[1] McGowan has written a large number of peer-reviewed articles, contributed three commissioned book chapters, and has co-edited one book - Speech and Harm: Controversies Over Free Speech.
[2] McGowan received her bachelor's degree at Wellesley College in philosophy and mathematics in 1990, going on to receive a master's (1993) and a doctorate (1996) in philosophy from Princeton University.
[3] After receiving her doctorate, McGowan accepted a position as assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, which she left to accept a position as assistant professor of philosophy at Wellesley College in 1998.
[3] McGowan currently serves as the Luella LaMer Professor of Women's Studies, and also previously served as the Class of 1966 Associate Professor (a chair endowed by Wellesley's class of 1966.
)[3][1] McGowan specializes in studying the subtle ways that speech can be used to alter normative facts, and how this technique may be involved in the perpetuation of unjust social systems.