Andrew Gustafson

 

Associate Professor of Business Ethics and Society
Creighton University, College of Business Administration—Department of Marketing & Management
Eppley Building BA423
2500 California Plaza, Creighton University, Omaha, 68178 

Work Phone:(402) 280-3172          Fax:(402) 280-5565
E-mail Address: andrewgustafson@creighton.edu

Teaching Positions:

        2010    (Tenured) Associate Professor of Business Ethics and Society, Creighton University

2005--  Associate Professor of Business Ethics and Society, Creighton University (Omaha)

2001-2005 Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Bethel University (St. Paul, MN)

1997-2001 Student Teaching Instructor, Marquette University (Milwaukee)

1997 Spring Sabbatical replacement visiting instructor, Trinity College (Deerfield, IL)

1996 Fall Sabbatical replacement visiting instructor, Nazareth College (Rochester NY)

 

Education                   

Ph.D. Philosophy (2001)               Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI

M.A. Philosophy (1997)               Fordham University, Bronx, NY

M.A. Christian Thought (1994)     Trinity, Deerfield, IL

B.A. Philosophy/English (1992)     University of Nebraska--Lincoln

 

Awards/Recognition

2010 Alpha Sigma Nu Honorary Inductee (Jesuit Honor Society), 2/2010

2009 Outstanding Graduate Business Faculty, Creighton University College of Business

 

 Publications/Articles:

 

12. "Global Pharmaceutical Marketing Incentives – Misplaced Marketing or the Common Good?" Journal of International Business co-authored with Trent Wachner (Spring, 2010)

11. "Rorty, Caputo and Business Ethics Without Metaphysics: Ethical Theories as Normative Narratives" Business Ethics: A European Review (Forthcoming)

10. "J.S. Mill's Communal Utilitarian Self: A Critique of Gray, Anschutz, and Woolf's Radically Individual Interpretations" in International Philosophical Quarterly (49.2, June 2009)

9. "Mill’s Poet-Philosopher,and the Instrumental-Social Importance of Poetry for Moral Sentiments" in British Journal for the History of Philosophy (17.4 September 2009, p821-47)

8. “Mill’s View of Art and Poetry as the Basis of Moral Education” article in Teaching Ethics (Summer 2006)

7. “Murtahda Mutahhari and John Stuart Mill’s Critique of the Consumeristic Commodification of Culture” in Hekmat va Falsafeh (Wisdom and Philosophy) [philosophy journal from Allameh Tabatabaii University in Tehran, Iran] Vol 2 No.1 (Summer 2006)

6. “Utilitarianism and Business Ethics” article in Ethical Issues in Business: A Philosophical Approach (8th Ed.) Ed. by Patricia Werhane and Tom Donaldson (2006)

5. “Kant: Friend or Foe of the Believer?: Plantinga and Other American Christian Responses to Kant’s Epistemology” in Hekmat va Falsafeh (Wisdom and Philosophy) [philosophy journal from Allameh Tabatabaii University in Tehran, Iran] (August 2005)

4.  “Advertising’s Impact On Morality in Society” in Business and Society Review, (Sum/01)

3. “Making Sense of Postmodern Business Ethics” in Business Ethics Quarterly (July 2000) 

2. “In Defense of Ethical Holism” Business Ethics Quarterly (April 2000)

1.  “Apologetically Listening to Derrida" in Philosophia Christi (Winter 1997).

  

Reviews:

