Accessibility statement

Department of Philosophy Advisory Board

The Department of Philosophy has formed an Advisory Board to act as a critical friend and sounding board, and to provide access to networks and thinking outside the University. The aims in forming the Board were to achieve breadth, relevance, and knowledge of the major job markets in which our graduates seek employment. Alumni of the Department who are interested in joining the Board should contact the Head of Department.

Statement from the Chair

"I am delighted to be involved in an advisory role with the Philosophy Department.  I think that institutions that are open to ideas from outside are very much to be lauded. This enables them to learn, improve, and offer a more informed set of opportunities for students and staff, in turn equipping them better for the challenges of the future. I am particularly committed to York University as it is known for its dynamism and high standards, and am proud to be Chair of this impressive and forward-thinking Board." -Laura Hawksworth

Members of the Departmental Advisory Board

Edward Bindloss

Edward Bindloss

Edward Bindloss is a criminal law barrister who has been based at Zenith Chambers in Leeds since 1993. He specialises in cases of murder, rape, and human trafficking (prosecuting and defending). He has been a part-time judge of the Crown Court on the North Eastern Circuit, as a Recorder, since 2008.

He was an undergraduate in the Philosophy Department at the University of York (1987-1990). He found his studies in Philosophy excellent preparation for the rigours of argument in the law courts, and good training for developing clear, succinct, and relevant arguments, and the ability to spot specious reasoning.

Laura Hawksworth (Chair)

Laura Dosanjh

Laura Hawksworth is currently an Independent Consultant. She was recently Director of Applied Innovation at the Young Foundation, where she led a team working across the public sector and social enterprises in practical ways to meet social needs. She has worked as an advisor and management consultant for McKinsey and Tribal, and also for national public-sector agencies, including the Audit Commission. She holds an MBA from INSEAD Business School. Laura studied Philosophy as one half of her joint honours Classics degree at Oxford University; she is interested in the history of ideas and is committed to the value of a degree that encourages independent thinking.

 

Emma Fenn

 

 

Beatrice Hollyer

Beatrice Hollyer

Beatrice Hollyer is a partner at the leadership and organisation consultants Stanton Marris. She works with large organisations on leadership capability, managing change, and communication. Her clients include government departments and international companies.

She previously worked with the corporate reputation specialists Regester Larkin, advising clients on critical issues and crisis management, and coaching senior managers on media and crisis handling. Her first career was in journalism. As a TV foreign correspondent, she reported from the field in apartheid South Africa, the first Gulf war, and the war in former Yugoslavia. She left BBC TV News for writing and consulting when her daughter was born in 1994.

Beatrice is a qualified executive coach, accredited at senior practitioner level by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council. She is a member of the EMCC and the British Psychological Society. Beatrice grew up in South Africa and has a BA in Philosophy and English Literature from the University of Cape Town. She is the author of five non-fiction books which have been translated into several languages.

 

Barry Smith

‌Barry C Smith is a professor of philosophy and director of the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study, as well as the founding director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses, which pioneers collaborative research between philosophers, psychologists and neuroscientists. He has held visiting professorships at the University of California at Berkeley and the Ecole Normale Superiéure in Paris, and in 2012 he was appointed as the AHRC Leadership Fellow for the Science in Culture Theme, as well as Pro-Dean for new academic initiatives at the School of Advanced Study.

He has published on knowledge of mind and language, and now works on the aesthetics of taste and smell, as well as the multisensory perception of flavour. He has published in Nature, as well as contributing to experimental papers in Food Quality and Preference and Flavour, and carries out consultancy work for a number of food and drinks companies. In 2007, he edited Questions of Taste: the philosophy of wine, Oxford University Press), and in 2008, The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language, Oxford University Press (with Ernest Lepore).

He has appeared on Radio 4’s In Our Time, Start the Week , and Radio 3's Nightwaves; and in 2010, he was the writer and presenter of a four-part series for the BBC World Service called The Mysteries of the Brain. He is also the wine columnist for Prospect Magazine.

 

John Taylor

John Taylor

John Taylor is Assistant Head (Director of Learning, Teaching & Innovation) at Cranleigh School. He studied Physics and Philosophy at Balliol College, Oxford before going on to do research and teach Philosophy at the university. In 1999 he moved to Rugby School to teach Physics and subsequently Philosophy.

He has directed the Perspectives on Science (AS History, Philosophy and Ethics of Science) project. He is a Chief Examiner for the Extended Project and a Visiting Fellow of the Institute of Education.

 

Mahlet Zimeta

Mahlet Zimeta

Mahlet Zimeta teaches Philosophy at the University of Roehampton, London, and is also an Honorary Research Associate at the Department of Science and Technology Studies, UCL. Born in Ethiopia and educated in Britain, she was awarded her PhD in Philosophy from the University of York, specialising in aesthetics and studying under Peter Lamarque. She has also been programme co-ordinator for the NGOs Index on Censorship and Hostage UK, has worked as research/executive assistant for Sir Graeme Davies (former CEO of HEFCE) and for political journalist John Kampfner (former editor of the New Statesman), and has written for Prospect, the London Review of Books, and The Atlantic, among others. She is a member of the Steering Group of the Under-35s Forum at Chatham House, and an alumna of the NESTA Crucible programme for innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration in the sciences.