Céline Leboeuf is the Next Speaker in the Mudd Center’s CareLab Event Series Céline Leboeuf, an associate professor of philosophy at Florida International University, will give a public lecture in Hillel 101 on March 9 at 4 p.m.

By W&L News Office
February 23, 2023

Céline Leboeuf, an associate professor of philosophy at Florida International University, will present a lecture on March 9 at 4 p.m. in Hillel 101 as part of Washington and Lee University’s Mudd Center for Ethics’ “Beneficence: Practicing an Ethics of Care” series.

Leboeuf’s event, which is free and open to the public, is titled “How Can We Embody Self-Care? Lessons from the Body Positivity Movement.” For this event, the Mudd Center for Ethics partnered with the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at W&L.

Leboeuf’s research lies at the intersection of the philosophy of race, feminist philosophy and phenomenology. Her work addresses the question of what it is like to be embodied in a social world and focuses on gendered and racialized experiences. She seeks to write and teach about timely topics with the aim of showing how philosophical reflection can help us lead flourishing lives.

“Professor Leboeuf is committed to philosophy as a way of life; that is, applying philosophical reflection in ways that help us to flourish,” said Karla Murdock, director of the Mudd Center. “In this lecture she will discuss her work on the meanings of our bodies in the social world. She will examine how narrow standards of beauty work against care and self-care by creating body alienation and shame. In contrast, body positivity is grounded in the understanding that all bodies are worthy of care and respect.”

Leboeuf earned both her bachelor’s degree and doctorate at Harvard University. Her recent courses at Florida International University include Philosophy and Feminism, Philosophy of Death, Existentialism, Introduction to Philosophy, and Philosophy of Gender and Race.

Leboeuf’s publications discuss topics ranging from the lived experience of mixed-race persons and implicit bias to the effects of beauty standards, such as the thigh gap obsession, on women’s relationships with their bodies. She has also written about the pioneering feminist author Simone de Beauvoir. Her essays for a general audience have appeared in Psyche, Medium, Notre Dame’s Philosophy as a Way of Life blog, and other venues. In addition, she has contributed to a Vogue article on body positivity. She is currently working on a book about the body positivity movement.

The Mudd Center’s CareLab events are designed to personalize our exploration of beneficence. If we aspire to practice an ethics of care, how can we learn to manifest this value in our thoughts and actions?

For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit the Mudd Center’s webpage.