14.  Religious Tolerance Through Humility: Thinking with Philip Quinn  Faith And Philosophy Journal (Forthcoming)

13. The Shadow of the Antichrist: Nietzsche's Critique of Christianity Philosophia Christi (Forthcoming)

12. What Would Jesus Deconstruct? by John Caputo Trinity Journal (Forthcoming)

11. Mill On God  Faith and Philosophy Journal (forthcoming)

10. The Hermeneutics of Charity Religious Studies Review (Winter 05)

9. Rethinking Peter Singer Religious Studies Review (Summer 03)

8. Utilitarians and Religion in Faith and Philosophy  (Fall 2003)

7. The Depth of the Riches. A Trinitarian Theology of Religous Ends by Mark Heim, Trinity Journal (Win, 02)

 6. Encountering Religious Pluralism by Harold  Netland in Religious Studies Review 28:3 (July 2002):

5. Truth or Consequences in Religious Studies Review 28:2

4. God, the Gift, and Postmodernism in Philosophia Christi (2.2.1, 2000)  

3. Beyond Integrity in Journal for Teaching Business Ethics (3(3) 1999) pp. 301-302.

2. On Moral Business in Journal for Teaching Business Ethics (3(1)1999) pp. 103-104.

1.   Truth is Stranger than it Used to Be and Christian Apologetics in a Postmodern World in Pro Ecclesia, vol. 6 no. 3 (Summer, 1997), pp. 368-370.

 

 

Selected Academic Conference Papers/Presentations/Colloquia:

65.(Under review) "Do Casinos Contribute to the Greater Good?: A Utilitarian Ethical Analysis of Casinos" World Business Ethics Forum, University of Macau, Macau 10/2010

64. "Some Utilitarian Considerations Regarding Discouraging Pharmaceutical Incentivizing in Emerging Markets: A Look at Pakistan, India and Others" International Vincentian Business Ethics Conference, Chicago, October 2010

63. "A Utilitarian Argument in Favor of Pharmaceutical Companies Incentivizing Doctors in Developing Countries" Society of Business Ethics Conference, Toronto, August 2010.

62. "Jesuit Education in Vegas: CaSINos and Other Educational Opportunities" 13th Annual Meeting of Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education, July 2010

61. Business, Media, and the Consequences of the Radical Shifts Towards Virtual Media and Commercialization of "knowledge", Conference On Media (Invited Keynote Speaker), Tehran, Iran, May 12, 2010

60. "Christian Philosophers As Public Intellectuals" Society of Christian Philosophers Conference (Midwest), Calvin College 4/31, 2010

59. "Zygmunt Bauman on the Art of Life in Liquid Modernity: A Critique of Consumer Society Values as they Permeate our Lives" Conference On Value Inquiry, Carbondale, IL 4/16/10

58. A Response to Marvin Brown's Civilizing the Economy: A New Economics of Provision, Pacific APA Meeting, Society of Business Ethics Session, San Francisco, CA, March 31, 2010

57. "Business Ethics in the Global Economy: The Far Reach of Unintended Negative Externalities" Invited Colloquium Speaker, UT-Austin 10/16/08

56. "Business Ethics Issues in the Healthcare Industry in the US: Ethics of the Business of Medicine" Invited Speaker to 2nd Congress of Medical Ethics in Iran, Tehran, Iran, 4/17/08.

55. "The Current State of Applied Ethics in Iran" Center for Health Policy and Ethics, Creighton University, 3/26/08

54. "The Importance of Ethics for Branding" 2nd Annual Branding Conference, Tehran, Iran January 10, 2008

53. "Business Ethics and the Importance of Transparency in Markets" to economics faculty at Madares University, Tehran Iran January 2008

52. "Business Ethics and Economics" by invitation of Dr. Y. Dadgar at Beheshti University, Tehran, January 2008.

51. "Business Ethics as an Emerging Field in Philosophy"  by invitation of Dr. Aavani at Iranian Institute of Philosophy, Tehran, Iran January, 2008.

50. "The Situation of Applied Ethics in US Universities" Institute for Social and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran (www.cscs.ir) 1/2/08

49. "The Utilitarian Basis for Justice: Aiming at a Happy World" at the Conference on Cardinal Values at Viterbo University, April 13, 2007

48. "The Difference Between Plantinga and Caputo" at the Society of Christian Philosophers Conference, Dubuque Iowa, March 22, 2007

47. “Business Ethics Transforming Society by Influencing the Thinking of Business Leaders: The Role of Philosophy”   at international conference: Philosophy as Educational and Cultural Practice: A New Citizenship UNESCO headquarters, Paris, France November 2006

