Congratulations to Abby Judge

A hearty congratulations to the amazing Abby Judge, who has just successfully completed her Master’s degree in the Religious Studies program here at Cal State Long Beach.

Impressively, Abby began her MA program during the pandemic as one of the AY21–22 CLA Equity Scholars while simultaneously serving as the staff coordinator for the Department of Philosophy. In the years prior, she earned three minors at Cal State Chico—including one in Ethics and another in Philosophy more generally.

Abby successfully defended her thesis, entitled ‘Codices de la Virgen: Stories of Nuestra Señora de Juquila’, to her committee, comprised of Ulices Piña (HIST), Sophia Pandya (RELG), and Gabriel Estrada (RELG). Here is the thesis abstract:

Nuestra Señora Inmaculada Virgen de Juquila is the most popular Marian image in Oaxaca and a crucial site for pilgrimage and worship. The most flourishing written narrative about La Virgen de Juquila attests that a Dominican Friar, Jordán de Santa Catalina, gifted an image to a young boy in Santa Maria Amialtepec who had helped translate for and teach the Friar the language of Chatino. Stories about her, however, proliferate, refusing singular placement. This thesis analyzes various documents, aesthetics, and testimonies in relation to La Virgen de Juquila. But rather than excavate origins or reveal falsehoods or secure correspondence, this thesis looks to stay on the surface that pulses with dissonances—to refuse transcendence—in order to consider different possible relations to Juquila that are not centered on discipline, correspondence, or security. This might be, after all, what we have to learn from the Virgen de Juquila as she shuttles ambiguously between Juquila and Amialtepec, between gift and debt—refusing a secured placement in her excess. Therefore, refusing the necessity of a secured world, I center irresolution while interrogating the forms irresolution takes in La Virgen.

Student Accomplishments

(03/20/24) OGS Dean’s List of Graduating Masters Students
Impressively, Chavva Olander is one of six students from the liberal arts to be lauded with the Graduate Dean’s List award this year. Only 1% of the overall number of students pursuing a Masters degree get this award.
Outstanding work, Chavva!

(03/18/24) MA thesis
Congrats to Philosophy Department ASC Abigali Judge, who successfully defended her Master’s thesis in the Religious Studies program this week.

(03/09/24) Conference Activity
Cody Spjut is headed to Seattle for the 17th annual West Coast Plato Workshop, where he will be commenting on Melle van Duijin’s paper entitled ‘Plato’s Apology as consolation’.

(03/08/24) 36th Annual CSULB Student Research Competition
This year’s SRC will feature four talks from philosophy students in
the Humanities and Letters category: Jason Rosencrantz on the implications of polysemy of natural language quantifiers for metaphysics; El Nicklin on Locke on reflection, Travis Barnett‘s application of Kierkegaard’s meditations about despair to genetic testing, and Cody Spjut on Plato’s theory of forms.

UPDATE: Travis took first place in the Humanities and Letters category, and will now go on to compete at the 38th annual statewide CSU competition, which is being held on April 26th–27th at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Great job, Travis!

(02/28/24) Doctoral Admission, University of California Riverside
After weighing multiple offers, MA alumna Regina Swanson has settled on matriculating at the University of California Riverside for her doctoral studies in the Department of Religious Studies. Congratulations, Regina, you’re on your way!

(12/15/23) CLA Equity Scholar
Congratulations to Sarah Nolte, who was selected to be the department’s next CLA Equity Scholar this SP24 term. (See here for interviews with the previous CLA Equity Scholars in Philosophy.)

(12/01/23) Conference Presentation
Cody Spjut visited his alma mater, Cal Poly SLO, to present his paper ‘Persistent self-predication problems in Plato’s theory of forms‘ and serve as judge for the intercollegiate ethics bowl competition sponsored by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE).

(10/14/23) Conference Presentation
Congratulations to Yahui Chen, who was invited to present her paper on Aristotle at the FA23 Philosophy Colloquium at Tsinghua University.

(09/18/23) UC Irvine Diversity Program
Congratulations to Yahui Chen and Abel Peña, who were invited to attend UC Irvine’s ‘PhD Summer Camp’, which aims to help members of marginalized groups navigate doctoral study.

(08/23/23) Conference Presentations
The Lithuanian Association for Phenomenology is hosting a conference on concepts of sedimentation this September, and Joe Gordon was awarded a Grad Center travel grant to present his paper on Husserl. Joe has been organizing the Nietzsche Reading Group, and will also be traveling to Sicily in November to present a second paper on Nietzsche on Empedocles, hosted by the Fonte Aretusa Organization.

(07/21/23) Book Review in History of Philosophy and Logical Analysis
Congratulations to graduate student Cody Spjut, whose review of Anna Marmodoro’s Forms and Structure in Plato’s Metaphysics was just published in volume 26 of the journal History of Philosophy and Logical Analysis. Excellent work!

(07/01/23) CLA Equity Scholar
The department welcomes Camille Wold to the MA program this FA23 term and congratulates her on receiving a CLA equity scholarship.

(05/16/23) Sally Casanova Predoctoral Fellowship
Cody Spjut will be one of the AY23–24 recipients of the Sally Casanova Predoctoral Fellowship, which comes with mentorship from Prof. Rosenkrantz in preparation for applying doctoral programs and $5,000 to offset application fees. Amazing! What’s more, Cody is the fourth philosophy student in three years to win this award
.

UPDATE: Cody’s summer research project for his Sally Casanova fellowship will be to work on Plato’s late-period theory of forms with Dr. John Proios at the University of Chicago from June 24 to August 16.

(05/15/23) OGS Graduate Fellowship 2023–2024
Congratulations to MA student
Manuel Rojas, who was selected as one of the two CLA recipients of the AY23–24 Graduate Fellowship. The university has repurposed these fellowships to advancing its interests in ‘the public good’; we’ll still be on the lookout, though, for some of Manuel’s research in the coming year.

(05/01/23) Phi Beta Kappa
Undergraduate major Elian Leal was lauded as an inductee into Phi Beta Kappa, Member in Course. Excellent!

(04/15/23) Doctoral Admission, Saint Louis University
After weighing multiple offers, Pedro Rapallo Zubillaga has decided to begin his doctoral studies in Philosophy at Saint Louis University. Way to go, Pedro!

