People

Faculty
Instructors
Affiliate Faculty
Emeriti Faculty
Staff
Graduate Students

Faculty

Zvi Biener

Professor, Philosophy

5253 CLIFTCT

bienerzi@ucmail.uc.edu

Dr. Biener is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati and an affiliate of the History department, the Judaic Studies department, and the Center for Public Engagement with Science.

He is Editor-in-Chief of the PhilSci-Archive and the Vice-President and President-Elect of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science (HOPOS).

Dr. Biener's work is in historical philosophy of science. Other work includes philosophy of data, AI, and empirical research into loneliness.

See personal website here.

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Vanessa Carbonell

Obed J. Wilson Professor of Ethics;, Philosophy

5213 CLIFTCT

513-556-6325

carbonva@ucmail.uc.edu

Vanessa Carbonell works at the intersection of ethical theory, metaethics, and moral psychology. She is particularly interested in moral agents (both ordinary and extraordinary) and how they navigate the moral landscape. This has led her to write about moral saints, moral motivation, moral sacrifice, and the relationship between knowledge and moral obligation. She also has research and teaching interests in bioethics and family ethics. For more information, including links to papers, visit Carbonell's personal website.

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Tony P Chemero

University Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Psychology , Philosophy

5255 CLIFTCT

513-556-6324

chemeray@ucmail.uc.edu

Tony Chemero got his Ph.D. in Philosophy and Cognitive Science from Indiana University in 1999. From then to 2012, he taught at Franklin & Marshall College (F&M), where he was Professor of Psychology. In 2012, he became Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Cincinnati.
Currently, Tony is University Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Cincinnati (UC), and a primary member of both the Center for Cognition, Action, and Perception and the Strange Tools Research Lab. His research is both philosophical and empirical; typically, it tries to be both at the same time. He focuses on questions related to nonlinear dynamical modeling, ecological psychology, complex systems, phenomenology, and social cognition. He is the author of more than 100 articles and the books Radical Embodied Cognitive Science (2009, MIT Press) and, with Stephan Käufer, Phenomenology (2015, Polity Press; second edition, 2021). He is currently writing a book tentatively titled Intertwinings: The embodied cognitive science of self and other (Columbia University Press). His first book was a finalist for the Lakatos Prize for Philosophy of Science. He has recently received the University Distinguished Research Award, the Latino Faculty Association Excellence in Research Award , and the Rieveschl Award for Scholarly Achievement at UC.

For more information, see Tony's pages at academia.edu or google scholar

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Andre Emile Curtis-Trudel

Asst Professor, Philosophy

CLIFTCT

513-556-6324

curtisa4@ucmail.uc.edu

I am a philosopher of science with interests in computer science and artificial intelligence. My current research projects concern the nature of computational explanation and epistemological issues raised by uses of artificial intelligence in science.

More information and links to papers can be found on my website.

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Lucas D Dunlap

Assoc Professor - Educator, Philosophy

5251 CLIFTCT

513-556-4277

dunlapld@ucmail.uc.edu

Lucas Dunlap is a philosopher with interests in the foundations of physics and metaphysics. His research has primarily been concerned with metaphysical issues in quantum mechanics, with a particular focus on quantum information theory.

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Melissa Jacquart

Asst Professor, Philosophy

CLIFTCT

jacquama@ucmail.uc.edu

My research focuses on epistemological issues in the philosophy of science, specifically on the use of models and computer simulations in astrophysics. My research also examines the role philosophy can play in general public understanding of science, and in science education. I’m also interested in ethics & values in science, science policy, feminist philosophy, and philosophy of education, particularly developing effective teaching methodologies for philosophy.

Please visit my website for more information on my research and teaching: melissajacquart.com

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Peter M Langland Hassan

Director of Graduate Studies | Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Psychology, Cognitive Science, Philosophy

5256 CLIFTCT

513-556-6344

langlapr@ucmail.uc.edu

Langland-Hassan's research spans the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of psychology, and cognitive science. Of particular interest to him are cognitive theories of imagination and pretense, the nature of visual imagery and inner speech, and the relation of imagery and imagination to self-knowledge and introspection. His work has explored the ways in which introspective and imaginative capacities can become disrupted in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. He was recently involved in an interdisciplinary study investigating the cognitive impact of inner speech deficits in people with aphasia.

Langland-Hassan arrived at UC in 2011 after spending two years as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology program at Washington University in St. Louis. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy in 2009 from The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and his B.A. in philosophy from Columbia University in 1997.

