Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

• 2011: Ph.D. in Philosophy from University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina. (Dissertation successfully defended on March 21, 2011.)
• 1994: MA in Philosophy from University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.  Passed Comprehensive Oral Exam with "Distinction."
• 1992: BA in Philosophy from Pepperdine University, Malibu, California.

CURRENT EMPLOYMENT

• Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Pierce College (6201 Winnetka Avenue, Woodland Hills, CA 91372)
• Accreditation Coordinator, Pierce College (2011-2013)
  

MEMBERSHIPS and AWARDS

• Member, Phi Sigma Tau (National Philosophy Honor Society)
• Pierce College Golden Apple Award for Teaching (2006)
• National Dean’s List Nomination for Who’s Who of American Teachers (2007)

EDITING, REVIEWS, and PUBLICATIONS

• Research for nationwide accreditation project conducted by Education Advisors, Inc.
• Exercise and test bank fact checking, and authoring of supplemental online materials for classic logic text by Prof. Irving M. Copi.  This work was contracted through nSightWorks for Pearson Publishing.
• Exercise and test bank fact checking, and authoring of supplemental online materials for a new logic text by Prof. Stan Baronett, published by Pearson.  Work performed and completed through contract with Pearson. 
  
• A video tutorial series for the Baronett text included writing and voicing concept and exercise tutorials, and editing each tutorial using Screenflow.
• Review, Philosophy Goes to the Movies, by Christopher Falzon, for Routledge Publishers.
• Review, Writing Philosophy Papers, by Zachary Seech, for Thomson-Wadsworth.
• Critical Thinking and Logic textbook written for a home schooling publisher.  This manuscript is currently in edits, and I may attempt to place the manuscript with another academic publisher for the home schooling market.
• Non-academic writing details can be found on my freelance writing page at this Web site.

DISSERTATION: "A Standpoint for Critique: The Metaphorical Status of Critique in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason" (Martin Donougho, Advisor)

AREAS OF COMPETENCE:

• History of Philosophy:
  • Ancient Philosophy, e.g., Heraclitus, Plato, Aristotle, Stoics;
  • Modern Philosophy, e.g., Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant;
  • Existentialism - Kierkegaard, Sartre;
  • Contemporary Philosophy, e.g, Russell, Wittgenstein, Habermas;
  • Subjects and topics in the history of philosophy, e.g., the problem of representative perception, philosophy of metaphor
• Ethics (Theoretical and Applied)
• Critical Thinking and Symbolic Logic

AREAS AND TOPICS OF INTEREST (including those outside of philosophy):

• Metaphysics, e.g., determinism, free will, and moral responsibility; universals
• Philosophy of Mind, e.g., consciousness, personal identity
• Phenomenology (Husserl)
• Philosophy of (and in) Film and Television
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Education
• Causation
• Conditionals
• Sex and death, social and cultural issues, e.g., punishment and marriage.

PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES

• All the approaches I use are geared toward encompassing diversity in student skill level, educational background, age, religious tradition, and ethnicity.  Having said that, the philosophical enterprise and the materials themselves are diversity-friendly.
• Discussion: Most philosophy courses are, to my mind, best conducted by directed discussion, specifically question and answer (not necessarily Socratic).  Typically, I ask questions, solicit answers, and then ask further questions based on those answers.  Once the parts of a concept or argument has been elucidated by class members, I will summarize it to make it coherent.
• Conversational Lecture: When working with particularly abstruse writings or concepts, I often generate a narrative that weaves together historical, biographical, and anecdotal information helps students form an intellectual context.  This approach is only a propaedeutic, but as such serves introductory needs.
• Power Point Lecture: This method is used exclusively in logic courses, where imparting information precedes discussion and working exercises (the latter of which is done on the board).  The structure of the PP slides often provides students with an indirect orientation toward systematic thinking.

