Generate a tailored SOP for Dr. Rachana Kamtekar. Improve your application with a focused, well-structured draft.
Rachana Kamtekar is the Bryce Edith M. Bowmar Professor of Humanistic Studies at the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University. She obtained her PhD in Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 1995, along with an MA in 1989. She also holds a BA with honors in Philosophy and Religious Studies from Stanford University, earned in 1987. Her research primarily focuses on ancient philosophy, especially ethics, politics, and moral psychology, with a significant emphasis on the works of Plato. Kamtekar challenges traditional views on Socratic thought in her monograph, Plato's Moral Psychology: Intellectualism, Divided Soul, Desire Good, published in 2017 by Oxford University Press. The book critiques mainstream interpretations of Socrates' ideas about the nature of moral motivations and agency. In her current scholarly projects, she is working to recover anti-determinist arguments from antiquity, particularly through the lens of Aristotle's ideas. Her extensive publication record includes numerous articles and chapters on Platonic thought, Stoicism, and the intersection of ancient and contemporary moral psychology. Additionally, she serves as an editor for Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, enhancing the collective understanding of philosophical discourse around these themes.
Department of Architecture