Dana Grabelsky is a fourth-year PhD student at The Graduate Center, CUNY. She received her BA in philosophy at Northwestern University and her MA in philosophy at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dana works primarily in social epistemology, with additional interests in philosophy of language and aesthetics. She is also dog mom to one-year-old Esti.
What are you working on right now?
I’m currently working on one of three different projects at any given time. The first is my prospectus (and eventual dissertation), in which I describe a kind of epistemic injustice that occurs within social identity groups. Specifically, I’m looking at this intra-group epistemic injustice as it occurs within the Jewish community, which in turn requires me to attempt an analysis of Jewish identity itself (unsurprisingly, quite difficult). In addition, I’m working on a paper on vagueness in legal language, and a paper on bad movies and intentionalism. I’m hoping that having three different papers in rotation will prevent me from getting too sick of any one of them.
What common philosophical dilemma do you think has a clear answer?
Biological sex is not binary.
What is your favorite sound in the world?
I find myself oddly soothed by what’s described as [intense atmospheric whooshing] by the closed captioning in David Lynch films and his television show, Twin Peaks. It’s basically that womb-like white noise that’s supposed to help babies sleep, but more ominous — often interspersed with metal clanging. I also like rain/thunderstorms.
What is your favorite film of all time? (Or top 3). Why? To whom would you recommend them?
I have embarrassingly “film bro” tastes, so I feel like an asshole sincerely recommending any of my favorites. The Godfather has been my longtime favorite (Parts I and II, obviously… we don’t talk about III). Quentin Tarantino is a problematic fave; I enjoy most of his films, but I most often find myself re-watching Death Proof for some weird reason. (I will skip the part about my angsty adolescent love of Woody Allen.) I also have a passion for bad movies. Gigli is probably my favorite (you can’t beat the Christopher Walken and Al Pacino cameos, which leave me in stitches every time — yes, I’ve watched it more than once), but you also can’t go wrong with anything involving Nicolas Cage screaming.
What time of day are you most productive and creative?
In a state of panic, early morning, the day of a deadline. I almost dissociate when this is happening.
If you could be anyone else for a day, who would that be and why?
David Lynch, so I could understand the most recent season of Twin Peaks. Especially episode 8.
What’s your poison? (Favorite drink.)
I go through phases. I was really into tiki drinks for a while, until I acquired one too many unpleasant memories associated with that genre — although I will always seek out a properly made Zombie. Lately, I gravitate towards agave-based spirits, like tequila and mezcal. I’m also a big fan of Chartreuse, described by Quentin Tarantino’s bartender character in Death Proof as, “the only liquor so good they named a color after it.”
Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
