RONNI GURA SADOVSKY

Department of Philosophy Phone: 314-520-7837 Emerson Hall 209a, Email: [email protected] 25 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

EDUCATION Harvard University, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Philosophy, May 2020 (anticipated) , J.D., magna cum laude, 2014 The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Visiting Fellow 2008–2009 Swarthmore College, B.A. Philosophy and Linguistics, highest honors, 2008

DISSERTATION Title: Political Etiquette Committee: Tommie Shelby, Gina Schouten, Lucas Stanczyk

Some social norms, such as table-setting conventions, are morally neutral. Others, such as pronoun choice, are morally charged. My dissertation offers an analysis of a category of morally charged social norms that I call political etiquette. I propose that we understand political etiquette as a system of conventions whereby we assure members of vulnerable groups that they can expect treatment in accordance with their rightful status. My account partially vindicates political etiquette’s claim to moral force, but also sheds light on its limitations. I argue that some of these limitations can be ameliorated through widespread acceptance of my interpretation of political etiquette.

Areas of Specialization: , Moral Philosophy, , Applied Ethics

Areas of Competence: Philosophy of Law, Philosophy of Race, Feminist Philosophy, Logic

WORKS IN PROGRESS “Political Etiquette’s Moral Force” (under review; draft available upon request) “Assurance and the Optics of Respect” “Political Etiquette as a Vehicle for Moral Education” “Dysfunctions of Political Etiquette” “You Shouldn’t Have to Wonder” “Moral Cults”

PUBLICATION Recent Case, Yonaty v. Mincolla, 126 Harv. L. Rev. 852, 856–58 (2013). (student note)

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ACADEMIC AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Harvard University Dissertation Completion Fellowship, 2019–2020 Edmond J. Safra Ethics Pedagogy Fellowship, 2018–2019 Richard M. Martin Pre-Dissertation Fellowship, 2017–2018 Edmond J. Safra Graduate Fellowship in Ethics, 2016–2017 Roger Ferguson & Annette Nazareth Graduate School Fund Fellowship, 2015–2016 Sosland Family Graduate Fellowship, Harvard University, 2011–2012 Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Fellowship, 2009–2011

Harvard Law School editor, 2012–2014 Dean’s Scholar Prizes in: Professional Ethics, 2014 Discrimination: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives, 2013 Race Relations Law: 1877–present, 2013 Race Relations Law: 1776–1876, 2012 Legislation and Regulation, 2011 Civil Procedure, 2011 Harvard Defenders Jack T. Litman Fellowship, 2012

Hebrew University in Jerusalem Fulbright Fellowship, 2008–2009

Swarthmore College Highest Honors, 2008 Philosophy Honors Thesis: “The Norms of Framing” Linguistics Honors Thesis: “Intentions and Truth: The Case for Contextualism” Phi Beta Kappa, elected May 2008 Summer Stipend Award in the Division of the Humanities, 2007 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Fellowship, 2006 Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship, 2004–2008

TEACHING AWARDS Derek C. Bok Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Undergraduates, Spring 2015 Harvard’s highest honor for graduate student teachers, awarded to five teachers per year across the university.

Levenson Teaching Prize finalist, Spring 2015 Awarded by the undergraduate student council to one graduate student teacher per year across the university.

Derek Bok Center Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, five-time recipient Awarded on the basis of numeric student evaluations, recognizing an overall evaluation of 4.5/5 or greater. Discrimination (awarded twice) Deductive Logic (awarded twice) Race and Social Justice

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PRESENTATIONS Algorithmic Discrimination PIKSI (Philosophy in an Inclusive Key) Boston Workshop, MIT 2019 How to Incorporate Ethics Pedagogy into Computer Science Curricula Edmond J. Safra Center Ethics Pedagogy Showcase, Harvard University 2019 Swarthmore College Computer Science Department, Swarthmore College 2019 Commentary on “Algorithmic Bias” by Gabbrielle Johnson Athena in Action, Princeton University 2018 Free Speech, Hate Speech, with Wendy Salkin Day of Engagement / Day of Action, MIT 2017 Machine Learning and Discrimination, with Kate Vredenburgh Day of Engagement / Day of Action, MIT 2017 Social Justice Mores: Epistemic Functions and Dysfunctions The Wellesley Workshop on Law and Language, Wellesley College 2017 Workshop on Gender and Philosophy, MIT 2015 The Workshop Workshop: A Novel Structure for Tutorials in Philosophy Philosophy Department Pedagogy Lunch, Harvard University 2016 Bias, Discrimination and Social Evidence CUNY Graduate Center MAPshop, CUNY 2016 Self-Interest and the Problem of Ideological Persistence Graduate Student Conference on Normativity and the Human Sciences, CUNY 2015 and Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate Student Philosophy Conference on Varieties of Rationality, CMU 2015 Workshop on Gender and Philosophy, MIT 2011 Color-Consciousness and its Limits Law and Philosophy Graduate Conference, UCLA 2013 Disagreement, Convergence and Realism 2nd Annual Graduate Conference in Analytic Philosophy, Hebrew University 2013 Assistance or Resistance?: Ethics in the Defender’s Role Harvard Defenders’ Litman Fellow Symposium, Harvard Law School 2012 Racism, Ignorance, and Culpability 25th Annual Graduate Conference on Strategies of Critique, York University 2011 Rocky Mountain Graduate Philosophy Conference, University of Colorado 2011 Genealogy and the Pregnant Metaphor 12th Annual Comparative Literature Conference on Bodies, University of South Carolina 2010