(04/01/23) Conference Presentations
Pedro Rapallo Zubillaga‘s paper on the problem of imaginative resistance was accepted for presentation at the University of Toronto’s IHPST Graduate Conference this coming May 5–6th. Pedro also presented this paper at the 2022 SPEL Philosophy Graduate Student Conference, held at SUNY Binghamton last November 12–13. 

(03/20/23) Summer Research Assistantship
Congratulations to undergraduate major El Nicklin, who has been awarded a SU23 RAship to assist
Prof. Jayasekera on a research project in early modern philosophy.

(03/10/23) 35th Annual CSULB Student Research Competition
The Humanities and Letters category of this year’s SRC featured talks on instrumental value, brute facts, decision theory, Aristotle on friendship, color vision, and linguistic meaning, inter alia, by philosophy students
Peden Sager, Toko Dougherty, Chavva Olander, Cody Spjut, Donald Davis, Raley Zurcher, and Yahui Chen.

(01/31/23) Publication
Congratulations to graduate student, Jessica Manzo, whose co-authored paper with Dr. Sanem Saner, entitled ‘Respect, resourcefulness, empathy’ was recently published in volume 22 of the journal Teaching Ethics.

(01/24/23) Conference Presentation
Yahui Chen‘s paper, ‘Aristotle on goodwill in friendships’, was selected for presentation at a graduate student conference to be held at Toronto Metropolitan University this coming March 18th. Chavva Olander‘s paper, ‘Rough Heroes in Fiction and Real Life’, was presented at both the 15th biennial conference of the Radical Philosophy Association last November and will also be presented at the Central Division of the APA this coming February.

(01/19/23) CLA Equity Scholars
Congratulations to both
Victoria Cinquegrani and Frank Mendoza, who were both selected to be the department’s CLA Equity Scholars for SP23. This initiative provides research support to members of groups that are historically underrepresented in higher education.

(01/07/23) UTC Award
The University Transportation Center lauded recent MA alum James Reuter as the 2022 Masters students of the year for Pacific Southwest Region (more details here).

(01/01/23) Workshop
The University of Vienna is hosting an online workshop series for early career researchers on the theme Controversies and Crises in German Philosophy (1860–1914). Joe Gordon presents a draft paper, ‘Nietzsche and the doctrine of flux in Twilight of the Idols‘, on January 19th.

(10/12/22) Conference Presentation
Caleb Perl organized a USC workshop for former students from Shandong University, and Ning Shao has been invited to present a work-in-progress this coming week, too—congratulations.

(08/26/22) CLA Equity Scholar
Welcome and congratulations to the department’s Equity Scholar for FA22,
Esther Sims. The CLA EQS initiative provides research support through mentorship and training in the Liberal Arts.

(08/08/22) UC Irvine LPS Diversity Program
Ning Shao attended a week-long diversity program at UC Irvine LPS, which aims to help underrepresented students who plan to study graduate-level logic and/or philosophy of science.

(06/10/22) UC Davis Envision Program
Congratulations to Chavva Olander, who was admitted to the Envision program at UC Davis. The program aims to bring promising
doctoral applicants from groups historically underrepresented in higher education to campus for exploratory visits.

(05/19/22) Predoctoral Fellowship 2022–2023
Tanner Whitlow will be an AY22–23 recipient of the Sally Casanova Predoctoral Fellowship. Tanner will be awarded
$3,000 in order to apply to doctoral programs this fall, under the mentorship of Prof. Laskowski.

(05/09/22) Oslo Summer Workshop
Congratulations to Yahui Chen, who was admitted to the PhD workshop ‘Generic Generalizations in Science, Ethics, and Society‘ at the Institutt for Filosofi at the University of Oslo this coming June.

(04/15/22) Doctoral Admission, University of Pennsylvania
MA student Shawn Hernandez will be off to the University of Pennsylvania this fall, where he will begin
his PhD as a Fontaine Fellow. Outstanding, Shawn, your efforts have paid off!

(04/15/22) Doctoral Admission, University of California Riverside
Congratulations to MA student Keilee Bessho, who has just accepted a fully funded offer in Philosophy at UCR, where she will begin her doctoral program as a Chancellor’s Distinguished Fellow. We’re looking forward to hearing about all of your future successes!

(04/15/22) Doctoral Admission, University of Texas Austin
MA student Ryan Lam will be moving to Austin to pursue the PhD at the University of Texas. Best wishes for the next chapter of your academic career, Ryan!

(04/11/22) FAF Senate Fellow
Congratulations to triple major Sandra Avitia, who will be a Senate Fellow this FA22 with the French·American Fund. Sandra will pursue Master’s coursework at Sorbonne Université in Paris and will intern with the French Senator from Normandie, Sonia de la Provôté.

(04/11/22) SC Research Program
Tom Ho was awarded the opportunity to indulge in a summer research experience through the AY21–22 Sally Casanova predoctoral fellowship program. Tom will have the opportunity to visit with Prof. Tony Chemero at the University of Cincinnati (his alma mater), and will spend his time developing a research paper.

(04/06/22) Best Thesis Award
MA alum Caitlin Mace has won the College of Liberal Art’s award for Best Master’s Thesis in AY21–22. Caitlin’s thesis is a close study of the appeal to optogenetics research as a way of adjudicating the debate reductionists and mechanists in philosophy of neuroscience. Tremendous effort, Caitlin, congrats on being recognized for your work!

(03/24/22) SU22 Research Assistantship
Congrats also to graduate student Ning Shao, who is also one of 34 students university-wide to receive a summer Research Assistantship. Ning will be working with Prof. Wright on the topic of the norms and nature of scientific explanation this summer, with a focus on the fictional approach to model-based idealizations.

(03/23/22) Summer Research Assistantship
Congratulations to Chavva Olander for winning a competitive SU22 Research Assistantship. Chavva will be working with her faculty mentor, Prof. Jayasekera, to assess the current state of the debate in the experimental philosophy literature on the phenomenology of agency. This work will also be part of a bigger project about the role of experience in arguments about the nature of free will. We’re looking forward to reading more about this research!

(03/22/22) Graduate Dean’s List
CLA has named its AY21–22 awardees for the OGS Dean’s List award of Graduating Masters Students, which is limited to no more than 1% of the overall number of students pursuing a Masters degree. This year, the Department of Philosophy has, not one, but two students lauded with the award: Shawn Hernandez and Keilee Bessho. Congratulations, both.

