Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

 

            Ph.D. (Philosophy)

            McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada --- May, 1986

(Dean's Honor List for Excellence in the Doctoral Program.)

            Doctoral Thesis: "Hume's Theory of Moral Responsibility in the Treatise."

            Director: Professor David Fate Norton.

 

            M.A. (Philosophy)

            Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada --- September, 1978.

            Thesis: "Strawson and Disembodied Existence."

            Director: Professor Richmond Campbell.

 

            B.A. (Philosophy & English)

            Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone,

West Africa -- June, 1975

Thesis: “Persons and Disembodied Existence.”

Supervisor: Mr. A.G. Elgood

 

 

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION

 

Early Modern Philosophy, Ethics, Hume, African and African American Philosophies.

 

AREAS OF COMPETENCE

           

            Epistemology, Logic and Critical Thinking, and Contemporary Analytic

            Philosophy.  

 

CAREER SUMMARY AND WORK EXPERIENCE:

*  2002-Present: Full Professor, Department of Philosophy, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132

 

*  1998-2001: Associate Professor of Philosophy, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. (Tenured 2000.)

Courses: Logic and Critical Thinking; Introduction to Philosophy; Readings in Early Modern Philosophy; Ethics; and African American Philosophy.

 

*  1996-1998:  Associate Professor of Philosophy (Tenured) Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia.

Courses: Ethics; Analytic Philosophy; Modern Philosophy; Formal Logic; and Epistemology.

 

*  1990-1996:  Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia.

Courses: Ethics; Practical Reasoning; Formal Logic;  Introduction to Philosophy; History of Western Philosophy

(Modern); Epistemology; Independent Studies in Contemporary Analytic Philosophy; and Independent Studies Seminar in Epistemology.

                                                                                                           

*  1985-1990: Lecturer, Marianopolis College, Montréal, Quebec, Canada. 

Courses: Formal Logic; Modern Philosophy; Ethics; Contemporary Analytic Philosophy; Introduction to Philosophy; and Philosophical Issues in novels about Africa. This last course was one of several Core Humanities Courses from which each student was required to select and study one in order to fulfil the graduation requirement of the college. The objective of these courses was to broaden the students' horizon beyond their immediate areas of concentration. Novels studies: Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness, Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart and A Man of the People, and Robert Serumaga, Return to the Shadows.

 

*  1981-1985: Teaching Assistant, Department of Philosophy, McGill University.

 

*  1979-1981:  Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. (During this period I was on leave of absence from McGill University, having completed a  year in the doctoral program.  And in the second year, 1980-1981, I was appointed Acting Head in the absence of the substantive Departmental Head.)

Courses: Rationalism and Empiricism; Problems in Ethics; History of Ethics; Metaphysics; Introduction to Philosophy; and Epistemology. I also delivered a weekly one-hour public lecture on philosophic thought to first year non-Philosophy students as part of the college's Foundation Course Program. This Foundation Course was a mandatory full-year course in which all departments in the Faculty of Arts participated. The contribution of the Philosophy Department consisted in providing all first-year non-Philosophy students some grounding in critical thinking through a general introduction to some of the perennial questions examined in the discipline.

 

*  1978-1979:  Teaching Assistant, Department of Philosophy, McGill University.

 

*  1977-1978: Graduate Assistant, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

 

*  1976-1977: Research and Teaching Assistant in Philosophy, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.  Conducted conferences on Introductory Philosophy; assisted in setting up and grading examinations; directed the activities of the Philosophy Students' Association; and edited students' essays for publication in The Philosophy Journal.

 

*  1975-1976: Teacher, Albert Academy, Freetown, Sierra Leone.  Taught Literature at Sixth and Fourth Forms, and English Language at Fifth Form. In addition, I supervised the meetings of the Intermediate Division  (consisting of Third and Fourth Form pupils) of the school's Literary and Debating Society. The object of this society was to train students in the art of public speaking.  As a member of the English department, my role as supervisor of the society was to plan and coordinate the activities of the society, to schedule special events, decide on topics for weekly debates, and to moderate discussions and debates. Panelists were all students.

 

PUBLICATIONS:

 

BOOK

*  Cornel West and Philosophy: The Quest for Social Justice (Routledge, 2002).

 

ARTICLES, BOOK CHAPTERS, REVIEW ESSAYS, ETC.

 

*  “Public Morality, Liberalism and Virtue Ethics.” In Caribbean Journal of Philosophy, an On-line Journal, Vol. 2, No.1 (2010).

 

*  Reading Between the Lines: Kathryn Gines on Hannah Arendt and Antiblack Racism.” In Southern Journal of Philosophy, Vol. XLVII (2009).

 

*  "Reconceptualizing Blackness and Making Race Obsolescent." Commissioned chapter contribution to volume entitled White on White/Black on Black (ed.) George Yancy. Rowman and Littlefield, 2005.

