Books and Editorial Activities

Current Research

Curriculum Vitae

My research interests are primarily contemporary German and French philosophy, especially, phenomenology and its development in thinkers like Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, Scheler, Heidegger, Levinas, Derrida, Marion, Waldenfels, and Lefort.  Thematically, I am interested in the intersection of phenomenology and social ontology, critical theory, and the philosophy of religion. 

I explore many of these interests in my teaching:  on the graduate level, in seminars devoted to careful and systematic readings of major continental figures; on the undergraduate level, in classes I have designed on the philosophy of film, the philosophy of education, ethics, and mystical literature and meditation.  I also regularly conduct an informal research seminar in phenomenology [The SIU Study Group in Phenomenology] in which we engage in focused phenomenological work.  The Study Group has taken as themes, the phenomenology of hope, despair, trust, and betrayal, and is presently focusing on a phenomenology of repentance and forgiveness.  Future plans include work on the phenomenology of guilt and shame.