MU SSI Visiting Fellowship in association with the Centre for Public Education and Pedagogy will be hosting Dr. Stefan Ramaekers, University of Leuven - November 2019

MU SSI Visiting Fellowship in association with the Centre for Public Education and Pedagogy will be hosting Dr. Stefan Ramaekers, University of Leuven during the month of November 2019. His area of expertise is in the philosophy of education, and particularly on the philosophy of ‘parenting’, which he have developed in several books and articles.
Thursday, October 31, 2019 - 14:30

Stefan Ramaekers is Professor in the Laboratory for Education and Society, KU Leuven. He studied Educational Sciences and Philosophy at KU Leuven (Belgium) and obtained a PhD in Educational Sciences in the field of Philosophy of Education about forms of skepticism in educational theory and practices. His research and teaching are to be situated in the broad field of educational philosophy and theory. Over the last years, his research has mainly focused on a critical investigation of the discourse of ‘parenting’. Drawing on a variety of philosophical and educational-philosophical sources he develops critical-philosophical analyses of characteristic features of ‘parenting’ and of the ways in which the ‘parenting culture’ currently shapes our understanding of upbringing and the experience of raising children. These analyses begin from the actual conditions parents find themselves in, which today are saturated with the discourses of (neuro)psychology, and with the (perceived) need for expertise. Furthermore, these conditions are increasingly mediated by digital technologies (forums, apps). Taking issue with the sociological and (neuro)psychological accounts of parenting, his research aims to develop a contemporary pedagogical theory of upbringing, one that offers a richer understanding of the experience of being a parent. He published two books on these matters, The Claims of Parenting. Reasons, responsibility, and society (Springer, 2012), together with Judith Suissa of the Institute of Education (University College London, UK), and, recently, together with Naomi Hodgson (Liverpool Hope University, UK) Philosophical presentations of raising children: The grammar of upbringing (Palgrave, 2019). Currently he is working on a project, together with Naomi Hodgson and Kip Kline (Lewis University, UK) on Upbringing, agency, and subjectivity in an algorithmic age.