I write about ancient Greek philosophy from a feminist perspective. Since Fall 2023, I have been a faculty member in the philosophy department at Texas Tech. I am also an affiliated faculty member in the Classics and Women’s and Gender Studies departments.  In Summer 2023, I earned a PhD in Philosophy and an MA in Classical Studies from Boston University with a dissertation on women and the metaphors of sexual reproduction in Plato. Particularly, my dissertation focused on Socrates/Diotima’s speech in Plato’s Symposium and Socrates’ description of himself as a midwife in Theaetetus. 

Before defending my dissertation, I had a graduate dissertation fellowship with BU’s Center for the Humanities and taught several classes for BU’s writing program. Before coming to BU, I earned my BA at Saint John’s College in Santa Fe NM which is known for its “Great Books” curriculum.

Email: zeamdur AT gmail DOT com

In Plato’s Symposium, Plato has Socrates claim, through the voice of Diotima, that “All human beings are pregnant.” (206c) In doing so, he feminizes the human experience: we are not only all of woman born, but, in some important way, all women. Why? The simple reason is that human beings do not solely desire the good at one time or another, rather they desire the good to be theirs “always.” (206a) Human beings desire to transcend the limits of our mortality, and childbirth seems to accomplish this goal.

Although many authors end their analysis of the pregnancy metaphor here, it is a perplexing place to end. Childbirth creates new life, but also leads to death for many women. More must be said about how motherhood and reproduction prolong human life.

My dissertation argues Plato’s metaphors of pregnancy and birth present knowledge acquisition as a generative process that is interpersonally informed and collaborative. I build this reading with close attention to the cultural context surrounding the female characters that Plato’s Socrates attributes knowledge to, particularly Socrates’ mother, Phaenarete the midwife, and Diotima, a woman he calls his teacher. 

Other works in progress include:                                                                   

• Sophistic Medicine

• Injustice in Hesiod and Anaximander

Select Presentations:

1. “This Speech is Not True: Plato’s Poetic Denial of Poetry,” Poetic Philosophers, Notre Dame, Oct. 2016

   
   

2. “Unlocking Plato’s Aviary with Aristotle’s ἐντελεχεια,” Collegium Phaenomenologicum, Participant’s Conference, July 7th 2018

   
   

3. “The Ethics of Reading Diotima as a Historical Figure,” 5th Braga Colloquium, Jan 21, 2020

   
   

4. “Four Different Methods of Treating Diotima as a Historical Figure,”

   International Association of Women Philosophers, Online, July 19, 2021

   
   

5. “Plato's Appropriation of Hesiodic Eros,” Feminism and Classics May 2022

   
   

6. “Wisdom does not flow like water: Plato's Critique of Pederasty,” APA, Central Division, February 22, 2023
   
   

7. “The Embodied Foreignness of Diotima and Penia in Plato’s Symposium,” Boston College Philosophy Graduate Conference, March 24, 2023

Since arriving at TTU, I regularly teach classes in feminist philosophy and ancient Greek philosophy at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

My approach to teaching almost always involves having conversations about texts and how they inform us about the world around us. 

Sometimes, I use activities inspired by our readings to facilitate these conversations. Here are some examples:

• Acting out Plato’s Symposium (Script here)

• Inventing our own Aristotlian virtues

  
  

• Analyzing Aristotle’s examples in De Anima ii.1 to illustrate the relationship between potentiality and actuality 

Syllabi of Selected Classes:    

1. Graduate Seminar in Feminist Philosophy, 

   Spring 2025                            

2. Ancient Greek Philosophy,

   Fall 2024                              

3. Feminist Philosophy, Spring 2024   

       

4. Introduction to Ethics, Fall 2023  

                                 

5. Is Jane Austen a Moral Philosopher?, Fall 2020

In Fall 2024, I received an “Apple Polishing Award” from TTU’s Mortar Board Honors Society. Based on a student nomination, this award distinguishes faculty who exemplify the values of scholarship, leadership, and service.

In 2018-9, I won the “Outstanding Teaching Fellow” Award from the Boston University philosophy department.