Sabrina Ebbersmeyer

Sabrina Ebbersmeyer

  • Karen Blixens Plads 8

    2300 København S

    Denmark

1995 …2024

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Primary fields of research

  • History of Philosophy (Renaissance, Early Modern)
  • Feminist History of Philosophy
  • Intellectual Women in the Nordic Enlightenment
  • Humanism
  • Emotion theory

Short presentation

I’m professor of philosophy and head of section of philosophy at the University of Copenhagen. I am working primarily on the history of Renaissance and Early Modern philosophy. I co-founded together with Leo Catana the History of Philosophy Research Group (2014-) and I co-direct together with Christian Benne the CEMES research group Thinking the European Republic of Letters (2017-). I am also responsible for the Women-mentoring-women in philosophy program for female staff and students affiliated to philosophy.

I’m member of several academic societies dedicated to philosophy and the history of philosophy. From 2017-2019, I was member of the board of the Netværk for kvinder og non-binære i filosofi. 2019-2022, I was president of the European Society for Early Modern Philosophy (ESEMP).

I also serve as member of the scientific committee of the Rivista di storia della filosofia (2018-) and of the International Advisory Board of the Rivista di filosofia (2023-2028).

Currently, I’m the PI of two research project:

Women in the Nordic Enlightenment (WHENCE), funded by the European Research Council (ERC) (2024-2028).

How to be Happy in Times of Turmoil? The re-discovery of Danish philosopher Birgitte Thott (1610-1662) and her Neo-stoic treatise Om Weyen till et Lycksalligt Liff, funded by Augustinus Fonden. 2023-2024.

Current research

I’m working primarily in the field of Renaissance and Early Modern philosophy. I’m interested in problems in philosophy of mind, especially concerning the role and function of emotions in understanding cognition (in Plato, Aristotle, Ficino, Telesio, Descartes, Elisabeth of Bohemia and Leibniz).

I’m also interested in the tradition of female philosophers of the Renaissance and the Early Modern period (especially Christine de Pizan, Isotta Nogarola, Arcangela Tarabotti, Birgitte Thott and Elisabeth of Bohemia) and in the question how to integrate women philosophers to our standard accounts of the history of philosophy.

Currently, I'm working on women in the Nordic Enlightenment, the identity of the female intellectual, Birgitte Thott's moral philosophy, and the feminisit potential the Stoic trought.

Teaching

I’m mainly teaching BA and MA-level courses in history of philosophy (Renaissance and Early Modern). Generally, I supervise essays on topics related to history of philosophy. 

CV

Academic Positions

Since 01/2024: Professor of Philosophy, Department of Communication (University of Copenhagen)

2014-2023:   Associate Professor, Philosophy, Department of Media Cognition and Communication (University of Copenhagen)

06/12-12/12:  Visiting fellow, Department of Philosophy, Princeton University (USA), (Feodor Lynen Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation)

04/10-07/10:  Temporary professorship, Würzburg University

since 2008:      Privatdozentin, LMU Munich

2006-2014:      Research Fellow, LMU Munich

Education

2008:   Postdoctoral thesis (Habilitation) in Philosophy, LMU Munich
1999:   PhD (Dr. phil.) (with distinction) in Philosophy, Hildesheim University
1993:   Diploma in Cultural and Educational Studies (Diplom-Kulturpädagogik) Hildesheim University

1994-99: Philosophy LMU Munich
1992-94: Philosophy, Latin and Ancient Greek, FU and TU Berlin.

1987-92: Cultural and Educational Studies, Hildesheim University

Keywords

  • Faculty of Humanities
  • History of Philosophy
  • Humanism
  • Philosophy of Emotion
  • Gender Studies
  • Renaissance
  • Early Modern Period