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Faculty

Full-Time Faculty


Marjolein Oele

Department Chair
(415) 422-4369

Marjolein Oele is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of San Francisco. She was trained as an MD at the Free University of Amsterdam...

Education:

PhD, Philosophy, Loyola University Chicago | MA, Philosophy, University of Amsterdam | MD, Free University of Amsterdam

Courses:

FYS: First-Year Seminar, Existentialism, Ancient & Medieval Philosophy, Senior Thesis, Dir Reading & Research, Phenomenology, Topics in the History of Philosophy

Geoffrey Ashton

Assistant Professor
(415) 422-2893

Professor Geoffrey Ashton recently joined the Department of Philosophy at USF from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, where he also held...

Education:

PhD, Philosophy (Asian and Comparative Philosophy), University of Hawai’i at Mānoa | MA, Philosophy (Indian Philosophy), University of Hawai'i at Mānoa | MA, South Asian Languages and Civilizations (Sanskrit, Indian Aesthetics), University of Chicago

Courses:

Gateway Sem: Global Humanities, Special Topics, Asian Philosophy, Topics in the History of Philosophy

Thomas Cavanaugh

Professor
(415) 422-6356

Professor Cavanaugh regularly teaches medical ethics, a medieval honors seminar (Boethius, Dante and Chaucer), and a first-year seminar entitled What...

Courses:

The Middle Ages: The Age of Chivalry, FYS: First-Year Seminar, Ethics, Ethics for Majors, Philosophy Symposium, Dir Reading & Research, Topics in Ethics, Ancient Philosophy, St Ignatius Institute Symposium

David Kim

Associate Professor, Fleishhacker Chair
(415) 422-5067

Hello, and welcome! In case you parachuted onto this page via Google, I'm the David Kim who is a philosophy prof at the U. of San Francisco, not the...

Education:

PhD, Philosophy, Syracuse University

Courses:

Cultures of East Asia, Directed Study, Gateway Sem: Global Humanities, FYS: First-Year Seminar, Asian Philosophy, Philosophy Symposium, Dir Reading & Research, Topics in Political Philosophy, St Ignatius Institute Symposium

Gerard Kuperus

Associate Professor
(415) 422-6969

Gerard Kuperus is specialized in philosophy of nature and environmental philosophy as well as Continental philosophy. He teaches in the philosophy ...

Education:

MA, University of Amsterdam | PhD, DePaul University

Courses:

Alaska: Culture, Environment and Tourism, Methods in Environ Studies, Special Topics, Special Topics, FYS: First-Year Seminar, Social & Political Philosophy, Existentialism, Modern Philosophy, Special Topics in Philosophy, Dir Reading & Research

Nick Leonard

Assistant Professor
(415) 422-6372

Nick Leonard is finishing up his PhD in Philosophy at Northwestern University. He is interested in epistemology, cognitive psychology, and some...

Education:

BA, Philosophy, University of Hawaii

Rebecca Mason

Assistant Professor

Rebecca Mason is originally from Nova Scotia, Canada where she completed her BA and MA in Philosophy at Dalhousie University. In 2015, she received...

Education:

PhD in Philosophy, Northwestern University, 2015 | Visiting Student in Philosophy, MIT, 2013 | MA in Philosophy, Dalhousie University, 2008 | BA in Philosophy, Dalhousie University, 2007

Courses:

FYS: First-Year Seminar, Mind, Freedom & Knowledge, Logic, Metaphysics, Senior Thesis, Topics in Contemporary Philosophy

Jeffrey Paris

Associate Professor
(415) 422-5116

Jeffrey Paris joined the USF faculty in 2001, teaching courses in topics ranging from existential and postmodern philosophy, to imprisonment, to...