 

*  “Author Meets Critics Session on Cornel West and Philosophy at the APA Eastern Division Meeting December 27-30, 2003: Response to My Critics.” In the APA Newsletter on Philosophy and the Black Experience, Vol. 4 No.2, (spring 2005), pp.6-9.

 

*   “A Critique of Cornel West’s Christo-Marxian Prescription for Social Justice.” In Cheryl L. Hughes (ed.), Race, Social Identity, Human Dignity, Social Philosophy Today Book Series, Vol. 16, (Philosophy Documentation Center, 2002).

 

*  “Reading Cornel West as a Humanistic Scholar: Rhetoric and Practice.” In George Yancy (ed.), Cornel West: A Critical Reader, (Blackwell, 2001).

 

*  “Cornel West, African American Critical Thought, and the Quest for Social Justice.” The Journal of Social Philosophy, Vol. 32, No.4 (Winter 2001), 547-572.         

 

*  "Paulin Hountondji, African Philosophy and Philosophical Methodology." Southern Journal of Philosophy, Vol. XXXVI (1998), pp.179-195.

 

*  “Scholarship, Power, and Moral Decency.” The Journal of Thought, Vol. 33 (1), (Spring 1998), pp.9-14.  This is the lead piece in the volume.

 

*  "Cornel West as Pragmatist and Existentialist." In Lewis R. Gordon (ed.), Existence  in Black: An Anthology of Black Existential Philosophy, (Routledge, 1997).

 

*  "An Analysis of John Mbiti's Treatment of the Concept of Event in African Ontologies." QUEST: An International Journal of African Philosophy, Vols. IX (2) and X (1), (1996), pp.139-157.

 

*  "Annette Baier on Reason and Morals in Hume's Philosophy."  DIALOGUE: Canadian Philosophical Review, Vol. XXXIV, No.  2 (Spring 1995), pp.367-380.

 

*  "Teaching the Canons of Western Philosophy at Historically Black Colleges and Universities:  The Spelman College Experience." Metaphilosophy, Vol. 26, No.4 (October 1995), pp.413-423.

           

*  "Capaldi's Copernican Reading of Hume." DIALOGUE: Canadian Philosophical Review, Vol. XXXIII No.1 (Winter 1994), pp. 71-78.

              

*  "Hume's Theory of Moral Responsibility: Some Unresolved Matters." DIALOGUE: Canadian Philosophical Review, Vol. XXX1, No.1 (1992), pp.3-18.  This is the lead article in the volume and it has been reprinted in Roland G. Bonnel (ed.), Facets of the Eighteenth Century (Ontario: Captus University Publications, 1991), pp.79-92.  The reprint in Facets appeared before the original publication in DIALOGUE because DIALOGUE, as a result of a backlog, rescheduled the manuscript from its originally slated issue.

 

*  "Yet Another Look at Cognitive Reason And Moral Action in Hume's Ethical System." Journal of Philosophical Research, Vol. XVII (1992), pp. 225-238.

 

*  "Lehrer and the Analysis of Knowledge."  The Southwest Philosophy Review, Vol. 8, No. 2 (July, 1992), pp. 89-96.

 

*  "Hume on Character, Action and Causal Necessity." AUSLEGUNG: A Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Summer 1990), pp. 149-164.  This article has been indexed in the select bibliography of The Cambridge Companion to  Hume (ed.) David Fate Norton. Cambridge University Press, 1994.

 

*  “The Humanistic Scholarship of Cornel West.” In Lewis R. Gordon (ed.) Key Figures in African American Critical Thought. Routledge. Forthcoming.

 

*  "The Concept of Essence in African Religious and Philosophical Thought." Encyclopedia of African Religions and Philosophy, (ed.) V.Y. Mudimbe. Commissioned article. Dordretch, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers Inc. Forthcoming.

 

*  "The Nature of Event in African Religious and Philosophical Thought." Encyclopedia of African Religions and Philosophy, (ed.) V.Y. Mudimbe. Commissioned article.  Dordretch, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishing Inc. Forthcoming.

 

*  “Resistance to Modernity: Two Contesting Viewpoints.” In Blackness and Modernities, Eds. Violet Showers Johnson and Isabel Soto. Collegium for African American Research FORECAST Series. Hamburg and Munster: Lit Verlag Press, 2011. Forthcoming.

 

 

BOOK REVIEWS

*  Review of Lewis Gordon’s An Introduction to Africana Philosophy (Cambridge, 2008). In CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries: Review No.46-3172, February, 2009.

 

*  Review of Gilbert Harman and Sanjeev Kulkari’s Reliable Reasoning: Induction and Statistical Learning Theory.(MIT Press, 2007) In CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries: Review No. 45-3711, March, 2008.

 

*  “Democratic Governance and (Transitional) Postcolonial States: A Review of George Carew’s Democratic Transition in Postcolonial Africa – A Deliberative Approach” (Mellen, 2006). In the APA Newsletters, Vol. 7, No.1 (fall 2007), pp.5-10.

