Myisha Cherry, Ph.D.

Myisha Cherry, Ph.D. is associate professor of philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. She is also the director of the Emotion and Society Lab. Her research interest lies at the intersection of moral psychology and social and political philosophy. More specifically she is interested in the role of emotions and attitudes in public life.

Cherry’s books include The Moral Psychology of Anger, co-edited with Owen Flanagan, Unmuted: Conversations on Prejudice, Oppression, and Social Justice, and The Case for Rage: Why Anger is Essential to Anti-Racist Struggle, which makes a case for anger at racial injustice. The Case for Rage was recently featured in the New Yorker and The Atlantic. Her new 2023 book is The Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better.

In addition to her academic work, Prof. Cherry has written publicly about political emotions, race, and justice for the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Salon, The Boston Review, New Philosopher, WomanKind, and the Huffington Post. She is also the host of the UnMute Podcast, a podcast where she interviews philosophers about the social and political issues of our day.

Prof. Cherry holds a BA in philosophy from Morgan State University, a Masters of Divinity from Howard University, and a Masters and Ph.D. in philosophy from University of Illinois, Chicago. Her dissertation examined what we may reasonably asks of citizens in the pursuit of moral repair and political reconciliation. The requests she specifically focuses on are requests for and about forgiveness.

In 2016-17, Cherry was a Visiting Edmond J. Safra Graduate Fellow in Ethics at Harvard University. In Fall 2017,  she was an Advancing Equity Through Research Fellow (formerly the Research on Women and Girls of Color Fellow) at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. She is also a former Santayana Fellow in the Department of Philosophy and Associate in the African and African American Studies department at Harvard University. Prof. Cherry has also served as Faculty associate at John Jay College Institute for Criminal Justice Ethics and lecturer at the City University of New York, St. Johns University, St. Francis College, and Long Island University, where she taught courses in moral philosophy, philosophy of religion, and ethics and law.