46. “In Defense of a Social Utilitarian Business Ethic:  John Stuart Mill On Tipping the Waitstaff.”  Society of Business Ethics Annual Convention, Atlanta, GA, August 2006

45. Which Stockholders?  Whose Maximization: Utilitarian Calculations, Morality and the Markets 33rd Conference on Value Inquiry: “Market Values and Moral Values” at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY 6-8 April 2006

44. Art and Poetry as the Basis of Moral Education: Reflections on John Stuart Mill’s View, with Application to Advertising and Media Arts Today

at 7th International Conference on Ethics Across the Curriculum, Ringling School of Art and Design, Sarasota Florida,  November 17th-19th, 2005

43. Invited by Patricia Werhane to present 2 days of Talks on John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism and On Liberty for Graduate class at Darden School of Business, University of Virginia (October 2005)

42. Persuasion, Manipulation, and Responsibility at 25th annual Society of Business Ethics Conference, Hawaii (August 2005)

41. Designated Speaker to deliver presentation entitled “Singleness in a Paired-Up Culture” for Christian College Consortium conference on Gender, Identity, and Human Sexuality  (June 2005)

40. A Critique of Heim’s Multiple-Ends Religious Inclusivism SCP Central Division Meeting.  Lincoln, Illinois, (4/05)

39. Invited keynote speaker for seminar series on Truth, Knowledge, and  Postmodernism” at Alliance Theological Seminary, Nyack, NY. (1/05)

38.   Kant: Friend or Foe of the Believer?: Plantinga and Other American Christian Responses to Kant’s Epistemology  200 Years After Kant conference at  Allameh Tabatabaii University,  November 2004

37. “Postmodernism” –Invited Speaker for “Semi-Annual Arts and Science Lecture” Philadelphia University,

            Philadelphia PA   Presentations to Faculty, Classes, and Chapel on the topic of  Postmodernism 10/04

36. Invited participant in panel: “World religious and the  Problem of globalization”at Iranian research of philosophy Tehran, Iran 4/2004

35. The Critique of the Consumeristic Commodification of Culture Common to the Philosophies of Motahari and John Stuart Mill at “World Conference on Motahari’s Thoughts” Tehran, Iran 4/2004

34. Is Christian Philosophy Possible?: A Response to Heidegger's Comments on Christian Philosophy   at Baylor University conference: Christianity and the Soul of the University: Faith as a Foundation for Intellectual Community (3/04)

33. Can Rorty Help Develop a Utilitarianism Plausible for Christian Philosophers?  SCP Conference, Viterbo Univ.,  La Crosse, Wisconsin (3/04).

32.  Postmodernism Talk for Bethel Postmodernism Group Colloquium Group (2/04)

31.  In Defense of a Utilitarian Basis for Justice at Faces of Justice Conference in Phoenix, AZ 10/03

30. Guest Lecturer for Graduate class at Darden School of Business, University of Virginia: 2 days of Talks on John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism and On Liberty for Patricia Werhane (September 2003)

29. The Problem of Evil: Contemporary and Continental Responses.   Invited Plenary Speaker for 5 talks at a conference: "God and Evil: The Quest for Hope in a Twisted World" in Nyack, New York (5/5-9/03)

28. Value Inquiry And The (Lack of) Metaphysics in Mill's Utilitarianism at Conference On Value Inquiry, North Dakota (4/12)

27. John Stuart Mill: Utilitarian Par Excellance  Invited speaker for 2 day-long Graduate seminars at Darden School of Business, U-Virginia (3/03)

26.On The Possibility of Christian Philosophy: Can Christians Teach Philosophy? SCP, Phoenix, AZ (2/14/03)

25. Teaching With Convictions:The Relationship between Personal Worldview and Teaching Ethics   Preparing Future Faculty Conference-- Milwaukee, WI (2/03)

