PHD
June 2015
Philosophy, University of Oregon
MA
June 2012
Philosophy, University of Oregon
MA
May 2006
Women's Studies, San Diego State University
BA
January 2004
English and Cultural Studies, George Mason University