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Staff Profile

Dr Ida Djursaa

Lecturer in Philosophy, Coconvenor of the Critical Theory and Practice Faculty Research Group

Background

I joined the philosophy department at Newcastle University in September 2023, and I'm delighted to be here.

My research interests are within the fields of critical phenomenology, feminist theory, and new materialisms, focusing particularly on the political structuring of bodily existence and experience. I have published work on feminist phenomenology, Levinas, Merleau-Ponty, and am working on a monograph on critical phenomenology and sensibility with Edinburgh University Press. In both my research and my teaching, I employ a strongly interdisciplinary approach.

Apart from teaching and administrative duties, I am the co-convenor of the Critical Theory and Practice Research Group along with my colleague Lorenzo Chiesa.

I completed my PhD at the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP) at Kingston University in London under the supervision of Stella Sandford and Catherine Malabou. 

I also hold an MA in Modern European Philosophy from the CRMEP, as well as a BA in English Literature from Queen Mary, University of London.


Please note that I will be on maternity leave in semester 2 of 2025/26, returning to work in Summer 2026. I will respond to all enquiries upon my return.

Research

My expertise lies in the fields of critical phenomenology, feminist philosophy, and new materialisms.

My research takes an interdisciplinary approach, critically drawing on insights from phenomenology, biology, and feminist theories of sex and gender, with the overall aim of better understanding the contextual and political structuring of bodily existence and experience. I am particularly interested in questions of natality, life, and desire.

Areas of specialism:

  • Critical phenomenology
  • Husserl
  • Levinas
  • Merleau-Ponty
  • Feminist philosophy
  • New materialisms


Teaching

PGR supervision

I supervise PGR students on our MLitt programme in philosophy, and welcome enquiries from prospective postgraduate candidates whose research interests align with mine.


UG teaching 2025/26

Phenomenology and 20th Century Philosophy (3rd year)

Ethics and the Modern World (2nd year)

I will be on maternity leave in semester 2 of 2025/26.


UG teaching 2024/25:

Ancient Philosophy II: Aristotle and Beyond (1st year)

Introduction to Moral Philosophy (1st year)

Ethics and the Modern World (2nd year)

Phenomenology (3rd year)

Publications