Philosopher and gender politics expert Judith Butler addressed the Class of 2008 at Grinnell College's 162nd Exercises of Commencement, on Mon., May 19, at 10 a.m. on Central Campus. To read the full text of Judith Butler's 2009 Commencement address here.

Butler, who is Maxine Elliott Professor of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature at University of California, Berkeley, is a prolific writer and author of 10 books and essay collections, including "Undoing Gender" and "Giving an Account of Oneself."

Currently at work on essays pertaining to Jewish philosophy, Butler continues to write on feminism, gender and sexual politics, and cultural and literary theory. In 2004, she published a collection of writings on war's impact on language and thought titled "Precarious Life: Powers of Violence and Mourning." She was recently selected to membership in the prestigious American Philosophical Society.