Recent Other Events in the Program
There have been several significant events in the graduate program recently.
At the end of March Naz Pantaloni defended his dissertation proposal titled “The Im/Possibility of Democracy: Derrida and Habermas”
On Tuesday night Adriel Trott defended her dissertation titled “The Challenge of Physis: Reconciling Nature and Reason in Aristotle’s Politics”
Yesterday Ashley Vaught defended his dissertation titled “The Specter of Spinoza in Schelling's Freiheitsschrift”
(I was unfortunately unable to make any of these events.)
As many of you know already, on April 6 Mike Brogan, his wife Meghan and daughter Frances welcomed Gabriel Brogan to the world. Mike et al. will be moving to Maryland. He is set to take up his new job at St. John's.
What sort of outreach are we doing to invite these new phds to join our discussion? While I am still here at Villanova I do not mind helping out . . . but I need some info. (hint, hint, Joe).
On a final note: a panel on Hannah Arendt consisting of myself, Liam Kavanagh and Azadeh Erfani was accepted for the upcoming SPEP conference.
Note
Folks -
A bit of news: Tim Kirk was (I believe) recently appointed to the National Ethics Committee of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. You can find their website at : http://www.nhpco.org/templates/1/homepage.cfm
Oh, another quick note: Several Villanova folks will be down in Fredericksburg, Va in early April for the North American Sartre Society meeting. I count: myself and the members of my panel (Dera Sipe and Rebecca Goldner of the VU graduate program), Farhang, and Jess Elkayam (sp?) who is also in the graduate program. Where else are VU people showing up? (Why wasn't the Hermeneutics Society meeting advertised here too?)
Nova Update
Hi All:
A few things from here:
Andy Davis will be defending in a few weeks, on Hegel and Plato. Not sure who is on his committee.
Also heard a rumor that Mike Brogan will be defending in November, which is a nice suprise. He hasn't been back, but apparently has decided to finish up the dissertation.
Joe and Greg were to get married this summer; how did that go (yes, I could simply ask Greg, who is mere yards away daily)?
Finally, Farhang and Emily should be welcoming a child in the next few weeks.
All of this is very exciting!
A Question and a Comment
So, Joe, how was your trip to Belgium? You gave a general lecture and then led a seminar?
I heard from Matt Groe recently - he has accepted a 3 year position at Jacksonville University down in Florida.
Congratulations, Leigh!
I noticed the following on the Leiter report the other day:
Leigh M. Johnson (Penn State) hired by Rhodes College. AOS: 19th/20th C. Continental, Social and Political Philosophy.
Leigh tells me that she is to defend before the end of the semester.
A Post- SPEP Reflection
Hi Jamie -
I must confess I am a bit surprised that no one else has written. I think SPEP was an unqualified success.
I was not in on the organization/administration side of things, but I think that Walter and the core of graduate students made sure that everything ran professionally and smoothly. The facilities were for the most part adequate for the task (I attended a few sessions at which it was possible to hear talking/laughing/cheering next door - I imagine this is just a reality of conferences at hotels though).
At the last minute I was given the opportunity to moderate a session, but in doing so I missed Farhang's panel. The feedback I received on Farhang's session and the other sessions with VU folks -- and there were quite a few -- was positive. Hopefully you will hear from, for instance, Farhang, Joe, Ammon, and Ted about their session.
There was an author's session on Caputo. His new "The Weakness of God" is out. He received more praise than criticism. One of the commentators - whose name I cannot now recall - at one point in the session revealled his t-shirt which carried a picture of Nietzsche and the inscription "What would Nietzsche do?" There was also an author's session on Walter Brogan's "Heidegger and Aristotle: THe Twofoldness of Being." I was not able to attend, but I believe that so many people showed up that it was moved to a larger room. (I may be confusing the attendance at his author's session with the audience for his lecture on Agamben and the state of exception. In any case, Walter drew large crowds.). I did not attend Badiou's talk, or Wendy Brown's.
The highlight of the event for me was the opportunity to see so many friends. Our graduate community is now spread out all over the place, yet we are a pretty tight bunch. I love it. Some people had good news to share (and I will let him/them share it). Some people brought along their good news, so to speak: we met Mike and Shannon's daughter and saw again Ammon and Heather's daughter. There were 20+ of us out for dinner Friday night; kids at one end, the married, the newly engaged, and the bachelors spread out from there. We are a growing community, literally and figuratively.
*On a wholly different matter: because I mentioned to a few of you that I would try it again . . . last sunday I did indeed run the NYC marathon for the second time, and I actually did meet my goal: I beat my previous time by 10 minutes and 6 seconds. Lance Armstrong beat my time by almost 2 hours . . . but at least I came in ahead of the guy in the rhinoceros costume!