More information is available on his personal website: http://langland-hassan.com

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Heidi Lene Maibom

Professor, Philosophy

ARTSCI

513-556-6324

maibomhi@ucmail.uc.edu

I work on issues in contemporary philosophy of mind, psychology, and cognitive science, for example: what is empathy and what is its moral relevance? how should we understand shame? how do we understand other minds? are psychopaths responsible agents? do you need to know what you are doing in order to be responsible for it? do judgments of right or wrong essentially spring from practical reason or emotion? are women better empathizers than men?

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Eduardo Joseph Martinez

Assistant Professor, Philosophy

5254 CLIFTCT

513-556-6324

marti2ej@ucmail.uc.edu

My research is in democratic theory and focuses on standards for evaluating institutions and practices within democracies, such as administrative agencies, civic education, representation, and political partisanship. For more on my research, please see my website: eduardojmartinez.com

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Thomas W. Polger

Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Philosophy

5252 CLIFTCT

513-556-6328

polgertw@ucmail.uc.edu

My work spans philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and metaphysics. I am interested in the sciences of the mind and the things they study. And I approach such questions by studying the relationships between explanations, models, and entities of different sciences—especially those of the cognitive and brain sciences.

As I see it, the questions that arise around the cognitive and brain sciences amount to a special case of the general puzzle of why we have various sciences rather than just one. Why is there anything but physics?

In the process of investigating questions about minds, brains, and sciences we may come to wonder about the kinds of theorizing that we do, and about the evidence and arguments that we employ. How do the methods of philosophy fit with other forms of inquiry. And how is philosophical knowledge possible?

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Angela Potochnik

Department Head; Professor; Director of the Center for Public Engagement with Science, Philosophy

5215 CLIFTCT

513-556-6340

potochaa@ucmail.uc.edu

Potochnik's research interests include philosophy of biology, philosophy of science, and history of logical empiricism, including especially the role of idealization in science, the properties of scientific explanations, arguments against levels of organization, the relationships between science and the public, and Otto Neurath.

Visit Potochnik's website.

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Robert A Skipper

History and Philosophy of Biology, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy

261C ARTSCI

513-556-6324

robert.skipper@uc.edu

Robert Skipper is Professor of Philosophy and Fellow of the Graduate School in the Department of Philosophy and School of Environment and Sustainability (SEAS). He received the PhD from the Committee on the History and Philosophy of Science in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Maryland, College Park. Prior to that, he received the BA and MA from the Department of Philosophy at Texas Tech University.

Skipper's main research focuses on the origins and development of evolutionary genetics. In particular, he works on problems about the structure of biological controversies, theory change, theory/model assessment, theory/model structure/interpretation, evolutionary dynamics, biological explanation, and epistemology of biological experiments.

In addition, Skipper has interests in environmental philosophy, philosophy of food, and obesity science.

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Instructors

Dan Daniel Dake

Instructor - Adj, Philosophy

ARTSCI

513-556-6324

dakerd@ucmail.uc.edu

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Matthew A Willis

Asst Professor - Adj, Philosophy

ARTSCI

513-556-6324

willi4m7@ucmail.uc.edu

My primary research interests are in epistemology, philosophy of science, and philosophical methodology. I am mostly concerned with the notion of philosophical progress and the possibility of producing substantive results through philosophical investigation.

I am also interested in the work of WVO Quine and the history of early analytic philosophy (especially where Frege, Russell, and Carnap are concerned).

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Affiliate Faculty

Steven Joel Cahn

Professor of Music Theory, CCM Music Theory

4225G Emery Hall

513-556-7820

cahnsj@ucmail.uc.edu

Professor Steven J. Cahn, PhD, is a music theorist and pianist whose research and specialized teaching areas include:

Schoenberg Studies/Twentieth-Century Music Theory
Neuroscience/Psychology of Music
Aesthetics, Hermeneutics & Theories of History
History of Music Theory
Musical Form in the 18th and 19th Centuries
Cultural Studies & Jewish Music Studies

His work appears in collections—Cambridge Companion to Schoenberg, Schoenberg and Words, Schoenberg: Interpretationen seiner Werke—and journals—Musical Quarterly, Journal of the Arnold Schoenberg Center, Journal of the American Musicological Society, Opera Quarterly, Ostinato rigore. His collaborative research has been published in Cognitive Neuropsychology (DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2011.646972) and the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology (DOI: 10.3766/jaaa.24.1.6).