(03/18/22) Conference Presentation
Chavva Olander is one of two students invited to present at the SP22 Women’s Research Conference. The hybrid event occurs on Zoom and in-person at the Anatol Center (AS–119). Come hear Chavva discuss ‘Gender nihilism’ at 10:00am.

(03/16/22) Lugano Summer Program
MA student
Cody Spjut was admitted to the summer program at the Università della Svizzera Italiana, led by Profs. John Marenbon and Anna Marmodoro. This summer’s topic is on the metaphysics of monadic and polyadic properties and relations in ancient and medieval philosophy.

(03/11/22) 34rd Annual CSULB Student Research Competition
This year’s SRC is back in person! On Friday March 11th in COB–218, four philosophy graduate students will present papers in the Humanities and Letters category: Yahui Chen (‘tbd’ at 9:15am); Pedro Rapallo Zubillaga (‘Impossibly immoral fictions and how to understand them’ at 9:55am); Ning Shao (‘Two conceptions of color’ at 10:15am); and Raley Zurcher (‘Defending adverbialism against the temporal and many properties problem’ at 10:55am).

(03/08/22) Vienna Summer Program
MA student
Pedro Rapallo Zubillaga was admitted to the Institute Vienna Circle’s 21st annual summer program (USS-SWC) this coming July. This year’s theme is ‘Representation in Art and Science’, and will feature ten days with Profs. Chiara Ambrosio, Catherine Elgin, & Dominic McIver Lopes.

(02/11/22) Colloquia and Publication
Tanner Whitlow‘s paper with Dr. Laskowski, entitled ‘Categorical phenomenalism about sexual orientation’, was accepted for presentation at the Central Division of the APA this February; Tanner will also be co-presenting the paper at a colloquium at Rice University on February 18th.

UPDATE: Tanner’s paper was just accepted for publication in the journal Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, which is one of the discipline’s top generalist journals. This is a tremendous achievement!

(01/30/22) CLA Equity Scholar
Congratulations to Chavva Olander, who was selected as a SP22 Equity Scholar (mentored by Prof. Rosenkrantz).
The CLA EQS initiative is designed to support access to mentorship and training in the Liberal Arts. We look forward to seeing more of Chavva’s research.

(12/05/21) Publication
Congratulations to MA student Shawn Hernandez, whose co-authored paper with Dr. Laskowski, ‘Practical reasons for belief without stakes‘ was accepted for publication in the journal Analytic Philosophy.

(11/19/21) Conference Presentations
Daniel Sierra will be presenting his paper ‘Mr. Frege, the Platonist’ at the Novembertagung workshop on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics on November 19th. Previously, Daniel also presented his paper at the 48th annual conference of the Society for Exact Philosophy, which is a members-only reading through the end of August, and the Formal Philosophy 2021 online conference sponsored by HSE University Moscow on June 22nd.

(09/24/21) SEAC and APPE Conference Presentations
With Dr. Sanem Saner, Jessica Manzo will be co-presenting a short video essay at the
22nd annual conference of the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum and the 30th annual Association for Practical and Professional Ethics conference.

(09/21/20) Long Beach City College Internship
Owing in part to her experience with last semester’s special project on social justice pedagogy, LBCC accepted Enoki Nguyen for their AY21–22 Faculty Diversity Internship program. Enoki will participate in various workshops throughout the year; and, with mentor Robert Vitt, she will help plan and implement classes during SP22 and will receive a $750 award, to boot. Congrats!

(08/14/21) Graduate Research Fellow 2021–2022
Ryan Lam has been selected as the recipient of the AY21–22 Graduate Research Fellowship for the College of Liberal Arts. The University awards one GRF per college per year, making this quite an honor for both Ryan and the Department. He will be working with Dr. Laskowski on a project concerning normative realism in metaethics.

(07/20/21) Predoctoral Fellowships 2021–2022
MA students Keilee Bessho and Tom Ho will be AY21–22 recipients of the Sally Casanova Predoctoral Fellowship, which provides support for disadvantaged students with doctoral ambitions. Keilee and Tom will each be awarded
$3,000, mentorship from Prof. Wright in preparation for applying doctoral programs, and access to a summer research experience at a University of California campus. Congratulations, both!

(07/05/21) CLA Equity Scholar
CLA has inaugurated a new recruitment initiative, which is designed to promote excellence in research and to support access to mentorship and research training in the Liberal Arts. Congratulations and welcome to Ning Shao, who was selected as the FA21 EQS for the Department of Philosophy, and will be mentored by Prof. Wright.
We look forward to seeing how her research takes shape!

(06/15/21) Conference Presentation
Caitlin Mace will be presenting her poster ‘Beyond metascience in the search for engrams’ (with Prof. Wright) poster at the 47th annual meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology at 5:00pm EDT on June 28th.

(05/06/21) Summer Research Assistantship
Philosophy major Gabriella Labrador has been awarded a 2021 Research Assistantship. Gabby will be working on a project this summer with Prof. Wieland on topics in aesthetics.

(04/15/21) Doctoral Admission, University of Pittsburgh
After weighing multiple options, MA student Caitlin Mace has decided to accept Pitt’s fully funded offer to begin her PhD in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. The
HPS department at Pitt has a long and venerable history, and is arguably the world’s best. What a superb accomplishment!

(04/15/21) Doctoral Admission, University of California Irvine
Graduate student Michael Lara has accepted a fully funded offer to begin the doctoral program in Philosophy at UC Irvine—a top-20 ranked PhD program in the U. S. Terrific news, Michael, congratulations!

(04/15/21) Doctoral Admission, University of Memphis
Miguel Hernandez will be pursuing his doctoral studies in continental philosophy at the University of Memphis, which is certainly one
of the top places in the U. S. to study social philosophy in the continental and postmodernist traditions. Best wishes for the next chapter of your academic career, Miguel.

UPDATE: Miguel has joined the interdisciplinary Philosophy & Literature program at Purdue University, where he will continue his doctoral studies nearer to family.

(04/15/21) Admission, Texas A & M Law School
Faris Babineaux, who is graduating magna cum laude with a double major in Philosophy & Criminal Justice and the Legal Studies certificate, has accepted an offer to attend Texas A&M. Superb!

(04/14/21) Masters Admission, Marquette University
Starting this fall, undergraduate honors student Damon Paffenroth will begin the MA program at Marquette, where he will continue exercising his interests in late 19th and early 20th century continental philosophy.

