Academic History

University of North Florida

• Bachelor of Music, Jazz Studies
• Jacksonville, FL
• Graduated magna cum laude

University of Dallas

• M.A. Philosophy (August, 2006)
• PhD Candidate, philosophy (2006-present)
• Irving, TX

Westminster Theological Seminary

• M.A. Religion (May, 2005)
• Philadelphia, PA
• Graduated summa cum laude.

Moscow State University

• Advanced Language Studies
• Moscow, Russia
• I studied Russian at MSU (intensive language program for international students) for 6 months and with a private tutor for 3 years while living in Moscow.

Portland State University

• Advanced Language Studies
• Portland, OR

Courses Taught

Eastfield College, 2005-present

• Introduction to Western Philosophy
• History and Literature of the Bible

University of Dallas

• Philosophy of the Human Person (Fall 2008)
• Philosophy and the Ethical Life (Fall 2009)
• Philosophy of Being (Spring 2010)

Summer Courses at Various Locations (non-credit)

• Augustine’s Confessions (books I-IX, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Summer 08)
• From Modernism to Postmodernism (Redeemer Seminary, Summer 09)

Languages

• Biblical Hebrew
• French
• German
• Koine Greek
• Latin
• Russian

Awards

McDermott Fellowship in Philosophy

University of Dallas, 2007

Edwin L. Jones Graduate Fellowship

Westminster Theological Seminary, 2005-2006

Graduate Fellowship

University of Texas (Arlington), 2004-2005

Full-tuition Scholarship

Westminster Theological Seminary, 2002-2005

Various Undergraduate Music Scholarships

Northlake College, University of Texas (Arlington), University of North Florida, 1989-1994

Papers Presented & Published Works

National Council for Black Studies, 34th Annual Conference

“Fanon and the Quest for a Phenomenology That Saves Difference”
Date:  March 2010

Article

“What Has Coltrane to Do With Mozart:  The Dynamism and Built-In Flexibility of Music,” Expositions Vol 3 No 1 (August 2009):  51-71.

Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting

“Paul and Slavery:  Submit, Subvert or Something In-Between?”
Date:  Nov. 2009

Review

Jeremy S. Begbie.  Resounding Truth:  Christian Wisdom in the World of Music.  Grand Rapids:  Baker Academic, 2007. (American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 84:1 (Winter 2010):  166-68.

Article

“St. Augustine on Text and Reality (and a Little Gadamarian Spice),” Heythrop Journal Vol 50 issue 1 (Jan 09): 98-108.

Villanova University:  33^rd Annual Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference

“Scotus and the Will as a Self-Determining Active Power”
Date: Oct, 2008

Review

Edward T. Oakes (ed.).  The Cambridge Companion to Hans urs Von Balthasar.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.  American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 82:2 (Spring 2008):  374-378.

Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, Friendship:  Quests for Character, Community and Truth

“A Glimpse at Christocentric Friendship in the Heartbeat of Hans Urs von Balthasar”
Date:  Oct, 2007

Villanova University:  Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference

“St. Augustine on Text and Reality (and a Little Gadamerian Spice)”
Date: Oct, 2007

University of Dallas:  IPS Colloquium

“Hermeneutical Continuities Between Augustine and Hans-Georg Gadamer”
Date:  Oct, 2007

Review

Louis Dupré.  The Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations of Modern Culture. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 2004.  (Philotheos 6, 2006).

Midwest Regional Conference of the Society of Christian Philosophers (Notre Dame)

“Does God’s Incomprehensibility Combined with Human Finitude (and Fallen-ness) Make Reasonable (a qualified) Fideism and a Certain Kind of Defeat Immunity?”
Date: 2006

Review

James K.A. Smith. Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism? Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006.  American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 80:4 (Fall 2006):  642-646.

Baylor University; “The World and Christian Imagination”

The Anti-Enlightenment Nature of Jazz: Embracing Particularity and Universality, Freedom and Form, Tension and Resolution
Date: Fall, 2006

Midwest Meeting of the Society of Christian Philosophers (Lincoln Christian College)

“Plantinga’s Construal of Calvin’s Sensus Divinitatis”
Date: Spring, 2005

Review

Jean-Luc Marion. Being Given. Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press, 2002. 
(Ars Disputandi: The Online Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Vol. 5 (2005), http://www.ArsDisputandi.org. ISSN 1566-5399).

Review

James K.A. Smith. Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-secular Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004. (Christian Scholar’s Review, Number 1, Vol. XXXV, Fall 2005).

Texas State University Philosophy Symposium

“A Fresh Look at Newton’s Laws”
Date: Spring, 2004

Societies & Associations

• American Catholic Philosophical Association
• National Council for Black Studies
• North American Society for Philosophical Hermeneutics
• North Texas Philosophical Association
• Society for Continental Philosophy and Theology
• Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy
• Society for Philosophy in the Contemporary World
• Society of Biblical Literature

Research Interests

Philosophy/Phenomenology of Race, Philosophical Hermeneutics, Philosophy of Music,  Postmodernism

Career Goals

Upon completion of my doctoral studies, I hope to secure a tenure-track teaching position and to continue to publish and mentor  students.

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