Cahn has received support from the Avenir Foundation, the Tangeman Sacred Music Center, the Dean’s Travel Fund, the National Institutes of Health — Lab for Integrative and Medical Biophysics, the National Endowment for the Humanities (Summer Stipend) and the University Research Council, Faculty Research Support Grant. He has presented papers at international conferences including Jewishness and the Arts (Rome, 2015), Schoenberg at 140 (Canterbury, UK, 2014), Hebrew University 2013, Symposia of the Arnold Schoenberg Center (Vienna, 2001, 2002) and the Third International Conference on Jewish Music (SOAS, London 2000). In the U.S., he has presented papers at the Getty Center, the Library of Congress and the National Institutes of Health. He has also presented research at the annual meetings of the American Musicological Society, Society for Music Theory, Music Theory Midwest and International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (ICMPC8).

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Andrew Morgan Cullison

Exec Dir Ethics Center, EI Ethics Center

DIGITFUT

513-558-0026

cullisaw@ucmail.uc.edu

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Muhammad U. Faruque

Associate Professor and Taft Center Fellow (AY 23-24), A&S Romance & Arabic Languages & Literat

5240 CLIFTCT

513-556-0139

faruqumu@ucmail.uc.edu

Muhammad U. Faruque is the Inayat Malik Associate Professor and a Taft Center Fellow at the University of Cincinnati and a former Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. He earned his PhD (with distinction) from the University of California, Berkeley, and served as Exchange Scholar at Harvard University and as George Ames Postdoctoral Fellow at Fordham University. He was also educated at the University of London and Tehran University. In addition to his formal college education, he has traveled throughout the world to learn and explore, and studied with many scholars in South Asia, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, North Africa, and Malaysia.

His book Sculpting the Self (University of Michigan Press, 2021) won the prestigious 31st World Book of the Year Award from Iran. The book addresses “what it means to be human” in a secular, post-Enlightenment world by exploring notions of selfhood and subjectivity in Islamic and non-Islamic philosophical literatures, including modern philosophy and neuroscience. He is the author of three books and over fifty academic articles, which have appeared (or are forthcoming) in numerous prestigious, peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes such as Philosophy East and West, Philosophical Forum, Journal of Contemplative Studies, Arabic Sciences and Philosophy (Cambridge), Sophia, Journal of Sufi Studies (Brill), Religious Studies (Cambridge), and Ancient Philosophy. He has delivered lectures in many North American, European, Asian, and Middle Eastern universities. He gives public lectures on a wide range of topics such as climate change, spirituality, meditation, AI, Islamic psychology, and Islam and the West. He is also a recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the prestigious Templeton Foundation Global Philosophy of Religion grant and the Title IV Grant, U.S. Dept. of Education.

While his past research has explored modern and premodern conceptions of selfhood and identity and their bearing on ethics, religion, and culture, his current book project entitled The Interconnected Universe: Sufism, Climate Change, and Ecological Living aims to develop a new theory of the human and the more-than-human world based on a cross-cultural, multidisciplinary approach that draws on the environmental humanities, on one hand, and Sufism and Islamic Contemplative Studies, on the other. Alongside developing a theory of what he calls the “interconnected universe,” this study also argues that Sufi contemplative practices support and foster an active engagement toward the planet’s well-being and an ecologically viable way of life and vision through an “anthropocosmic” vision of the self. He is also at work on a book on AI and the existential threats of information technology. He also just published an edited volume entitled From the Divine to the Human: New Perspectives on Evil, Suffering, and the Global Pandemic (co-edited with M. Rustom and published by Routledge). In addition, he has a forthcoming edited volume A Cultural History of South Asian Literature, Volume 3: The Early Modern Age (1400-1700) (co-edited with S. Nair).

In his personal life, he loves gardening (plant life fascinates him), spending time in nature, travelling (he always likes to explore new places!), trying out new cuisines, hiking, cooking, sports (esp. tennis, table tennis, and chess), and watching movies. He also has a passion for classical Indian (raag) and Persian music.

He is affiliated with the departments of Philosophy, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Environmental Studies, and the Religious Studies Certificate program.

Website: https://muhammadfaruque.com/

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Kristopher J Holland

Associate Professor, DAAP School of Art

4280C Aronoff Center

513-556-2120

hollankp@ucmail.uc.edu

Dr. Kristopher Holland is an associate professor of Art and Design Education and Fine arts at the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. He received his M.A. from New York University, and his Ph.D. in Philosophy and Art Education from Indiana University.