(04/11/21) Conference Presentations
On Saturday April 17th Ryan Lam will be presenting his paper ‘Moral realism and the two faces of moral truth’ at the annual Southeastern Graduate Philosophy Conference at 9:00am EDT, and Keilee Bessho will be presenting her paper at the 6th annual Graduate Humanities & Arts Conference at Cal State San Marcos at 10:15am PDT. Tanner Whitlow will be co-presenting a paper with Dr. Laskowski entitled ‘Explaining sexual orientations’ on May 28th at the Barcelona Seminar in Social Metaphysics (with talks on the ‘read-ahead’ model).

(03/31/21) Publication
Congratulations to graduate student Shawn Hernandez, whose co-authored paper with Dr. Laskowski, ‘What makes normative concepts normative‘ was accepted for publication in volume 37 of the journal Southwest Philosophical Review. What’s more, the paper will also feature a response from Prof. Matti Eklund (Uppsala University).

(03/19/21) 33rd Annual CSULB Student Research Competition
Four philosophy graduate students are presenting at this year’s SRC, which takes place on Friday March 19th in zoom room #8: Caitlin Mace (‘Engrams and optogenetics’ at 9:30am);
Ryan Lam (‘Moral realism and the two facets of moral truth’ at 9:45am); Keilee Bessho (‘The importance of knowing weighty reasons in deliberation’ at 10:00am); and Michael Lara (‘Intellectualists get a failing grade at gradability’ at 12:00pm). All presentations are in the Humanities and Letters category of the competition.

(01/29/21) PSA Conference Poster
Caitlin Mace will be presenting her poster ‘Leveling with ruthless reductionists about optogenetics’ (with Prof. Wright) at the 27th biennial meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association.

(01/14/21) APA Conference Presentation
Shawn Hernandez and Dr. Laskowski will be co-presenting their paper ‘What makes normative concepts normative’, at the 117th annual meeting of the Eastern Division of the APA. Shawn was not only awarded an APA Eastern Division Graduate Stipend to do so, but also had his poster, ‘Single-person twin Earth cases are no threat to naturalists’, accepted as well.

(12/23/20) Triple Major
Student success alert! In
a unique feat of accomplishment, Sandra Avitia completed a triple major—CSULB’s only one so far this century—in Philosophy, French, and International Studies.  Here’s her story.

(12/15/20) SI Award
Of the 30 Supplemental Instruction Leaders last fall, MA Philosophy student Amy Umaña was recognized as ‘SIL of the Semester’ for her outstanding performance teaching the Organizational Behavior course in Human Resources Management. Way to go, Amy!

(12/15/20) Phillips Memorial Fellowship
MA student Daniel Luna is the inaugural recipient of the $5,000 Phillips Fellowship from the Institute of Transactional Philosophy, which is open to graduate students whose areas of interest include pragmatic (esp. John Dewey), transactional, or process approaches.

(12/03/20) TIES Internship
Congrats to MA student Jessica Manzo, who was invited to participate in CCCD’s Teaching Internship with Experienced Support (TIES) program, which is a stipendiary training program for future community college instructors. Jessica will be mentored the Chair of Philosophy at Golden West College, Prof. Noah Levin, and will gain access to an array of ‘hands-on’ experiences in and around the classroom.

(11/25/20) Conference Presentation
James Reuter presented his paper ‘A phenomenology of history’ at the 7th annual conference of The Liberal Herald of Bratislava in partnership with the Central European University. This year’s conference is on the theme ‘Stories, Histories, Memories‘.

(07/01/20) Graduate Research Fellowship 2020–2021
The University awards one Graduate Research Fellowship per college per year, and Michael Lara was selected as the recipient of the AY20–21 GRF for the College of Liberal Arts. He will be working with Dr. Wallis on a project on ‘know how’ in epistemology.

(05/26/20) Summer Research Assistantship
Congrats to graduate student Caitlin Mace, who was one of 35 students university-wide to receive a SU20 Research Assistantship. She will be working with Prof. Wright on the topic of reducative versus mechanistic explanation in molecular neuroscience and psychobiology this summer.

(05/15/20) SLD Leadership awards
SPA President Michael Lara has been recognized by SLD/ASI as Outstanding Officer-of-the-Year for his demonstrated leadership and commitment to advance the mission of the organization.

(04/18/20) Law School Admission, University of California Irvine
Luciano Alvarado, a Physics major and Philosophy minor, has accepted an offer to attend UC Irvine, which has one of the top law schools in the United States. Such a well-deserved success!

(04/15/20) Doctoral Admission, University of Wisconsin
After weighing multiple options, MA student Burgandy Basulto has decided to accept a fully funded offer to begin the doctoral program in Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin—a top-20 ranked PhD program in the US. We wish her the best as she continues on her academic journey in Madison.

(04/06/20) Best Thesis Award
MA student Dean Bruce has won the College of Liberal Art’s award for Best Master’s Thesis in AY19–20. Dean’s thesis was a close study of Abû Hâmid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ġhazâlî’s (fl. 1056–1111 CE) views on occasionalism, natural science, and divine omnipotence. Excellent research, Dean, and a hearty congratulations on being lauded for your work!

(03/16/20) Exceptional Student Award
Unfortunately, the exceptional student awards banquet has been canceled due to the covid-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, the CSULB award for outstanding achievement, for seniors graduating magna cum laude with a 3.75 GPA, was given to Philosophy majors Tanner Whitlow and Kyle Bollin. Congratulations, both!

(02/21/20) 32nd Annual CSULB Student Research Competition
Five philosophy graduate students are presenting at this year’s SRC: Caitlin Mace (‘What we owe other creatures when they pose a threat to our health and safety’ at 10:20am in COB–112); Michael Lara (‘Perceptual attitude mindreading: behavior prediction in non-linguistic animals’ at 1:40pm in COB–110); Shawn Hernandez (‘Alien nurse, the causal theory, and moral truth’ at 1:20pm in COB–110); Amy Harms (‘Descartes’ theory of judgment and faith-based beliefs’ at 1:00pm in COB–110); and Avery Amerson (‘Extended cognition and the evolution of language’ at 12:40pm in COB–110). All five presentations are in the Humanities and Letters category of the competition this Friday.

UPDATE: Philosophy minor Nicholas Roy earned first place in the Public Policy, Economics, and Business category, and will now go on—barring COVID-19 cancellation—to compete at the statewide CSU competition at the end of April.

