Department of Philosophy
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Placement Information
This page lists placements from 1999 on, in reverse chronological order. Despite an ongoing tight market nationwide for new Ph.D.s entering academic philosophy, the Purdue University Philosophy Department has enjoyed a strong record of success in placing its graduates during this period. The Department granted Ph.D.s to sixty-four people in this decade. Fifty-five of those sixty-four did unrestricted searches for academic positions, and forty-nine of those fifty-five received a full-time offer of some sort.
We attribute this success in large measure to two things:
1. This department devotes considerable energy and resources to help its students secure academic appointments, beginning with the work of a Placement Director whose job is to oversee all aspects of preparation for and execution of the application process. This includes: an early-Fall placement meeting for prospective candidates (including those still a year away from completing their dissertations), during which the contents of an extensive placement manual are discussed in detail; multiple-faculty review of draft CVs; compilation of a full dossier, including a special letter about the applicant's success as a teacher written by the Director of Undergraduate Studies; full subsidy of copying and postage costs; mock interviews by faculty for all candidates; and on-site assistance and advice from the Placement Director at APA Meetings.
2. The Graduate Program at Purdue is structured so that all students emerge with strong competence in a range of traditional areas of philosophy. This, together with concerted effort at giving our students extensive experience teaching their own courses under faculty-mentor oversight, has earned Purdue a reputation of turning out unusually well-trained teachers of philosophy.
Many of our students begin applying for jobs as latter-stage ABD candidates; most of our students secure a continuing tenure-track job within three years of graduating. The list below shows the employment record for the past decade by year of graduation, listing current position first and then any previous ones. Names have been suppressed in those cases where we have not yet been able to secure permission to make this information available. Anyone listed as a tenured associate professor at an institution can be assumed to have begun there in an entry-level tenure-track position unless otherwise noted. Every effort has been made to provide information that is as complete and accurate as possible: please send corrections to sanders@purdue.edu. This list was updated Aug 3, 2009.
2009
- Andy Brei, "Our Right to Health and Our Duty to Nature," Northwest Vista College, adjunct.
- Rebecca Lloyd, "Descartes on Time," Assistant Professor, Kenyon College, tenure-track.
- Jason Waller, "Spinoza on the Persistence of Bodies," Assistant Professor, Eastern Illinois University, tenure-track.
2008
- Tully Borland, "The Ethics of Duns Scotus," Ouachita Baptist University, Assistant Professor, tenure-track.
- Randy Gibson, "The Mystery of Death: Toward a Pacifist Ethic."
- Timothy Allan Hillman, "Leibniz on Monadic Action and Divine Concurrence," University of Southern Alabama, Assistant Professor, tenure-track.
- Nathan Jun, "Anarchism and Contemporary Political Philosophy," Midwestern State University, Assistant Professor, tenure-track; degree in joint program in Philosophy and Literature.
- Shannon Nason, "Motion, Change, and Activity in the Thought of Soren Kierkegaard," Loyola Marymount University, Visiting Assistant Professor.
- Michael Paradiso-Michau, "The Face of the Neighbor: Ethics in Kierkegaard and Levinas," Pennsylvania State University, post-doctoral fellowship (2008), University of Dayton, Lecturer (2007), Ohio State University, Lecturer (2006).
- Ronald Rowe, "Contemporary Legal Theory and Philosophical Hermeneutics: Originalisms Failed Reliance on Intentionalist Theories of Meaning," working toward J.D. at University of Missouri School of Law.
- Michael Thune, "The Epistemology of Disagreement," Joliet Junior College, Assistant Professor, tenure-track.
- Christopher Tucker, "Neo-Mooreanism, Inferential Justification, and Transmission Failure," University of Auckland, Assistant Professor, tenure-track (starting in 2010), University of Notre Dame, post-doc (2009), Stonehill College, Visiting Assistant Professor (2008).
- Shane Wahl, "A Political Philosophy of the Future: Overcoming Liberalizm Through Nietzschean Agonism, "Ivy Tech Community College, adjunct.
2007
- Jacoby Carter, "Social Inquiry: A Pragmatist Analysis of Just War Theory Explanations of Terrorism," Assistant Professor, tenure-track, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY.
- Erik Garrett, "A Phenomenological Investigation of the Child-Animal Bond," Assistant Professor of Communication, tenure-track, Duquesne University; degree in joint program in Communication and Philosophy.
- Joel Krueger, "William James and Kitaro Nishida on "Pure Experience,' Consciousness, and Moral Psychology," Postdoctoral Fellowship, Danish National Research Foundation: Center for Subjectivity Research, University of Copenhagen (2007). Southern Illinois University, Instructor (2005)
- Christopher P. Martin, "Spinoza's Individuals," Assistant Professor tenure-track, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
- Thaddeus Robinson, "Spinoza and the Metaphysics of Mechanism," Muhlenberg College, Assistant Professor, tenure-track (previously Visiting Assistant Professor).