He is the Co-Director of the Strange Tools Research Lab at the Digital Futures research collaborative located in the University of Cincinnati. This research lab combines artistic and philosophical inquiry to create new tools to engage with multi-disciplinary problems. He is also the Director of the Graduate program in Art & Design Education and the Director of the Visual Arts & Design Education State Licensure for the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. He Previously was the director of Art and Publications for the Žižekian Institute for Research, Inquiry, and Pedagogy. He also is involved with the biannual (pre-covid) Berlin Summer Studio Arts Inquiry program in collaboration with the Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin.

As a visiting professor at the Karl Franzens University’s Institut für Kunstgeschichte in Graz Austria he has taught courses on a range of subjects including: Joseph Beuys, The Vienna Secession, Baroque Art and Knowledge, Artful Science, Philosophy of Technology, The Black Radical Tradition, Photography and Video Art, Object Orientated Ontology, and Political Theory as Art Production.

Dr. Holland is a practicing artist and philosopher whose current research interests are: strange tools, philosophical inquiry methodologies, arts-based research, art & design teacher education, deconstruction, contemporary art, and critical theory. His conceptual art work The Habermas Machine was cited in James Rolling Jr.’s Arts-Based Research: A Primer, published in 2013 and was exhibited in 2015. He has recently given guest lectures at the School of Visual Arts in New York on strange tools and philosophy without text, and New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development on the topic of Jean Baudrillard and Radical Education which corresponds with his recently published co-authored book: Jean Baudrillard and Radical Education Theory: Turning Right to Go Left.

His peer-reviewed publications can be found in: The Journal of French and Francophone Philosophy [Revue de la philosophie française et de langue française], Adaptive Behavior, Visual Arts Research Journal, The Journal of Social Theory in Art Education, Studies in Art Education, and the International Journal of Žižek Studies. By combining the fields of philosophy, art, and education, his work seeks to spark agency for students in the creative fields for social change and educative innovation.

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Elizabeth Lanphier

Assistant Professor of Clinical-Affiliate, COM Pediatrics General Pediatrics

Childrens Hospital Bldg R

513-803-8368

lanphieh@ucmail.uc.edu

Elizabeth Lanphier is a faculty member in the Ethics Center and in the Division of General and Community Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the UC College of Medicine and a Research Assistant Professor in the UC Department of Philosophy. Elizabeth is also affiliated faculty in the UC Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department and Center for Public Engagement With Science as well as a non-resident Fellow at the George Mason Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy.

In addition to her published scholarship in peer reviewed journals and book volumes, Elizabeth has written for a variety of outlets including the Hastings Bioethics Forum and Ms. Magazine. Her research has also been featured in "The ethical questions raised by COVID-19 vaccines: 5 essential reads" and "50 years after Roe, many ethics questions shape the abortion debate" in The Conversation as well as "What is Trauma Informed Care?" in Health, and "We're All Second Guessing Ourselves" in The Atlantic. She was quoted in TIME Magazine for the article "How Do You Even Calculate Covid-19 Risk Anymore?" and was an expert cited in "Motivated Reasoning: Emily Oster's COVID Narratives and the Attack on Public Education" in Protean Magazine.

Elizabeth currently chairs the Committee on Accessibility and Inclusion for the North American Society for Social Philosophy, and is an elected Board Member of the Bioethics Network of Ohio. From 2021-2024 she was a co-chair of the Feminist Approaches to Bioethics Affinity Group for the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities.

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Kenneth Petren

Professor, A&S Biological Sciences

800C Rieveschl Hall

513-556-9719

petrenk@ucmail.uc.edu

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Michael A. Riley

CAHS Rehab, Exercise & Nutrition Science

292B HSB

513-558-3766

rileym@ucmail.uc.edu

Michael Riley studies human perceptual-motor behavior from the perspectives of complexity science and ecological psychology with a focus on applications to rehabilitation and human performance. He has taught many undergraduate and graduate courses including Research Methods in Perception & Action, Motor Control & Human Performance, Movement Science II, and Control and Coordination of Action. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and U.S. Army Medical Research & Materiel Command.

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Sarah M Stitzlein

Professor, CECH Curriculum & Instruction

610F Teachers College

513-556-2439

stitzlsh@ucmail.uc.edu

View full website, including publications and information about current writing projects, at http://sarahstitzlein.wix.com/portfolio

I am a Professor of Education and Affiliate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati. As a philosopher of education, I use political philosophy to uncover problems in education, analyze educational policy, and envision better alternatives. I am especially interested in issues of political agency, educating for democracy, and equity in schools. I consider how to best educate citizens, with special attention to addressing current struggles in democracy related to matters of truth, political dissent, polarization, populism, and political hope.