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIPS, CAMPUS VOLUNTEER WORK and DEPARTMENTAL PARTICIPATION

• Academic Scheduling Committee (since end of Fall 2011)
• Pierce College Accreditation Coordinator (since Spring 11)
• Pierce College Council (since Spring 11)
• Pierce College Academic Senate and Senate Exec (since Spring 11)
• Accreditation Steering Committee and Accreditation Exec (since Spring 11)
• Pierce College Black Student Alliance (since Fall 09)
• Educational Planning Committee (since Spring 08)
• Pierce College Student Success Committee (since Fall 07)
• Pierce College Professional Development Committee, Mentor/Mentee Sub-Committee (Fall 08-Fall 09)
• Pierce College Philosophy/Sociology Scholarship Committee Member and Co-Coordinator (Since Spring 2008)
• Volunteer Philosophy Instructor, Pierce College Center for Academic Success (formerly The Learning Center) (since Fall 08)
• Pierce CollegePhilosophy Club Founder and Faculty Co-Advisor (Fall 08)
•  Work on Pierce College Departmental Re-Structuring and Program Development
• PD40 Volunteer Guest Speaker on Critical Thinking (Spring 08-10)

 
TEACHING EXPERIENCE DETAILS:

• Assistant Professor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA. (Spring 2011) As the college's Accreditation Coordinator through Spring 2013, my duties are largely administrative.  I still conducted two sections of Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 1).
• Assistant Professor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA. (Spring 2011)
  • As the college's Accreditation Coordinator through Spring 2013, my duties are largely administrative.  I still conducted one course: Symbolic Logic (Phil. 9).
    
• Assistant Professor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA. (Fall 2010)
  • I conducted sections of Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 1) and Symbolic Logic (Phil. 9).
    
