Dr. Nyden (she/her, they/them) is an associate professor of philosophy at Grinnell College and a co-creator and co-director of Mothers on the Frontline, a non-profit organization working towards children’s mental health justice, caregiver justice, and caregiver healing.
Teaching
She regularly teaches courses in 17th and 18th century European philosophy, epistemic injustice, Spinoza, the philosophy and history of science, and Asian philosophy. She occasionally teaches courses that intersect with her advocacy, including courses on the school-to-prison nexus, children’s mental health justice, and mental health advocacy.
Scholarship
Dr. Nyden has published works on Spinoza, Dutch Cartesianism, and the history and philosophy of early modern science. She is currently working on a book that examines how mother blame ideology and mental health stigma perpetuate both the care crisis and children’s mental health crisis through the gaslighting and exploitation of unpaid family caregivers and an underpaid direct care workforce. She is also working on a feminist methods handbook on trauma-informed community-centered research methods with Dr. Dionne Bensonsmith.
Advocacy
She is a co-creator of the Children’s Mental Health Justice and Caregiver Justice Frameworks. In her work at Mothers on the Frontline, she uses feminist-informed methods such as storytelling, ethnography, and participatory research to facilitate caregiver healing, caregiver justice, and children’s mental health justice. She also does public speaking, interviews, and workshop facilitation on these topics.
Tammy Nyden 