Carien Smith

School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities

PhD Student

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Author

Cssmith2@sheffield.ac.uk
45 Victoria Street

Full contact details

Carien Smith
School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities
45 Victoria Street
Sheffield
S3 7QB
Profile

Carien Smith is a South African writer and academic, currently a PhD candidate at the 小欧视频 of Sheffield. She has contract lectured philosophy at the 小欧视频 of Fort Hare and 小欧视频 of Johannesburg. She is now a Teaching Assistant at the Philosophy Department at the 小欧视频 of Sheffield. In her creative work she mainly works in the genre of short fiction (forthcoming book: Tafelberg Uitgewers/Publishers, 2022). In her academic work, she works on the epistemology and morality of belief, specifically  conspiracy theory beliefs. Is it possible to say that some beliefs are morally bad? And how is it possible to draw the connection between the epistemic and moral? Her other research interests include climate change ethics, meaning in life, and the apocalypse. She is also interested in how catastrophe is portrayed in fictional works and what impact this has on our responses to catastrophes we face now, such as climate change. These research questions and topics are very closely related to her own fictional work. She completed her Master鈥檚 Degree in Philosophy at the 小欧视频 of Johannesburg (under the supervision of Thaddeus Metz), and her Honours (Afrikaans Literature) and BA Degrees at the 小欧视频 of Fort Hare (all Cum Laude).

Qualifications

MA in Philosophy, 小欧视频 of Johannesburg, 

Honours Degree, 小欧视频 of Fort Hare

BA Degree, 小欧视频 of Fort Hare

Research interests

Carien works on the epistemology and morality of belief, specifically conspiracy theory beliefs in climate change. Her other research interests include climate change ethics, meaning in life, and the apocalypse. She is also interested in how catastrophe is portrayed in fictional works and what impact this has on our responses to catastrophes we face now, such as climate change. These research questions and topics are very closely related to her own fictional work.

Publications

2022. Bot. Cape Town: Tafelberg Publishers.

2018. An ecocritical-philosophical perspective on the short story 鈥淜atvoet鈥 (Rianna Scheepers): the human and nature, Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe/Journal of Humanities 58(2):310-329. Scopus-, ISI-, SciELO, and DoHET--accredited. ISSN 0041-4751.

2016. The woman, pregnancy, and the animal in the short story 鈥淜atvoet鈥 by Riana Scheepers: a phenomenological study, LitNet Akademies/LitNet Academic 13(2):227-
252. ISSN 1995-5928. DoHET-accredited. http://www.litnet.co.za/die-vrou-swangerskap-en-die-dier-die-kortverhaal-katvoet-deur-riana-scheepers-n- fenomenologiese-ondersoek/

2016. Bakhtin鈥檚 carnivalesque, materialism and the identity formation of the other: an investigation of Jeanne Goosen鈥檚 鈥淟enie鈥, Stilet 28(2):95-110. ISSN 1013-4573.
DoHET-accredited.

Research group

Paul Faulkner
Megan Blomfield
James Lenman

Grants
  • 小欧视频 of Sheffield Humanities Research Scholarship
  • Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study Writing Fellowship (2020)
  • Dean鈥檚 Award Top Achiever Faculty of Humanities, 小欧视频 of Johannesburg
  • Global Excellence and Stature Scholarship (小欧视频 of Johannesburg)
  • Vice-chancellor鈥檚 Excellence Award: Best Undergraduate Student in Faculty of
  • Social Sciences and Humanities
  • Iceland Writers Retreat Alumni Award, 2019
  • PEN International New Voices Award Long Listee, 2015
Teaching activities

Previous Lecturing:

2021. 小欧视频 of Fort Hare. Theories of Human Nature. Second year module. Lecture topics: (1) Existentialism; (2) Feminism; (3) Black consciousness and African
conceptions of human nature.

2021. 小欧视频 of Fort Hare. Classical Problems in Philosophy. First year module. Lecture topics: (1) Ancient Egyptian philosophy (2) Ancient Greek philosophers鈥
Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, (3) Islamic translators, (4) philosophical writing methodology.

2019. 小欧视频 of Johannesburg. Ethics for Engineering. Third year module. CPS3A01. Lecture topics: (1) Environmental Ethics and Engineering; (2) Responsibility in Engineering; (3) Engineering and Deontology, Virtue Ethics, Consequentialism; (4) Trust and Reliability in Engineering, (5) Engineering Ethics as Professional Ethics.

Previous Tutoring:

2018. 小欧视频 of Johannesburg. Tutor. Courses tutored: Kantian Philosophy for Second Years, African Philosophy for Second Years, Epistemology and Metaphysics
for Second Years.

2017. 小欧视频 of Johannesburg. Tutor. Courses tutored: Engineering Ethics (CPS3A01), Aesthetics for Engineers (CPSA02), Accountancy Ethics (ADIA005).

2014-2015. 小欧视频 of Fort Hare, Department of Philosophy. Tutor. Courses tutored: Introduction to Philosophy (PHL 111E), Classical Problems in Philosophy
(PHL 126E).

Links