 

*  Review of Donald Rutherford (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Early Modern Philosophy (Cambridge, 2007). In CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries: Review No. 45-0208, September, 2007

 

*  Review of Joseph Margolis, Introduction to Philosophical Problems (Continuum, 2006). In CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, Review No. 44-3229, February, 2007.

 

*  Review of Andrew Lawless, Plato’s Sun: An Introduction to Philosophy (Toronto, 2005). In CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, Review No. 43-3324, February, 2006.

 

*  Review of Mathias Steup and Ernest Sosa (eds.) Contemporary Debates in Epistemology (Blackwell, 2004). In CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, Rev. No. 43-0232, September 2005.

 

*  Commissioned review of Kwasi Wiredu's (ed.) A Companion to African Philosophy (Malden, MA and Oxford UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2004). In APA Newsletter on Philosophy and the Black Experience, Vol.4, No.2 (spring 2005), pp.11-13.

 

*  Review of Kwasi Wiredu's (ed.) A Companion to African Philosophy (Malden, MA and Oxford UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2004). In CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, Rev. No. 42-1478, November, 2004.

 

*  Review of Roy Sorenson's A Brief History of the Paradox: Philosophy and the Labyrinths of the Mind (Oxford, 2003). In CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, Rev. No. 41-6462, July, 2004.

 

*  Commissioned review of Rosemary Cowan's Cornel West: The Politics of Redemption (Cambridge, UK and Malden, MA: Polity and Blackwell Publishers, 2003). In the APA Newsletter on Philosophy and the Black Experience, Vol. 3 (1), Fall 2003, pp.52-56.

 

*  Commissioned review of Rosemary Cowan's Cornel West: The Politics of Redemption (Cambridge, UK and Malden, MA: Polity and Blackwell Publishers, 2003). In The A.M.E. Church Review, Vol. CXX (January-March, 2004), pp. 139-140.

 

*  Review of Barry Hallen's A Short History of African Philosophy (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2002). In CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, Rev. No. 403328, February, 2003.

 

*  On-line Review of Andrew B. Schoedinger’s Our Philosophical Heritage, (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1999). In Amazon.com

 

*  Review of Paulin Hountondji's African Philosophy:  Myth and Reality, 2nd. ed. (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1996). In DIALOGUE: Canadian Philosophical Review, Vol. XXXVIII (3), 1999, pp.684-688.

                                                                       

*  Review of Kwasi Wiredu's Cultural Universals and Particulars (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1996). In Philosophy in Review, XVII (4), 1997, pp.300-302.

 

*  Review of Gilles Deleuze's Empiricism and Subjectivity: An Essay on Hume's Theory of Human Nature (New York: Columbia University Press, 1991). In AUSLEGUNG: A Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 20, Number 1 (Winter 1995), pp. 35-37.

 

*  Review of African Philosophy: The Essential Readings (ed.) Tsenay Serequeberhan (New York: Paragon House, 1991). In AUSLEGUNG:  A Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 19, Number 1, (Winter 1993), pp. 104-109.

 

*   Review of Trudy Govier's God, The Devil and The Perfect Pizza: Ten Philosophical Questions (Peterborough & New York: Broadview Press, 1989). In AUSLEGUNG: A Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 18, Number 1, (Winter 1992), pp. 82-85. This review is a descendant of my comments as referee of the book's manuscript for Broadview Press. Excerpts from this review have been quoted in at least two promotional fliers of Broadview Press.

 

*  Commissioned review of The Philosopher As Writer (ed.) Robert Ginsberg,  (Selinsgrove: Susquehanna University Press 1987). In Canadian Philosophical Reviews Vol. VIII, No. 6 (June 1988), pp. 210-213.

 

*  Review of Teodros KirosZara Yacob: Rationality of the Heart (Lawrenceville, NJ and Asmara, Eritrea: The Red Sea Press, Inc., 2005). Philosophia Africana. Under editorial consideration.

                 

WORK(S) IN PROGRESS

 

*   “Science, Technology and Morality”

 

*  John Locke, American Slavery and the Age of Paradox.        

 

PUBLIC LECTURES

 

·         Public Morality, Liberalism and Virtue Ethics.” Annual Lecture in Public Philosophy, St. Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. September 22, 2011.

 

*  “Democracy in a Pluralistic Society: Challenges of Difference.” Keynote Address at Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh jointly sponsored conference entitled A New Democracy? Economics, Culture and Difference, held at Duquesne University, March 20, 2009.

 

*  “Democratic Governance and (Transitional) Postcolonial States.” DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, Friday, November 9, 2007.

 

*  “Customs, Cultures and Normative Judgments: Transcending Differences.” Inaugural lecture, Spring 2002 Honors College Annual Lecture Series, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), January 13, 2003.

 

*   “The Sins of our Philosophical Forebears: Modern Philosophy and Eurocentricism.” Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, October 30, 1999.

 

*  “Morality and the Limits of Technology.” Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, October 29, 1999.

 

*  “Modern Philosophy, The Legitimation of Racism, and the Alienation of the Other.”  The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, April  14, 1999.