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TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Harvard University, Primary Instructor Sophomore Tutorial: Discrimination, 2016 and 2018 Sole instructor. Constructed syllabus, assignments and novel class format. Instructional Styles in Philosophy, 2018–2019 Co-instructor with Professor Bernhard Nickel Constructed syllabus, gave student feedback, and collaborated in leading class. Graduate Seminar in General Education: Family and Social Justice, 2018 Co-instructor with Professor Gina Schouten Led class sessions for one third of the term; graded undergraduate student work. Intelligent Systems: Design and Ethical Challenges, 2016 Co-instructor with Professor Barbara Grosz Contributed to syllabus, created ethics assignments, and gave lectures on ethics.

Harvard University, Teaching Fellow Negotiation Workshop at Harvard Law School, Professor Sheila Heen, 2016 Race and Social Justice, Professor Tommie Shelby, 2015 Philosophy of Law, Professor Adam Hosein, 2015 Deductive Logic, Professor Mark Richard, 2014 (Head Teaching Fellow) Deductive Logic, Professor Edward Hall, 2013

Guest Teaching “Ethical Responsibility for User-Generated Content.” Harvard University, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 2019 Abstraction and Design in Computation, Professor Stuart Shieber “Identifying Ethical Considerations: Google Duplex.” Swarthmore College, 2019 Ethics and Technology, Professors Krista Thomason and Ameet Soni “Algorithmic Discrimination.” University of Southern California, 2017 Artificial Intelligence for Social Good, Professors Milind Tambe and Eric Rice “Philanthropic Obligations.” Bowdoin College, 2017 Philanthropy, NGOs and the Welfare State in Asia, Professor Emily Clough “Mill’s Utilitarianism.” Barnard College, 2014 Introduction to Philosophy, Professor Simona Aimar

Swarthmore College, Teaching Assistant Semantics, Professor Ted Fernald, 2007 Deductive Logic, Professor Richard Eldridge, 2006 Deductive Logic, Professor Alan Baker, 2005 Writing Associate (peer writing tutor), 2005–2008

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SELECTED ACTIVITIES

Harvard Department of Philosophy Embedded EthiCS, integrating ethics curricula into Computer Science, 2016–2019 Moral and Political Philosophy Workshop, 2014–2019 MIT Workshop on Gender and Philosophy (WOGAP), 2009–2019 Feminism and Evolutionary Biology Reading Group, 2010–2013

Harvard Law School Editor of Harvard Law Review, 2012–2014 Articles Editor, 2013–2014 Co-organizer of the Symposium on New York Times v. Sullivan, 2013–2014 President of the Harvard Law Review Diversity Committee, 2012–2013 Editor of Harvard Journal of Racial and Ethnic Justice, 2011–2013 Articles Editor 2012–2013

Hebrew University of Jerusalem Law and Philosophy Forum, participant, 2008–2009 Jerusalem Political Philosophy Forum, participant, 2008–2009 Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, visiting fellow, 2008–2009

DEPARTMENTAL SERVICE Moral and Political Philosophy Workshop Coordinator, 2019 Minorities and Philosophy Committee Member, 2013–2019 Philosophy Graduate Student Representative (elected position), 2015–2016 Teaching Reform Committee Member, 2013–2014 Departmental Representative to the Graduate Student Council, 2012–2014 Harvard-MIT Graduate Conference Co-organizer, 2010–2011 Prospective Student Visit Coordinator, 2009–2010

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Research Assistant to Professor Tommie Shelby Harvard University, Summers 2015, 2016, 2019 Helped to prepare Dark Ghettos for publication; helped to transform Race and Social Justice from a philosophy course into a course in Harvard’s General Education program.