Education:

PhD, Purdue University,1998 | BA, Humboldt State University, 1992

Courses:

Directed Study, FYS: First-Year Seminar, Ethics, Philosophy Symposium, Cont. Ethical Problems, Dir Reading & Research, St Ignatius Institute Symposium, Expedition USF

David Stump

Professor
(415) 422-6153

Education:

PhD, Northwestern University | BA, UC Berkeley

Courses:

The Social Implications of Scientific Rationality, Directed Study, Philosophy of Science, Modern Philosophy, Logic, Dir Reading & Research, Pragmatism

Ronald Sundstrom

Professor
(415) 422-5319

Ronald Robles Sundstrom teaches for USF's Philosophy program, African American Studies program, and the Master of Public Affairs program for the Leo...

Courses:

Social & Political Philosophy, Ethics for Majors, Advanced Social and Political Philosophy, Dir Reading & Research

Jacqueline Taylor

Professor
(415) 422-5323

Jacqueline Taylor has broad philosophical interests that are reflected in the courses she teaches (see below). Her research has focused on David Hume...

Education:

PhD, University of Chicago

Courses:

Romanticism and Revolution: 19th Century Europe, Great Philosophical Questions, Social & Political Philosophy, Ethics, TYS: Transfer Year Seminars, Special Topics in Philosophy, Senior Thesis, Modern Philosophy, St Ignatius Institute Symposium

Michael Torre

Associate Professor
(415) 422-2386

Michael Torre received his PhD in 1983 and joined the Philosophy Department in 1989, where he is currently an Associate Professor. He has been a past...

Courses:

Great Philosophical Questions, Ancient Philosophy, Ethics, Ancient & Medieval Philosophy, Topics in the History of Philosophy

Part-Time Faculty


Katherine Black

Adjunct Professor
(415) 422-6543

Katherine Black, JD has been an adjunct at USF since 1999. Her areas of interest are early modern philosophy, jurisprudence and virtue ethics. She...

Expertise:

early modern philosophy, jurisprudence, virtue ethics

Courses:

Great Philosophical Questions, Ethics

Jennifer Fisher

Adjunct Professor
(415) 422-6543

Jennifer Fisher received her PhD from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 2003. Her interests include epistemology, the...

Education:

PhD, Graduate Center of the City University of New York

Expertise:

epistemology, philosophy of logic, meta-ethics

Courses:

Great Philosophical Questions, FYS: First-Year Seminar, Ethics, Mind, Freedom & Knowledge

Rebecca Gordon

Adjunct Professor
(415) 422-6543

Rebecca Gordon received her MDiv and PhD from Graduate Theological Union. She is the author of Mainstreaming Torture: Ethical Approaches in the Post-...

Education:

MDiv, Graduate Theological Union | PhD, Graduate Theological Union

Expertise:

Political philosophy, Theories of justice

Courses:

Leadership for Civic Engagemnt, Public Service and Community Engagement Capstone, Leadership for the Common Good, Ethics, Ethics: Service Learning, Ethics

Lucio Mare

Adjunct Professor
(813) 300-5808

Lucio Mare joined USF in the Spring of 2019. He received his PhD from the University of South Florida in 2016 and MA from Université Paris-Sorbonne...

Education:

PhD, University of South Florida | MA, Université Paris-Sorbonne

Greig Mulberry

Adjunct Professor
(415) 422-6543

Greig Mulberry began teaching at USF in 2011 and has taught Ethics, Existentialism, and Social and Political Philosophy. His research interests...

Courses:

Ethics, Existentialism

Nancy Zeigler

Adjunct Professor
(415) 422-6543

Nancy Zeigler has been teaching in the Philosophy Department at USF since 2003. She has taught Ethics, Great Philosophical Questions, Problems in...

Courses:

Social & Political Philosophy, Existentialism

Emeriti Faculty


Raymond Dennehy

Professor Emeritus
(415) 422-6456

Raymond Dennehy was born in San Francisco in 1934. While serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the heavy cruiser, USS Rochester (CA 124) as a radarman,...

Education:

BA (Philosophy), University of San Francisco, 1962 | MA (Philosophy), University of California, Berkeley, 1964 | PhD (Philosophy), University of Toronto, 1973