Ramey's Defense
This afternoon Joshua Ramey sucessfully defended his dissertation titled "Gilles Deleuze and the Powers of Art." Classes start up again next week, but there were still over 30+ people in attendance. I know very little about Deleuze's work so I cannot comment about the content of his project, but I can attest that Josh made an interesting presentation of his work and that the question and answer session was lively. An aspect of his original project, taken up only in the conclusion of his diss, concerned the concept of magic in the thought of particular Renaissance thinkers = a question from Julie Klein lead Josh to claim that he would have written a "magical dissertation" if he thought he could have had it approved . . . Walter Brogan then added that he, Josh, made a wise decision is taking his diss in another direction . . .
There is a party tonight at Josh and Emmanuel's place, and I expect there to be plenty of magical dancing and general merry-making.
New Members
A quick note:
The program has staged two dissertation defenses recently. Last week Seth Wright defended his project, titled "The Foundations of Productive History in Mimesis and Narrative Identity." This past Monday Andrea Hurst defended her project, titled "Derrida or Lacan: The Revolutionary's Choice On the 'Plural Logic of The Aporia' in Deconstruction and Lacanian Psychoanalysis." Due to an unfortunate miscommunication, I missed Seth's defense; due to a scheduling conflict I also missed Andrea's. In any case, all the reports I have recieved about both events are quite positive. (We should perhaps also acknowledge that earlier this term Mike Shaw defended his dissertation, on the role of desire in Aristotle's ontology. I DID make that defense: it went very well, and Mike handled himself quite impressively. I think that if academic philosophy does not work out for Mike that he should run for office . . .)
The program continues to turn out high quality phds on a fairly regular basis — this is a sign of the good health of the program.
big villanova news: donohue new president
just got this news release in my villanova email account:
VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY NAMES PETER M. DONOHUE, O.S.A.
AS 32ND PRESIDENT
Augustinian Named to Succeed Edmund J. Dobbin, O.S.A.
VILLANOVA, PA (December 13, 2005) – The Board of Trustees of Villanova University today elected Peter M. Donohue, O.S.A. as the University’s 32nd president to succeed Edmund J. Dobbin, O.S.A. who has announced his intention to step down as president at the conclusion of the 2005-2006 academic year.
Father Donohue is currently a tenured associate professor and the chairperson of Villanova’s theatre department, a position he assumed in 1992. A recognized University leader, Father Donohue is a highly sought after academician, teacher, minister, colleague and lecturer. He is a member of the Augustinian Institute Advisory Board and has served on numerous committees at Villanova including, as faculty representative on the Board of Trustees Academic Affairs Committee, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Diversity Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee, and the University Judicial Boards. In addition he served on the NCAA Certification Self-Study committees of 1996-1997 and 2001-2002. Father Donohue served two terms as a member of the Board of Trustees of Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts.
An award-winning director, Father Donohue received five Barrymore nominations for Outstanding Direction of a Musical for Parade, Children of Eden, Into the Woods, Evita, and Chicago, which received nine nominations and three 2002 Barrymore Awards, including Outstanding Direction of a Musical.
A devoted liturgical minister, Father Donohue regularly celebrates weddings for Villanova alumni and conducts the Sunday evening Mass for the Villanova community. Father Donohue is the long time Chaplain of the University’s Navy ROTC program, offering counsel to midshipmen, presiding over the annual commissioning Mass and lecturing in the Senior Leadership Seminar.
Father Donohue’s selection caps a six-month process in which many outstanding Augustinian candidates were identified and considered as possible successors to Father Dobbin.
“The conclusion of Father Dobbin’s presidency is both a challenge and an opportunity in the history of Villanova University,” said John G. Drosdick, chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees. “We enthusiastically look forward to working with Father Donohue to build on Father Dobbin’s legacy, while at the same time recognizing the incredible potential of the upcoming years. Father Donohue’s leadership in the Arts, and his proven ability to forge positive and productive relationships with Villanova faculty, students, staff and alumni will be of critical importance as we further Villanova’s reputation as one of the country’s great universities.
“We are all greatly indebted to Father Dobbin for his 18 remarkable years of exceptional leadership. We are very appreciative of all the significant advancements made by Villanova during his tenure. All one needs to do is tour our campus, engage in a conversation with students about our mission, review our national academic rankings, and understand the outstanding qualifications of our student body, to realize the legacy he has left for Villanova.”
Added Herbert F. Aspbury, vice chairman of the Board of Trustees and chair of the Presidential Special Committee, “Father Donohue is an extraordinary choice to become Villanova’s 32nd president. He combines significant academic strengths with demonstrated administrative skills and tremendous charisma. He also epitomizes Villanova’s values of Veritas, Unitas Caritas (truth, unity and love) and serves as a great role model for students and alumni alike.”