(11/19/19) CSULB Graduate Research Conference
Caitlin Mace and Avery Amerson are participating in the 4th annual CSULB Graduate Research Conference. In Session A, Caitlin is presenting her research (‘Teaching how without knowing how: Considerations for knowledge-how ascriptions’) at one of the roundtable discussions, which begins at 4:00pm in USU–253. In Session B, Avery is presenting his paper (‘Extended cognition and the evolution of human language’) from 6:30-6:45 in USU–305.

(11/15/19) HGSA Presentation
Leading the way in the cross-fertilization between disciplines is Michael Lara, who presented a talk (‘MLK to Kendrick Lamar: Conspiring Against African American Presidencies’) at the 3rd annual History Graduate Student Association conference.

(08/18/19) HOGAR Scholarship
For AY19–20, CLA secured five of six possible HOGAR recruitment scholarships. One of those five recipients is Leandro Mendez, who finished his BA in Philosophy from Florida International University and is beginning the MA program at CSULB this FA19.

(08/01/19) Graduate Research Fellowship 2019–2020
MA student Avery Amerson has been selected as an AY19–20 Graduate Research Fellow for the College of Liberal Arts. Avery will be conducting research in biolinguistics and cognitive science, and is being supervised by Prof. Wieland.

(07/15/19) Pittsburgh Summer Program in Philosophy of Science
Congratulations to Richard Link, who was admitted to the third annual
Pittsburgh Summer Program in Philosophy of Science (PSP3) this coming July. PSP3 involves a week of seminars and other events that are designed to provide undergraduates from underrepresented groups with specialized training in Philosophy of Science.

(05/20/19) Mellon Mays Fellow
A big congratulations to Philosophy and Film double major D’Naja Gates, who has been awarded one of the university’s
Mellon Mays Fellows for AY19–21. D’Naja will be working on a project in social philosophy and film theory, with mentor Prof. Wright. Cal State Long Beach is one of just 48 schools to particulate in the Mellon Mays program worldwide, and offers only four such fellowships each year. The program provides fellows with various forms of research support, including special programming, faculty mentoring, stipends for research activities, repayment of undergraduate loans up to $10k, and support for summer research.

(05/01/19) Summer Research Assistantship
Congrats to graduate student Avery Amerson, who was one of a few dozen students university-wide to receive a SU19 Research Assistantship. Avery will be working with Prof. Wieland on the topic of linguistic ontology.

(04/15/19) Masters Admission, Georgia State University
Undergraduate Honors student and SPA President Richard Link has accepted a fully-funded offer from Georgia State University, which has one of the most well-regarded MA programs in the U. S.
Richard will begin in the Neurophilosophy track starting FA19.

(04/14/19) Exceptional Student Award
Congratulations to Philosophy major Amanda Dilger and minor Christopher Laplante, who recently received awards for outstanding achievement over the course of their academic careers at CSULB. Awardees must have earned a 3.75 GPA over four years and have graduated magna cum laude.

(03/27/19) 1st Place, CSU Statewide Student Research Competition
The 33rd annual statewide SRC was held this weekend, bringing together students from all 23 campuses of the CSU system. Avery Amerson was
awarded 1st place in the Humanities and Letters category for his presentation ‘Wittgenstein, Extended Cognition, and the Problem of Other Minds’, along with a $600 cash prize.

(03/15/19) Doctoral Admission, University of Cincinnati
Philosophy MA student
Vincent del Prado has accepted a fully funded five-year offer, including a Yates Fellowship, to begin his doctoral degree in FA19. The PhD Program at the University of Cincinnati is definitely the place to be for things like Philosophy of Biology, Mind, and Cognitive Science, among several others! Congrats, Vincent. We wish you the best of luck.

(02/16/19) 31st Annual CSULB Student Research Competition
Several philosophy students are presenting at this year’s SRC, which takes place on Friday February 22nd 2019. Graduate Student Avery Amerson will present his paper ‘Wittgenstein, extended cognition, and the problem of other minds’ (12:00pm–12:20pm), and, incidentally, will also be presenting it at the 13th annual philosophy Grad Student Conference at Texas Tech University. Philosophy minors Blake Dimas and Christopher Laplante will present their papers, ‘Adorno and the potentials of pop’ (11:40am–12:00pm) and ‘Do idealizations have epistemic value?’ (12:20pm–12:40pm), respectively. All three presentations are in the Humanities and Letters category of the competition, which occurs in CBA–140.

(02/13/19) Outstanding Baccalaureate Finalist
Congratulations to History & Philosophy double major and Honors student Richard Link, who was selected as a finalist for the AY18–19 commencement award of Outstanding Baccalaureate.

(11/14/18) 3rd annual CSULB Graduate Research Conference
Ryan Shaver will presenting his work-in-progress, ‘A comparative analysis of the predictive processing/Bayesian brain thesis’, as a roundtable discussant in USU–253. Christopher George is presenting his paper, ‘Judicial activism?’, in USU–303. Both are in Session A, which begins at 4:00pm.

(10/22/18) Debate Tournament
Congrats to Philosophy major Danielle Hyslop, who placed as a policy debate semi-finalist at the Las Vegas Classic Debate Tournament at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Danielle is a member of Beach Forensics, the CSULB debate team.

(08/01/18) HOGAR Scholarship
For AY18–19, the College of Liberal Arts secured five of six possible nominations for its HOGAR recruitment scholarships. Miguel Hernandez, who recently finished his BA in English Literature from Cal State Northridge, was one of the five incoming CLA matriculants awarded this scholarship.

(04/19/18) Doctoral Admission, University of Minnesota
Kylie Shahar, an undergraduate Honors student double-majoring in Philosophy & Political Science, has just accepted a fully funded five-year offer, along with a first-year Graduate Scholar Fellowship, to begin her doctoral studies in Fall 2018 in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota. We are very proud of Kylie’s achievement, and really excited for her as she begins this next chapter of her career. Congratulations, Kylie!

(04/12/18) Doctoral Admission, University of Connecticut
Graduate student Ahmed Alenaizan has accepted an offer to attend the PhD program at the University of Connecticut. Good luck on this next adventure, Ahmed!

(04/09/18) Summer Research Assistantship
The results of the ORSP competition for Summer Research Assistantships were announced: there were 39 awardees University-wide, four of whom are in the Humanities. Congratulations to Philosophy minor Christopher Laplante, who made the cut! He’ll be assisting Prof. Wright on a project about the epistemic value of idealizations in scientific modeling.