Volunteer, Speaking in the Square (Medabrim Bakikar) Jerusalem, Summer 2014 Engaged in bi-weekly grassroots interventions responding to the anti-Arab vigilante group, Lehava, by initiating dialogue with members of the group in Zion Square.

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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (continued)

Foreign Law Clerk for Justices Salim Joubran and Uzi Vogelman. Israel Supreme Court, Summer 2013 Conducted research in public international law and the laws of the US and Canada. Research Assistant to Professor Randall Kennedy Harvard Law School, 2013 Helped to prepare For Discrimination: Race, Affirmative Action, and the Law for publication. Student Attorney, Harvard Defenders Harvard Law School, 2012–2014 Represented indigent criminal defendants in clerk-magistrate hearings. Instructor, ThinkerAnalytix and Philosophy for Kids Codman Academy and the International School of Boston, 2011–2012 Taught moral philosophy seminars for high school students and 3rd and 4th graders.

LANGUAGES English (native language), Hebrew (native language)

REFERENCES Tommie Shelby (dissertation committee chair) Caldwell Titcomb Professor of African and African American Studies and of Philosophy, Harvard University [email protected] Sally Haslanger Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women's & Gender Studies, MIT [email protected] Gina Schouten Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University [email protected] Lucas Stanczyk Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University [email protected] Bernhard Nickel (teaching reference) Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University [email protected] Barbara Grosz (interdisciplinary teaching reference) Higgins Professor of Natural Sciences, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University [email protected]

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DISSERTATION ABSTRACT: Political Etiquette Is it appropriate to kneel in protest during the national anthem? Is it wrong to use the term “concentration camp” for detention centers along the southern US border? Should white people refrain from dressing up as geishas or samurai? Each of these questions concerns a social norm that purports to protect a vulnerable group. My dissertation develops an interpretation of these norms, which reveals their commonalities and explains their role in the culture wars. I propose that we think of these norms as comprising a distinctive form of etiquette, which I call political etiquette. Whereas compliance with ordinary etiquette conventionally conveys respect for the particular individuals involved in an encounter, compliance with political etiquette conventionally conveys respect for a social group. My account unites a variety of familiar norms under the rubric of political etiquette and explains many of our puzzling moral intuitions about these norms. My account of political etiquette contrasts with a prevalent folk theory of these norms, which I call the summary conception. According to the summary conception, political etiquette norms sum up the balance of antecedent moral considerations that bear on an action. For example, a norm prohibiting the use of “concentration camp” to describe the border facilities is justified if and only if such uses of “concentration camp” are antecedently morally bad. On this view, a corpus of political etiquette norms is like a moral Cliff’s Notes compendium, which may be praised for its accuracy or disparaged for its mistakes in summarizing our antecedent moral obligations. In contrast, according to my account, our moral reasons to conform with a political etiquette norm are partly grounded in a convention established by the norm itself. Once a political etiquette norm is up and running, conduct in conformity comes to express respect for a particular social group. Symbolic expressions of respect are called for when the social group in question is vulnerable—that is, when its members have good reason to doubt that they will be treated in accordance with their rightful status claims. Thus, in a cultural milieu where black people are vulnerable and blackface makeup symbolically conveys disrespect toward black people, these facts give rise to a pro tanto moral reason to refrain from wearing blackface. On my view, the norm can generate moral force even if the behavior it governs is otherwise morally neutral. This is not to deny that political etiquette may call for action that is antecedently morally valuable. Political etiquette norms run the gamut from iconic to arbitrary. The more iconic norms inscribe symbolic respect for a group on actions that are valuable to that group independent of the norm, like donating money to their cause. The more arbitrary norms inscribe symbolic respect on actions that are not independently beneficial to the target group, like wearing a certain color to express solidarity. Political etiquette norms can even undermine a group’s independent moral interests. For instance, a norm requiring outsiders to keep their distance from a minority’s religious ceremonies might discourage valuable social contact. The iconicity of a norm may contribute to its overall social value. In addition to the synchronic reason that we have to comport with political etiquette norms for the sake of assuring vulnerable groups, we also have diachronic reason to support good political etiquette norms and reform bad ones. How do we know whether a political etiquette norm is good or bad? My dissertation presents a range of considerations that contribute to an evaluation of political etiquette norms. For example, I argue that political etiquette rules generate moral reasons only when they encode assurance for groups whose claims to social status are both rightful and vulnerable. Political etiquette may emerge on behalf of groups whose rightful claims to social status are not vulnerable, as in the case of Jim Crow etiquette, which bolstered whites’ wrongful claims to supremacy. In such cases, political etiquette generates no synchronic moral reasons to comply, and it produces powerful diachronic moral reasons for reform. ⁠