24. Treating Others as Persons at Minority Leadership Conference, St. Paul MN (11/02)

23. Ethical Arguments for non-drinking Policies On College Campuses? at EPS in Toronto (11/02)

22. Invited Speaker: 5 talks on Postmodernism at Alliance Theological Seminary, Nyack NY (1/02)   "Existentialism: Religious and Secular"         "MTV's Truth" "The Postmodern Turn: Heidegger-to-Derrida I &II""Why Plantingians and Pietists are Particularly Prone to Postmodernism"

21. Persuasion, Manipulation and Advertising Ethics Minnesota Philosophical Society Conference  (9/01)

20. Godless Ethics?  Do We Need Bentham’s Mummies?  University Of Marquette colloquium (4/01)

19. Mill’s Critique of Bentham Society of Christian Philosophy conference, University of Dubuque (3/01)

18. Does Advertising Affect Morality in Society? Society for Business Ethics Conference, Toronto (8/00)

17. John Stuart Mill and Advertising Ethics Business Ethics Conference, Marquette University, Milwaukee (2/00)

16. The Difference Between Epistemic Modesty and Humility, EPS conference, Boston (11/99)

15. How to Put On a Conference,  Preparing Future Faculty conference, Colorado College (6/99)

14.    Business Ethics and the 1991 Sentencing Guidelines Institute for Business Administration, Marquette University (6/99)

13. A Sartrean Critique of Religion, and a Kierkegaardian Response Sartre Society, APA Central Division conference, New Orleans, (5/99)

12. VanInwagen On Teleology Society of Christian Philosophers, Milwaukee (3/99)

11. Pascal's Romancing Apologetic Society of Christian Philosophers, Lincoln Nebraska (4/98)

10. Response to: "Sartre and William James"  Society for the Advancement of American Phil. conference, Milwaukee (3/98)

9. Listening to Derrida Evangelical Philosophical Society, Jackson, MS (11/96)

8. Augustine, Lev Shestov, and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion Medieval conference, MSU-Bozeman (9/96)

7. The Logic of Wild-Eyed Theistic Existentialism Philosophy Colloquium, Nazareth College, Rochester, NY (11/96)

6. Making Sense of Postmodernism Society of Christian Philosophers-Eastern, Winston-Salem, NC (4/96)

5. Dewey's Critique of Modernity Emory University Grad Conference, Atlanta, GA (3/96)

4. Kierkegaard's Deconstructive Apologetic St Louis University Graduate Conference, 3/96)

3. Levinas' Ethics  Society of Christian Philosophers-Central in Dubuque, Iowa (3/96)

2. In Defense of Westphal, Society of Christian Philosophers-Eastern in Memphis, TN (4/95)

1.      Sin as an Epistemic Category,  Society of Christian Philosophers-Central in Minneapolis (4/95)

 

Television/Radio Interviews

“Why have the Stadium Downtown?” Interview with Scott Patterson, KPTM FOX 42 11/07

“Business and Society” Interview with Scott Patterson, KPTM FOX 42 9/07

Various Iranian Interviews and shows in Iran  4/2004

 

Invited Professional Presentations

5. CPCU Ethics Speaker (Omaha, Spring 2010)

4. CPCU Ethics Speaker (Omaha, Spring 2008) Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters

3. AICP Ethics Speaker (2 talks at national convention, Portland 10/2007)  aicp.net

2. CPCU Ethics Speaker (Omaha, Spring 2007)

1. CPCU Ethics Speaker (Quary Oaks Golf Course, spring 2006)

 

Specialization/Competence               

AOS: Ethics/Business Ethics/Mill's Utilitarianism

AOC: History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Existentialism, Postmodernism, Gerontology Ethics

 

Dissertation: “J.S. Mill On Moral Sentiments, With Application to Advertising Ethics”

Masters Thesis: “Lev Shestov: A Russian Existentialist’s View of Faith”

 

Current Projects

1. "A Defense of Utilitarian Business Ethics"

2. "Ethical Theories as Normative Narratives: Rorty, Caputo, and Business Ethics Without Metaphysics"

3. "The Importance of Moral Sentiments and Community in J.S. Mill's Philosophy, as See in His Criticisms of Jeremy Bentham"

4. "Christian Utilitarianism: An Oxymoron?"

