Department of Philosophy & Religion
Faculty & Staff
Meet the Department of Philosophy & Religion faculty and staff.
Faculty
Eric Smaw
Department Chair | 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
Professor of Philosophy
French House Room 103
T. 407.646.2518
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.

Todd French
Assistant Professor of Religion
French House Room 204
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.

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.
Robert McDonald
Visiting Assistant Professor
French House – Room 206
T. 407.691.1096
B.A. Rollins College
M.A. University of Virginia
Research Interests: Indian Philosophy, Hindu narrative literature, Sanskrit poetry and linguistics, Hindu-Buddhist Debates, Dharma and religious ethics.
Courses taught: Asian Religions, Mind and Meditation, Buddhist Ethics

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
Associate Professor of Philosophy
French House Room 104
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

Scott Rubarth
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.