The graduate program includes around sixty students pursuing various graduate degrees many diverse fields. The Philosophy Graduate Student Association (PGSA) is the focus of the intellectual vibrancy of the graduate student community. The PGSA sponsors and annual conference, represents graduate student concerns on the Department Graduate Committee, and provides informal assistance to graduate students at all levels of the program.
For some idea of the diversity of graduate student interests, view a list of recent dissertations (PDF).
David McPherson will defend his dissertation "Re-Enchanting the World: An Examination of Ethics, Religion, and their Relationship in the Work of Charles Taylor" on Monday, May 10, 2013 at 9:00 A.M. in the Raynor Library Beaumier Suite A. Committee: Stanley Harrison, Director; Ruth Abbey (University of Notre Dame), Theresa Tobin, and Rev. Philip Rossi, S.J. (Department of Theology)
Melissa Mosko has accepted a tenure track position as Assistant Professor at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.
David Leichter has accepted a tenure track position as Assistant Professor at Marion University in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
David McPherson has accepted a Visiting Assistant Professor position at Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota.
Congratulations!
Paul Neiman (Ph.D. 2007) has been promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure at the St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN.
Matthew Nowachek will present "Plantinga, Persons, and the Possibilities of Paradox"at the 2013 Wisconsin Philosophical Association Meetings at Mount Mary College on April 20, 2013.
Chris Kramer will present "Humor from the Margins: Comedic Rhetoric Against Oppression" to the 2013 Kent State University Graduate Philosophy Conference, March 16, 2013. A version of that paper will be published in the online journal Proceedings of the Kent State University May 4, in the May 2013 issue.
Alexander Bozzo presented a paper at the Indiana Philosophical Association (November 16-17, 2012) entitled, "Laws of Nature and Hume's Problem of Induction."
Catlyn Origitano presented "Remember Me: Memorial Art as a Stand-in for the Face of the Levinasian Dead Other" at SPEP (Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) November 1-3, 2012.
Chris Kramer presented a paper entitled "Humor, Heuristics, and Oppression" at the Annual Meeting of the IOWA PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY October 20, 2012 Drake University Des Moines, IA.
Robert Ramos presented "The Dominion of the Jar: A Phenomenological Analysis" at the International Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference entitled "Occupied: Taking up Space and Time" held at Indiana University - Bloomington from March 22-24, 2012.
Ed Gomeau presented "How We Perished, Each Alone: A Reading of Virginia Woolf's 'To the Lighthouse' Through a Ricoeurian Lens" at the annual meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association at Brown University, Providence, RI, March 29th-April 1st, 2012.
Alexander Bozzo presented at the American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting (February 15-18, 2012). His paper is entitled, "Spinoza's Theory of Attributes."
Matthew Nowachek, "On the Non-Bracketing of Fairy Tale in Paradox Discourse: Kierkaard, the Analytic Tradition, and the Importance of Inclusivity" in International Philosophical Quarterly Vol. 52, No. 1, Issue 205 (March 2012)
Matthew T. Nowachek, "Living within the Sacred Tension: Kierkegaard's Climacean Works as a Guide for Christian Existence," In Press, Heythrop Journal (2012)
Chris Kramer, In Press, "An Existentialist Account of the Role of Humor Against Oppression" HUMOR (2013)
Chris Kramer "As If: Connecting Phenomenology, Mirror Neurons, Empathy, and Laughter," Phaenex, vol. 7, no. 1 (2012).
Sebastian Kaufmann (February 25, 2010)
The Attestation of the Self as a Bridge Between Hermeneutics and Ontology in the Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur
Director: Pol Vandevelde
Max Herrera (April 9, 2010)
Arabic Influences in Aquinas’s Doctrine of Intelligible Species
Director: Richard C. Taylor
Joshua Schulz (April 13, 2010)
Friendship and Fidelity: An Historical and Critical Examination
Director: Michael Wreen
Shalina Stilley (May 19, 2010)
Natural Law Theory and the Is-Ought Problem
Director: William Starr
Daniel Esposito (May 19, 2010)
Hume’s Conception of Time and its Implications for His Theories of Causation and Induction
Director: William Starr
Shazad Akhtar (November 15, 2010)
The Paradox of Nature: Meleau-Ponty’s Semi-Naturalistic Critique of Husserlian Phenomenology
Director: Pol Vandevelde
Lorelle Lamascus (November 16, 2010)
Love’s Lack: The Relationship between Eros and Poverty in Plato’s Symposium
Director: James South
Anthony Karlin (December 13, 2010)
William James’s Undivided Self and the Possibility of Immortality
Director: Stanley Harrison
Bernard (BJ) Mauser (February 28, 2011)
The Ontological Foundation For Natural Law Ethics and Contemporary Ethical Naturalism
Director: Michael Wreen
David Leichter (April 8, 2011)
The Poetics of Remembrance: Communal Memory and Identity in Heidgegger and Ricoeur
Director: Pol Vandevelde
Arun Iyer (April 18, 2011)
Knowledge and Thought in Heidegger and Foucault: Towards an Epistemology of Ruptures
Director: Pol Vandevelde
Matthew Wion (May 17, 2011)
Spinoza on Individuals and Individuation: Metaphysics, Morals and Politics
Director: Michael Wreen
Melissa Mosko (August 26, 2011)
Sexualized Violence, Moral Disintegration and Ethical Advocacy
Director: Michael Monahan
Colin Hahn (March 29, 2012)
The Concept of Personhood in the Phenomenology of Edmund Husserl
Director, Sebastian Luft
Earl Cookson (May 10, 2012)
Naturalized Panpsychism: An Alternative to Fundamentalist Physicalism and Super Naturalism
Director: Anthony Peressini
Rev. Charles W. Peterson (October 31, 2012)
The Humanistic, Fideistic Philosophy of Philip Melancthon (1497-1560)
Director: James South
The Department of Philosophy is proud of its placement record and places great emphasis on placement. The Assistant to the Chair handles application materials, while mock interviews, CV consultation, and informal mentoring are organized by the Department's Placement Director, Dr. Nancy Snow. For additional information about placement services and for a list of students who have recently graduated and their current jobs, see the Philosophy Department's Placement Information (PDF).
