C.E. (Charlotte) Knowles, Dr

Charlotte's primary research areas lie in feminist philosophy and phenomenology, particularly Heidegger and Beauvoir. These interests come together in her work on complicity where she analyses why agents can often particiapte in, reinforce, or uphold their own subordination. Charlotte focusses primarily on complicity in gendered contexts, exploring the issue in relation to notions of freedom, responsibility and agency.

Charlotte has recevivd multiple awards for her work on phenomenology and gender. In 2020 she was awarded the Robert Papzian essay prize for her paper ‘Articulating Understanding: A Phenomenological Approach to Testimony on Gendered Violence’. In 2023 she received an Early Career Award from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in recognition of her work on deep rooted issues in gender dynamics.

Before coming to Groningen, Charlotte worked in the UK. She received her PhD from Birkbeck College, University of London and held positions at Birkbeck and Oxford Brookes. Charlotte was an executive committee member for the Society for Women in Philosophy UK from 2012 – 2018. At the University of Groningen, she is a member of the Centre for Gender Studies and a SCOOP fellow. As part of SCOOP, Charlotte is the primary supervisor for a project on complicity as motivated ignorance. She is also the primary sueprvisor for an interdisciplinary PhD project on feminist notions of empowerment, supervised between philosophy and cultural studies. Since 2024, Charlotte has been co-editor-in-chief for Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy.

Charlotte is interested in public philosophy and has given multiple public talks, including at the Cambridge Union and at the Groningen Night of Philosophy. From 2016 - 2023 (when the magazine went online only), Charlotte had a a regular column, latterly called ‘Living the Life of the Mind’, in The Philosophers’ Magazine where she discussed issues in the media related to gender through a philosophical lens.