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.