 

*  “Morality and the Limits of Technology.” Inaugural lecture, Fall 1999 Honors College Annual Lecture  Series, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), August 30, 1999.

 

*  “Modern Philosophy, The Legitimation of Racism, and the Alienation of the Other.”  Keynote address at the 45th Annual Southeastern Undergraduate Philosophy Conference, Tennessee State University,   Nashville, Tennessee, February 26, 1999.

 

*  “Modern Philosophy and the Legitimation of Racism.” Spring 1999 Lecture Series of the African American Studies Program, MTSU, February 16, 1999.

 

*  “The Philosophical Basis of Cornel West’s Sociopolitical Engagements.” Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Monday, February 16, 1998.

 

*  “The Prophetic Pragmatism of Cornel West.” The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Wednesday, November 5, 1997.

 

*  "Scholarship, Power and Moral Decency." Spelman College 1997 Scholarships, Prizes and Awards Ceremony, April 24, 1997.

SCHOLARLY PRESENTATIONS

*  “Public Morality, Liberalism and Virtue Ethics.” Presented at MTSU Annual Scholar’s Day Conference, April 1, 2009.

 

*  “Public Morality, Liberalism and Virtue Ethics.” Presented at the First Global Conference on Ethics and Public Policy, Salzburg, Austria, March 13-15, 2009.

 

*  Reading Between the Lines: Kathryn Gines on Hannah Arendt and Antiblack Racism.” Presented at the 27th Annual Spindel Conference on the theme Race, Racism and Liberalism in the 21st Century. University of Memphis, September 25-27, 2009.

 

*  “On George M. Carew’s Democratic Transition in Postcolonial Africa: A Deliberative Approach (Mellen, 2006)”.Presented at the Fourth Annual Caribbean Philosophical Association conference, The University of West Indies—Mona, Kingston, Jamaica, June 27-30, 2007.

 

*  “Resistance to Modernity: Two Contesting Viewpoints.” Presented at the Seventh International Collegium for African American Research (CAAR) Conference, National University, Madrid, Spain, April 18-21, 2007.

 

*  “A Conversation on Double Consciousness: Molefi K. Asante and Clarence Sholé Johnson.” Co-sponsored by The Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought, The Center for the Humanities and the Philosophy Department of Temple University; held at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Friday, March 23, 2007.

 

*  Asante and Du Bois on Race(ism) and the Problem of Double Consciousness.” Presented at the Third Annual Caribbean Philosophical Association conference, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, August 1-3, 2006.

 

*  “In Defense of Racial Eliminativism.” Presented at the Second Annual Caribbean Philosophical Association conference , San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 1-4, 2005.

 

*  Descartes, Zara Yacob and Philosophical Modernity.” Presented at the Second Annual Caribbean Philosophical Association conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 1-4, 2005.

 

*  “(Re)Conceptualizing Blackness and Making Race Obsolete.” Presented at the annual Collegium for African American Research (CAAR) conference in Tour, France, April 20-25, 2005.

 

*  "John Locke, the Problem of Personal Identity and English Colonial/Economic Enterprise." Presented at the First Annual Meeting of the Caribbean Philosophical Association, Accra Beach Hotel, Christ Church, Barbados, May 19-22, 2004.

 

*  "Author Meets Critics: A critical discussion of Clarence Sholé Johnson's Cornel West and Philosophy (Routledge, 2002)" at the 100th annual meetings of the American Philosophical Association (Eastern Division), the Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington, DC, December 27-30, 2003. Critics: Robert Bernasconi (University of Memphis), Cynthia Willett (Emory University), and Albert Mosley (Smith College). Respondent: author.

 

*  “Affirmative Action and the Issue of Social Justice: Why Not a Universal Class-Based Policy?” Presented at the National Association of African American Studies Annual Conference, Houston, Texas, February 11-16, 2002.

 

*  “Affirmative Action and the Issue of Social Justice: Why Not a Universal Class-Based Policy?” Presented at the 33rd Annual Meetings of the Tennessee Philosophical Association, Vanderbilt University, November, 2-3, 2001.

 

*  “A Critique of Cornel West’s Christo-Marxian Prescription for Social Justice.” Presented at Middle Tennessee State University Second Annual University-wide Faculty Research Symposium, April 25, 2001.

 

*  “Cornel West, the Black-Jewish Conflict and the Consequences for Social Justice.” Presented at the National Association of African American Studies (NAAAS) Annual Conference, Houston, Texas, February 12-17, 2001.

 

*  “Cornel West, African American Critical Thought, and the Quest for Social Justice.” Presented at the National Association of African American Studies (NAAAS) Annual Conference, Houston, Texas, February 21-26, 2000.

 

*   “A Humean Kant or a Kantian Hume?: A Response to Randy Cagle’s ‘The Role of the Affective in Kant’s Theory of Moral Motivation’.” Presented at the 31st Annual Meetings of the Tennessee Philosophical Association, Vanderbilt University, November 6, 1999.

