Justina Berskyte

Justina Berskyte

Dr

 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5356-6698

Personal profile

Overview

 

Research Overview

My research is based in Philosophy of Language with an interest in context-sensitivity (specifically contextualism vs relativism) and socially important language (gender terms, slurs, online speech, masculinities, etc.).  I'm currently a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow project called 'The Language of Misogyny: Meaning, Function, and Possible Interventions'. You can read more about it here.

I completed by PhD in January 2022. In my thesis, I put forth a novel hybrid theory - Expressive-Relativism - explaining the semantics of predicates of personal taste and expressives. My PhD thesis was supervised by Graham Stevens and Andrew Koontz-Garboned. My PhD was funded by the School of Social Sciences with the 4th year partly funded by The Royal Institute of Philosophy bursary.

 

Research interests

Philosophy of Language, Semantics, Subjective Language, Contextualism, Semantic Relativism, Expressivism, Slurs, Offense and Derogation, Hate Speech; Online Speech; Misogyny; Feminism; Hegemonic Masculinities.

 

Education

I received my BA, MA and PhD from The University of Manchester.

 

Contact Details

[email protected] or [email protected]

Click here to view my website.

Teaching

Lecturer:

  • MA: How to Do Things with Words Today: Speech Acts and the Social World (2025/26); Given multiple sessions for Landmark Paper.
  • 3rd-year UG: Given multiple lectures on slurs and the meaning of 'woman'.
  • 2nd-year UG: Formal Logic (2021/22) 

Teaching Assistant:

  • 3rd-year UG: Language and Oppression; Philosophy of Psychology; supervised UG dissertations (various topics).
  • 2nd-year UG: Formal Logic; Philosophy of Religion.
  • 1st-year UG: Critical Thinking; Introduction to Philosophy of Mind.

For full details, please see my CV.

Prizes and awards

2025

Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship (start May 2025, end April 2028) 'The Language of Misogyny: Meaning, Function and Possible Interventions'

2023/24

CDTS Seedcorn Funding, CO-I 'Misogyny and Online Gender-Based Violence'

2022/23 

CDTS Seedcorn Funding, CO-I 'Rebuilding Democratic Discourse: Online Harms and Trust'

2020/21

The Royal Institute of Philosophy Bursary

 

2018/19

Teaching Assistant Award

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 5 - Gender Equality
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

External positions

Residential Life Advisor , University of Manchester (UOM)

Aug 2018 → 2021

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  • 1 Organising a conference, workshop, exhibition, performance, inquiry, course etc
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