Memorial Tribute for Professor Johanna Meehan

Johanna profoundly shaped both my experience at Grinnell and much of the direction my life has taken since then. She was an outstanding scholar, a wonderful professor, the platonic ideal of a mentor, but also, and much more than that, a deeply and profoundly caring person, the kind of person who somehow managed to really see you, even the parts of you that you didn’t want to share, and the parts of you that you couldn’t even yet see for yourself. I feel immensely fortunate that I crossed paths with Johanna at Grinnell and tremendously grateful for the time we had together, her guidance, and, above all, her care. If it had not been for her, there is little doubt in my mind that I would not have gone on to pursue my PhD in philosophy. Ill be finishing my PhD this year at Columbia, much of which is inspired by her work, and dedicating my dissertation to Johanna, who believed in me before I ever really believed in myself. There aren’t words to describe what a loss her passing is.
— Connie Wang ’16

Johanna was one of the greatest teachers I’ve ever met. She was open-hearted, open-minded and not afraid to challenge us all deeply. She was not only incredibly intelligent, she was deeply wise. Johanna touched countless students in her many years of teaching and many other hearts in her time here on Earth. She will be deeply missed and also live on in the hearts of all who knew her. Thank you, Johanna, for all you have given us. Rest well.
— Vishwam Heckert

Professor Meehan was a model professor, alternating between firmness and kindness, in measure even. I remember being shocked when she recalled (years later) some passing comment I’d made in class—student straw that she’d spun into her teacherly gold. May her memory be a blessing.
— Scott Newstok

I still remember the first year I went to Grinnell and took a class with Johanna. Johanna made me feel home in Grinnell as a great professor and advisor. The kindness and compassion she showed inspired me and encouraged me to pursue a career in philosophy. Thank you for being my advisor and taking care of me in the four years of my college life.

You inspired me and encouraged me to step on the journey of being a philosopher. Thank you and I will always love you.
— Zhentao Chen

Johanna was the absolute best. I really enjoyed our conversations. She was inspiring to my partner and me. Seeing the love that Maura and Johanna have is what we strive for. I am blessed to have been a part of her life. I will miss her so much. Hug ls to Maura and her family. We love you.
— Allison Kivett

My condolences to Maura, Anya, and Sierra for this profound loss. I hope you find comfort and joy your memories of Johanna and her love. My condolences to Maura, Anya, and Sierra for this profound loss. I hope you find comfort and joy your memories of Johanna and her love. Johanna cared deeply about her students and found ways to care for those around her through kind acts infused with a sense of humor. I remember how she showed up to my office early in my second year at Grinnell College with a garment bag. She had noticed my regalia hanging on the back of my office door in Steiner Hall, where I placed it after commencement. She simply said, “Here, unless you want to wear pink to graduation”. (I have red regalia and with time, the sun bleached anything hanging directly across our office windows, from artwork to clothing, as she herself learned years earlier.) It was a simple act, but illustrative of much about Johanna. She saw a way to prevent harm and acted with little fuss, in a matter of a fact way with a sarcastic remark – she helped others learn from her experience. I appreciate how she often did this as a colleague in matters of greater importance, particularly during my early years at Grinnell. She will be missed.Johanna cared deeply about her students and found ways to care for those around her through kind acts infused with a sense of humor. I remember how she showed up to my office early in my second year at Grinnell College with a garment bag. She had noticed my regalia hanging on the back of my office door in Steiner Hall, where I placed it after commencement. She simply said, “Here, unless you want to wear pink to graduation”. (I have red regalia and with time, the sun bleached anything hanging directly across our office windows, from artwork to clothing, as she herself learned years earlier.) It was a simple act, but illustrative of much about Johanna. She saw a way to prevent harm and acted with little fuss, in a matter of a fact way with a sarcastic remark – she helped others learn from her experience. I appreciate how she often did this as a colleague in matters of greater importance, particularly during my early years at Grinnell. She will be missed.
— Tammy Nyden

I knew Johanna mostly through Maura and their daughter Anya, with whom I had musical connections. One day Johanna dropped Anya off for a flute lesson with me. Anya went in to the studio, and I chatted briefly with Johanna, mentioning that Anya had said she felt comfortable with me at our last lesson. For Anya to say this was - as she and Maura both know - a major thing for this extremely sensitive girl; this was why I brought it up in our chat. Johanna looked pleased, then threw up her hands and said, “Well for Christ’s sake it’s only taken two years!!!” It was her direct, no BS way, of showing affection for Anya and saying sorry this took so long to me. Had it been Maura speaking, there would have been a softer, longer, more indirect, still loving commentary on my remark. Because I hadn’t the opportunity to get to know Johanna the way I did Maura and Anya, that memory has stood out and visited me surprisingly often over the years. I realize now it’s because in that brief moment was wrapped up the essence of this strong, fearless woman who never moved away from speaking her mind to anyone. Hers was a rare force of humanity.
— Claudia Anderson

