York College of PA to mark 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade ruling with Feb. 1 faculty panel discussion

A panel of York College of Pennsylvania faculty will discuss the Roe v. Wade case, its legacy, and the future of reproductive rights at 7 p.m., Feb. 1, in DeMeester Recital Hall, Wolf Hall. The event, which marks the 50^th anniversary of the ruling in the case, is open to the public.

The panel includes Dr. Rory Kraft, Chair of the Department of The Arts and Humanities and Assistant Professor of Philosophy; Dr. Jacqueline Beatty, Assistant Professor of History; and Dr. Sung-Wook Paik, Associate Professor of Political Science. 

Dr. Kraft is a philosopher whose work focuses on issues in ethics, including an interest in philosophy with children that grew out of work in moral education. His current project is a book exploring the connections between the work of Margaret Wise Brown (and tangentially others tied to the Bank Street School) and philosophy. He regularly presents at the divisional meetings of the American Philosophical Association, the American Association of Philosophy Teachers, and relevant interdisciplinary conferences. He is the longest serving editor of Questions: Philosophy for Young People, a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to providing an outlet for both pre-college students and those who do philosophical work with them.

Dr. Beatty teaches courses on early American, women’s, and public history. Her book, "In Dependence: Women and the Patriarchal State in Revolutionary America," will be published with NYU Press in April 2023. Her previously published work includes “Privileged in the Patriarchy: How Charleston Wives Negotiated Financial Freedom in the Early Republic” (South Carolina Historical Magazine) and “Complicated Allegiances: Women, Politics, and Property in Post-Occupation Charleston,” in Holly Mayer, ed., Women Waging War in the American Revolution. She received a bachelor’s degree from Boston College in 2010, a master’s degree from Villanova University in 2012, and a Ph.D. from George Mason University in 2016.

Dr. Paik is a political scientist whose work focuses on the intersection of constitutional law and political theory. His published and forthcoming research traces the origins of the evolution of judicial power in constitutional democracies across the globe. Prior to joining the faculty at York College, Dr. Paik taught at Hobart & William Smith Colleges and the University of Missouri.