Sara L. Uckelman

What brought you to work or get interested in the Congress’ fields?

I have been working in the field of logic for more than 10 years now; my first introduction was my last year of high school when I took a logic course at my local university, convinced that I was going to fail it utterly.  Instead, I found the topic fascinating and excelled in the course, and knew from then that this was what I wanted to do with my life.  My studies have brought me from the U.S. to Europe and once in Europe all over the map both literally and figuratively.

What has your participation to the Congress brought you?

It was exciting to be able to bring my interest in philosophical and historical logic to such a broad audience as the Congress ­provided, both people who are trained in logic and those who may not be and yet are nevertheless interested in the topic.  It was even quite a pleasant surprise to find that Mr. Toussaint, the photographer, was familiar with Aristotelian syllogistics, part of the topic of my Congress presentation, despite his very different background from mine!

What is your opinion about your portrait?

Part of the reason that Mr. Toussaint asked if he could photograph me is that, at the time, I was about 6 months pregnant.  
As an academic and a soon-to-be mom, I know that figuring out how to balance these two aspects of my life may, at times, be ­complicated, yet I feel it is very important that I do so.  Attending the Congress while pregnant was a step towards creating the new me which can successfully balance both work and home life, and Mr. ­Toussaint’s portrait of me, even if it does not physically display this stage of my life, provides me with a symbol of the success of that first step.  It makes me excited and optimistic for the future, and I’m very happy to have such a lovely memory of a special time in my life.

Sara L. Uckelman - Tilburg University