(More) About Me

I'm a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Dartmouth Society of Fellows and received my PhD in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2023. My dissertation supervisor was Gary Hatfield and my committee members Lisa Miracchi Titus (University of Denver), Quayshawn Spencer, and Elizabeth (Zab) Johnson (Wharton Neuroscience). 

 

My primary focus is empirically-guided philosophy of perception, though I'm interested in a wide variety of issues having to do with how humans and other animals perceive, think about, and interact with their environments. I like to think about color and pain, the connections between intellectual traditions, and how we should approach metaphysical and epistemological questions relating to cognition and perception. My research was supported by the Kone Foundation in 2022-2023.

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At Penn, I served as a chapter representative for MAP-Penn, a graduate representative for the Penn philosophy department, and a graduate Wellness representative. I completed the Penn SCAN (Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience) graduate certificate program, was a MindCORE affiliate, a MIRA (Mind-like Intelligence, Research, and Analysis) group member, and a STAMP (Step-Ahead Mentorship Program) mentor. I co-organized the MAP-Penn Conference on Philosophy of Race, the MAP-Penn Conference on Philosophy of Disability and Illness, the MAP-Penn Summer Colloquium on Philosophy of Disability and Illness, the MAP-Penn Conference on Climate Justice, and the Penn Philosophy Teaching Workshop on Disability Inclusion and Accessibility. I also ran a number of reading groups, including one on Indian Philosophy and another on Philosophy of Pain, and launched the MAP-Penn Invited Speaker Series. 

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Before the PhD, I studied Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (LTWA) in India, worked as a teacher in Hong Kong, and received MA and BSc degrees from the University of Tampere (now Tampere University) in Finland. My partner John is a poet and we live in Hartford (VT) with our FIV-positive Indian cat, Senge. I've been involved in Animal Rescue and Fairtrade, and I had the privilege of living in the wonderful Annikinkatu Community for many years. I'm a first-generation college graduate, my favorite tea is Bai Hao Yin Zhen, I use she/they pronouns, I'm a bad Buddhist, and the forest is my shrine.

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The Finnish/Swedish pronunciation of my name is T(h)EE-na ROO-sen-KVIST, but the anglicized pronunciation is fine.

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(Above photo credit: Inka Uppal)

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