Academic interests
I'm a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oslo and am part of the GoodAttention Project, funded by the European Research Council. From January 2025, I'll be an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Moravian University.
I work on topics in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, social philosophy, and epistemology. My current project investigates how (often implicit) social prejudices shape patterns of nonverbal communication.
I received my PhD in Philosophy and Graduate Certificate in Cognitive Science from Rutgers University and my undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh. I was also a member of Chaz Firestone's lab in the Johns Hopkins Psychological and Brain Sciences Department from 2018-2019, where I conducted the empirical work for my Graduate Certificate. After finishing my PhD in philosophy, I further trained as a cognitive scientist in the role of Postdoctoral Associate at the Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS) before joining the philosophy department at the University of Oslo in the fall of 2022.
My research addresses social bias and discrimination through the interdisciplinary lenses of philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, political science, and law. My recent work examines the way social prejudices (sexism, racism, etc.) influence basic mental processes, including perception, attention, and nonverbal communication. I've explored the legal implications of this research as well, arguing that philosophically and empirically-grounded accounts of social bias can meaningfully inform policies aimed at reducing discrimination. Much of my philosophical work on law and public policy has focused on discrimination against queer and transgender people.
Pronouns: They/He
For more information see my website and CV.
Education
- PhD in Philosophy, Rutgers University (2019)
- Dissertation: "When Perception Bypasses Truth: Attention, Bias, and the Structure of Social Stereotypes" (Supervisors: Andy Egan and Eric Mandelbaum)
- Graduate Certificate in Cognitive Science, Rutgers University (2019)
- Masters of Arts with Honors (Scottish Undergraduate Degree), University of Edinburgh (2014)
Past Appointments
- Postdoctoral Associate, Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science (2019-2022)
- Visiting Doctoral Researcher, Mind and Perception Lab (PI: Chaz Firestone), Johns Hopkins Department and Psychological and Brain Sciences (2018-2019)
Published and In-Progress Papers
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Baker, Austin A. 2023. “The Right to Transgender Identity” to appear in The Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Jurisprudence, ed. Kevin Tobia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Green, J. Remy & Austin A. Baker, 2022. “Caption This: Ethical and Moral Implications in Naming Parties,” Federal Bar Association Southern District of New York Newsletter, Summer(2022), 6-7. [short piece]
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Baker, Austin A. & J. Remy Green, 2021. “There’s No Such Thing as a Legal Name” Columbia Human Rights Law Review 43(1), 1-49.
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Baker, Austin A., Morales, Jorge & Chaz Firestone, 2019. ““You’re My Doctor?”: Stereotype Incongruent Identities Impair Recognition of Incidental Visual Features,” Journal of Vision, 19(10) doi: 10.1167/19.10.156 [abstract].
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"The Prioritization of Social Stereotypes" [R&R]
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“Nonverbal Marginalization” [R&R]
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“Neural Mechanisms Underlying Gender Disparities in Moral Judgements for Care Violation” with Megha Chawla, Brian Earp & Molly Crockett [$30,000 USD Grant, in progress]
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“No Need to Go To Alone: Ecologically Valid Studies of Group Reasoning” with Nick Byrd, Dania Crafa, Shadab Tabatabaeian, & Trey Boone [$7,000 USD Grant, in progress]