Joan Grassbaugh Forry is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Philosophy. She is also earning a Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies. In 2001, Joan graduated with a B.A. from Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio, with a triple major in English, Philosphy, and Music (Piano Performance). Joan joined Temple's Philosophy department in 2001, and her studies have focused on ethics, feminist philosophy, phenomenology, and social and political philosphy. Joan has taught for the Philosophy Department and the Women's Studies Program for the past four years. Joan's dissertation examines the socio-cultural features of sport and fitness culture, and explores whether and under what conditions participation in sport and physical activity can constitute gendered empowerment, agency, and social resistance.

Joan is a 2006-2007 Graduate Teaching Fellow for the Center of Humanities at Temple. She will teach a cross-disciplinary course in Spring 2007 entitled, "The American Athlete: The Politics of Identity and Difference." The course is cross-listed between American Studies, History, Sociology, and Women's Studies. The purpose of this course is to enable students to critically examine socio-political values in sport, and to explore sport's relationship to social change in American culture.