(04/01/18) SPAWP Admission
In addition to PIKSI, undergraduate honors student Monica Casares was admitted to the SU18 program for the Advancement of Women in Philosophy at UC San Diego
. SPAWP is a ten-day program for undergraduate women who are interested in pursuing graduate study in philosophy, and is an absolutely wonderful experience. Congratulations, Monica, and good luck!

(04/01/18) Graduate Research Fellowship 2018–2019
Christopher George will be an AY18–19 CLA Graduate Research Fellow. George will use the fellowship to commence with his research on the normative structure of legal reasoning, and is being supervised by Prof. Wieland.

(03/25/18) Scholarship Winners
Congratulations to Philosophy minor Nick Roy, who won the Ray & Marge Lancaster Scholarship in Economics ($2,500), and to Philosophy & English double major Jake Teran, who was awarded the Elizabeth Nielsen and the Minerva Davis Endowment Scholarships through the English Department.

(03/24/18) Conference Presentation at the MidSouth
Congrats to Erik Rodriguez Cerda, who was awarded a Student Life & Development travel award to present his paper, ‘Moral ignorance and the impossibility of akrasia’, at the 42nd annual MidSouth Philosophy Conference at Rhodes College in Memphis.

(03/15/18) PIKSI Admission
Undergraduate honors student Monica Casares was admitted to the prestigious Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institute at MIT (PIKSI 2018). PIKSI is a two-week-long, all-expenses-paid seminar designed to encourage undergraduates from underrepresented groups to consider future study in Philosophy.

(03/14/18) Exceptional Student Achievement
Congratulations to two of our graduating Philosophy majors, Crystal Jones and Jake Teran, each of whom has been lauded for ‘Exceptional Student Achievement’. The award is given for outstanding achievement over the course of the academic career at CSULB; students must have earned a 3.75 GPA over four years and have graduated magna cum laude. Excellent performance!

(03/06/18) Outstanding Baccalaureate Finalist
Congratulations to Philosophy & Political Science double major and Honors student Kylie Shahar, who was selected as a finalist for the AY17–18 commencement award of Outstanding Baccalaureate. Great job, Kylie!

(02/16/18) 30th Annual CSULB Student Research Competition
Yet another History & Philosophy double major, Richard Link, was selected to compete in the 30th annual SRC. Richard will present his paper, ‘Luminosity and its limits’ from 12:40pm–1:00pm. His talk is in the ‘Humanities and Letters’ section, which takes place in CBA–227 on Friday, February 16, 2018. An awards reception immediately follows the symposium in AS–119 (Anatol Center). Good luck, Richard!

(08/01/17) HOGAR Scholarship
For AY17–18, the College of Liberal Arts secured five of six possible nominations for its HOGAR recruitment scholarships. Vincent del Prado, who recently his BA in Linguistics and Philosophy at the University of California Santa Cruz, was one of the five incoming CLA matriculants awarded this scholarship.

(06/28/17) Publications
Congratulations to graduate student, Alex Beard, whose co-authored paper ‘HIT and brain reward function: A case of mistaken identity (theory)‘ was recently published in Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. The paper—Alex’s first major publication—developed in part from his 2015 summer RAship on the history of electrophysiological research in the 1950s.

UPDATE: Alex’s review of Explanatory Pluralism has finally appeared in volume 78 of the journal Analysis. Congratulations, Alex!

(06/15/17) Masters Admission, Cal State Los Angeles
Starting this fall, undergraduate honors student Jacee Cantler will begin the MA program in Philosophy at CSULA, where she will hopefully be able to continue her study of Astell, Cavendish, Conway, du Châtelet, and other philosophers from the early modern period.

(05/12/17) UC Irvine Research Symposium
Congratulations to another of our undergraduate Honors students, Jacee Cantler, whose paper was accepted for presentation at the 2nd annual UC Irvine Social Justice Research Symposium. The symposium takes place on Friday May 19th from 9:00am–4:00pm in Room #112 of Social Ecology I on the UC Irvine campus.

(04/27/17) Exceptional Student Achievement
Congratulations to two of our graduating Philosophy majors, Jose Vera Cruz and Nickolas Sackett, who were both lauded at CLA’s Exceptional Students Reception (5:00pm-6:00pm in the USU Ballroom) for having earned a 3.75 GPA over four years and graduating magna cum laude. Stellar!

(04/15/17) Doctoral Admission, University of California San Diego
Congratulations to Andrew Bollhagen, who has accepted a five-year SEED Fellowship to begin his doctoral studies in Fall 2017 in the Department of Philosophy at the University of California San Diego. Being a top-20 ranked PhD program in the US, with many internationally renown faculty, Andrew will be in very good hands. We wish him the best as he continues on to much bigger and better things!

UPDATE: Andrew was the inaugural winner of the Isaac Levi Prize! In a triple-blind review process, the Levi prize committee selected Andrew’s essay, ‘Hempel’s Raven Revisited’ to be published in the Journal of Philosophy and receive a $10,000 award. Outstanding, Andrew, we are so proud of you!

(04/15/17) Doctoral Admission, University of Colorado Boulder
Alex Beard has accepted a fully funded, five-year offer to begin his doctoral studies in Fall 2017 in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Colorado Boulder. Congratulations (again!), Alex. Being one of the top-ranked PhD programs in the US with a large and varied faculty, not to mention a host of academic events and the gorgeous outdoor scenery, Boulder will be a great fit for Alex. We wish him the best!

(04/15/17) Doctoral Admission, University of Minnesota
Congratulations to graduate student Nathan Lackey, who has accepted a fully funded, five-year offer to begin his doctoral studies in Fall 2017 in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota. Minnesota was one of Nathan’s top choices, given their department strengths in Philosophy of Physics and Mathematics in particular, and Philosophy of Science more generally. Good luck, Nathan!

(03/15/17) CSU Masters Admissions
Two Philosophy students will be starting Master’s degrees this coming fall. Philosophy major and former president of the Student Philosophy Association Jessica Stroke will begin a 60-unit MS degree in School Counseling, which has a research and data-oriented emphasis on social justice. Philosophy minor Brian Huang is beginning the MA in Political Science here at CSULB. Good luck, both! We wish you the best in continuing your education.