The Rev. Donald F. Reilly, O.S.A., Prior Provincial of the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova and trustee, stated: “The Augustinians congratulate Father Donohue and extend their fraternal support and prayers during this exciting time for the University. He is well suited to carry on the Augustinian tradition that is at the very heart of Villanova.”
Father Donohue said, “I thank the Board of Trustees for the honor and responsibility of leading Villanova University. I look forward to working closely with Father Dobbin in preparing for a smooth transition.”
The 53 year-old Father Donohue is a native of Bronx, New York. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in the Order of Saint Augustine in 1979 and graduated from Villanova University in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree with a concentration in theatre/communication arts. He received an M.A. in theatre from The Catholic University of America in 1983. In 1985, he received a Masters of Divinity from the Washington Theological Union. In 1992, he received his Ph.D. in theatre from the University of Illinois where he also received outstanding teaching honors.
About Villanova University
Villanova University, founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842, is a co-educational Roman Catholic institution comprised of five colleges: Liberal Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Commerce and Finance, Nursing and the School of Law. With a total enrollment of 10,300 undergraduate, graduate and law students, Villanova is the oldest and largest catholic university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. For more than a decade, Villanova University has been ranked #1 by US News and World Report in the Best Universities—Master’s category in the northern region.
new villanova philosophy website
the link to the department we have on this blog page still works, but it now sends you to the updated webpage for the department of philosophy -- not a lot of bells and whistles, but significantly more streamlined and professional-looking.
placement info. for the graduate program is still easily accessible, as it has been for the last few weeks, since the provisional redesign of the site. i think this is very good news for appearances' sake.
Epoche
It is great to hear that the Berendzen tour of the country is going well! Any groupies yet?
On a different matter, friends, I have a suggestion/request. I love that we have this blog to keep our Villanova community together. I know that I am not the only one who is grateful for the education that I received from the Ph.D. program. Each of us has expressed and will continue to express this appreciation in different ways. I have an easy and concrete suggestion.
As you know, Dr. Walter Brogan brought Epoche to Villanova a couple of years ago. Epoche used to be housed in Utah and it was dormant at best. Walter has revived it and turned it into a wonderful journal of the history of philosophy. Each issue so far has been fantastic. There is a special issue on Derrida that will come out soon too. It makes the program look good.
In addition, a Villanova graduate student works with Walter on the journal every year, underlining the journal’s commitment to the professional development of the grad students as well as the importance of the journal to the program’s prestige and intellectual activity.
Villanova has thus far institutionally and financially supported Epoche, but as you all know even the best of journals compete for subscriptions.
I suggest that each of us who has been fortunate to have a job at a new institution ask the new library to subscribe to Epoche. American University, my new home, did not. It took a few seconds of sending an email to the librarian with
the link and it was a done deal!
Please consider asking your libraries to promote Epoche. Thanks.
The Joe roadshow, etc.
So, Joe has washed into town, so to speak. We are now trying to find him some money in exchange for a lecture or two - what else could we do?!? He joins the 25 or so undergraduates from various New Orleans universities who have found shelter at Villanova. (For those who are in the know: a P.I.M.P. night for Joe is in the works)
Thank you, Chris and John and Farhang, for your remarks re: my defense. You asked, Chris, about my defense and about my impressions on the process: I am glad to be done, but I too am somewhat ambivalent about the significance of the whole process. For about 4 months over the summer I fretted about fine details of my readings of, for example, Jean-Luc Marion's phenomenology of the called subject and Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics of the summoned subject . . . and none of this came up either during conversations with my committee or during my defense. I suppose I can assume I "nailed" this material, but I would have appreciated a more detailed response to what I wrote. (Now, I did receive detailed comments from several of the graduate students who volunteered to read individual chapters - and THIS response meant alot to me.)
Now that I am blurring conversation threads . . . finally: Sonja and I visited Farhang and Emily in DC last weekend. We had a good time. The area of "the district" that they live in is quite comfortable, and there are a number of nice places to eat and/or to sit and have a drink. A moment I particularly enjoyed was being greeted by the mad Iranian expatriate who owns a cafe/bar near their place, called the "Marx Cafe" ["revolutionary quisine"], with the words "Welcome Infidels!"
Dr. Gregory Hoskins
Dear friends,
I am happy to say that I attended a very successful dissertation defense today. Emily and I drove to Villanova for the day to see Greg — Dr. Hoskins! — defend his work in front of about 35-36 people in SAC 400. He had an impressive presentation followed by a lively q&a session. We all thought that Greg did very well and I was extremely pleased to be there for this event. This is the advantage of being in DC; daytrips to Nova are feasible.
This evening, we joined Greg and a handful of others for drinks at Ludwig's Garten in Philly. We all bought him the Tower Beer special, a gallon of beer in a very tall glass. (Joe should have been there!)