When I think of Johanna, two things immediately come to mind: Her great warmth and her incredible intellect. I feel fortunate to have known her and worked with her. I wish we’d all had more time with her. Love to her family and all who held her close.
— Samuel Rebelsky

I’m heartbroken at the loss of one of the finest teachers I ever had. Not only was Johanna one of my inspirations for studying philosophy, she personified for me what it means to lead a humane life. When I was a freshman at Grinnell, I was in her Ethical Theory class, and she off-handedly quoted Alexander Pope. It was one of the first times I understood what it meant to be educated. I thought, “I want to be just like that!” She had a beautiful blend of philosophical depth, literary flair, neurotic energy, sly humor, and compassionate understanding. As a teacher, she was both firm and kind—and always had with her a bottle of sparkling water, which back in the 90s struck me as incredibly suave. Almost every student I knew at Grinnell had something of a crush on her—nothing untoward ever, but she stirred in us an eros for something magical she possessed. It’s hard to believe she’s not with us anymore. Condolences and love to Maura and the family.
— Scott Samuelson, ’95

I am devastated by the passing of Johanna. She was a great host mom and my dear friend who supported me and helped me when I first started school in the US. I would never forget the first time I met her at Harris center and both of you greeted me with love and caring. Her encouragement and teaching helped me get through many challenging times. I will remember the moments I was fortunate to share with her. Sending all my love and thoughts to you and the family.
— Yijun Xiong

Professor Meehan was one of the most influential teachers I had during my time as a student at Grinnell College. She was a brilliant scholar and an inspiring woman. Her mentorship changed my life - and that of so many other students - for the better. I am sending my sincerest condolences to her friends and family for this enormous loss. The world has been made a better place by Johanna Meehan’s time here with us. Thank you, Professor Meehan, for all you did for me and so many others. You have been an inspiration for a life well-lived.
— Susan Cox ’94

I share my deepest condolences with Johanna’s family and friends in Grinnell and beyond. I was a student of Professor Meehan at Grinnell in the early 2000s and she inspired me to continue studying philosophy, ultimately resulting in my getting my PhD in Political Science at Johns Hopkins in 2018. My memories of Johanna are of a highly intelligent, kind and caring woman who was deeply loved and respected in her community. She will be deeply missed.
— Christopher Forster-Smith ’06

Johanna was a wonderful advisor and professor.
— Laura Harris ’01

Johanna was the best of my friends and relatives she was a bright and intelligent person who had been able to get a PhD in philosophy and eventually became a full professor at a prestigious university, Grinnell. She will be sorely missed by those who knew her.
— Dr. Ralph Leviy

I have so many wonderful memories of Johanna, my favorite would be when she’d stop in the office holding her laptop which was spooling, and she called it the “wheel of death”. I use that line all the time, in fact I just said it yesterday to my office mate, Laurie. Johanna and I shared many conversations about adoption, family, friends, events, and more recently about us both becoming grandparents. Her laughter will forever be etched in my mind, her friendship blueprinted in my heart, and many memories of a few of her choice descriptive words. We shared many laughs together, even a few tears, and she always shared a tin of homemade chocolate fudge with me right before winter break, and oh my gosh it was so good! I shall always remember her as a caring, compassionate, brilliant, and humble woman who loved her family, friends, community, and colleagues. Please know that I am thinking of you all and send my deepest and heartfelt condolences.
— Cheryl Fleener-Seymour