 

*  “Cornel West, African American Critical Thought, and the Quest for Social Justice.” Presented at the Sixteenth International Social Philosophy Conference, Villanova University, July 15-17, 1999.

 

*   “Text, Textuality, and Constructing Philosophy as a Way of Life: A Response to Samuel Oluoch Imbo.” Presented at the Twenty-Third Annual Mid-South Philosophy Conference, The University of Memphis, Tennessee, March 5-7, 1999.

 

*  “Cornel West, The Early Black Cultural Critics, and the Politics of Representation.” Presented at the National Association of African American Studies (NAAAS) Conference, Houston, Texas, February 9-13, 1999.

 

*  Paulin Hountondji, African Philosophy and Philosophical Methodology.” Presented at the 20th Third World Studies Conference, University of Nebraska (Omaha) October 9-11, 1997.   

                                                                       

*  "Cornel West as Pragmatist and Existentialist." Presented at the Ninety-Third Annual Meetings of the American Philosophical Association, December 27-30, 1996, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia.

           

*  "Causation, Sympathy and Morality: A Response to Andrew Cunningham's 'Aspects of Mind and Causation in Hume's Treatise'." Presented at the Fortieth Annual Conference of the Canadian Philosophical Association at Brock University, Ontario, Canada, 29th May-1st June, 1996.

 

*  "An Analysis of John Mbiti's Treatment of the Concept of Event in African Ontologies." Presented at the 18th Annual Third World  Studies Conference, The University of Nebraska (Omaha) Nebraska, October 12-14, 1995.     

 

*  "Outlines of the Main Argument on Hume's Conception of Reason in its Relation to Moral Conduct." Presented at the Bush Faculty Development Grant and Evaluation, Spelman College, May 24, 1995. 

           

*  "Teaching the Canons of Western Philosophy at HBCUs: The Spelman College Experience."   Presented at the American Association of Philosophy Teachers (AAPT) Tenth International Workshop-Conference on Teaching Philosophy, Marianopolis College, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, August 5-8, 1994.

 

*  "Hume's Instrumentalist Conception of Practical Reason: A Reply to Jean Hampton." Presented at the Twenty-First Hume International Conference, Universita di Roma ("La Sapienza"), Rome, Italy, June 20-24, 1994.

 

*  "Conflict and Conciliation: War and Peace." A Workshop Presentation at the Curriculum Development Institute on the theme Governance, Equity and the Global Poor, jointly sponsored by Interfaith Hunger Appeal and Spelman College. Spelman College, June 9-12, 1994.

           

*  "Monitoring the Environmental Policies of Companies."  A presentation at the Industrial Ecology Workshop and Forum jointly sponsored by AT&T and Spelman College Environmental Task Force.  Spelman College, March 20-26,1994.

 

*  "Did Hume Replace Reason with Sentiment in his Moral Enterprise?" Presented at the 45th Annual Northwest Conference on Philosophy, Kwantlen College, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, November 5-6, 1993.

 

*  "Yet Another Look at Cognitive Reason and Moral Action in Hume's Ethical System." Presented at the Joint Meetings of the Twentieth Hume Conference and the Eighteenth-Century Scottish Studies Society at the University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, July 6-10, 1993.

 

*  "Annette Baier on Reason and Morals in Hume's Philosophy."  Presented in a symposium to the Canadian Philosophical Association at the Thirty-Seventh Annual Congress of the Canadian Learned Societies, Carleton University, Ottawa, 30th May-2nd June,1993. Fellow symposiasts included David Braybrooke, Louise Marcil-Lacoste and Annette Baier. 

 

*  "In Defense of Hume's view of our Ascriptive Practices." Presented at the annual Intermountain Philosophy Conference, held at Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, April 23-24, 1993.

                                                                                   

*  "Foot on Hume on Moral Responsibility." Presented at the 44th Annual Northwest Philosophy Conference, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, November 6-7, 1992.

 

*  "Yet Another Look at Cognitive Reason and Moral Action in Hume's Ethical System." Presented at Spelman College Faculty Brown Bag Colloquium, 27th October, 1992.

 

*  "Locke and the Problem of General Knowledge:  A Cartesian Reply to         Odegard." Presented at the Canadian Philosophical Association at the Thirty-Sixth Annual Congress of the Canadian Learned Societies, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, 24-27 May, 1992.  

           

*  "Foot on Hume on Moral Responsibility." Presented at the Spring Meetings of the Georgia Philosophical Society, Georgia State University, Saturday, 2nd May, 1992.

 

*   "Yet Another Look at Cognitive Reason and Moral Action in Hume's Ethical System." Presented at the annual Fall Meetings of the Georgia Philosophical Society, Oglethorpe University, Saturday, 19th October, 1991.

 

*  "Hume's Theory of Moral Responsibility:  Some Unresolved Matters." Presented at the Sixteenth Annual Meetings of the Atlantic Society For Eighteenth Century Studies, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, April 20-22, 1990.

 

*  "Hume on Character, Action and Causal Necessity." Presented at the Canadian Philosophical Association, at the Thirty-Second Annual Congress of the Canadian Learned Societies, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 24-27 May,1988.