I am Co-Editor of the journal, Democracy & Education and President of the Ohio Valley Philosophy of Education Society. I am a scholar of American Pragmatism and previously served as President of the John Dewey Society.

I have received the the University of Cincinnati Jack Twyman Award for Service Learning, the Distinguished Teaching Award, and Golden Apple awards. At my previous university, I earned the University of New Hampshire Outstanding Professor award. I am also the recipient of the American Association of University Women Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and the National Endowment for the Humanities Teaching Development Fellowship.

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Emeriti Faculty

Timothy W. Allen

Social and Political Philosophy, Democratic Theory, Ancient Philosophy, Philosophy of Law, Critical Thinking, Existentialism, Business Ethics, Philosophy

allentw@ucmail.uc.edu

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Robert Winslow Faaborg

Philosophy

513-377-8207

faaborrw@ucmail.uc.edu

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Lawrence J Jost

Ethics, Ancient Philosophy, Marx, Philosophy

259A ARTSCI

513-556-6324

jostlj@ucmail.uc.edu

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John Martin

McMicken Professor Emeritus. Areas of Specialty: Formal Semantics, History of Logic, Environmental Ethics., Philosophy

martinj@ucmail.uc.edu

Areas of Specialization
Formal Semantics, History of Logic, Environmental Ethics
Click here for Martin's HOMEPAGE

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John McEvoy

History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science and Technology, Marx, Foucault, Althusser, Philosophy

mcevoyj@ucmail.uc.edu

Areas of Specialization

John McEvoy works in science studies and political philosophy. He has published extensively on the history and philosophy of science, focusing mainly on the Chemical Revolution, which occurred in the eighteenth century and is generally regarded as the origins of modern chemistry, and twentieth-century interpretations of this important event. He is currently working on more general issues pertaining to the historiography of science and is keen to show how the discipline of the history of science is shaped by wider philosophical and cultural influences. McEvoy also teaches political philosophy, focusing on the classical texts of Marx and Engels and the twentieth-century writings of the Frankfurt School, Foucault, and Althusser. He also teaches courses on the philosophy of technology and the historical and philosophical relations between magic, science, and the occult. His analysis of the 'history of the history of science' since World War Two is available in The Historiography of the Chemical Revolution: Patterns of Interpretation in the History of Science (London: Pickering and Chatto, 2010).

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Harvey Mullane

Philosophy

mullanh@ucmail.uc.edu

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Robert C. Richardson

Charles Phelps Taft Professor | Philosophy of Biology, Philosophy of Science, Cognitive Science, Philosophy

richards@ucmail.uc.edu

Dr. Robert C. Richardson is the Charles Phelps Taft Professor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Science of Arts & Sciences at the University of Cincinnati. He is a fellow of the AAAS, and a fellow in the Graduate School at the University of Cincinnati. He earned hs B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Colorado (1971) and his M.A. and Ph.D. with homors from the University of Chicago (1977). He has held numerous visiting appointments including, most recently, as Gervinus Fellow at the Universität Osnabrück (2008-2009), as a Mercator professor of Cognititve Science, Universität OsnabrUuck (2005), and Visiting Research Professor in the Department of Molecular Cell Physiology, Free university of Amsterdam (1993-94). Professor Richardson is the author of Discovering Complexity: Decomposition and Localization as Strategies in Scientific Research (Princeton 1993) considered a seminal work in the area of philosophy of science and biology, and of Evolutionary Psychology as Maladapted Psychology (MIT 2007). He is the author of over eighty academic articles in the areas of philosophy of science, cognitive science, philosophy of ecology, history of biology (19th century), philosophy of the mind, and the history of psychology. Professor Richardson has received awards and grant support from the National Science Foundation, National Research Council, National Endowment for the Humanitites, and the Hanse Institute for Advanced Study in Delmenhorst, Germany and serves on numerous editorial boards for academic journals and presses. In the near three decades of service to the University of Cincinnati, Professor Richardson has served two terms as Head of the Department of Philosophy, several terms as Director of Graduate Studies, and as a member of the Charles Phelps Taft Faculty Executive Board as well as Taft standing committees.

