Education

Ph.D., Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania, August, 2007
  •   Dissertation: Before the Text: Phenomenology and Revelation 
B.A., South Asia Regional Studies, University of Pennsylvania, May, 2001
  • Summa Cum Laude 
  • Phi Beta Kappa 
University of Minnesota, Undergraduate Studies, 1996-1998
Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne, July-August, 1999
Banaras Hindu University, Banaras, India, Visiting Student, September-December, 1997

Academic Positions Held

University of Virginia’s Semester at Sea Program, Lecturer, Spring 2012
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, MSCD, 2007-present
Director of Religious Studies Program, MSCD, 2008-present
Fellow, Critical Writing Program, UPenn, 2006-2007
Instructor, General Studies Program, UPenn, 2005

Publications

Books:
  • At the Boundaries of Thought: Paul Ricoeur and the Philosophy of Religion.  Edited by Adam Graves, Northwestern University Press, forthcoming.  [This volume contains original translations of several pieces by Ricoeur as well as contributions from leading interpreters of Ricoeur, such as Richard Kearney, William Schweiker, Jean Greisch, Pamela Sue Anderson and Mark Wallace.]
        In Preparation:
  • Before the Text: Phenomenology and Revelation [This is a work that grows out of the substantial revision of my dissertation]
  • Freedom, Sin and Guilt: Religion and the Making of Modern Autonomy [Drafts of two of four chapters completed; yet to be submitted for review]
Articles:
  • “Revelation and Event: Ricoeur on the Uniqueness of Scripture” in Paul Ricoeur: Poetics and Religion. BETL, 240, Edited by J. Verheyden, T.L. Hettema,  P. Vandecasteele. Leuven, Peeters Press, 2011, pp. 503-517.
  • “Freedom, Responsibility and the Hermeneutics of Confession” in Who is Calling: Hermeneutics and Responsibility. Edited by Thomas Wentzer and Jon Nielsen, (accepted). 
  • “Being Guilty: Ricoeur’s Hermenuetics of Avowal” in At the Boundaries of Thought. Edited by Adam Graves (forthcoming).
        In Preparation:
  • “God’s Awful Majesty: Ignorance, Freedom and Moral Faith in Kant” 
  • "Kairos, Christlichkeit, and Counter-Contamination in the Early Heidegger"
Reviews: 
  • Empathy in the Context of Philosophy (Lou Agosta, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) in Choice, January Issue, 2011.
  • Ways of Knowing: Kierkegaard’s Pluralist Epistemology (M. G. Piety, Baylor University Press, 2010) in Choice, April Issue, 2011. 
  • Religious Philosophy as Multidisciplinary Comparative Inquiry (Wesley J. Wildman, SUNY Press, 2010) in Choice, July Issue, 2011.

Conferences/Invited Paper

      Peer Reviewed:
  • "Ricoeur and the Phenomenology of Revelation," New Perspectives on Hermeneutics in the Social Sciences and Practical Philosophy, National Research University, Moscow, Russia, September, 2011.
  • "Freedom, Responsibility and the Hermeneutics of Confession," Southwest Seminar in Continental Philosophy, University of Denver, Denver, 2011.
  • “From Debt to Destiny: Ricoeur’s Hidden Heideggerianism” Society for Ricoeur Studies Annual Conference held in conjunction with SPEP, Montréal, Canada, 2010.
  • “Freedom, Responsibility and the Hermeneutics of Confession” (plenary address), Who is Calling? Responsible Hermeneutics-Hermeneutics of Responsibility, Institute of Philosophy and History of Ideas at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, 2010.
  • “Kant’s Liminal Lord: Ignorance, Freedom and Moral Faith,” Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Montréal, 2009.
  • “Kierkegaard and the Symbolism of Sin,” Society for Ricoeur Studies Annual Conference held in conjunction with SPEP, George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia, 2009.
  • “God’s Awful Majesty: Kant on Moral Worth and the Theoretical Unkowability of God,” Regional Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Denver, 2009.
  • “Revelation, Sacred or Profane: Ricoeur on the Uniqueness of Scripture,” International Conference: Poetics and Religion, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, 2008.
  • “Ricoeur on Translation: Philosophy, Poetics and the Production of Equivalents,” Society for Ricoeur Studies Annual Conference, DePaul University, Chicago, 2007.
  • “Between Athens and Jerusalem: Ricoeur on the Relationship between Speculative and Religious Discourses,” After Ricoeur Conference, Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma, 2006. 
  • “At the Brink of Conscience: Rethinking the Relationship between Phenomenology and Hermeneutics in Ricoeur’s Philosophy of Religion,” Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Philadelphia, 2006.
  • “On the (Im)possibility of a Phenomenology of Revelation: Jean-Luc Marion on the Anonymity of the Call,” Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, San Antonio, 2004.
  • “Hermeneutics of the Self: An Analysis of Paul Ricoeur’s Critique of the Cogito,” Annual Meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and the Human Sciences held in conjunction with the Society of Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Memphis, 2004.
  • “The Hermeneutics of Self: Textuality and the Social Sciences,” Bound/Unbound: Textuality Within and Beyond the Book, 3rd Annual Graduate Humanities Forum Conference, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 2003. 
      Invited:
  • "Freedom, Responsibility and the Hermeneutics of Confession," University of Cape Town, South Africa, March 5th, 2012.
  • “God’s Awful Majesty: Ignorance, Freedom and Moral Faith in Kant,” invited presentation, CSU’s Philosophy Department’s Colloquium, November, 2010.
  • Respondent, “Ricoeur as Philosopher and as Theologian” Society for Ricoeur Studies Annual Conference held in conjunction with SPEP, George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia, 2009.
  • Respondent, “Religion and Continental Thought: From Heidegger and Levinas to Vattimo, Badiou, and Cavell,” Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, San Diego, 2007.
  • "Kairos, Christlichkeit and (Counter)contamination in Early Heidegger,” Department of Religious Studies Colloquium, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 2007.

