Dr Chiara Brozzo MA, PhD

• PhD in Philosophy (Università degli Studi di Milano, 2013)
• Master of Mathematics and Philosophy (University of Oxford, 2009)

I joined the University of Birmingham in 2023 as an Assistant Professor, with a focus in Philosophy of Psychology and Psychiatry. Before that, I held research and teaching positions in Tübingen (Germany), Antwerp (Belgium), Durham (United Kingdom) and Barcelona (Spain). I obtained my PhD at the University of Milan in 2013 and my Master of Mathematics and Philosophy at the University of Oxford in 2009.

In 2023/24, I’ll be convening the undergraduate modules Reason and Belief and Philosophy of Mental Health, and I will contribute to the teaching of Problems of Philosophy.

I’ll be glad to supervise doctoral dissertations in a variety of areas in the philosophy of cognitive science, philosophy of psychiatry and aesthetics. I welcome enquiries from potential PhD students about specific topics in these subjects.

Find out more - our PhD Philosophy  page has information about doctoral research at the University of Birmingham.

In philosophy of cognitive science, I am interested in the drivers of action, with a focus on intentions (their role in action production as well as in social cognition), on beliefs that are very central to one’s self-conception (and in transformative experiences as a way of acquiring or losing them), and on subtle factors shaping our actions such as sense of commitment or habit. I have written and co-authored work in topics including the relationship between intentions and motor representations in action production, the ascription of intentions in social cognition, and the role of sense of commitment in social media interactions. In aesthetics, I work mainly on issues concerning design. I have written about the aesthetic appreciation of perfumes, and I have defended the idea that some perfumes are works of art.

For more information you can visit my website.