People Pages

 

Visiting Faculty

Kevin Coffey
Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D. University of Michigan
(540) 231-5225 | Email | 239 Major Williams Hall

Kevin Coffey specializes in philosophy of science and philosophy of physics, particularly scientific realism, formal confirmation theory, the interpretation of space-time theories, and the metaphysics of physics. Several of his current research interests include: structural realism; the status and representation of Newton's Law of Inertia; causation and the concept of force; the notion of theoretical equivalence; and the philosophical significance of geometrical (i.e., coordinate invariant) formulations of analytical dynamics.

David Faraci
Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Bowling Green State University
(540) 231-0991 | Email | 223 Major Williams Hall

David Faraci works primarily in metaethics. He has also published in experimental philosophy and done some work in the ethics of emerging technologies. His primary research interest is the possibility of normative truth, along with the various semantic, metaphysical and epistemological issues this raises.

Joanne C. Lau
Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Australian National University
(540) 231-2186 | Email | 219 Major Williams Hall

Joanne C. Lau’s main research areas are in social and political philosophy, philosophy of law, and applied ethics. She is particularly interested in theories of obligation, citizenship and collective action problems, and issues that lie at the juncture of political philosophy and metaphysics. She has taught courses in applied ethics, legal theory and race and gender issues, and was admitted to legal practice in 2005.

Marc Lucht
Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Emory University
(540) 231-2157 | Email | 205 Norris Hall

Marc Lucht is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Philosophy and Peace Studies. He received his Ph.D. from Emory University in 1999. He specializes in 19th and 20th Century Continental Philosophy.

Ted Parent
Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D. UNC Chapel Hill
(540) 231-8485 | Email | 221 Major Williams Hall | Personal Website

Ted Parent works primarily in the philosophy of language and ontology. He has published on infallibilism in Philosophical Studies, on Quine's view of logic in Erkenntnis, and has a forthcoming entry with the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on content externalism and self-knowledge. He is currently working on several articles, covering topics such as metaontology, Kripke on empty names, and the metaphysics of mind.

Matt Priselac
Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D. UNC Chapel Hill
(540) 231-1142 | Email | 241 Major Williams Hall

Wesley Van Camp
Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D. University of Maryland College Park
(540) 231-0992 | Email | 217 Major Williams Hall

Adjunct Faculty

Jim Garrison
Professor of Education
Email | Personal Website
Jim Garrison is a professor of philosophy of education at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. His research interests focus on American pragmatism, and especially the philosophy of John Dewey.

Emeriti

Henry Bauer
Professor Emeritus and Dean Emeritus

James Buchanan
Distinguished Professor Emeritus

Richard M. Burian
Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and STS
(540) 231-6760 | Email | 220 Major Williams Hall | Personal Website
Dick Burian has general research interests in history and philosophy of science (especially conceptual change) and epistemology. He specializes in philosophy of biology, and has specific concerns in the history of nineteenth and twentieth century evolutionary theory; theories of heredity, and theories of (biological) development; the relations among biological disciplines; the impact of the molecular biology on the theory and practice of biological disciplines; historiography and methodology in history and philosophy of science; and scientific realism.

Harlan Miller
Professor Emeritus of Philosophy
Email | Personal Website
Harlan Miller has interests in a variety of topics in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind, but most of his energy recently has gone into questions in applied ethics and ethical theory. He is particularly interested in human responsibilities (if any) to the non-human world: animals, the environment, machines. This leads both to other applied topics such as ethical, social, and political questions about agriculture, and to such theoretical questions as the nature and significance of species and the use of the fact/value distinction in the environmental sciences. He retired from teaching in 2003.

Palmer Talbutt
Associate Professor Emeritus

In Memoriam

Jack Good (1916-2009)
University Distinguished Professor | Memorial Notice

Marjorie Grene (1910-2009)
Honorary University Distinguished Professor | Memorial Notice

Lauren Fleming (1980-2011)
Visiting Assistant Professor

Dieter Seltzer (1992-2012)
Philosophy Undergraduate Major | Memorial Notice

J. J. Stinson (1992-2012)
Philosophy Undergraduate Major | Memorial Notice by Professor Joseph Pitt

Instructors

Matt Dougherty
Email | 212 Major Williams Hall

Ivan Guajardo
(540) 231-5977 | Email | 215 Lane Hall

Eric Hodges
(540) 231-7879 | Email | 222 Major Williams Hall

Shien-Hauh Leu
Email | 314 Lane Hall

Eric Lewis
(540) 231-6476 | Email | 354 Lane Hall

Joey Miller
Email | 208 Major Williams Hall

Pamela Mullins-Baker
Email | 314 Lane Hall

Stephanie Semler
(540) 231-5977 | Email | 215 Lane Hall

Staff

Leisa Osborne
(540) 231-4564 | Email | 229 Major Williams Hall

Leisa Osborne is the Philosophy Department's Office Services Specialist. She has been in the department since the summer of 2003. Her primary responsibilities include assisting students, as well as supporting our faculty members. Leisa's interest include reading and traveling, as well as tutoring adult readers in basic literacy. She currently serves as the treasurer for Phi Beta Kappa and is a member of IAAP.

Terry Zapata
(540) 231-4565 | Email | 229A Major Williams Hall

Terry Zapata is the Philosophy Department's Executive Secretary, and has been in the department since 1998. Her primary responsibilities include providing administrative and clerical support to the Department Head and to the Philosophy Department as a whole. Terry has been a member of IAAP since 1999 and received her CPS (Certified Professional Secretary) rating in May of 2009. Terry is married to Carlos and originally from Fuquay-Varina, NC.