I first met Professor Meehan in the fall of my last year at Grinnell in the Liberalism and Race philosophy seminar. The class was initially about the political philosophy of liberalism but as a result of the recent Iowa anti-’CRT’ legislation, attempting to ban or limit discourse on race, Professor Meehan decided to make explicit the dimension of race in our course. She relayed to our class that when someone tells her not to do something, that is, as a teacher and especially on a topic such as this one, she feels an all the greater need to counter these limits on her. This was especially true for a topic that connects to so much of the current global situation that it’s indispensable. This is something that I remember Professor Meehan by, a resolute will to do educational right no matter the existing external pressures. Beyond this defining trait, one of Professor Meehan’s most memorable qualities was her ability to start a seminar discussion by embarking on a personal account of her life years ago in notable detail and thorough progression and at the end connect it all back to the philosophy and adjacently sociological readings we had read for the discussion that day. There were many such instances of these relating to family experiences, the upbringing of her daughter, and her travels to various world regions. But in all cases, it allowed me and my peers to more readily engage in discussions that would bring together our different perspectives on a topic and build them into a sort of cohesive constellation that would in its wholeness increase our understanding of not just the text in a technical sense but also of its relevance to our own specific life experience. Abilities and personal qualities like these made Professor Meehan a memorable teacher in both an academic and informal coach of life sense.
— George Abreu, ’22

My favorite memory of Johanna is seeing her again for the first time when I moved back to Grinnell after graduation. She invited me over to her house to celebrate. When I arrived, she was waiting on the outdoor patio of her lovely ivy-covered house in a long navy dress, her silhouette illuminated by candlelight. She gave me a big hug, and as we sat down and talked, I knew I would always have a friend in her. As a newly minted philosophy grad, I had no idea what I wanted to do after Grinnell. My first year after graduating had been marked by stress and worry; I felt lost and directionless in the new adult world, with no idea of what to do with the rest of my life. I sent Johanna many panicked emails in that first year. She always responded warmly and was a wonderfully supportive figure during a lonely and chaotic time in my life. Professor Meehan cared about her students in the classroom, and she cared about our well-being long after we had left Grinnell, too. When I think of Johanna now, I think of her generosity of spirit toward her students and everyone she crossed paths with. After her passing, I saw her books spread out on tables in the HSSC for students to take. It made me happy to know that her beloved books would be gifted to students at the institution she had dedicated so much of her life to. Johanna would always gift me books and recommend new authors to me. A copy of her biography of Heidegger sits on my nightstand, a reminder of the senior seminar I took with her. She changed the course of my life, and I am forever grateful to have known her.
— Veronica Ruse, ’19

Professor Johanna Meehan taught my first philosophy course, which inspired me to major in philosophy, which significantly improved my life. She was an excellent professor and she cared about her students. I’m grateful to have been in her class.
— Ronan Brooks, ’18

Professor Johanna Meehan changed my life in so many ways that it’s hard to capture the impact she has had on me with one favorite memory. She was, and always will be, my mentor and dear friend. We kept in touch after I graduated from Grinnell in 2008. In every year that passed, I never forgot the impact that she, and her beautiful family, had on me. She was core to my experience at Grinnell. Professor Meehan saw potential in me when I was not quite sure of myself in college. She encouraged me to pursue all dreams, no matter how distant, and remember that when some doors close, others will always open up. This was particularly apt advice when I was rejected from graduate schools in philosophy and instead awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English in Taiwan. She grounded me in accepting my multifaceted identities and helped me see my upbringing as a strength and not a deficit. She was the epitome of a wise and sophisticated, modern Socrates. For my fellow Philosophy majors and I, we loved her classes where we debated the merits of Arendt’s statements in "The Human Condition." She challenged us to think critically and stay engaged. Whenever I think of my college experience, I immediately think of Professor Meehan and her book-lined office. The countless hours I spent there thinking about how I want to live a purposeful and meaningful life and admiring how solidly she understood that pursuit. When I would constantly express my gratitude for her taking me under her wing and jokingly liken her to my mother, she would always remind me that you only need one strong attachment to develop well and that I already had that in my own mother. We had been studying attachment theory in class and I never forgot that in those times, I grew to be more appreciative of my own mother while making connections to what I was studying with the socio-political environment we lived in. Professor Meehan was the type of person who helped individuals see their own potential and goodness in themselves and others. She was a guiding figure whom I wanted to emulate. It saddens me immensely to learn of her passing. It took me a while to process how much of an influence she had in my formative years of college and beyond. We all hope, as students, that we make our teachers proud. As a teacher myself for eleven years in the New York City public education system, I loved hearing where my students ended up and how they continued to evolve in their education. Whenever I wrote Professor Meehan after I graduated, she had never forgotten me. There are times when the odds seem stacked against you, but Professor Meehan always believed in the potential of her students. Her belief in me made all the difference.
— Shiela Lee, ’08

