Dr. Jessica Spector’s work explores the social forces that shape how we live — from the labor we value or stigmatize, to the land we cultivate, from the stories we honor or silence, to the drinks we share. She holds an MA and PhD in philosophy and brings additional training in history and religious studies, along with professional certifications in the alcohol industry. Together, these inform her study of cultural and intellectual history, with particular attention to the places where culture, commerce, and morality meet. She is an author, researcher, and academic whose work spans scholarship, teaching, and applied cultural practice.
Work & Approach
Focusing on the way we construct meaning through consumption, labor, and social practice, Dr. Spector examines the cultural weight of various activities, particularly those involving drink and sex. For over 30 years, her scholarship has centered on how moral systems and practices impact individuality, particularly in the form of societal taboos and the way various communities’ stories are told or silenced. This work has taken her from archives and archaeological sites to warehouses, bars, and distilleries, learning from the material artifacts of culture and the people who hold irreplaceable generational knowledge.
Dr. Spector’s research in moral psychology demonstrates how empirical description can be value-laden, revealing the social relations that structure our very sense of self. This philosophical foundation informs all her work, whether investigating personal identity as a problem of moral agency, exploring ethical issues surrounding the sex industry, or tracing the ways sense of place shapes our approach to food and drink.
From Research to Practice
Dr. Spector brings her academic work to the private seminars and consulting she offers through The Academy Drinks™, combining rigorous historical research with immersive cultural experience, as well as to her teaching about drink culture and ethics at Yale University. Dr. Spector is also founder of Green Robin Farms, where she applies principles of permaculture, regenerative agriculture, and agroforestry. The experimental farm integrates maple, berries, mushrooms, and herbs into a diverse forest ecosystem, reintroducing native plants to reduce pressure on endangered species while supporting a robust wildlife corridor. This work reflects her broader philosophical commitment to understanding the ways natural and cultural landscapes can structure identity.
Dr. Spector’s publications include academic articles on ethics and identity, the collection Prostitution and Pornography: Philosophical Debate About the Sex Industry, a book on cocktails, and work for Bloomsbury Press’s forthcoming series on the cultural history of prostitution. Dr. Spector has published extensively in moral philosophy, early modern thought, and cultural history with work appearing in leading philosophy journals and scholarly anthologies from major academic presses. She is also a frequent interview subject across a variety of formats, discussing ethics and cultural history.
Independence & Integrity
Dr. Spector’s approach is grounded in curiosity about untold human stories and the forces that shape culture. Her work examines how philosophical questions about value, selfhood, and agency emerge through the study of material culture and social practice.
She has served on the faculty at Yale University, Trinity College, Roosevelt University, and The University of Chicago. Her research, writing, and teaching have received multiple honors, and she regularly speaks on topics in philosophy and history while advising community and industry organizations.