• Assistant Professor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA. (Spring 2010)
  • I conducted sections of Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 1) and Symbolic Logic (Phil. 9).
• Assistant Professor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA. (Fall 2009)
  • I conducted sections of Logic in Practice (Phil. 6) and Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 1).
• Assistant Professor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA. (Spring 2009)
  • I conducted sections of Society and Values, Logic in Practice, Logic and Composition, and Symbolic Logic.
• Assistant Professor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA. (Fall 2008)
  • Symbolic Logic (Phil. 9; two sections); Logic in Practice (Phil. 6). Phil. 6 is a critical thinking course that covers basic concepts in argumentation, including informal fallacies, deductive, and inductive logics.  Phil. 9 is a standard symbolic logic course in which students learn how to test for validity, translate arguments into symbolic notation, and construct and evaluate propositional (sentential) and predicate/quantificational (including polyadic predicate/overlapping quantificational) logic arguments.
• Assistant Professor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA. (Summer 2008)
  • Summer A 08: Introduction to Philosophy (two sections of Phil. 1). Both courses constructed, run, and managed by me.  Phil. 1 ran as a survey course of areas and topics in the history of philosophy, with an emphasis on metaphysics, ontology, and epistemology, from Plato to Kant, and a focus subject on free will – readings entirely from primary sources.
• Assistant Professor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA. (Spring 2008)
  • Symbolic Logic (two sections of Phil. 9); Logic in Practice (two sections of Phil. 6); Logic and Composition (Phil. 5). Logic and Composition (Phil. 5) Phil. 5 is a writing-intensive course designed to introduce and develop systematic critical thinking skills.  Students are required to write 8,000 words worth of papers in which they identify, construct, analyze, and evaluate arguments.  Special emphasis is placed on learning about specific kinds and types of argument, including those that are fallacious.
• Assistant Professor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA. (Fall 2007)
  • Symbolic Logic (Phil. 9; two sections); Logic in Practice (Phil. 6; two sections during the regular semester, and a third taught through the college’s PACE program).
• Lecturer, California State University, Los Angeles, LA, CA (Summer 2007).
  • Moral Issues in a Multicultural Society (Phil. 220).  A standard contemporary moral issues course constructed, run, and managed by me.  A theoretical framework (e.g., virtue theory, relativism, deontology, and utilitarianism), the course focused on same-sex marriage, abortion, euthanasia, war, terrorism, and torture.  All assessments were written.
• Instructor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA (Summer A, 2007)
  • Logic and Composition (Phil. 5 Honors) and Logic in Practice (Phil. 6).  Both courses constructed, run, and managed by me.  The Honors Program course followed the same structure as a standard Logic and Composition course, but students were required to write 10,000 words.
• Temporary Instructor, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA (mid-Spring, 2007)
  • Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 200) I recently returned to Pepperdine to fill in for a professor who, due to health issues, was unable to complete the term.  Details furnished upon request.
• Instructor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA (Spring, 2007)
  • Critical Thinking and Composition (Phil. 5) and Symbolic Logic (2 sections of Phil. 9). All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.
• Instructor, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA (Spring, 2007)
  • Introduction to Critical Thinking (2 sections of Phil. 25) and Logic (Phil. 30). All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.  Phil. 25 corresponds to Pierce’s Phil. 5 course.  As such, it’s a writing-intensive introduction to critical thinking.  Phil. 30 is an introduction to symbolic logic, and as such it covers all the ground covered in Pierce’s Phil. 9, except it does not extend to predicate logic.  Instead, in addition to basic propositional logic, more time is spent on philosophy of language, fallacies, and scientific reasoning.
• Instructor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA (Winter Intercession, 2007)
  • Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 1) and Logic in Practice (Phil. 6).  All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.  Phil. 1 was a survey course of classic topics in the history of Western philosophy.  Phil. 6 was a critical thinking course emphasizing the identification, analysis, evaluation, and construction of arguments in daily life.
• Instructor, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA (Winter Intercession, 2007)
  • Introduction to Critical Thinking (Phil. 25).  This course is constructed, run, and managed by me.
• Instructor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA (Fall, 2006)
  • Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 1) and two sessions of Ethics (Phil. 20).  All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.  Phil. 20 was conducted through Pierce’s PACE program.  It covers ethical theory and some applied ethics.  Readings for both classes come from primary source material.
• Instructor, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA (Fall, 2006)
  • Introduction to Critical Thinking (Phil. 25).  This course is constructed, run, and managed by me.
• Instructor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA (Summer B, 2006)
  • Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 1) and Logic in Practice (Phil. 6).  Both courses constructed, conducted, and managed by me.
• Instructor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA (Spring, 2006)
  • Critical Thinking and Composition (Phil. 5), two sections of Society and Values (Phil. 2), and Ethics (Phil. 20).  All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.  The Ethics course (Phil. 20) was taught for the Pierce College PACE program's new Los Angeles Unified School District employee degree program (Feb. – Mar.).  This eight week intensive course was part of a program designed specifically for LAUSD employees who wish to complete their AA or BA.  Many of these students never before attended college, or were returning to school after as long as twenty years.  Though the course was designed by me to meet the standard college level requirements, special care was taken to make the material accessible to students who were re-discovering academic skills, or were developing such for the first time.  One section of Society and Values (Phil. 2) was taught through Pierce's Outreach Program at Granada Hills High School.  The class was a mix of secondary school students and Pierce undergraduates.  Both Phil. 2 courses focused on classical ethical theories and their role in current and former societal values.
• Instructor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA (Winter Intercession, 2006)
  • Critical Thinking and Composition (Phil. 5), and Logic in Practice (Phil. 6).  All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.  These two intensive five week courses focused on methods of constructing, analyzing, and evaluating arguments.  Phil. 5 was a writing-intensive course, while Phil. 6 focused on logic in everyday life.