5. "Positive Externalities of Business"

6. "Epistemic Modesty is not Humility: A Difference that Makes a Difference"

7. "J.S. Mill’s View of Sentiments, Sympathy, Imagination and Associationism"

8. "Possible Defeaters to Donagan-Style Critiques of Utilitarianism"

8.  "Peirce and Derrida"

9.  "Persuasion, Manipulation, and Responsibility"

Book: The Thought of Mutahhari A book of edited essays by Iranian scholars on the thought of Mutahhari

Book: Business Ethics: A Utilitarian Approach

Book: Business Ethics (for Iran)

Book: The Ethics of Business and Medicine in Iran

Book: An Introduction to Postmodernism

 

 

Philosophy Courses Taught: 

Business Ethics (108)                                                                                                                                                                     

Ethical Theory (104)                                                            Logic (001)
Philosophy of Religion (305)                                            Critical Thinking                                  
Ethical Decisions (Continuing Ed 321)                             *Gerontology Ethics (Graduate course 615)

Human Nature (050)                                                           *Christian Responses to Postmodernism(420)

Intro to Philosophy (105)                                                   *Postmodern Philosophy (490)       

West Trad: Ancient/Med (GenEd131)                             *Sartre & Heidegger (430)             

West Trad:. Modern & Contmp (132)                             *Theories of Human Nature (for Nurses)

Modern Mind                                                                        *Hyper-Reality, Consumerism and the

Modern & Contemporary Philosophy (252)                    Commodification of everything

Applying Ethics to Organizations (CE421)                      *Philosophy and Pop Culture

Bioethics (Continuing Ed 319)                                         *These courses I created for the school         

 

 

Community Oriented Invited Talks/Classes:

12. "Iran 2008" at Rotary Club, Aurora Nebraska (January 2008)

11. Spoke 2 weeks on “Business Ethics” at Countryside Church in Omaha (Sept 2006)

10. Invited keynote Speaker for 125th anniversary of Keene Free Church, Keene, NE (Nov 2005)

9. 6 week adult Education class on 1 & 2 Peter, Hope Community Church (Spring 2005)

8. Talk on Problem of Evil, Student Group at Carleton College, Northfield, MN 11/04

7. Invited Participant on Panel discussion on Bioethics, Fridley Free Church 5/04

6. Invited Speaker to Business Law class at Aurora High School, Aurora Nebraska 1/23/04

5. Speaker at Rotary Club, Aurora, Nebraska 1/21/04

4. Invited Speaker at youth Ski Retreat in Pokono Mountains, Pennsylvania, January,

         2004  Topic: Getting God from your Head into your Heart

3.  6 week Adult Education Class on Postmodernim at Hope Community Church,

        Minneapolis MN Fall 2003

2.  8 week Adult education class on Postmodernism at Central Free Church,

        Minneapolis MN Spring 2002

1. Invited Speaker at Youth Ski Retreat in Pennsylvania January 2002

        Topic: Living in an MTV World

 

Other Service Activities

 

 Groups Organized/Directed:  

7. Faculty Advisor for Pike House (Fraternity)

6. Founding Sponsor Faculty for Phi Beta Lambda chapter at Creighton (2005-)

5. Help Direct Current Issues in Business and Society grou  at Creighton (2006-)

4. Helped organize and start the Bethel University Feminist Forum (sp 2005)

3. Created the Postmodernism Faculty Discussion Groups, Bethel 2004

2. Director of university-wide Preparing Future Faculty Program under the Associate Dean of Marquette University 1999-2001.

1. Created and Organized the Marquette Philosophy Graduate Student Association (1997-99)

 

Grants:

 

        Bethel Alumni Association Faculty Grant ($2000)

In February of 2004 I received a faculty Grant from the Bethel Alumni association to produce a booklet outlining the major trajectories of postmodern thought and its affect in the field of philosophy.

