Greetings University of Minnesota Honors students! After graduating from Virginia Tech as an undergraduate, I received my PhD in philosophy from the Ohio State University in 2000. I specialized in the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of logic, and mathematical logic (I spend almost as much time in the mathematics department as I did in the philosophy department!) I then worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at Arche Philosophical Research Center at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, and as a visiting professor at Villanova University before taking a position in the philosophy department here at the University of Minnesota in 2007.
My current title is CLA Scholar of the College, Professor, and Setterberg Fellow of Philosophy (although that final title will move on to someone else at the end of this year), and a number of years back I had the pleasure of serving as the John Dolan Professor of Philosophy. Over the years, my philosophical interests have moved quite a bit beyond merely mathematics and logic (although I still work a good bit in these fields), and I have active research projects in the philosophy of art (especially with regard to comics and other forms of popular art), the history of early 20th century philosophy, and feminist philosophy, among other things.
Over the years I have become more and more involved with the Honors program. I was a member of the team that administered the very first NEXUS Experience (on Dracula), and over the past few years I have been regularly offering NEXUS Experiences on both Lego and Minecraft. I also occasionally lead NEXUS ONE sessions. I always get excited about working with the Honors Program, in part because of the excitement, enthusiasm, and commitment to learning that Honors students typically bring to the classroom and other venues. But I also value the Honors program because it allows both students and professors to explore topics, ideas, and approaches to learning that don’t fit nicely into traditional university curricula (such as my upcoming Honors Seminar on dice, which involves studying the role of dice in our lives from a numbers of perspectives, including (but not limited to) history, mathematics, philosophy, anthropology, and sociology!) I look forward to meeting and working with many of you over the upcoming year.