Molly Kelly

Molly Kelly is a critical phenomenologist and interdisciplinary philosopher whose research explores questions of place, politics, and power within phenomenal experience. Specifically, she explores how experiences of sounding, listening, and silence can provide philosophers and artists alike with rich resources for thinking through questions of oppression and conformity, as well as resistance and transformation. In her recent work, for example, Molly investigates the perceptual and existential violence of anti-homeless music as a form of urban revanchism. Her work has been published in Continental Philosophy Review, Puncta: Journal of Critical Phenomenology, Theory & Psychology, and Phenomenology and the Aesthetics of Post-Cinema, among other places. 

As an educator, Molly approaches philosophy as a way of thinking that extends beyond the classroom into students’ lives. Her teaching style encourages students to think about philosophical concepts as they appear in everyday contexts and to question the social, cultural, and historical conditions that frame them. As a first-generation college student and graduate, Molly is committed to making her classroom a safe community space for all students.

Outside of teaching and research, Molly enjoys quilting, weightlifting, ice hockey, and spending time with her dog and two cats. She is an avid fan of the RISD Nature Lab and a devoted lover of vermin.