I have so many cherished memories of Professor Meehan, but my favorite memory is of a conversation on her back porch the summer after my second year at Grinnell. She invited me over to talk about my summer research project - and sure, we did that for a bit, but then the topic shifted to bigger picture questions about my path. As we started to discuss my post-graduation plans, I said something about applying to Philosophy Ph.D. programs. She paused for a moment, then looked me in the eye and said something that still impacts me every single day, nearly two decades later: "There’s a big world out there, Anna. And it’s hurting." In this moment - and countless others - Johanna pushed me to build a life that would bring my energy and convictions into building a better world. Her constant reminders that just thinking about ethics wasn’t enough - that action was needed - led me to the work that I needed to do with my life: building more equitable educational systems. Johanna brought such deep care to her work with her students. This care let us talk about philosophy, sure, but also that helped me navigate my own beliefs about the world, my future career, my personal hopes of having a family, and to really wrestle with the messiness and beauty of living an ethical life. As I look on the life I’ve built today - as an educator, a scholar, a partner, and a parent - it is immeasurably better because of Johanna. Through our long, sometimes meandering, always curious conversations, Johanna demonstrated that she valued me enough to help me build a meaningful, ethically congruent life; I will always be grateful to have been Johanna’s advisee.
— Anna McNulty Taylor, ’06

Professor Meehan was my first ever philosophy teacher in intro, and she was one of the reasons I moved forward into the major where she became my advisor. I loved her so much. When I met her I had not known many people who could be so calm and kind while also accepting no foolishness. Looking back, this is the way she and others in the department influenced me the most: They really allowed me to witness and experience the fact that I didn’t have to choose between intellectual rigor and loving, kind, curiosity (but rather they helped each other). My favorite memories of her are definitely of me approaching the door to her office, heart pounding with nervousness about whether I’d be a bother to her or a burden or annoying, and finding instead that she always called for me to come in, looked up from the book she was (always) reading, gave me her full, soft, kind attention, and smiled. She would tell me what she was working on, or wondering about, and she would engage my questions as though they mattered and she hadn’t heard the same questions from intro students a million times before. She and I shared what felt like joy when I began to understand Kant a little more and she followed my thoughts like she was tracking something important (even when they went wildly astray). She would get this puzzled look on her face, that was still so kind, and try a new tack, with a new example, or a new angle, that felt like it was just for me. Just to help me. She was a light to me in my world of never being good enough, of always having to be perfect to prove myself. I know it sounds over-the-top, but right now I really see how important she and others in the department were for me beginning to glimpse how just by being myself I could be good.
— Sarah Reimer Dawson, ’99

I took the very first college level philosophy class with Johanna. That was the first semester I went to Grinnell College and also the first time I was away from home. Johanna was always smiling at everyone in the class and always patient with all the questions I asked, though back then my English was not good and could hardly articulate my thoughts. She led me through my first year at Grinnell and inspired me to start my academic journey of philosophy. I remember that year, Johanna invited me to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a wonderful experience. I really felt at home with all the people around me, talking and laughing like one big family. I always feel lucky that I went to Grinnell and took classes with Johanna. She was my tutor, my friend, and my family.
— Zhentao Chen, ’22

Reading a book that Johanna marked up feels like being “with” her in a small way – no substitute for the conversations we wish we could have, but a glimmer of her presence.

I remember her as an absolutely singular mix of grace, tenacity, moxie, wisdom, humility, kindness, and wry wit. How I loved learning from her: not just what she taught, but how she taught it! I am now a philosophy professor on a professional path that has brought much meaning, challenge, joy and purpose. This path would have been inconceivable without the inspiration of Johanna’s example and her generous mentorship. There is so much good in my life that has sprung from the simple fact that I was lucky enough to have her as a professor. She changed so many lives, all for the better.

I don’t know that I’ve ever met a person with such a capacity for care. Knowing her made my mind sharper, my heart softer, and my world larger.

Johann had the most deadpan sharp wit that would arise without notice, reassuring insight and warmth and a way of seeing the world as it is and it should be.

I was one of Johanna’s first philosophy students when she arrived, like a superstar, to Grinnell. We had never seen anything like her! Fashionable, whipsmart, funny, passionate, and not old, not boring, not MALE! We adored her at once. Feminist ethical theory. Ideas we had never heard before. And her lectures were exciting. In my life, I have strived in my teaching career to be like her, and how she made us feel. She stirred us up and made us think, not just then, but forever more, about different ways of interpreting the data that came into our minds. My whole life I have tried to emulate that. And I have tried to capture the wonder I truly felt in her classes. I hope I have made her legacy proud.

[She was] irrepressible [and] irreplaceable.

