Hello! I am so happy you are here!
I am a lifelong educator, philosopher, writer, and reader. I am from the United States, and have lived for a number of years in tropical Colombia. I love languages, reading, traveling, learning! I also find so much joy in expressing and experiencing beauty in nature, art, music, and life.
I am the proud and lucky mother of two young people. Mothering and nurturing my children has been the most transformative and enriching experience of my life.I absolutely love working with children because they are naturally in touch with their inner magic! I am also convinced that early childhood is a moment of infinite potential for teaching and creating relational patterns that enable lifelong abilities to live in peace and harmony with oneself, the earth, and a diverse communities.
Over the course of the last 7 years of educating my children from home, I have researched and implemented a variety of pedagogies for peace, including those of María Montessori, Rudolph Steiner, the educators and artists of the public preschools of Reggio Emilia (Loris Malaguzzi and Vea Vecchi), the English educator Charlotte Mason, and decolonial theorists like Paulo Freire and Enrique Dussel. I also organize reading groups (in English and Spanish) for mothers and educators interested in growing their own understanding of why and how to create peaceful and life-affirming pedagogical environments and practices.
You can find out more about my work with children by heading over to my Instagram account @simplicidadymagia.
Si hablas español, puedes escuchar este episodio del podcast Un Te con Ana Paulina y Barbara, donde hablamos de la primera infancia, los vínculos, y el valor de acompañar a nuestros hijos en su crecimiento y aprendizaje.
As a philosopher, my areas of specialty include contemporary Continental philosophy, feminist theory, philosophies of education, Latin American and Latinx philosophy and decolonization, social studies of science, science and technology studies, bioethics and philosophy of medicine, and the history of philosophy. Through my interdisciplinary academic training in women’s and gender studies, religious studies, and education, I have also developed my thinking in conversation with the fields of peace and conflict studies, sociology, social work and anthropology, philosophical and developmental psychology, history, theology, literature, queer theory, music, and art.
I teach university courses (undergraduate, MA and PhD) in English and in Spanish. For examples of my courses and lectures, see this page. I also do academic translations and editing of texts from Spanish and French to English. For a recent example of my academic translation work, consult this open-access article. You can also see a list of (and links to) all my publications here.
In the field of applied feminist bioethics, you can find my previous project (en español) on birth and parto respetado en Colombia on my Instagram @parirconamor and blog Parir con amor.
DR. RACHEL TILLMAN 