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Jenefer Mary Robinson

Aesthetics, Philosophy of Psychology (emotion theory), Philosophy

robinsjm@ucmail.uc.edu

Jenefer Robinson teaches and writes on topics in aesthetics and philosophical psychology, especially the theory of emotion. Her book, Deeper than Reason (OUP 2005) applied recent advances in emotion theory to issues in aesthetics, such as the expression of emotion in the arts, how music arouses emotions and moods, and how the emotional experience of literature and music in particular can be a mode of understanding and appreciation. Jenefer is President of the American Society for Aesthetics. Her presidential address was about the role of emotional feelings in the appreciation of architecture. She is currently writing a book on emotion for OUP.

For more information, please see her personal website

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Charles H Seibert

Philosophy

seiberch@ucmail.uc.edu

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Leo Simons

Philosophy

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William L Todd

Philosophy

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Staff

Max William Cormendy

Program Director, Philosophy

5210 CLIFTCT

513-556-3068

cormenmw@ucmail.uc.edu

Max Cormendy is the Executive Director of the Philosophy of Science Association and the Program Director for the UC Center for Public Engagement with Science.

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Kate Nicole Hoffman

Post Doc Fellow, Philosophy

ARTSCI

513-556-6324

hoffmk7@ucmail.uc.edu

Kate Nicole Hoffman is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Philosophy and with the Center for Public Engagement with Science. Her research revolves around understanding and reimagining the human-nature relationship, especially in the context of conservation, climate change, and animal ethics. Additional interests include considering the feasibility of applying mental disorder categories to nonhuman minds and exploring the potential of art to facilitate a healthier environmental future.

For more, see her personal website.

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Madeline Yelle Jentsch

Program Coordinator, Philosophy

360D ARTSCI

513-556-2144

jentscmy@ucmail.uc.edu

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Ekaterina Katzarova

Program Manager, Philosophy

CLIFTCT

513-556-4440

katzarep@ucmail.uc.edu

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Kristin Nicole Rice

Financial Administrator 1, Philosophy

360C ARTSCI

513-556-2149

rice2ks@ucmail.uc.edu

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Graduate Students/Assistants

Erik Jefferson Alvarado Quinteros

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

alvaraek@mail.uc.edu

My primary academic interests lie in the philosophy of mind and Early Modern Philosophy. In philosophy of mind, I specialize in the philosophy of perception and explore inquiries into phenomenal properties. Within Early Modern Philosophy, I am particularly focused on the works of Descartes and Berkeley.

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Ramy Amin

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

aminrt@mail.uc.edu

Ramy Amin is a PhD student at the University of Cincinnati. He is also the PSA Assistant Director and the PhilSci Archive Assistant. His research focuses on the philosophy of science, with special attention to questions related to neuroscience. His goal is to explore how topics such as causation, properties, emergence, and levels of organization can be informed by, and applied to, research in neuroscience. His other interests include exploring topics such as phenomenal (consciousness, concepts, conservatism), the limits of medicalization, and public engagement with science.

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Mel Andrews

Philosophy

mel.andrews@tufts.edu

As a philosopher of mind, biology, and cognitive science, my research focuses on the phenomena of cognition (anticipatory dynamics) and life (far from thermodynamic equilibrium steady-state maintaining dynamics). The central thesis of my work is that these two dynamics necessitate one another. I compare and contrast the merits and explanatory scope of conceptual and formal models of life and mind, and explore the implications of these considerations for some of the major outstanding questions in the cognitive and biological sciences and in the philosophy of mind.

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Fotini Charalabidou

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

513-302-8618

charalfi@mail.uc.edu

My current academic interest focuses on the philosophy of psychology, and the interdisciplinary research between philosophy and the sciences of the brain and mind. Lately, I have been particularly interested in describing and interpreting psychological and social phenomena, to assist in generating exciting hypotheses both for philosophy and science to test. One of the areas of research that have captured my interest the most and seem to lay fertile ground for the application of this approach opts for a better understanding of implicit bias.

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Clif John-Diego Clemotte

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

clemotcd@mail.uc.edu

I am interested in two questions in philosophy of cognitive science: by what means can we establish a taxonomy of the brain, and how do organisms perceive the world? My current research seeks answers within an ecological psychology framework. I further want to connect potential answers to traditional queries on metaphysics and criteria for knowledge.

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Vincent James del Prado

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

delpravj@mail.uc.edu

Generally, my interests are ethics, meta-ethics, and topics at the intersection of philosophy of mind and language. Particularly, I am motivated by ethical and aesthetic questions concerning nature and technology, the idea of "meaning" in life, linguistic meaning, the history and philosophy of cognitive science (esp. linguistics), and the connection between language and thought.

