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Department of Philosophy & Religion

Faculty & Staff

Meet the Department of Philosophy & Religion faculty and staff.

Faculty

Todd French

Todd French

Department Co-Chair | Assistant Professor of Religion

French House – Room 104

T. 407.691.1237

B.A. Lipscomb University
M.Div. Union Theological Seminary
Th.M. Princeton Theological Seminary
Ph.D. Columbia University

Research interests: Early Christianity, Byzantine Hagiography, Syriac, Islam, Mysticism, Gender, Poverty, and Extremes in Religion.

Courses: Christianity: Thought and Practice; Islam: History and Beliefs; New Testament; Sex, Violence, and Religion; Food, Poverty, Social Justice; Mysticism: East and West.

Scott Rubarth

Scott Rubarth

Department Co-Chair | George D. and Harriet W. Cornell Scholar in Classical Studies | Associate Professor of Classical Philosophy

French House – Room 203

T. 407.691.1062

B.A. Los Angeles Baptist College
M.A. San Diego State University 
Ph.D. University of Toronto

Research interests: Ancient Philosophy and Science, Stoicism, Philosophy of Media.

Courses: Early Western Philosophy, The Pursuit of the Good Life (Classical Ethics), Argumentation and Media Manipulation.

Joshua R. Brown

Joshua R. Brown

Visiting Instructor in Philosophy

Orlando Hall - Room 106

B.A. Rollins College
M.A. Brandeis University

Research interests: Political Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy of Race, Philosophy of Law, Capital Punishment.

Courses: Social and Political Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy of Race, Philosophy of Law, 'The Big Questions', Medical Ethics

Yudit K. Greenberg

Yudit K. Greenberg

George D. and Harriet W. Cornell Chair of Religion | Professor of Religion | Coordinator of Jewish Studies Program

French House – Room 205

T. 407.646.2176

B.A. California State University at Hayward
M.A. San Francisco State University
Ph.D. Graduate Theological Union

Research interests: Modern and Contemporary Jewish Thought; Cross-Cultural Concepts of love, eros, the body; Feminist philosophy and theology; Comparative Religion; Comparative Studies of Hindu and Jewish Philosophy and Religion.

Courses: Jewish Life and Thought; Religion and the Body; Women and Religion; Modern and Contemporary Jewish thought. 

Greenberg has lectured nationally and internationally, has served as co-chair of the studies of Judaism section of the American Academy of Religion and is on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion. A native of Israel, she has been a very active voice and presence in the religious and spiritual life of the Central Florida community. She has been a visiting scholar at the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard and, in spring 2001, was a visiting scholar at the Centre for Jewish Studies at Oxford University.

PublicationsThe Routledge Handbook of Religion and the Body - 1st Edition - Yudit

Jingyu Liu

Jingyu Liu

Assistant Professor of Religion

French House - Room 204

407.646.2518

B.A. Huazhong University of Science & Technology (Wuhan, China)
M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong
Ph.D. Harvard University 

Research interests: Asian religions, Buddhism, Daoism, popular religion, religion and media, religion and literature. 

Courses: Asian Religions; Mind and Meditation; Japanese Anime and Religion.

Margaret McLaren

Margaret McLaren

George D. and Harriet W. Cornell Chair | Professor of Philosophy

French House – Room 102

T. 407.646.1508

B.Phil. Miami University (Ohio)
M.A. Northwestern University
Ph.D. Northwestern University

Research interests: Human Rights and Globalization: Feminist Theory and Gender Issues; 20th Century French Philosophy.

Courses: Women and Globalization; Gender, Rights, and Relativism; Feminist Theory; Foucault Seminar.

L. Ryan Musgrave

L. Ryan Musgrave

Associate Professor of Philosophy

French House – Room 103

T. 407.646.2177

B.A. Mary Washington College
M.A. Purdue University
Ph.D. Purdue University

Research Interests: Philosophy of Law, Social and Political Philosophy, Aesthetics, Feminist Theory, American Philosophy, and Philosophy of Education.

Courses: Ethics (theoretical and applied); Aesthetics; Sociopolitical and Legal Philosophy; Feminist Philosophy.

Serving as Senior Fellow for AAC & U 2017-18

 

Ryan Bitetti Putzer

Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy

French House – Room 206

T. 407.691.1096

B.A. Johns Hopkins University 
Ph.D. Harvard University (Biophysics)
Ph.D. Stanford University (Philosophy)

Research Interests: History of Philosophy (esp. Ancient Greek and Early Modern), Philosophy of Science.

Courses: History of Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Mind, Logic.

Eric Smaw

Professor of Philosophy | Debate Team Faculty Advisor | Pre-Law Advisor

French House – Room 202

T. 407.691.1752

B.A. Pennsylvania State University
M.A. Ohio University
M.A. University of Kentucky
Ph.D. University of Kentucky

Research interests: Philosophy of Law, Political Philosophy, Ethics, and Human Rights.

Courses: Logic, Philosophy of Science, African Philosophy, History of Philosophy (17th-19th Century).

Tom Cook

Tom Cook

Professor Emeritus

B.A. Johns Hopkins University
M.A. Vanderbilt University
Ph. D. Vanderbilt University

Research interests: 17th century philosophy (esp. Spinoza); Philosophy of Mind; Moral Psychology.

Courses: Philosophy of Mind, History of Modern Philosophy; Logic; Philosophy in Literature.

Hoyt Edge

Hoyt Edge

Professor Emeritus

B.A. Stetson University
M.A. Vanderbilt University
Ph.D. Vanderbilt University

Research interests: Cross-cultural Concepts of Self; Unusual Human Experiences (esp. Parapsychological); Experimental Philosophy

Courses: American Philosophy; Existentialism; The Self: Cross-cultural Perspectives; Introduction to Philosophy; Human Nature; Bali: Paradise in Film and Reality