I feel as though we have lost not only a dear friend, but someone who changed, through her kindness, the course of my life in so many ways.

I will forever thing of her as one of my mothers! She was the most compassionate, caring and kind person.

[W]e met only at conferences, most recently just this last October here in Cambridge MA. I really appreciated her consistent decency and kindness toward me, especially welcome when I was young and intimidated by the ‘big folks.’ One gesture of hers that I loved was when someone made some impassioned mini speech about how awful, unjust, or just plain wrong some bit of our world was, and Johanna would slightly cock her head to the side, shrug her shoulders and say something to the effect of ‘well, of course, we all lknow that’s the way it is.’ She had a real skill for unmasking the world’s pretensions, simply and straightforwardly. I am honored to have known her and to have thrived in the radiance of her friendship.

Johanna was always a model of integrity and compassion. She was one of the most loving and nurturing people we have ever known. Her impact on her students is remembered as life-changing and empowering. We will miss her light and kindness.

What we observed of Johanna is that she lived and loved fiercely and fearlessly. She was always her true self and authentic in her encounters with others. She was a force in her own way and we’re grateful to have known her.

[W]hat came to me when I thought of her was a loving nature coupled with a sense of play.

I will always remember her beautiful smile and how she always gave the best hugs.

Johanna’s warmth and kind-heartedness are deeply etched in my life’s story, something not unfamiliar to those she embraced, welcomed, championed. In the years since leaving Grinnell, I have thought about my many visits to her office to selfishly delight in our conversations, conversations I miss to this day.

Johanna will last as one of the smartest, most stylish, and lovely people in Grinnell ever. She was very kind to me for decades .

Johanna’s insights and keen perspective on life enriched all our interactions.

I wish I had known her better – her luminous intellect, her kindness, her deep empathy, her great talent as a mentor. I think about what she would have done so I can follow her lead – seek understanding wherever and whenever it may come. And seek it with both heart and mind.

Johanna had so many gifts to share – her kindness, her intelligence, her thoughtfulness, her determination, and her humor. All of these were bound together into an amazing woman.

We are so, so sad to lose out dearest friend, the most loving, smart, funny, kind person in this town and anywhere!

She was such a good listener.

Johanna was a bright star who made others better and happier in her presence.

Johanna was a light for all of us and seemed at times to be the heart of Grinnell. I know she loved you, Anya and Sierra so very deeply and with all her heart, but somehow she still had so much left to generously share with others. Johanna had an amazing gift to be so funny and snarky, yet warm and welcoming at the same time.

For those of us who leave Grinnell, there are certain people who represent our version of the place, our era at the place. Johanna was one of those people for me. She made Grinnell more classy, more honest, more funny and way more smart. Even when her no-nonsense rigor was directed at me, I loved her for it. I knew (from the countless students we had in common) that critique was one of the many ways she showed that she cared, and I admired the care.

From the moment I arrived at Grinnell, Johanna’s kindness and her loving nature were huge parts of what made me feel at home. I am glad to have had years sharing Steiner with her, where her hugs and kind smiles brought cheers to so many days. Her ability to be fierce, vulnerable, and kind all at the same time was a marvel.

Johanna was so loving, so full of affection, but her great intellect and beauty made her almost other-worldly, like a brilliant female character in a very smart novel. So I was always amazed by her humility and humor and moved by her deep care for others.

Professor Meehan was a legend as far as my friends and I were concerned and she made us feel safe and seen.

Johanna was a wonderfully caring person and a great support and mentor to me. She was a professor who went the extra mile for her students. Teaching philosophy was not just a job for her –she cared about her students’ wellbeing and happiness. I’ll always appreciate how Johanna listened to me and provided thoughtful advice. I always felt she wanted the best for me.

While I will always admire Johanna’s utter genius as a scholar and teacher, the biggest role she played in my life was as a role model for my own future. I met her at a pivotal moment in my identity formation. Professor Meehan’s openness and warmth when talking about her own family gave me a valuable window into what life could look like as a queer parent. It was powerful to see her as an example of someone gay, happy, brilliant, and simply humane. She asked me about with tenderness about how my parents had taken my coming out and she showed a genuine interest in my life even though we weren’t super close. She had a pastoral touch. I know she was not a person of faith, but I feel there was something sacred in the way she offered her humor, her life, her love story, and her accounts of her family as a gift to her students. It was a revelation to experience her playfulness and keen intellectual interest in desire, relationships, and the other messy work of humanity.

