The Concept

What is PLUSS 2021?

“The places where the law does not go,” Mari Matsuda tells us, “have tended to be the places where women, children, people of color, and poor people live.” Originally from her 1989 article, “Public Responses to Racist Speech,” Matsuda’s claim continues to finds traction in the philosophy of law.

Hosted this year by Cornell University's Sage School of Philosophy,  PLUSS is a week-long summer program aiming to bring insights from the philosophy of law into conversation with the lived experiences of marginalized groups.
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Topics to be discussed include the devaluation of Black bodies in the law, legal regulation of Arab bodies via terrorism, undocumented migration and border detention centers, the (un)equal standing of gender minorities in the law, and the effective erasure of disabled bodies. 

​Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' people, past and present, to these lands and waters.

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Eligibility

Who Should Apply?

We welcome applications from members of historically  marginalized groups interested in pursuing graduate studies in legal, political, or social philosophy. (Priority will be given to students of color.) Applicants should be interested in pursuing graduate studies in philosophy and they should be comfortably versed in at least one or more of the following areas:

1/ Legal Philosophy
2/ Moral Philosophy
3/ Social Philosophy
4/ Political Philosophy
5/Feminist Philosophy, Philosophy of Race, Critical Disability Studies, and other Critical Philosophies