17.12.24
Having worked for the most part with Continental philosophy – the Frankfurt School, Sartre and Heidegger – Dr Parker Dixon is increasingly interested in the intersections between the Continental and Analytical traditions. His current work involves post-Wittgensteinian language-game theories of Wilfrid Sellars and Jean-François Lyotard, and their application in the analysis of artistic practices.
Deputy Senior Tutor
Dr Parker Dixon joined St Catharine’s as Deputy Senior Tutor in September 2024. This newly created part-time role, reporting to the Senior Tutor, will advance the College’s mission to provide outstanding pastoral support to students and remain at the forefront of collegiate Cambridge. He has extensive experience of supporting students across Cambridge, and during his 17 years as a Lecturer and Academic Advisor at the University of Glasgow. Cambridge Students’ Union have nominated him for a Student-Led Teaching Award; he won the Glasgow University Best Research Supervisor of the Year, and was nominated for the Glasgow University Tutor of the Year. He has a counselling qualification and Peer Support training from Mind, the mental health charity.
Dr Parker Dixon studied music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Sir James MacMillan and Dame Judith Weir, before completing his Master’s at Edinburgh University, and his PhD at Wolfson College, Cambridge in Critical Theory (2000) on the aesthetic philosophy of Theodor Adorno. He then held a postdoctoral post at the University of East Anglia, and a Lectureship at the School of Culture and Creative Arts at the University of Glasgow.
He now supervises 19th- and 20th-century music topics for the Faculty of Music at the University of Cambridge and researches the interdisciplinary area of 20th-century music and philosophy, especially T.W. Adorno. He also worked at the Institute of Continuing Education at Madingley for many years, teaching and assessing on the PGCert in Philosophy. His current work involves using ordinary language philosophy in the analysis of artistic practices.
2024