 

        Wisconsin Humanities Council Mini-Grant for Summer 2000 ($2000)

I wrote for and was awarded a Wisconsin Humanities Council mini-grant to sponsor a French philosopher to come to Milwaukee for a week during the summer of 2000 to put on a series of workshops similar to the Café Philosophique movement in France.  I coordinated all events.

 

Conference Organizer:

 

5.      “Minnesota Philosophical Society Undergraduate Conference” April, 2002

Speaker: Norman Dahl, University of Minnesota

            I created and sent out flyers, handled publicity and inquiries, etc. 

 

4.      “Society of Christian Philosophy Central Division Conference” March, 2002

Speakers: Merold Westphal (Fordham University)

                        Jean Porter, Notre Dame University

                        Charles Taliaferro, St. Olaf College

I helped secure the speakers, make arrangements for them, created and sent out flyers, handled inquiries, etc.  Submissions have come from South Africa and East coast.

 

3. “Business Ethics: Corporate Responsibility” conference, Marquette U. Philosophy, 2/00

Speakers: Richard T. DeGeorge, University of Kansas

            Patricia Werhane, University of Virginia; Editor of Business Ethics Qrtly.

I selected and secured the speakers, obtained funding from various colleges of Marquette University, and publicized the event, as well as setting up the conference committees.

 

 2. “Scholarship of Teaching” Preparing Future Faculty Conference, MU, 11/99:

Speaker: Brian Coppolla, Chemistry, University of Michigan

This conference was a joint project of Marquette’s PFF and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  Together we organized and publicized the conference, which had attendees from many states and more than 25 colleges and universities.

 

 1. “Teaching Philosophy” conference, Marquette University, 2/99:

Speakers: Eric Hoffman, Executive Director of APA

     Arnold Wilson, Executive Editor of Teaching Philosophy Journal

I secured funding and speakers for the conference, publicized it, as well as setting up the various committees necessary for putting on the conference.  The conference was attended by nearly 100, including 11 faculty presenters, 11 student presenters, and 3 outside scholars coming from as far away as Stanford and France.  Over 30 schools were represented.

 

 

REFERENCES (U.S.):

Dr. Kevin Gibson,  Dissertation Advisor, Marquette University (414) 288-6857 kgibson@mu.edu

Dr. William Starr, Assistant Chair, Phil. Dept., Marquette, (414)288-6857 william.starr@mu.edu

Dr. Patricia Werhane, Ruffin Professor of Business Ethics & Senior Fellow, Olsson Center for Applied Ethics, Depaul University (Joint appt with Darden) 434-924-4840 WerhaneP@darden.virginia.edu

Dr. Beverly Kracher,  Associate Professor, Creighton University

 

International References:

Dr. Seyyed Hassan Hosseini, President, IRIB University (Tehran), Associate Professor Sharif University, Tehran Iran
Dr. Gholamreza Aavani, Director, Iranian Institute of Philosophy, Tehran, Iran

Dr. Alikbar Alikhani, Director,  Institute for Social and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran

Dr. Mohammad Sadegh Zahedi, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Imam Khomeini International University, Ghazvin, Iran

Dr. Hamidreza Ayatollahy, Associate Professor of Philosophy Department, Faculty of Literature, Allameh Tabatabaii University,  Tehran

Dr. Y. Dadgar, Associate Professor of Economics, Economic Law Department, Beheshti University, Tehran

 

 

Coordinator for University-Wide Preparing Future Faculty program
for Marquette University Graduate School 99-00

In the spring of  1999, at the request of Marquette’s Dean of the Graduate School, I was asked to take on the job as coordinator for the Pew-Funded PFF program at Marquette.  My tasks there included putting together colloquia and workshops on issues of teaching, publishing, syllabus construction, getting tenure, sexual harassment, grading policies, interviewing skills, grant-writing skills, and the many other important aspects of being a faculty which graduate students seldom learn about during their graduate education.  This required a great deal of contacting/coordinating with administration and faculty from local colleges, who participated and often presented at many of our colloquia.  I also made presentations on “Creating your Portfolio” “Mentoring Relationships” and “Making your CV”

 

 

Educational Opportunities Program tutor & instructor for first-generation

students

At Marquette I regularly tutored for the Educational Opportunity Program, a specially funded program for first-generation college students.   I have also been involved in the Freshman Frontier Program, which is aimed at students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds.

