Hello!
I am an Assistant Teaching Professor at Gannon University, having a rocking time teaching philosophy. I moved here in 2009 with my wife Jessica Hartnett, due to her being hired here as a Psychology/ Applied Stats professor. We met in graduate school back in DeKalb, Illinois, although all who know me can tell pretty quickly that I am originally from the East Coast. I was also a certified mathematics teacher (I stopped philosophy at the MA-level, and moved in that direction instead), and have done a bunch of other things for work.
I've been blessed with two awards at Gannon University, both determined by students: The Excellence in Teaching award in 2015, and the Veritas in Caritate (Love in Truth) award in 2021.
Why do I love philosophy? Well, I've been immersed in the subject since such a young age that it simply isn't a question that I could sufficiently answer. It probably started with obsessions with "why" questions in my youth, distrust of appeals to authority and tradition in my young teens, some heavy existential crises, and gifts with logic and abstract thinking---all at a pretty young age. Pursuing the world with a philosophical edge was an experience like "waking up" to me--a transformational one that I never left. Teaching it not only felt right from my first lecture in 2010, but helped to advance my pursuit to a more productive and helpful place, allowing philosophy to represent a larger part of me. You'll see it flows through my veins and that I'm probably not suited for much else. :)
I like to think of philosophy as examined living on steroids, as long as we include the critical, ethical AND creative side of philosophical inquiry. Philosophy offers the foundations of much of critical thinking, and seeks justified belief and the nurturing of virtue in matters of knowledge, ethics, meaning in life, and those important metaphysical questions about the soul, God, etc. I find the ethical side to being a philosopher to be the most important for me. In all of my interests, the concept, justification, and cultivation of philosophy for living seems to stand out as most important to me.
Again, I really do dig teaching. I get to share everything that intersects my interests and relevant philosophy for students, and sprinkle the insights I've gathered along the way in my own humble quest for wisdom. In the teaching experience, I get to spread the joy and intrinsic motivation that comes along with grasping insights, or at least new tensions between insights. I also get to help facilitate critical thought about the all-important things in life, watching so many bright minds at work, even if the process of examined living isn't exactly a comfortable one. Also, I enjoy growing as an instructor, and I'm constantly modifying my classes and looking to develop more classes. Finally, one thing I've come to appreciate is that learning subjects that we are interested in for the sake of teaching the material might be the BEST experience for true lifelong learners.
Other things I enjoy:
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Chilling out with my two little boys. As I update this, one of my boys is 12 and the other is 8. They are my world. You'll hear far too much about my sons in class. We love "late nights" on Fridays, playing video games and watching funny cartoons. They are kind-hearted and inquisitive young men, and I couldn't be prouder of them.
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Running. It's one of those deep joys only runners understand. I keep hanging it up after a leg injury, only to find myself back doing it a month later. I also do A LOT of walking, whether reading, thinking through class lectures, or even walking meditations. I love that my Fitbit allows me to challenge myself to 100,000 steps a week. Become my friend on Fitbit to get my butt in gear post-pandemic!
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I listen to early-90s hard rock and metal, as well as progressive rock, for most of my music listening. I love having my music in the background of my activities or simply sitting back for a meditative listen to my turntable. Alice in Chains has been my favorite band for far too long, especially when Layne Staley was alive. I still remember having my hair in dreadlocks and wearing an Alice in Chains Rooster shirt a long, long time ago as a 12 or 13 year-old (either 1993 or 1994).
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Of course I'm always buried in philosophy texts, and I write reviews for CHOICE and direct publishers. I read quite a lot, and enjoy quiet reading time with my two boys.
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I'm a big-time New York Mets fan. If you ever want to sidetrack me, bring them up. I'll most likely get miserable, too, although they have a new owner and have been mostly more fun of late.
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As far as television is concerned, I think I'm falling too far behind you all, minus kid shows from when you were young (if you are student-age). I seriously can't make the time for television right now, but I do bury myself in horror movies and some of my favorite series when I'm sick. I love tying horror and philosophy together, and really need more outlets for such a thing.
Come take one of my classes and have a blast with me! I have a pretty good reputation of making what you might call "dry" material pretty fun, and I don't think you'll find somebody who loves their subject-matter and student engagement with it more than I do!