Lara Spencer

Cohort
2017
Lara Spencer

BA, Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge

MPhil, History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge

I came to Stanford after an undergraduate degree dabbling in physics, earth sciences, cellular biology and neuroscience, at some point during which I realised that most of the questions that had interested me most were in fact best pursued through philosophy (and that I far preferred books to lab work). I segued into history and philosophy of science, completing my undergraduate dissertation on conceptual issues in the Special Theory of Relativity. During my MPhil, I worked on Kant’s Third Analogy of Experience and produced a dissertation on idealisation in scientific explanation, as well as continuing to work on issues within philosophy of physics.

Following a brief hiatus half-heartedly pursuing an alternative life as an actuarial consultant and research editor, I returned to academia in 2017, where my primary focuses remain in philosophy of science, Kant, and the intersection thereof. Outside my academic pursuits I enjoy going on ill-prepared jaunts to far-flung places, appreciating the great outdoors, and occasionally attempting to bake profiteroles.