 

Other Academic Miscellanea

*Winner of APA grad student scholarship to Teaching Seminar at AAPT conference in

Pennsylvania., ‘98

*Member of Philosophy Graduate Student Committee (98-00)

*Founder of MU Philosophy Graduate Student Association (98)

*Full Ride Teaching Scholarship at Marquette for Ph.D. program (1997-2001)

*Current Philosophical Memberships  American Association of Philosophy Teachers; Society of Christian Philosophers; Society of Business Ethics        

 

Gustafson’s TEACHING /RESEARCH STATEMENT:

I love to teach and normally I have an easy time keeping the student’s attention.  My classes tend to be interactive lectures, where I regularly stop and ask students questions to keep them engaged, while covering the days assigned material.  I use journals and occasional quizzes to keep the students accountable for reading, and I usually use three major tests and a few 4-7 page papers to evaluate students. 

I especially enjoy my business ethics courses, and have found the challenge of teaching business students how to reflect on the ethical dimensions of their business activities to be stimulating and rewarding.  The discussions we have had, and the papers they have written have shown me that there is a lot of soul-searching and practical application of ethical principles going on as they evaluate their moral behavior.  Business Ethics is perhaps one of the most powerful ways for philosophy to become relevantly applied to the world around us.  I see it as an ongoing challenge and a continually-interesting project.

I have been pleased to see how much students can learn during the course of a semester, and I am also pleased to see how often a student’s attitude towards philosophy can change in the course of a semester so that they really come to understand and appreciate the problems we wrestle with.    Being able to teach requires not just speaking and knowing what you are talking about, but listening to your students, so that you know who it is that you are speaking to.  It does no good for me to speak in a language my students cannot understand, and to ensure that they ‘get it’, I must constantly be getting feedback from them throughout class-- as to whether they are understanding my points, etc.  I do my best to make difficult philosophical problems understandable to them, through ample use of illustrations and practical examples. While I love to work with philosophy majors, I also enjoy making my business students become reflective thoughtful businesspeople, my chemistry students to become philosophically reflective about their lives, my physical therapy students to be aware of what kind of person they are and want to become, etc.

            At Bethel College, I have had the opportunity to teach a year-long interdisciplinary course, “Reading and Writing in the Western Tradition” which, for example, covers select writings from Homer, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Livy, Juvenal, Lucretius, Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Dante in the first semester course.  It has been great fun to work with my cohort, and to develop course curriculum with professors from other disciplines.  I have also created and taught a “gerontology ethics” class for the gerontology M.A. program here at Bethel every year.  I have helped with the planning phase of the new MBA program at Bethel, and I have contributed a number of new courses to our day college including a senior seminar on “Postmodernism” as well as “Heidegger and Sartre”, “Christian Responses to Postmodernism” and “Hyperreality, Consumerism, and the Commodification of Everything” 

            At Creighton, I am excited to focus now on Business Ethics.  I am particularly interested in how businesses foster particular values and views of reality through advertising and marketing, but also the ways in which business culture develops within corporations, either sponsoring cultures of moral behavior or moral ineptitude.

 

ONGOING RESEARCH

I have been encouraged by Pat Werhane to develop the notions of my dissertation more extensively.  I will work on developing Mill’s view of media ethics, Mill’s view of poetry (a subsection of the first topic), Mill’s view of moral imagination, Advertising and Imagination, Advertising as a Social Influence, and the affects of Associative Advertising Upon our Virtues and Habits of Thought.  I am also quite interested in privacy issues, and the undermining of autonomy through advertising’s effects.   In addition, I have recently been pursuing again Derrida’s concept of messianicity, and become again interested in Foucault’s views on the power dynamics influencing sexual mores.

Hit Counter