 

CONFERENCE/WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION

AND ATTENDANCE

*  Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) Leadership Academy, SunTrust Bank, Murfreesboro, spring 2002.

 

*  Dean’s designee, MTSU Leadership Institute, Fall Creek Falls Resort, Piketon, Tennessee, April 9-12, 2001.

 

*  Represented the President of Spelman College at the 79th Annual Meetings of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), Sheraton Society Hill Hotel, Philadelphia, May 1-2, 1998.

 

*  The Thirty-Ninth annual conference of the Canadian Philosophical Association at the Annual Congress of the Canadian Learned Societies, Université du Quebec a Montréal  (UQAM), June 3-6, 1995.

 

*  Facilitator, "The Use of DNA Testing in Criminal Investigations: Ethics, Legality and Scientific Accuracy." Spelman College, November 16, 1994. 

 

*  The Inaugural Conference of the Southeastern Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Emory University, November 5-6, 1994.

                                               

*  The Eighteenth Hume Conference held at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, August 12-15, 1991.

 

*  The Region Three Workshop of Partnership for International Development Program and USAID, held at Morris Brown  College, Atlanta, Georgia,

September 1, 1995. The workshop was directed at faculty in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) on grant proposal writing and strategies in obtaining and using information about grant opportunities through which the types of institutions in question could become involved with USAID. In particular, the object of the all-day workshop was to provide “information and insight into the process of becoming involved with USAID contracting opportunities” and to "assist individuals in assessing and marketing their institution's strengths."

           

*  The second of five workshop series sponsored by The Consortium for Inter-institutional Collaboration in African and Latin American Studies (CICALS), and hosted by Spelman College.  Spelman College, March 10-12, 1995.

 

*  The Spelman and Morehouse Colleges 1993 Peace and International Studies Summer Workshop, Spelman College, May 17-28, 1993.

 

*  Summer Workshop of Spelman College Liberal Arts Core Course Committee on the then proposed course entitled The African Diaspora and the World, Spelman College, June 1-12, 1992. I was one of twelve (12) faculty members charged with the responsibility of drawing up the syllabus for the course.

 

*  Spelman College Bush Grant sponsored Faculty Development Workshop on Teaching and Learning Styles, Spelman College, 20th May, 1992.

 

*  Spelman College Comprehensive Writing Program Summer Workshop entitled "Pedagogical Uses of Computer Technology.” Spelman College, June 10-14, 1991.

 

RESEARCH AWARDS,

FELLOWSHIPS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

 

2009: MTSU Faculty Research and Creative Activity Summer Research Grant to enable me to revise for final submission my paper “Resistance to Modernity: Two Contesting Viewpoints” that is to appear as a chapter in a forthcoming book Blackness and Modernities (eds.) Violet Showers Johnson and Isabel Soto. (Hamburg and Munster: Lit Verlag Press.)

 

2008: MTSU Non-Instructional Assignment Grant (otherwise known as a sabbatical leave grant) to conduct research for manuscript entitled John Locke, American Slavery and the Age of Paradox.

 

2004: MTSU Faculty Research and Creative Activity Grant, with a one-course release time, to pursue research on the topic "(Re)Conceptualizing Blackness and Making Race Obsolescent."

 

2003: MTSU Faculty Research and Creative Activity Grant, with a one-course release time, to pursue research on the topic “Science, Technology and Morality.”

 

2002: MTSU Faculty Research and Creative Activity Grant, with a one-course release time, to complete manuscript entitled “A Critique of Cornel West’s Christo-Marxian Prescription for Social Justice.”

 

2001: MTSU Faculty Research and Creative Activity Summer Research Grant to conduct research on the topic “Cornel West, the Black-Jewish Conflict and the Consequences for Social Justice.”

 

2001: MTSU Faculty Research and Creative Activity Grant, with a one-course release time, to revise for publication my paper entitled “Cornel West, African American Critical Thought and the Quest for Social Justice.”

 

2000: MTSU Faculty Research and Creative Activity Grant, with a one-course release time, to revise for publication my paper entitled “Reading Cornel West as a Humanistic Scholar: Rhetoric and Practice.”

 

1998 (Spring semester): Scholar-in-Residence, Faculty Resource Network, New York University. I was on a sabbatic leave from Spelman College, during which period I conducted a substantive body of research for my book Cornel West and Philosophy (published in 2002). My faculty host at NYU was Professor Robert Gurland.

 

1996: Spelman College Presidential Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.The award consisted of a recognition plaque signed by then President, Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, and a cheque for $1,000.

 

1996:  Spelman College Faculty Development Grant of $1,259.50 to present a paper entitled "Causation, Sympathy and Morality: A  Response to Andrew Cunningham's 'Aspects of Mind and Causation in Hume's Treatise'" at the Fortieth Annual Conference of the Canadian Philosophical Association.   The conference was held at Brock University, Ontario, Canada, May 29-June 1, 1996.

