Michael A. Gilbert began studying philosophy in 1962 at what was then Hunter College in the Bronx, a part of the City University of New York, and has yet to stop. His first field of research is Argumentation Theory, an interdisciplinary area including scholars from Philosophy, Linguistics, Social Psychology, and Communication Theory. His approach is radical insofar as it places emphasis and demands credibility for non-logical modes of communication. Information in arguments is exchanged not through statements, but through messages which include familiar meaning, context, bodily communications, power relations, and intuitions to list but a few of the many resources ordinary people use.

Research Interests

Michael A. Gilbert began studying philosophy in 1962 at what was then Hunter College in the Bronx, a part of the City University of New York, and has yet to stop. His first field of research is Argumentation Theory, an interdisciplinary area including scholars from Philosophy, Linguistics, Social Psychology, and Communication Theory. His approach is radical insofar as it places emphasis and demands credibility for non-logical modes of communication. Information in arguments is exchanged not through statements, but through messages which include familiar meaning, context, bodily communications, power relations, and intuitions to list but a few of the many resources ordinary people use.

Gilbert’s second area of research which sometimes overlaps, is Gender and Transgender Theory. There he investigates the foundation and nature of the socially constructed gender binary, and examines its institutional and social implementation. In particular, he focuses on the role of gender diversity as an activity that disrupts the norm and unsettles the binary. As a life-long cross-dresser he investigates that practice both as Michael and as his femme alter ego, Miqqi Alicia Gilbert with an eye toward re-establishing cross-dressing as an opportunity for personal growth and exploration.

Degrees

Community Contributions

2013 Three Pillars of Argumentation. York Circle. Sept 28 2013. 2013 Introduction of Panel: Gender Diverse Children. Painting a Rainbow. 25 Sept 2013. 2012 The Joke’s On Us: The Acceptability of Trans Discrimination. Canadian Association for the Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment in Higher Education. Toronto, ON May 2-5, 2012. 2012 The Joke’s On Us: The Acceptability of Trans Discrimination. Canadian Association for the Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment in Higher Education. Toronto, ON May 2-5, 2012.

Research Interests