Food choices topic of Moosa Speaker Series event at UW-River Falls on April 4

Guest philosophy professor to discuss ethical decisions about what we eat

River Falls, Wis. – Humans are complex organisms, but each person has the ability to make ethical choices about what they eat, according to the featured speaker at this year’s Dr. Imtiaz Moosa Philosophy and Ethics Speaker Series at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Lisa Heldke, philosophy professor and director of The Nobel Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., will discuss how and why people make choices about what they eat as part of her presentation “Stuck on You: Ethics in the Age of Parasitism” at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 4, in the Kinnickinnic Theater in the University Center, E. 501 Wild Rose Ave., River Falls. A reception before Heldke’s talk begins at 3:30 p.m. 

Heldke’s address includes a Q&A session. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Heldke said she views humans as communities of organisms who can make choices about their next meal. She plans to pose questions about how to make ethical decisions about what foods we consume and how we “take moral responsibility for dinner.”

She teaches a variety of courses, ranging from modern philosophy to studying cooking and eating. She has authored numerous works on those topics including “Philosophers at Table: On Food and Being Human,” “Exotic Appetites: Ruminations of a Food Adventurer,” and “The Encyclopedia of Food and Agriculture Ethics.”

Heldke is also co-creator of The John Dewey Kitchen Institute that invites educators to use cooking and eating as a means of classroom teaching. 

The speaker series was established in 2021 in tribute to former UWRF Philosophy Professor Imtiaz Moosa who taught at the university from 1989 until his unexpected death in December 2020. The series features leading experts and thought leaders with expertise in a variety of important philosophical, social justice and contemporary ethics-related issues. It is intended to discuss society’s most pressing issues, and the fragile nature of democracy itself. 

Moosa was a much-respected and beloved faculty member at UWRF. He was known for his love for and dedication to his students and for his vibrant personality. Moosa was born in Africa and moved to Canada when he was 16. He was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease and lost his eyesight in 2006. For more about Moosa, visit here.

The series fund provides financial resources for an annual speaker. Donations to the speaker series can be made here.

The Dr. Imtiaz Moosa Philosophy and Ethics Speaker Series at UW-River Falls was established in 2021 in memory of Moosa, a much-respected longtime philosophy professor who died in December 2020. This year’s annual event is on April 4 and features keynote presenter Lisa Heldke, a philosophy professor at Gustavus Adolphus College. UWRF photo.