Vanessa Schipani
Philosopher. educator. Journalist.
I'm currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media. In 2025, I completed a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to this, I was a science journalist for 10 years, working most recently for FactCheck.org, where I vetted claims made by U.S. politicians and misinformation on social media about climate change and public health, among other topics.
As an academic, I conduct research that bridges work in philosophy and the social sciences with the aim of understanding how the communicative practices of scientists, journalists, and technology can foster social and institutional trust and ease political polarization. For example, see my recent paper in Synthese.
As an educator, I aim to help cultivate not just knowledgeable individuals, but also well-rounded democratic citizens. To do so, I create a classroom environment where students see difference and disagreement – both with me and their fellow classmates – as learning opportunities, not fuel for animosity. Indeed, envisioning how we can achieve these kinds of responsive communicative environments on a national scale is central to my research program. This is a testament to my commitment to the teacher-scholar model of academia: My research enriches my teaching and mentorship just as much as my teaching and mentorship enriches my research. In short, I see students as collaborators, not disciples.
While I enjoy teaching unique courses in my area of expertise, such as a "Science Communication in Democracy" course highlighted in an article in UPenn's newsletter, I'm eager to teach an array introductory courses, such as Introduction to Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Bioethics, Environmental Ethics, Ethics, Epistemology, American Pragmatism, and more.
When I'm not teaching or conducting research, I foster collaboration between journalists and philosophers. This included organizing a session on the 'Philosophy of Science Journalism' at the 2022 Philosophy of Science Association Conference and a 'Science in Democracy' Series at the University of Pennsylvania in 2023. It also included helping a journalist fellow at the Oxford Reuters Institute to write a report on the role of science journalism in democracy.
For a PDF of my CV, see here (last updated Jan. 2026). Please feel free to contact me at schipani@sas.upenn.edu.