“That’s My New Philosophy!”
Alida Liberman: Associate Professor of Philosophy & Actress
What her “non-artistic” career looks like:
I teach contemporary moral problems, bioethics, and feminist philosophy at SMU, and I write papers. I’ve published on a wide range of topics in theoretical and practical ethics, including why and when we’re obligated to keep promises, the nature of vows and resolutions, the ethics of endorsement, conscientious objection in healthcare, effective altruism, and sexual ethics, among other topics. I also think a lot about pedagogy and how to make philosophy classrooms more inclusive and accessible.
An Educational Success
My most meaningful research work brings philosophical insights to bear on contemporary ethical problems. For example, in Fall of 2021 I was invited to give the Maguire Public Scholar lecture to the broader SMU community. I developed an analysis of whether exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates should be accommodated as conscientious objections.
Your Background In The Arts:
I’ve always enjoyed having an audience, even if it was just forcing my parents to watch the “plays” I put on with my sister and cousins as a kid. The college I went to for undergrad didn’t have a theater major, but we had an active and fantastic student-run theater group. I was in a play or two with them every semester, and part of my campus improv comedy troupe for four years. I learned by doing and got to explore acting, directing, and set construction. It was a supportive community of people “doing both” and dedicating themselves to theater while pursuing other majors.
A Theatrical Success:
In 2019, I played Macbeth in an all-women production of Shakespeare’s play with CORP theater. Before then, I’d mostly played women on stage. Playing a murderous king was a revelation: I was a warrior, and my body was not an object but a source of power. I took up as much space as possible on stage and didn’t ever feel anxious or self-conscious about the size or shape of my body. It was very freeing, and I’ve tried to bring some of that into my off-stage embodiment in the real world. I was also honored to be part of Plague Mask Player’s first live performance (playing Duke Frederick in As You Like It). I’ve had some incredible roles in PMP virtual play readings for parts that I’d be unlikely to be cast as in a traditional production—favorites include the Bastard in King John, Lady Chiltern in An Ideal Husband, and Gayev in The Cherry Orchard.
Why You “Do Both”
For the joy of it! I do theater because I love meeting new people and having a creative outlet outside of my work as an academic. And having a paid career that I value—and that pays my bills—frees me to pursue acting without too much external pressure.
Where Your Two Paths Connect
I learned to speak loudly and clearly and in a dynamic tone of voice while on stage, and these skills transfer directly to giving talks or lectures as a professor. When I was doing improv, I trained myself to commit to what I was saying and avoid using fillers like “umm” while thinking on my feet. It helps me sound confident in Q&A sessions at professional conferences!
My work as a philosopher has taught me to question assumptions, get to the bottom of an argument, and have productive disagreements without fighting. These skills are helpful for delving into the mind of a character and figuring out what’s at stake in a scene.
The Hardest Part of Doing Both
I went to grad school in Los Angeles, and I didn’t act while I was pursuing my Ph.D. The L.A. theater scene is wonderfully vibrant: the city is filled with amazing actors, which also makes it extremely competitive. I was very intimidated by this: I went to one or two auditions, was way out of my league, and gave up. I wish that I had instead framed the skills of those around me as an opportunity for growth and tried harder to find other opportunities that were a better fit for me.
As a grad student, I was also steeped in a culture that encouraged a single-minded devotion to my work. There have been times when my academic work was so demanding that I genuinely didn’t have the time for theater. (A drawback of doing both is that you can’t always do as much as you’d like—which is one reason why the low-commitment virtual productions from Plague Mask Players are so fantastic!) But there were other times I worried that spending too much time on artistic pursuits made me “unserious” as an academic. That’s nonsense; we’re all more than our paid work, and making time for your passions doesn’t entail that you’re not good at your job. But the culture of overwork can be hard to completely shake.
What Drives You
I study philosophy and I love theater because I want to better understand the world. I also want to have fun, make other people laugh or help them learn something, and make the world better in whatever small ways I can.
3 Quick Tips For Someone Trying To “Do Both”
(1) Try to ignore what RuPaul calls your “inner saboteur”: the voice that tells you that you aren’t good enough, or not dedicated enough, or that everyone except for you has it all figured out. When you scratch the surface, everyone feels that way sometimes!
(2) Doing both can mean that you have twice as many opportunities for rejection, so it’s essential to develop strategies for handling rejection in a way that doesn’t wreck your self-confidence.
(3) At some point you’ve probably been advised to pursue a particular path only if you can’t see yourself doing anything else. That’s nonsense! There are lots of careers and hobbies you could be good at and happy doing, and it’s okay to explore different options at different times in your life.
Get To Know Alida
Dream Acting Role:
Hamlet’s indecision really speaks to me; it’s a dream role for sure. I’d also love playing Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Viola in Twelfth Night, or Prospero in The Tempest.
Your Type/Genre
I’m up for anything! I haven’t done a musical since high school, though I do enjoy them. Lately, I’ve been cast in a couple of fierce woman-in-charge roles, which I enjoy.
College/Graduate School & What You Studied:
I was a philosophy major at The College of New Jersey for undergrad, and I received my Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Southern California.
Three People That Support You
I’m lucky to have so much support that I can’t choose just three: my husband Josh, who is my biggest fan; my parents and my sister, who’ve always had my back; my local friends who come see me perform; and my best friend Alyssa who was in plays with me in college and supports me from afar. And the virtual and local PMP community has been wildly supportive!
Your Philosophical Figure Inspirations
I admire the women philosophers who have made space for themselves in a discipline that has historically been—and still is—very male and very white: the generation of feminists who came before me and cleared the path, and the generation coming up through school now who are expanding the boundaries of philosophy in new and exciting ways.
Fun Fact
The first time I ever went camping was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon after hiking all the whole way down.
If Your Life Were A Musical, What Would the Title Be?
Thinkin’ (a la Fosse’s Dancin’ . . . only a lot more boring)