There is no way that I can adequately express what she meant to me. She touched me
deeply with her extraordinary empathy and kindness, her spontaneous human and intellectual generosity, her wit, her goodness. I consider it one of the great privileges of my live to have met her and known her and to have lived for a while in the warm glow that she had the gift of generating so spontaneously and inexhaustibly.

I don’t have another close friend who has suffered more, and more undeservedly, than she...from migraines, spinal and stomach surgeries, to bacterial infections and, I’m sure, much else. She rarely complained, but even a distant friend like me could almost feel her pain at times. How she maintained her extraordinarily kind and giving nature is beyond me, but I’m sure it had a lot to do with her deep love for you and, recently, her mad love affair with Ronan.

poem for johanna meehan

the johanna i knew

every time i see a volvo s80

i think of her

and the way she would maneuver

that outstanding piece of engineering

its sleek lines and extraordinary acceleration

racing to keep up with her

a critical destination awaited:

her seminar table with 13 starving minds

in need of isaiah berlin and iris murdoch

and plato and habermas

and the imperative for fighting on

in an unkind world

the flash of the dark s80

its unusual arcs and european origins

heightened her own

modernity and cosmopolitanism

features accidentally ostentatious

in a county of f150s

the midnight blue shade

flickering behind her

i loved seeing this worldly philosopher

manipulate such machinery

for a 2-block commute

from broad street to steiner to mcnally’s

and back again, and back again

so tactical and administrative a task

for a mind so hugely and urgently occupied

johanna held her arms open

for another generation

to see a world ruled by illogic

she helped us operate, exist even

beyond the rationale of pistons and oil

on other dimensions entirely

she was democratic and touching

her irish eyes, windswept, bore of heartbreak

the details of which i never fully knew

but which welcomed broken hearts

from all corners

her perfume stirred, she was a woman

that understood beauty for itself

and its importance for getting on

she messaged the power of sex,

its omnipotence, intuitively

she was fundamentally beautiful and sexy

she lived in the land of fallibility

which is to say, of humanness

of intersubjectivity and unfinished texts

of knowing all our capabilities and evils

from dasein to dachau

living nonetheless with the courage

and the necessity to love

she once told her dentist

“my thoughts on positivism? i fight against it every day”

and relayed this anecdote to us

her innocent children

to prepare us for the battles

that awaited our lives

we are “condemned to hope”

she reaffirmed so often

“jesus christ, read a book”

she implored us, only half kidding

and so we listened

to this perfectly wise woman

and we did hope

and we did read

i am as stunned now by her death

as the fact of her existence

“condemned to hope”

i can hear her saying

condemned to love

i want to reply

It is so hard to fathom that beautiful, brilliant, funny, warm and kind Johanna could be gone.
— Saelyx Finna

Professor Meehan was a compassionate yet exacting professor and advisor. In the classroom she made me feel confident to grapple with the intricacies of philosophical arguments while gently letting me cry in her office over personal turmoil. In the era before virtual work, Professor Meehan would write her destination address on the chalkboard before heading off to Boston over break, and tell us that if we needed an extension on our final papers we should just FedEx it to her there. It was just one example of her combination of understanding, grace, and high expectations. I was lucky to have her as an advisor.
— Sarah Kogel-Smucker, ’01

In our Hannah Arendt seminar, I struggled with understanding Eichman in Jerusalem and what this meant about the nature of evil. I remember going to her office hours to discuss Evil with Prof. Meehan. I think of these discussions every time I have my section in social psychology around evil. I would always leave our meeting both more knowledgeable and confused than when I started.
— Alejandra Aschittino-Rodriguez, ’17

I first had Professor Meehan as a professor for Intro to Philosophy in the fall of 2006. Despite loving her class, I didn’t take a philosophy class second semester. Appreciating that I had made a grievous mistake, I quickly approached Professor Meehan about majoring in philosophy and she became my advisor. For the rest of my college career, I took a philosophy class or independent project every semester, including every one I could with Professor Meehan. Over those three years, she taught me psychoanalysis, Butler, Arendt, and Habermas, but above all she taught me how to be an ethical and committed human being. I housesat for her over two summers, and being around her house and her family were some of my favorite moments at Grinnell. The lessons she taught me have inspired my many career moves, from teacher to civil rights attorney to poverty researcher. Instead of giving me answers, she taught me how to ask the right questions, with the most important one being “how do you live an ethical life?” Professor Meehan was the most profoundly kind person I have ever known, and I will carry her with me every day.
— Sam Stragand, ’10