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Jacob Bauman Ebbs

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

ebbsjb@mail.uc.edu

My main interests are in ethics and in philosophy of mind. In ethics I focus on moral responsibility, punishment, and victimhood, especially in the context of criminal justice.
In phil. mind I focus on questions regarding cognition, action, and embodiment.
I have ancillary interests in the philosophy/psychology of education and of humor.

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Kyle Keenan Furlane

Philosophy

furlankk@mail.uc.edu

My current research is an interdisciplinary exploration of the connection between empathy and moral behavior which uses empirical work from psychology and neuroscience to give insight into philosophical ethics. I argue that many moral failings, from the mundane to the horrific, are the result of a lack of "moral perception", not a lack of moral judgment or motivation, and that some forms of empathy are necessary to develop and improve our moral perception.

I also teach pre-college philosophy (or "philosophy for children") around Cincinnati in elementary schools and high schools.

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Qianrong Gong

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

gongqg@mail.uc.edu

Qianrong GONG is a graduate student in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati. She works in philosophy of mind and cognitive science with a particular interest in action. She also explores philosophy of social science, moral philosophy, and world philosophies.

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Brad Aaron Griggs

Instructor - Adj, Philosophy

ARTSCI

513-556-6324

griggsba@ucmail.uc.edu

My research interests lie in metaphysics, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of mind. I am particularly interested in the nature of properties and how a powers ontology—one that admits irreducibly dispositional properties—fairs against rival ontologies in developing accounts of causation, modality, laws of nature, and emergence. I am also interested in environmental ethics and the history of philosophy—especially early modern philosophy.

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Ilir Isufi

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

isufiir@mail.uc.edu

My main interests are in philosophy of science, philosophy of mind/cognitive science, bioethics, and their intersections. Within these areas, I am most intrigued by questions concerning perception, the relationship between language and thought, psychiatric disorders, diagnostic labels, and the role of philosophy in the context of the life sciences.

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Jonathan Christopher Kanzelmeyer

Instructor - Adj, Philosophy

ARTSCI

513-556-6324

kanzeljc@ucmail.uc.edu

I am interested in complexity, chaos, emergence, reduction, the concept of information, and the use and implications of non-linear, dynamical models in the natural sciences. I also enjoy thinking about foundational issues in mathematics, logic, and the theory of computation.

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Brianna Larson

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

larsonba@mail.uc.edu

https://www.briannalarson.com/

My interests, while broad, are in the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, social epistemology, and value theory. I am particularly drawn to the connections between philosophy and psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science.

Historically, my work has focused on topics in consciousness, the philosophy of mind, social philosophy, affective introspection, and the philosophy of emotion. Lately, I’ve been interested in questions related to well-being, personal identity and narrative, feminist social epistemology, and social power.

I also have interests in pedagogy and philosophy for/with children. I am an active member of UC's Philosophy for Children Research and Outreach group. For 2024-2025, I am focusing on curriculum development for 5th and 6th grade classrooms.

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Vanessa Taylor Petersen Lovato

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

lovatovt@mail.uc.edu

I'm primarily interested in feminist philosophy, philosophy of science, and the intersection between the two. My work is currently focused in philosophy of biology and feminist philosophy. I'm also interested in critical phenomenology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of cognitive science.

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Collin Ford Lucken

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

luckencn@mail.uc.edu

My research investigates the notion that what we know is what we can make. Recently, I've been especially interested in what engineers building intelligent autonomous robots have taught philosophers and cognitive scientists about the mind. Building on this case study, my dissertation argues that what philosophers typically consider progress in science is more accurately understood as advacement in engineering.

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Timothy Patrick Luft

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

luftty@mail.uc.edu

Timothy Luft is a graduate assistant and PhD student in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati on the Sciences Track. His main research interests are in philosophy of science and formal methods. Within these areas, he is currently focused on answering questions about the structure of scientific theories, the role of idealizations in scientific theorizing, and whether contemporary understandings of the unity of science can be seen in ancient philosophies of science. He is also interested in exploring the applicability of concepts and tools from computer science to questions in philosophy of science.

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Daniel Elgin Mattox

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

mattoxde@mail.uc.edu

I am happy to answer questions from prospective students about the philosophy department! Please feel free to email me.