- Kevin W. Sharpe, "Dispositions and the Metaphysics of Mental Causation," Assistant Professor, tenure-track, St. Cloud State University (2008); Visiting Assistant Professor of Westmont College (2007).
2006
- Bertha Alvarez, "When Does a Human Being Gain a Moral Right to Life? A study of Abortion and Stem Cell Research," Assistant Professor, tenure-track, Arizona State University, Phoenix.
- Lee McBride, "Rethinking Liberalism: A comparative Study of the Moral and Political Philosophies of John Dewey and Alasdair MacIntyre," College of Wooster, Assistant Professor, tenure-track (2008), previously Visiting Assistant Professor.
- Bradley L. Sickler, "Causation, Forces, and Laws of Nature: Some Implication of Kant's Second Analogy," Private sector; previously Assistant Professor, tenure-track, Ouachita Baptist College.
2005
- Jason Hagen, "Modal Epistemology: What Justifies Modal Belief?", Private sector, did not do academic job search.
- Shin Kim, "Moral Explanation within a Physicalist Framework," Visiting Assistant Professor (renewable), Central Michigan University (2006), previously Instructor, Indiana State University (2003), Assistant Professor, non-tenure-track, University of Nebraska/Omaha (2002).
- Joseph Long, "Existential Epistemologies," Visiting Assistant Professor, St. Thomas
- Darrin Anthony Madis, "Heidegger and Appropriating Nihilism: Reconstructing Dasein from Moral Relativism to Supererogatory Obligation," Faculty Fellow, English, Ivy Tech Community College.
- Mango Meier, "Philosophy and Politics: Xenophon's Teaching on Tyranny," part-time appointment at Stony Brook.
2004
- Mary Escoffery, "A Philosophical Examination of Peter Singer's Ethical Theory," did not do national job search.
- J. Todd Ferguson, "From Globalization to Cosmopolitan Solidarity: A Critical Completion of Jurgen Habermas's Recent Political Philosophy," private sector.
- Ada Jaarsma , "Troubling the Normal: Contemporary Encounters with Kierkegaard," Assistant Professor, tenure-track, Sonoma State University; degree in joint program in English and Philosophy.
- Jack Mulder, "Faith and Nothingness in Kierkegaard: A Mystical Reading of the God-Relationship," Assistant Professor, tenure-track, Hope College (2006); previously Visiting Assistant Professor, Hope College.
- Jari Niemi, "The Foundations of Jurgen Habermas's Theory of Communicative Rationality: A Defense," Assistant Professor, tenure-track, Florida Atlantic University (2006), previously Visiting Assistant Professor, James Madison University (2005), post-doc, Homeland Security Institute, Purdue University (2004).
2003
- Raymond Anthony, "A Philosophical Examination of the Relationship Between Animal Cognition and Human Obligation," Assistant Professor, tenure-track, University of Alaska (2005), previously Visiting Assistant Professor, Iowa State University (2003).
- Chielozona Eze, "Literature as an Ethical Challenge: Alain Locke and the Responsibility of the Negro Artist," Assistant Professor, tenure-track, Department of English, Northeastern Illinois University (2005), post-doc, UCLA (2004); degree in joint program in English and Philosophy.
- Joon Ho Kang, "Maximization and Equality: An Examination of Utilitarian Responses to Rawls and Other Critics," Lecturer, Kyunghee University, Korea.
- Louis Mancha, "Concurrentism: A Philosophical Explanation," Assistant Professor, tenure-track, Ashland University.
- Tadd Ruetenik, "Sickrooms and Special Revelations: William James' Religion of the Individual," Assistant Professor, St. Ambrose University (2007), previously instructor at Penn State - University Park (2006), and adjunct at Penn State - Altoona (2003); degree in joint program in English and Philosophy.
- Justin Skirry, "Descartes' Metaphysics of the Human Being," Assistant Professor, tenure-track, Nebraska-Wesleyan University (2006), previously at St. Xavier University, Visiting Assistant Professor (2005), William Patterson University, Visiting Assistant Professor (2004), Emory University, Visiting Assistant Professor (2003).
2002
- Brian Coleman, "Practical Reason and the Requirements of Internalism," Visiting Assistant Professor, Central Michigan University (2003), previously at Longwood College (VA), lecturer, non-tenure-track (2002).
- Matt Hettche, "Rethinking Rational Cosmology: Research on the Pre-Critical Origins of Kant's Arguments in the Antinomies," Assistant Professor of Marketing, tenure-track, Christopher Newport University (2009), Visiting Assistant Professor of Marketing, Virginia Tech (2008), East Carolina University, Visiting Assistant Professor (2003), North Carolina State, adjunct (2003).