(02/28/17) OGS List of Graduating Masters Students
CLA announced that Alex Beard is one of eight students to receive the Graduate Dean’s List award for AY16–17. (nb: The number of awardees from each college is limited to 1% of the overall number of students pursuing a Masters degree.) Congratulations, Alex, this is a well-deserved honor.

(02/28/17) Iris Marion Young Fellowship, PIKSI Rock
Congratulations to undergraduate Honors student Kylie Shahar, who was awarded an Iris Marion Young Fellowship to attend the prestigious Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institute (PIKSI 2017) at Penn State. PIKSI is a two-week-long, all-expenses-paid seminar designed to encourage undergraduates from underrepresented groups to consider future study in Philosophy. The seminar will take place at the Rock Ethics Institute at Penn State. See the PIKSI 2017 flyer for more information.

(02/18/17) Doctoral Admission in Clinical Psychology
Philosophy minor Nathan Sollenberger has been admitted to the PhD program in Clinical Science in Child and Adolescent Psychology at Florida International University. Nathan will be moving to Miami this summer to begin his research on susceptibility to substance use disorders in adolescents.

(02/17/17) 29th Annual CSULB Student Research Symposium
Another graduate student in Philosophy was selected to compete in the 29th Annual Student Research Symposium. Vannessa Malabanan will present her paper, ‘Rule‐Following Paradox Remains Unsolved, But We Get On Anyway’ from 11:10am to 11:30am. Vanessa’s talk is in the Humanities and Letters category, which takes place in CBA–122 on Friday, February 17, 2017.

UPDATE: Vanessa took first place in the Humanities and Letters category, and will now go on to compete at the 31st annual statewide CSU competition, which is being held on April 28th–29th at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Way to go, Vanessa!

(01/27/17) Masters Admission, San Francisco State University
Congratulations to undergraduate student Robbie Brown, who was admitted to the MA program in Philosophy at San Francisco State University for 2017. Congratulations, Robbie, on this accomplishment! We wish you the best in continuing your education in Philosophy.

(11/07/16) Inaugural CSULB Graduate Research Conference
Two graduate students in Philosophy were selected to present at the 1st annual CSULB Graduate Research Conference. Ryan Shaver presented his paper, ‘Reductionist vs. connectionist methods for ‘knowing how,” followed by Alex Beard, who presented his paper, ‘Event segmentation and the epistemic conception of mechanistic explanation’.

(10/14/16) 2016 MSB Essay Competition
Graduate student Vanessa Malabanan has been notified that her paper, ‘Mixed inferences: not a problem for pluralism about truth’, was one of the top ten best submissions to the annual Missing Shade of Blue (MSOB) essay competition, sponsored by the University of Edinburgh. You can read more about this year’s ten best papers, and the competition more generally, on the MSOB fb page. Congratulations Vanessa!

(08/01/16) Book Review in Philosophy in Review
Congratulations to graduate student Nathan Lackey, whose co-authored review of María de Paz & Robert DiSalle (eds.) Poincaré, Philosopher of Science: Problems and Perspectives was published in volume 36 of the journal Philosophy in Review.

(07/01/16) Pre-Doctoral Research Position in Philosophy of Neuroscience
Graduate student Andrew Bollhagen was selected to become a Pre-doctoral Research Associate in Philosophy of Neuroscience for this coming AY16–17. Andrew will work directly with Prof. John Bickle at Mississippi State University and at the Jackson Medical Center on various projects, including the SEP entry on Philosophy of Neuroscience. Congratulations Andrew!

(06/01/16) External Scholarship
Congratulations to graduate student Nathan Lackey, who recently awarded with a $500 academic scholarship from the Ventura chapter of the Optimist Club, ‘in recognition for outstanding scholarship and community service with an attitude exemplifying the spirit of optimism’.

(04/12/16) Doctoral Admission, University of Rochester
Congratulations to undergraduate student Rafael Perez, who recently accepted a fully-funded offer to begin his doctoral studies this Fall 2016 in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Rochester. Congratulations, Rafael! Rochester’s PhD program is a well-regarded, top-50 ranked program with many excellent faculty. We wish Rafael the best as he continues on to bigger and better things!

(03/17/16) Conference Presentation, University of Washington
Congratulations to graduate student Alex Beard, whose paper ‘Brain reward function and HIT: a case of mistaken identity (theory)’ was accepted for presentation at a ‘Values in Science’ conference at the University of Washington this past weekend. Alex was also supported by a Project HOGAR Graduate Student Travel Award.

(03/02/16) 28th Annual CSULB Student Research Symposium
Two graduate students in Philosophy were selected to compete in the 28th annual Student Research Symposium (Friday February 19 2016 in CBA–122). Nathan Lackey will present his paper, ‘Congruence, geometry, and space’ from 12:10pm to 12:30pm, and Alex Beard will present his paper, ‘Brain reward function and HIT: a case of mistaken identity (theory)’ from 1:10pm to 1:30pm. (Update: Alex Beard and Nathan Lackey placed among the top three winners in the Humanities and Letters category.)

(08/25/15) Visiting Studentship
Graduate student Mitch Kaufman begins the academic year studying abroad at the Nosara Yoga Institute and the Qixing Taiji Tao Temple in San Marcos, Guatemala.

(06/01/15) Masters Admission, Cal State Los Angeles
Starting this fall, undergraduate honors student Zackary Ford will begin the MA program in Philosophy at CSULA. We wish him well with his graduate course of study.

(05/15/15) Graduate Research Fellowship 2015–2016
Nathan Lackey has been selected as the recipient of the AY15–16 Graduate Research Fellowship for the College of Liberal Arts. The University awards one GRF per college per year, making this quite an honor for both Nathan and the Department of Philosophy. Nathan will be working with Prof. Wright on a project in the epistemology of geometry—specifically, on the philosophical implications of the theory of general relativity for Poincaré’s conventionalism.

(05/07/15) Doctoral Admission, University of Kansas
Congratulations to graduate student Kevin Watson, who recently accepted a fully-funded offer to begin his doctoral studies this FA15 in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Kansas. We wish Kevin the best as he continues on to bigger and better things!

(04/18/15) Summer Research Assistantship
Graduate student Alex Beard has won a highly competitive 2015 CSULB Student Summer Research Award. Out of university-wide 116 applicants, Alex’s application was one of 37 selected. He’ll be working on a project with Prof. Wright regarding the history of scientific research on electrophysiology and psychopharmacology.