My primary research interests are at the intersection of life, mind, and value; I am especially interested in exploring how the life/mind continuity of enactivism can be extended to account for value theory and serve as the groundwork for a new kind of virtue ethics and moral psychology. Beyond my main research areas, I have interests in political philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, critical theory in the humanities and social sciences, and public humanities. My research also draws on global literatures across disciplines and is empirically informed.

I have worked for 4 years at the University of Cincinnati Press. I started in my first year as a Graduate Assistant working in acquisitions and have since been working as an Assistant Editor working on special projects for the press. I have managed the peer review process for several manuscripts, reviewed manuscript proposals, worked as a developmental editor, and done almost every part of the acquisitions process.

I regularly participate in the Research and Discussion Group for the Center for Public Engagement with Science, the Ethics Journal Club, and the annual European Studies Workshop. I was previously the facilitator for the Undergraduate Philosophy Club, I am currently the coach of the first University of Cincinnati Ethics Bowl Team, and sometimes a participant in the Graduate-Undergraduate Research Mentorship program.

In my spare time I like to bake and cook, feed random street cats, and volunteer with local nonprofits and political campaigns. I’m also an AmeriCorps alumnus and an Honorary Kentucky Colonel.

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Carlos Andres Munoz-Serna

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

munozca@mail.uc.edu

My research focuses on studying emotions, specifically their internal structure, their relationship with other mental states, and their role in personal and political contexts. I am also interested in political psychology, the metaphysics of freedom, and moral responsibility in democratic settings.

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Damilola Victoria Oduola

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

oduoladv@mail.uc.edu

My name is Damilola Victoria Oduola. I am a PhD student at the department of philosophy, University of Cincinnati and also a presidential fellow at the University of Cincinnati Graduate College. I hold a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in philosophy at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
My research interests lie in the fields of bioethics, migration ethics and development studies. My research focuses on the effects of health workers’ migration on health systems in Africa, the position of health systems, health administration and health workers in the narrative of pandemic planning, the effects and conditions for voluntary and mandatory vaccination and ethical issues in health administration.

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Zachary Daniel Peck

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

peckzy@mail.uc.edu

Generally construed, my primary research interests lie at the intersection of the philosophy of technology (specifically, artificial intelligence), philosophy of science (specifically, the biological and social sciences), social and political philosophy, and logic. In particular, I am interested in drawing insights from the biological and social sciences that are relevant to mitigating risks caused by digital technologies. The driving assumption of my research is that post-twentieth-century humanity, due to the accelerated pace at which our technologies change and adapt to both our behavior and the environment, is likely to undergo an accelerated pace of cultural, cognitive, and collective evolution. As a fleeting awareness riding this wave of change, I am simply trying to wrap my head around where we’re headed. How are we likely to adapt as a species given the rapidly changing nature of contemporary technology that is increasingly shaping the contours of all corners of our lives?

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Zachary Luxton Srivastava

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

srivaszl@mail.uc.edu

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I-Jan Wang

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

wangin@mail.uc.edu

I-Jan mainly does philosophy of psychology and philosophy of mind. His research focuses on the cognitive capacities called mental simulation and/or mental imagery, and how folk psychological concepts like imagination, remembering, and dreaming relate to them. Furthermore, he is also interested in the possible role of the body and the environment in mental simulation, and how A.I. simulation can(not) be compared with human simulation. Recently, he has dived into some specific topics, including how mental simulation disconnected the mind from the environment, how creativity arises from the mismatch between language and mental imagery, the relationship between agency and embodied imagination, how the social norm shapes the ability of remembering, and how we empathize with the simulated characters within our dreams.

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Valencia Duplessis White

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

whitev2@mail.uc.edu

Valencia White graduated from Spelman College with a degree in Philosophy, and a minor in Women's Studies. Her main interests are feminist philosophy and the philosophy of cognitive science. Specifically, She is interested in exploring the intersections between Black feminist theory and embodied cognition.

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Taraneh R Wilkinson

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

wilkinth@mail.uc.edu

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Jianlang Yin

Graduate Assistant, Philosophy

jianlayn@mail.uc.edu

I am currently interested in a lot of topics in philosophy of mind and philosophy of cognitive science, including mental imagery, imagination, concept, and perception.

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Kyle Joseph Yrigoyen

Philosophy

yrigoykj@mail.uc.edu

My research falls within the scope of philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, philosophy of technology, and value theory. Specifically, I'm interested in the role that technological artifacts play in cognition, science, and ethics, as well as the relationship between technology and values.

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