Rate My Professor Louise Richardson

Louise Richardson is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of York, a position she has held since advancing from Lecturer in 2012. Prior to joining York, she was a Junior Research Fellow at Christ Church, Oxford. She completed her undergraduate degree and MA in Philosophy at Durham University, followed by a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Warwick in 2009. Richardson's research expertise lies in the philosophy of mind and philosophy of psychology, with a particular focus on perception and the senses. She investigates structural aspects of perceptual experience, non-visual modalities such as taste and smell, and distinctions between the senses. More recently, her work has extended to philosophical questions about grief, including its objects, experiences over non-death losses, absence perception, shared grief, and the role of smell in maintaining bonds with the deceased.

Richardson has co-investigated several funded projects, including the AHRC-supported ‘Grief: A Study of Human Emotional Experience’ (2020–2023, principal investigator Matthew Ratcliffe), ‘Purpose and Procedure in the Philosophy of Perception’, and ‘Art and the Limits of Perception’. Her publications appear in prominent journals, including ‘Sniffing and Smelling’ in Philosophical Studies (2013), ‘Seeing Empty Space’ in European Journal of Philosophy (2010), ‘Flavour, Taste and Smell’ in Mind & Language (2013), ‘Bodily Sensation and Tactile Perception’ in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (2013), ‘On the Appropriateness of Grief to its Object’ in Journal of the American Philosophical Association (2023), ‘Grief over Non-Death Losses: A Phenomenological Perspective’ in Passion (2023), and ‘Absence Experience in Grief’ in European Journal of Philosophy (2023). She serves as an editor for Mind and Language, Director of Postgraduate Research, Chair of the EDI committee, the department's equality champion, and Athena Swan lead. Richardson contributes to public engagement through events such as Death Cafe, Picturing Grief, and York Festival of Ideas workshops on grief and creativity, alongside numerous invited talks and workshops. She supervises PhD projects in philosophy of perception, grief, mind, and psychology.