• Instructor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA (Fall, 2005)
  • Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 1), Contemporary Philosophy (Phil. 15), Logic and Composition (Phil. 5), and two sections of Logic in Practice (Phil. 6).  All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.  Phil. 1 ran as a survey course of classic topics in the history of philosophy, with an emphasis on metaphysics, ontology, and epistemology; Phil. 15 ran as a survey course of major 20th century thinkers (Dewey, Russell, Wittgenstein, Ayer, Austin, Husserl, Heidegger, Gadamer, Sartre, Derrida, and Rorty), with an emphasis on theories of truth and meaning; Phil. 5 focused on writing logically coherent and rigorous academic papers, while Phil. 6 for the PACE program was devoted to critical thinking methods and tools for everyday reasoning.
• Instructor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA (Summer B, 2005)
  • Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 1) and Logic in Practice (Phil. 6).  All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.
• Instructor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA (Spring, 2005)
  • Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 1) and Symbolic Logic (Phil. 9).  All courses constructed, conducted, and managed by me.
• Instructor, Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles, CA (Spring, 2005)
  • Critical Thinking (two courses of Phil. 10), Philosophy of Film (through the Weekend College; Phil. 178), and a 1-unit Philosophy of Children’s Literature (through the Weekend College; Phil. 198).  All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.  Constructed critical thinking course with traditional emphasis on natural language approaches to logic and informal fallacies.  The philosophy of film course focused on philosophical topics in film, along with a study of how film functions as a work of art.  The philosophy of children’s literature course focused on the underlying ethical theories in various children’s stories and fables; chose texts; wrote syllabi, lectures, handouts, exams.
• Instructor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA (Winter Intercession, 2005)
  •  Critical Thinking (Phil. 6).  The course was constructed, run, and managed by me.
• Instructor, Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles California (Fall, 2004)
  • 3 Critical Thinking (Phil. 10).  All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.  
• Instructor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, California (Fall, 2004)
• Symbolic Logic (Phil. 9) and Intro. to Phil. (Phil. 1).
  • All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.
• Instructor, Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles California (Spring, 2004)
  • Critical Thinking and Moral Values (Intro. Ethics, Phil. 21).  All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.  The ethics course covered traditional and contemporary ethical theories.
• Instructor, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, California (Spring, 2004)
  • Critical Thinking (Logic 6) and Intro. to Phil. (Phil. 1).  All courses constructed, conducted, and managed by me.
• Instructor, Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles California (Fall, 2003)
  • Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 15) and Critical Thinking (Phil. 10).  All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.   This course was taught for the Weekend College, a program devoted to working professionals who want to complete their bachelor’s degree while maintaining a full time schedule.  The course, which met six weekends throughout the semester, was run as a concentration of a semester’s worth of credits.  This course focused on diverse and traditional readings in the history of philosophy.  Critical Thinking was taught through the college’s AA nursing program.
• Instructor, LACC Mission College campus, Sylmar, California (Fall, 2003)
  • Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 1) and Critical Thinking (Logic 6).  All courses constructed, run, and managed by me.
• Instructor, Woodbury University, Burbank, California (Fall, 2003)
  • Applied Ethics class.  The course was constructed, run, and managed by me.  Constructed course with a focus on moral issues applications, including abortion, capital punishment, affirmative action, and homosexual marriage; chose text; wrote syllabi, lectures, handouts, exams; graded exams, quizzes, and papers; held office hours and met students as needed; managed class.
• Instructor, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California (January-April, 2001)
  • Introduction to Philosophy (Phil. 101).  The traditional, discussion-based survey course was constructed, run, and managed by me.  
• Teaching Assistant, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California (January-April, 2001)
  • Graded exams and lectured on material for exam reviews for Western Heritage (Western civilization) lecture course.
• Teaching Assistant, USC Philosophy Department, Columbia, South Carolina (August, 1997-December, 2000)
  • Introduction to Logic (Phil. 110) for three semesters (class size: 60+) and two summer sessions (class size: approximately 10 per).
  • Constructed courses beginning with informal fallacies and natural language through quantificational logic; chose texts for some semesters; wrote syllabi, lectures, handouts, quizzes, exams; graded exams, quizzes, and papers; experimented with various pedagogical approaches; held office hours and met students as needed; managed classes.
  • Taught Introduction to Philosophy (class size: averaged approximately 8 students per) five times over two summers
  • Constructed courses topically; chose texts for some semesters; wrote syllabi, lectures, handouts, quizzes, exams; graded exams, quizzes, and papers; experimented with various pedagogical approaches; held office hours and met students as needed; managed classes.
  • Assisted professors in the organization and management of Logic, Introduction to Philosophy, and Contemporary Moral Issues courses, all of which consisted of over 250 students in each.
  • Discussion leader for weekly discussion groups in each of the three course types listed above.
  • Managed all aspects of discussion group classes for courses listed above: graded exams and papers, conducted office hours, investigated plagiarism suspicions, reviewed paper drafts, held lab hours for logic lab (computer program-assisted logic homework) in which students from any logic class could receive tutelage, held review sessions with fellow TA’s for exams, and occasionally lectured for CMI professor during her travels to conferences.
• Research Assistant, USC Philosophy Department, Columbia, South Carolina (May-December, 2000)
  • Assisted bioethics and philosophy of science professor who was working on an AIDS anthology textbook.
  • Coordinated and tracked permissions from various publications and publishing houses.
  • Researched materials for anthology.
• Tutor, USC Athletic Enrichment Center, Columbia, South Carolina (September, 1998-December, 2000)
  • Tutored athletes from various sports and class years for Logic, Introduction to Philosophy, Contemporary Moral Issues, and Ethics.
• Further course details furnished upon request.

