Ann Cudd

Ann E. Cudd is an American academic. She is the president of Portland State University as of August 1, 2023. She was previously the provost and senior vice chancellor and professor of philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh and dean of the college and graduate school of arts and sciences at Boston University.

She also served as vice provost and dean of undergraduate studies, as well as university distinguished professor of philosophy at the University of Kansas She was a founding member of the Society for Analytical Feminism, and served as its president from 1995 to 1999.

Education and career Cudd received a dual baccalaureate in mathematics and philosophy from Swarthmore College in 1982, before going on to the University of Pittsburgh to receive a master's degree in philosophy, a master's in economics, and a doctorate in philosophy, in 1984, 1986, and 1988, respectively. In 2013, Cudd was named vice provost and dean of undergraduate studies.

Research areas and publications Cudd's research has focused in several areas, namely feminist theory, the philosophy of social science, and social and political philosophy. She has written two books and co-edited three more: Capitalism For and Against: A Feminist Debate (co-authored with Nancy Holmstrom in 2011), Analyzing Oppression in 2006, co-edited Philosophical Perspectives on Democracy in the 21st Century with Sally Scholz in 2014, co-edited Feminist Theory: A Philosophical Anthology in 2006, and co-edited Theorizing Backlash: Philosophical Reflections on the Resistance to Feminism in 2002. Cudd's analysis of oppression argues that in an objective moral theory it is necessary to know whether or not harms experienced by individuals were indeed actual harms that the person shouldn't have suffered and are thus, in fact, oppressive. Cudd argues that the simple absence of good choices is not a form of coercion – for coercion to occur, objectively better choices must have been available to the subject.

Selected bibliography

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