Catherine Clune-Taylor, recently defended her dissertation, “From Intersex to DSD: A Foucauldian Analysis of the Science, Ethics and Politics of the Medical Production of Cisgendered Lives,” in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Alberta. This project considers the revised treatment model for intersex conditions introduced in 2006 – which controversially reclassified them as Disorders of Sex Development (DSDs) – and provides a critical Foucauldian analysis of the science, ethics, and (bio)politics underwriting medical efforts that aim at securing cisgendered futures for children unable to provide informed consent. These include not only pediatric management strategies for intersexed children, but also certain efforts used to treat children diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria (GD) – specifically, so-called “conversion therapies”.
Clune-Taylor’s research interests lie in the fields of Philosophy of Sex, Gender and Sexuality, Feminist Theory, Bioethics, Philosophy of Science (with particular emphasis on Philosophy of Biology and of Medicine) and the work of Michel Foucault. She also has additional competencies/interests in Social and Political Philosophy and Philosophy of Race. In addition to a doctorate in philosophy, Clune-Taylor also holds a honors bachelor of medical science in immunology and microbiology, an honors bachelor of arts in philosophy and a master of arts in philosophy, all from the University of Western Ontario. She has been a member of the Canadian Philosophical Association’s Equity Committee since 2013, and served as a Graduate Assistant at the Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institute (PIKSI) at the Rock Ethics Institute at Penn State in 2011.