 

1994: Charles Merrill International Travel Award of  $1,500 to present a paper entitled "Hume's  Instrumentalist Conception of Practical Reason: A Reply to Jean Hampton" to the Hume Society at its 21st annual Hume Conference at Universita di Roma ("La Sapienza"), Rome, Italy, June 20-24, 1994.

 

1994: Spelman College Bush Faculty Development Award of $575 to conduct research on Hume and Practical Reason (completed as "Hume's Instrumentalist Conception of Practical Reason: A Reply to Jean Hampton”) and presented at the 21st annual Hume conference at the Universita di Roma ("La Sapienza") in Rome, Italy, June 20-24, 1994.

 

1993: Charles Merrill International Travel Award of $1,200 to present a paper to the Canadian Philosophical Association on 31st May, 1993 at the annual conference of the Canadian Learned Societies held at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.

 

1993: Charles Merrill International Travel Award of  $1,197.15 to present paper to the Hume Society at its 20th Hume Conference jointly

sponsored by the Eighteenth Century Scottish Studies Society, at the University of Ottawa,  July 6-10,1993, in Ottawa, Canada.

 

1991: Spelman College Bush Faculty Development Grant of $1,300 to conduct research into the third and final part of a Hume study.

 

1990: Spelman College Bush Faculty Development Grant of  $2,000 to conduct research on the second of a three-part study of the philosophy

of David Hume.

 

1984-85: Dow-Hickson Fellowship, McGill University. This was a major merit-based departmental award.

 

1981-1985;

1978-1979: Teaching Assistant, McGill University.  Five-time recipient of the McGill University Annual Summer Research Fellowship of $1,500; and Twice recipient of the McGill University Foreign Student Graduate Fee Bursary of $500.

 

1977-1978: Dalhousie University Graduate Fellowship to pursue the M.A. degree in Philosophy. This was a major university award.

 

1972-1975: Sierra Leone Government Scholarship for Higher Education. This was a merit-based four-year scholarship to pursue

undergraduate studies.

 

1971-1972:  Sierra Leone Government scholarship to pursue studies at the Sixth Form.                                                                                  

 

BOARD MEMBERSHIP, PEER REVIEWING

AND RELATED PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

 

*  2010: Editorial Board Member, Radical Philosophy Review.

 

*  2010: Editorial Board Member, Caribbean Journal of Philosophy

 

*  2008: External Reviewer for Duquesne University’s Philosophy Department in connection with the candidacy of a faculty member for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor.

 

*  2008: External Reviewer for Marquette University’s Department of Philosophy in connection with the candidacy of a faculty member for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor.

 

*  2008: Manuscript Reviewer for the journal Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education: International (School of Education, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, 91905).

 

*  2007: Board Member in the capacity of Secretary for African Political Thought, Caribbean Philosophical Association.

 

*  2006: External Reviewer for Kent State University’s Department of Philosophy in connection with the candidacy of a faculty member for promotion to Full Professor.

 

*  2006: Manuscript Reviewer for the journal Research in African Literatures.

           

*  2004-2006: Board Member in the capacity of Secretary of Philosophy and Human Rights, Caribbean Philosophical Association.

 

*  2004-2006: Member, Dissertation Committee of Ms. Lina Buffington, Ph. D. candidate in Philosophy at Emory University, Atlanta, GA.

 

*  2004: Book Proposal Reviewer for Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

 

*  2003: Manuscript Reviewer for the journal African Studies Quarterly.

 

*  2002- present: Reviewer, CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries.

 

*  2002: Manuscript Reviewer for the American Philosophical Quarterly.

 

*  2000-2001: Organizer of the 48th Annual Southeastern Undergraduate Philosophy Conference hosted by the Department of Philosophy, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, March 2-3, 2001.

 

*  1999-2000: Manuscript Reviewer for Social Philosophy Today Book Series

*                           

*  1999-2002: Area Coordinator of the National Association of African American Studies (NAAAS) Annual National Conference, February 22-26, 2000

 

*  1999: Student Scholastic Showcase Judge, Golden Key International Honor Society.

 

*  1999: Consultant, Tennessee State University Honors Interdisciplinary Humanities Curriculum Development Program.

 

*  1998:  Manuscript Reviewer for Howard University Press.

                                                                                                           

*  1997:  Manuscript Reviewer for Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review

 

*  1997:  Grant Proposal Reviewer, FY 1998 Specific Research Grant Program,  Idaho State Board of Education.

 

*  1996:  Manuscript Reviewer for Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review

                                                                                               

*  1996:  Text Reviewer for Prentice Hall (Englewood Cliffs, NJ).

 

*  1996:  Grant Proposal Reviewer, FY 1997 Specific Research Grant Program, Idaho State Board of Education.

 

*  1995-present:  Assistant Editor, AUSLEGUNG: A Journal of Philosophy.

           

*  1995:  Organizer of the 43rd annual Southeastern Undergraduate Philosophy Conference, Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia,

March 3-4, 1996.