- Debra Jackson, "Violated Subjects: A Feminist Phenomenology and Critical Theory of Rape," Assistant Professor, tenure-track, CSU/Bakersfield (2005), previously visiting but renewable Assistant Professor Position (2002).
- Jeremy Gallegos, "Hume's two Foundations of Justice and the Nature of Law," private sector, did not do academic job search.
- Thomas A. Gardner, "Physicalism and Qualia," Muhlenberg College, Assistant Professor, tenure-track (2003), non-tenure-track (2002).
- J. Gregory Keller, "Weakness of Will Implies Freedom of Will: An Argument for Libertarian Freedom," Lecturer, Indiana University-Purdue University/Indianapolis, non-tenure track but renewable (2002), various visiting positions previously, restricted job search.
- James D. Madden, "Aristotelian Defense of Leibniz on Mechanism and Teleology," Benedictine College, tenure-track (2003), previously at University of St. Thomas, Assistant Professor, five-year appointment (2002).
- L. Ryan Musgrave, "Critical Feminist Aesthetics: Explorations in Contemporary Aesthetics and Politics," Assistant Professor, Rollins College, tenure-track (2005), visiting Assistant Professor, three-year appointment (2002).
- Jennifer Purvis, "The Engagement and Intervention: Feminism's Exchange with 19th Century Master Thinkers," University of Alabama/Tuscaloosa, Assistant Professor, tenure-track (2002).
- Daphne Rolle, "The Relationship Between Moral Obligations and Unified Consciousness: Implications for the Individual," Assistant Professor, non-tenure-track, Ball State University (2002), visiting part-time position, University of Indianapolis (2001-), visiting part-time position, Indiana University-Purdue University/Indianapolis (2000), restricted job search.
- Mary Lyn Stoll, "Collective Responsibility: The Morality of the Group," Assistant Professor, non-tenure track, University of Southern Indiana (2005), previously at Muskingum College, Assistant Professor, non-tenure track (2003), and Minnesota State University/Mankato, Assistant Professor, temporary position (2002). Declined two non-tenure track offers in 2001.
- Abe Zakhem, "Towards an Ethics of Authenticity: An Essay on the Limits of Theoretical Ethics," Seton Hall University, Assistant Professor, tenure-track.
2001
- Mark Dixon, "The Mind's Architecture: Classical Cognitivism and Connectionism," Ohio Northern University, Instructor, non-tenure track, restricted job search.
- Tim Martell, "'Capital' as a Model of Dialectical Philosophy: Marx after Adorno," Assistant Professor, tenure-track, Murray State University, (2006), following a visiting position; previously Teaching Fellow, Rollins College (2003), and adjunct at Rollins (2002); Ball State University, visiting position (2001).
2000
- Seetha Burtner, "Protecting the Innocent: A Case for Legal Rights of Animals," West Chester University, Assistant Professor, tenure-track (2002), previously at CSU/Fresno, non-tenure-track but renewable (2000).
- Daniel Palmer, "Rightness and Reasoning: A Philosophical Investigation," Kent State/Trumbull, Assistant Professor, tenure-track (2001); post-doc, Central Michigan University (2000).
- Sarah E. Roberts-Cody, "Rethinking Justice with Kierkegaard, Levinas, and Derrida," Fort Lewis College, Associate Professor Philosophy and Women's Studies.
1999
- Bruce Philip Dutra, "The Problem of Conflicting Truths and Nelson Goodman's Ontological Pluralism," Charles Stewart Mott Community College (MI), Assistant Professor, tenure-track (1999), various visiting positions while ABD.
- Kee Ying Thomas Ming, "The Philosophy of Language and the Language of Philosophy," SPACE Community College of Hong Kong University, different academic system but tenure-track (degree from joint program in English and Philosophy).
- John Michael Olson, "Nishida Kitaro: A Philosophical Response to Modernity," Normandale Community College (MN).
- Barry Padgett, "Contemporary Forms of Marxian Alienation and the Communitarian Critique of Liberalism," Bellarmine College, Associate Professor (2001), previously at University of Louisville, visiting Assistant Professor, non-tenure-track.
- -------------, "Economy and Strategy: From Timaeus to Difference," Michigan Technological University, non-tenure-track (2001), previously at Morehead College, non-tenure-track (1999), restricted job search.
- ------------, "Theodicy and Resistance: Liberation Trajectories in American Philosophy," Southern University, Associate Professor.
- ------, "The Morality of Physician-Assisted Suicide and Other Types of Voluntary Euthanasia: Dismantling the Conceptual Framework Supporting the Status-Quo," Indiana University/South Bend, adjunct Assistant Professor, non-tenure-track, restricted job search.