GRADUATE SEMINARS COMPLETED:

• Presocratics (Fall, 1992)
• Philosophy of Religion (Spring, 1993)
• Kierkegaard (Spring, 1993)
• Plato (Fall, 1993)
• Hegel (Fall, 1993)
• German Critique (Fall, 1997)
• Philosophy of Tragedy (Fall, 1997)
• Stoics (Fall, 1997)
• Habermas (Spring, 1998)
• Kant’s First Critique (Spring, 1998)
• Kant’s Ethics (Spring, 1998)
• 20th Century Ethics (Fall, 1998)
• Adorno/Benjamin (Spring, 1999)
• Plato (Spring, 1999)
• Epistemology (Fall, 2000)
• Ongoing seminar entitled, “Teaching Philosophy” included topics ranging from constructing courses to plagiarism to pedagogical methods to working within the university system.
• Sat in on Epistemology, Hegel’s Logic, and Heidegger seminars.

DEPARTMENT CHAIRS AND PROFS. (as of the time I was at each school):

• Dr. Anna Bruzzese (Sociology), Chair, Philosophy and Sociology Department, Piece College (BruzzeseAA@piercecollege.edu; 818-710-4280)
• Dr. Mike Finkenbinder, Social Sciences Division Chair, Pasadena City College (626. 585. 7410; mafink@pasadena.edu)
• Dr. Wanda Teays, Philosophy Department Chair, Mount St. Mary’s College (310. 954. 4290; wteays@msmc.edu)
• Dr. Elisabeth Sandberg, Humanities Chair, Woodbury University (818. 767. 0888; Elisabeth.Sandberg@woodbury.edu)
• Dr. Constance Fulmer, (former) Humanities Chair, Pepperdine University (310. 456. 4000; constance.fulmer@pepperdine.edu)
• Myriam Mekelburg, Social Sciences Department, Mission College (818. 364. 7755)
• Davis Baird, Philosophy, University of South Carolina (803. 777. 4166; db@sc.edu)

OTHER REFERENCES

• Dr. Andrew Jones-Cathcart, Associate Professor, College of the Canyons. (Andrew.Jones-Cathcart@canyons.edu; 661. 259. 5378)
• Dr. Martin Donougho (Philosophy), Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of South Carolina (DONOUGHO@mailbox.sc.edu)