Fellowships and Awards

  • International Studies Faculty Seminar Grant (approx. $5,000), Metro State, 2010
  • Letters, Arts and Sciences Pilot Grant ($3,000), Metro State, 2009
  • Dean’s Professional Development Travel Award (total $8,000), Metro State, 2007-10
  • Office of International Studies Travel Grant ($4,00), Metro State, 2008, 2010 
  • Chimicles Fellowship ($20,000+tuition), UPenn, 2005-2006
  • Boardman Fellowship (full stipend+tuition), UPenn, 2001-2005
  • Nominated for Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award, UPenn, 2004
  • Graduate Student Association Travel Grant, UPenn, 2004
  • School of Arts and Sciences Research Grant, UPenn, 2004
  • Theta Alpha Kappa: National Honor Society for Religious Stud./Theology, 2003
  • Phi Beta Kappa, 2001 
  • Holden Furber Prize for Best Paper on South Asian Related Topic, UPenn, 2001
  • South Asian Regional Studies Summer Research Grant, UPenn (conducted research in Rajasthan, India, and Madhya Pradesh, India), 1999.
  • Distinguished Philosophy Student Award, University of Minnesota, 1996-1997
  • University of Minnesota Scholar Award, 1996-1997

Editorial Experience

Editor, The Boardman Lectureship in Christian Ethics, 2002-2005
  • Staudenmaier, John. “The Greater Good” in Boardman Lecture XXXX, Philadelphia: Department of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania, 2005. ScholarlyCommons@Penn. http://repository.upenn.edu/boardman/7.
  • Dyson, Michael. “Religions and Terrors,” in Boardman Lecture XXXIX, Philadelphia: Department of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania, 2004. ScholarlyCommons@Penn. http://repository.upenn.edu/boardman/1.
  • Volf, Miroslav. “Christianity and Violence,” in Boardman Lecture XXXVIII, Philadelphia: Department of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania, 2002. ScholarlyCommons@Penn. http://repository.upenn.edu/boardman/2.

Professional Service

  • Referee, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, 2011.
  • Member, Submission Review Committee, Society for Ricoeur Studies Annual Conference, 2008-present.
  • Referee, Expositions: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, 2007.
  • Planning Committee Member, Society for Ricoeur Studies Annual Conference, DePaul University, Chicago, 2007.
  • Session Organizer,“Ricoeur: Religion at the Limits of Philosophy,” Annual Meeting of the Society of Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (SPEP), Session 7, Philadelphia, 2006. 
  • Co-organizer, Violence and Religion, a one-day symposium sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies, UPenn, 2002.  
  • Coordinator, Boardman Lecture Series in Christian Ethics, 2001-2005

Departmental and College Service

  • Director of Majors, 2009-2010.  
  • Faculty Search Committee, 2010
  • Faculty Senator, 2009-2010
  • Participant, Program Peer-Assessment, 2009
  • Dept. Representative, Metro State Open House, 2007-2010
  • Faculty Search Committee Member, 2007-2008
  • Dept. Representative, Majors Fair, 2007-2010
  • Participant, Writing Curriculum Pilot Program, University of Pennsylvania, 2005-2006. 

Languages

Reading Knowledge:
  • French
  • German 
  • Sanskrit

Professional Membership

  • Society for Ricoeur Studies
  • American Academy of Religion
  • American Philosophical Association
  • Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
  • Oriental Club of Philadelphia (elected member, 2001)