Faculty Profile for Dr. Holly M Lewis

profile photo for Dr. Holly M Lewis
Dr. Holly M Lewis
Associate Professor — Philosophy
CMAL 107-D
phone: (512) 245-8805
Scholarly/Creative Work
Awards
Grants
Service

Biography Section

Biography and Education

 Holly Lewis is an associate professor of philosophy at Texas State University, specializing in metaphysical and epistemological questions related to artificial intelligence, with a focus on black box problems in transformer and diffusion models. Her dissertation topic was on embodiment and the ethics of surveillance technologies. Her current research examines the ethical and social implications of AI architecture, design, and implementation, particularly in relation to human-created virtual worlds and physics simulation. After studying machine learning architecture and Python in Andrew Ng's program, Lewis is currently part of NVIDIA's formal instructor education program and is collaborating with media studies roboticist Alex Levant on how state-of-the-art models attempt to mirror human cognition.

Lewis has been running courses inside virtual worlds since 2013 when she and colleague Emin Saglamer built a grant-funded “philosophy world” inside the Second Life program. In 2020, she was one of the first two faculty members in the U.S. to teach a full course inside VR headsets. Holding both a PhD in continental philosophy and an MFA in creative writing, Lewis has published on topics including human embodiment, social and political philosophy, AI ethics and epistemology, and digital space. She is the coordinator and designer of the Certificate in Digital Ethics graduate program at Texas State and is currently writing How to Think About Artificial Intelligence, which will be released by Pluto Press in 2026.

Teaching Interests

 AI & Philosophy
Philosophy of Virtual Worlds
Data, Internet, and Artificial Intelligence

Research Interests

 Epistemology and AI architecture
Narrative and AI safety
Embodiment, human perception, and artificial perception in Virtual Worlds
Social and ethical implications of Artificial Intelligence

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • Lewis, H. M. (2024). Toward AI Realism: Opening Notes on Machine Learning and Our Collective Future. Spectre Journal, Online/Digital(June 7, 2024).
  • Lewis, H. M. (n.d.). La Política de Todes, Second Edition. (I. Terán, Trans.). Spain: Bellaterra Books.
  • Lewis, H. M. (n.d.). “Preface to the Brazilian Edition” (In the Context of Brazilian Social and Political History). In B. Cesar Dias & T. Alves (Trans.), A política de todes: feminismo, theoria queer e marxismo na intersecção, Holly Lewis. São Paolo, Brazil: Editora Usina.
  • Cunha, L., & Cunha, L. (Trans.). (2023). [Review of A filosofia e as raízes marxianas do pensamento político queer", texto de Holly Lewis, by H. M. Lewis]. Periodicus, 2(19), 278–297.
  • Lewis, H. M. (2022). The Politics of Everybody, Revised Edition. London, UK: Bloomsbury.

Selected Awards

  • Award / Honor Recipient: Esteemed Visiting Scholar, University of London, Royal Holloway. June 2018 - August 2018
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Visiting Scholar for 2017, Mzala Nxumalo Centre for the Study of South African Society. June 2017 - September 2017
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. 2013
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Dean’s Award for Teaching, Texas State University. 2012
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Summa Cum Laude Award, The European Graduate School. 2008

Selected Grants

  • Lewis, Holly M. GIT grant. (Funded: 1925 - Present). Grant.
  • Lewis, Holly M. Second Life developers. (Funded: 1925 - Present). Grant.

Selected Service Activities

Member
Committee to Investigate a Ph.D. in Humanities and STEM at Texas State
September 2024-Present
Graduate Advisor
Graduate Advisor for the Certificate in Ethics of Digital Technologies
August 2024-Present
Member
Artificial Intelligence Community of Practice at Texas State
June 2024-Present
Member
MAAPE Graduate Education Committee
2023-Present
Chair
Historical Materialism Conference
2023-Present