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hello there.

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Michigan. 
 
I am an American Council of Learned Societies fellow for the academic year 2021-22, on research leave as Fellow in Residence at the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. 

During this leave I'm working on finishing my book (Rewriting Rights: Making Reasonable Mistakes in a Social Context, under contract with Oxford University Press. More info here!) 
​​My research explores questions like:
  • how uncertainty about whether others are consenting, unjustly attacking, or promising ever affects (and if so, when) whether making a mistake would violate their rights,
  • whether algorithmic risk prediction tools can appropriately be used in service of policing, pre-trial detention decisions, or sentencing,
  • ​whether there are problems with basing inferences about individuals on statistics about their demographic groups,
  • whether moral considerations affect how much or what kind of evidence is needed to justify beliefs,
  • and ​​what the offensiveness of racial epithets and slurs can teach us about the semantics and pragmatics of language.
For more details, check out my research page.

past

Before coming to Michigan, I was an assistant professor in Political Theory in the Department of Politics and University Center for Human Values, and associated faculty in the Department of Philosophy, at Princeton University. 

​Before that (from Sept 2017-July 2019), I was a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Philosophy at Australian National University. My work there focused on the moral significance of risk, as part of an Australian Research Council (ARC) project with Seth Lazar, Lara Buchak, Alan Hajek, Philip Pettit, Frank Jackson, and Katie Steele.

Before that, ​I completed my Ph.D. in political philosophy at the University of Southern California (2017), working primarily with Jonathan Quong, Robin Jeshion, and Mark Schroeder.  

philosopher portraits

​In my spare time I paint. I've started a series of portraits of philosophers, painting various famous philosophers in style that highlights themes central to the philosopher's work. You can see those paintings here. ​

upcoming/recent talks

[See full talk schedule here]
May 20: Doxastic Rights and Wrongs
Philosophy Colloquium at the University of California, Davis 

name change

As of August 2021, I am using 'Jorgensen' as a surname, though my activity prior to that date appears under the name 'Renée Jorgensen Bolinger'. 

When citing work, please simply use the surname under which it was published ( helpful guide here). When referring to me, please use 'Renée Jorgensen'

contact

rjorgen@umich.edu
​Pronouns: she/her, but 'they' is fine too.
(I'm copying this strategy of linking to the case for defaulting to neutral pronouns from Maegan Fairchild)

articles

see my research page for work in progress.

email

office
rjorgen@umich.edu
Angell  Hall 2230

links
Google Scholar
ORCID
PhilPeople
Academia.edu

address
​Department of Philosophy
University of Michigan
2215 Angell Hall, 435 South State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1003