Congratulations to Greg!
Kirk reports from the trenches
Greetings all. I'm at Villanova for the next few years straddling the ethics program and the philosophy department. Finished up the PhD Spring of 04, setting a sweet record of a smooth decade as the longest finish so far (though Ed insists he is working on his dissertation and plans to finish). Just got happily married.
Many personnel changes here:
Finally hired someone to replace Maria Carl: Mike Waddell. Does Aquinas stuff. Very energetic teacher.
Finally hired an Augustine scholar to replace Don Burt: James Wetzel. Don't know a thing about him.
Hired a new Cook Chair following last year's departure of Jack Caputo: William Desmond. Hegel with a post-modern twist.
Much hiring in the pipeline (Kant, Environmental, Senior Continental to name a few).
New Department Chair is John Carvahlo.
Feel free to contact me if you have questions about how things are going here. Enjoyed reading through the posts (one caveat: can we make a rule banning "y'all"?).
Seth...
...has now completed a full draft of his dissertation. and no, nobody (neither busch nor the other committee members) has seen a single page out of the 260 up to this point. so if anyone would like to pray for the boy, or send him best wishes, or whatever, now might be an appropriate time. although this is a very seth-like thing to do, i didn't really think he would actually do it. but he called me a couple nights ago to say he has, so there you are...
latest news at VU
this just in from walter (i don't know how long i will continue to receive these emails, probably just until i'm purged from their "student" lists):
walter continues as grad director, and john carvalho as department chair; julie klein will be placement officer this year.
confirmations that greg and adam will be defending in august, and that shaw will be defending this fall. [as i noted before, seth has said he is also trying to do so prior to the first JFP of the year.]
alexi is in germany this year on a DAAD; danny is in denmark on a fulbright.
think that's all the relevant info. for us.
Dissertation defenses
The first of what I expect will be several defenses this fall (maybe even this August!) has just been officially announced:
Adam Miller will be defending his dissertation, "Immanent Grace: Badiou, Marion, & Saint Paul" on Friday, August 12th, from 3-5 pm (in SAC 300).
I understand Greg, Mike Shaw, and perhaps even Seth are planning to defend in the next month or so. Hopefully this year's placement will be as good as last year's was, as we'll have a lot of people out on the market with PhD's in hand — I think the blog could be pretty helpful in that regard, at least in terms of us knowing where people's top positions are, and maybe getting in touch with people at those institutions we know on behalf of our newly minted PhD's...
directors (revised)
incidentally, i just did a little count of phd's and abd's still around the program. these are the directors; please correct me in comments if i'm wrong, and if you know for sure some of the ones i'm unclear on. by my count, we've got 18 phd's conferred, and 11 abd's at the moment.
caputo: jennifer, jamie smith, darin, michael andrews, dana, john, adam (abd), andrea (abd), greg (abd), danny (abd), mike brogan (abd)
busch: chris, joe, farhang, seth (abd), matt (abd), naz (abd ???)
schmidt: matthias, ted, shannon, jamey findling, ammon
brogan: sarah, lucio, mike shaw (abd)
carvalho: josh (abd), andy (abd ???)
scholz: steve
mccartney: tim
edited to reflect comments below. do we think naz and andy gallinger are ABD or not?
also: my understanding is that mike brogan may or may not actually complete the program at this point; that's why i didn't include him initially. but i suppose i had andy on there, so i've added mike brogan, as well.
Matt Groe is ABD
Glad to share this news with you all. Matt
Groe is officially ABD. He defended his proposal yesterday — June 21st — the first day of summer! — and here is the title of his forthcoming magnum opus:
“Ethical Coexistence Beyond Dualism: The Converging Visions of Dewey and Merleau-Ponty”
Dr. Busch is the director; Dr. Betz and Dr. Margolis are readers.
I have asked Matt reply to this post and to share with us a brief synopsis of his work. I think it is wornderul to have a Villanova PhD on MP and Dewey, showing the "convergence" — to use Matt's word — of these two great traditions.
Congratulations, Matt!
Related Posts (on one page):
- Matt Groe is ABD
Villanova 2005 Placements
okay, as promised, here is the list of placements for this year:
Tenure-track Positions
Farhang Erfani — American University (Washington D.C.)
Lucio Privitello — The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Christian Diehm — The University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point
Dana Belu — California State University-Dominguez Hills
John Whitmire — Western Carolina University
Other Full-time (one year or renewable) Positions
Adam Miller — Collin County Community College (TX)
Ammon Allred — Villanova University (Philosophy)
Gregory Hoskins — Villanova University (Core Humanities)
Villanovans Moving Elsewhere
Jennifer Gossetti — Fordham University (NY) (tenured Associate Professor)
one of you guys can copy this stuff and post it to leiter, if you like — i think just the new tenure-tracks.
