Rachel Rudolph

What excites you most about joining our School of Arts and Humanities community?

“I am excited to work with an amazing group of researchers and students from diverse fields and backgrounds. I am especially interested in the school's interdisciplinary initiatives, like the Institute for Practical Ethics.”

Why did you choose your field? Why should students consider studying the arts and humanities?

“Philosophy brings together both precision and creativity, and it's that combination that really drew me to the field. Students should consider studying it because it teaches them how to explore complex problems without easy solutions. Working through the issues can be as valuable as coming to a final answer.”

What research or project are you working on currently?

“One project I'm working on now is about social generalizations, i.e., generalizations that we make about social categories, including gender, race and ethnicity. Often social generalizations reflect prejudice and should be combatted. But sometimes, they are necessary for making sense of our social world.”

“My project examines how and when social generalizations can be helpful as well as harmful. This also has implications for generative artificial intelligence, as we are currently in the midst of important public debate about how AI chatbots like ChatGPT should or should not talk about social categories.”

What’s your favorite class to teach and why?

“I love teaching Language and Power, an introductory course that combines philosophy of language with social and political philosophy.We explore the ways that our language and communication reflect, reinforce, and can reshape the power structures around us. I love teaching this class, because it helps students notice and think critically about aspects of our linguistic world that surround them but often go unnoticed.”

What is something about yourself that is not typically included in your bio?

“I’m pretty good at Scrabble and surprisingly good at Mario Kart.”

Rachel Rudolph works in philosophy of language and mind, especially their intersections with value theory, social philosophy and philosophy of artificial intelligence. Before joining UC San Diego, she was assistant professor at Auburn University. Rudolph earned a PhD in philosophy from UC Berkeley in 2019.