 

*  1994:  Consultant Manuscript Reviewer for the journal AUSLEGUNG: A Journal of Philosophy.  

 

*  1992: Consultant Manuscript Reviewer for the journal Eidos. I refereed manuscripts for a special issue devoted to the philosophy of David

Hume under the guest editorship of Professor Nathan Brett, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

           

*  1988: Consultant Reviewer, Broadview Press, P.O. Box, 1243, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. K9J 7H5.  I refereed the manuscript of the book God, The Devil and the Perfect Pizza: Ten Philosophical Questions, subsequently published in 1989.

                                                                                               

INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE

*  Coordinator, Departmental Five-Year Program Review, 2007

 

*  Member Search Committee for Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts, MTSU

 

*  Member, Tenure and Promotions Committee, College of Liberal Arts

MTSU, 2005-2008.

 

*  Minority Member Art Department Faculty Search Committee, MTSU,  2002-2003.

 

*  Committee Member, MTSU Faculty Welfare Committee, 2002-2003.

 

*  Elected to University Faculty Senate, MTSU, 2002-2005.

 

*  Committee Member, Student Affairs Committee C, MTSU Senate, 1998-2000.

 

*  Committee Member, MTSU African American History Month 2000 Celebration; reappointed in 2001. (Presidential appointments.)

 

*  Member Advisory Committee, MTSU African American Studies Program since 1998.

 

*  Member, MTSU Communicating Across the Curriculum Task Force, 1999.

 

*  Mentor, MTSU Mentoring Program, 1999-2000.

 

*  Faculty Advisor, Georgia Epsilon Chapter of PHI SIGMA TAU: International Honor Society for Philosophy. The Spelman College Chapter was inaugurated in May, 1998.

 

*  Elected Member-at-Large, College Council Executive Committee, Spelman College.

 

*  Elected for a three-year term as the Representative of the Humanities Division to the Executive Committee of the College Council, Spelman College.

 

*  Humanities Representative, Study Abroad Committee, Spelman College. (Diverse Dates.)

 

*  Humanities Representative at the Academic Integrity Committee, Spelman College. (Diverse Dates.)

 

*  Chair, International Student Services Advisory Committee, Spelman College, 1995/96

 

*  Chair, Faculty Welfare Committee, Spelman College, 1994/95.

 

*  International Studies Committee, Spelman College, 1994/95 and 1992/93.

                       

*  Food Service Committee, Spelman College, 1993/94.

 

*  Liberal Arts Core Course Committee , Spelman College,1992/93

 

*  Faculty Personnel Committee, Spelman College, 1991/92. I was the junior faculty of the Committee.

 

*  Library Committee, Spelman College, 1990-1992, and 1994 –1996.

 

*  Scholarships, Prizes and Awards Committee, Spelman College, 1990 -1992.

 

*  Freshmen Advisor, Spelman College, 1991-1997; and also UNCF/Mellon Mentor to a number of Philosophy majors, Spelman College,1995-1998.

           

*  Founder of and Faculty Advisor to The Spelman College Philosophy Society, 1991-1998

 

*  Interim Departmental Chair, Spelman College -- 1993/94 and Spring 1992.

 

 

HONORS

*  Meritorious Service Award, Golden Key International Honor Society (1999).

 

*  Honorary Member Golden Key International Honor Society. (Inducted February, 1997).

 

*  Presidential Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, Spelman College, 1996.

 

*  President (1995-97), Beta Omega Chapter of Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars.

                                                                                                           

*  Dean's Honor List for excellence in the Ph.D. program. This is a formal acknowledgement of an outstanding performance in the doctoral program by the Dean of Graduate Studies on behalf of a candidate's program committee, department, and the candidate's doctoral examining committee. (A copy of the Dean's official notification is attached.)

                                                                                               

*  Top Graduating Philosophy Student Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.

 

*  Head Boy and Senior Prefect 1971-72, Methodist Boys' High School, Freetown, Sierra Leone.  The Head Boy and Senior Prefect are appointed by the Principal on the recommendation of faculty. And the appointment is in recognition of outstanding scholastic performance of the "best" and "second best" students, respectively, in the Sixth Form. In my case,  because I was a distant first to the "second best" student, the administration decided to appoint me to both positions and to appoint the "second best" as my deputy.

The functions of Head Boy and Senior Prefect approximate roughly those of the SGA President and the Senior Class President in the United States. In particular, as both Head Boy and Senior Prefect I functioned as liaison between the student body and the administration, chaired Prefects’ Council Meetings, assigned duties and responsibilities to Prefects, was student representative at various school committees that were presided over by faculty; led school delegation to state functions, and gave the vote of thanks at most formal school functions.

 

 

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS       

*  The American Philosophical Association (Currently Inactive)

*  The Canadian Philosophical Association (Currently Inactive)

*  The Tennessee Philosophical Association

*  The Hume Society (Currently Inactive)

*  The Southwest Philosophy Society

*  North American Society for Social Philosophy

*  Caribbean Philosophical Association

 

REFERENCES: Available on request