(02/14/15) 27th Annual CSULB Student Research Symposium
Philosophy MA students Christian Weede and Nathan Lackey were selected to present their papers, ‘Some problems with knowing how: a response to Stanley & Williamson’ and ‘Prohibited content: explaining a slur’s linguistic behavior’, respectively, at CSULB’s annual SRC.

UPDATE: Christian took first place in the Humanities and Letters category, and will now go on to compete at the statewide CSU competition in May. Excellent job, Christian!

(10/15/14) Book Review in Philosophical Quarterly
Congratulations to graduate student Emily Barrett, whose co-authored review of Lisa Bortolotti’s Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs will be published in volume 65 of the journal Philosophical Quarterly.

(05/03/14) AAPP Conference Presentation
As part of her GRF, Emily Barrett is traveling to New York to present her paper, ‘Clinical implications of conversational implicature’, at the 19th annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Philosophy and Psychiatry.

(05/01/14) Exceptional Student Award
Congratulations to Philosophy and Biochemistry double major Joshua Feng, who was lauded with the College of Liberal Arts’s ‘Exceptional Student Achievement’ Award. The award is given for outstanding achievement over the course of the academic career at CSULB; students must have earned a 3.75 GPA over four years and have graduated magna cum laude. Way to go, Josh!

(04/24/14) Conference Presentation in The Netherlands
Kevin Watson is presenting his paper, ‘Tracing and offloading: a neo-Lockean reply to Johnston’ at the 8th annual Dutch Philosophers’ Rally: Selves and Persons at Radbound Universiteit Nijmegen in The Netherlands. Kevin also received a Rally Travel Grant to boot—excellent!

(04/21/14) Law School Admission, UC Hastings
Philosophy major Celia Guzman is headed to the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco to pursue her JD next fall. (Celia is now a founding partner at at Mitchell, Silberberg, & Knupp LLP.)

(04/16/14) APA Commentary
Emily Barrett will be in San Diego this week, commenting on Prof. Michael Goerger’s paper, ‘Friendship and the ethics of social technology’, at the 88th annual meeting of the Pacific Division of the APA.

(04/15/14) Summer Research Assistantship
Graduate student Christian Weede has won a 2014 CSULB Student Summer Research Award. He’ll be working on a project with Dr. Wallis in epistemology on the topic of know-how. Congratulations, Christian!

(04/08/14) Doctoral Admission, University of Wisconsin
Congratulations to graduate student Emily Barrett, who recently accepted a fully-funded offer to begin her doctoral studies this Fall 2014 in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin. Congratulations, Emily! Wisconsin’s PhD program is one of the top-30 ranked programs in the country, with many excellent faculty. We wish Emily the best as she continues on to much bigger and better things!

(04/01/14) Law School Admission, Northwestern University
Philosophy BA student Robert Garsson has been admitted to Northwestern School of Law, beginning FA14. Congratulations, Rob, we wish you the best in this endeavor!

UPDATE: Rob has just graduated from Northwestern in SP17 with the Juris Doctorate, where he served as a managing editor on the Northwestern University Law Review, and now works at Sidley Austin LLP in New York.

(04/01/14) Law School Admissions
Philosophy majors and alumni Andrew Grassel and Tessa Nevarez will begin their JD programs at the University of the Pacific and the Southwestern Law School, respectively. Good luck!

(03/08/14) OGS Dean’s List of Graduating Masters Students
Emily Barrett is one of eight students to receive the Graduate Dean’s List award for AY13–14. (nb: The number of awardees from each college is limited to 1% of the overall number of students pursuing a Masters degree.) Congratulations, Emily!

(02/21/14) 26th Annual CSULB Student Research Symposium
Kevin Watson was selected to present his paper, ‘When is an organism an altruist?’, at the 26th Annual Student Research Symposium. Kevin took home second place for outstanding research in the Humanities and Letters category.

(01/24/14) Conference Presentation at the MidSouth
James Cool‘s paper, ‘Doxastic control and the practical/theoretical distinction’, was accepted for presentation at the 38th annual MidSouth Philosophy Conference at Rhodes College in Memphis on February 21–22.

(12/17/13) Law School Admission, University of Southern California
After being admitted to the Law School at USC, Philosophy graduate student Kristopher Gay has finished his MA thesis and was admitted to the State Bar of California. Kristopher is now beginning his career as a Los Angeles District Attorney.

(05/20/13) Graduate Research Fellowship 2013–2014
Philosophy MA student Emily Barrett has been selected as the recipient of the AY13–14 Graduate Research Fellowship for the College of Liberal Arts. Emily will be working with Prof. Wright on a project scrutinizing the doxastic conception of delusions in philosophy of psychiatry.

(05/01/13) Phi Beta Kappa
Congratulations to Joshua Feng, a double Honors double major in Philosophy & Biochemistry, who was lauded as an inductee into Phi Beta Kappa, Member in Course.

(04/15/13) Doctoral Admission, University of Connecticut
Congratulations to undergraduate Emma Björngard, who accepted an offer to start her doctoral studies this FA13 in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut. UConn happens to be one of the strongest doctoral programs in the world for philosophical logic and is among the top-35 doctoral programs in the US, with a growing faculty and graduate program. Good luck, Emma, and congrats!

UPDATE: Emma successfully defended her PhD in 2018 with a dissertation on theories of affect, and now teaches Philosophy at UConn’s Stamford campus and is an academic advisor in the School of Business.

(04/01/13) Law School Admission, Loyola
Philosophy MA student Neil Richmond has been admitted to Loyola School of Law, beginning FA13. Congratulations, Neil, we wish you the best in this endeavor.

UPDATE: Neil has now graduated from Loyola, receiving both a J.D. and LL.M in taxation. He graduated in the top 10% of his J.D. class, cum laude and Order of the Coif, and received Honors and High Distinction in the LL.M. Outstanding job, Neil!

(02/22/13) 25th annual Student Research Competition
Congratulations to Antonio Mendoza, a double major in Philosophy & History, who recently won second place in the ‘Humanities and Letters’ category at the 25th annual SRC. Antonio was one of 8 students from the College of Liberal Arts to win an award (out of the 34 students who participated in the competition). Great job!

(04/15/12) Doctoral Admission, Purdue University
Congratulations to graduate student Josh Folk, who recently accepted a prestigious Ross Fellowship to begin his doctoral studies this FA12 in the Department of Philosophy at Purdue University. Congratulations, Josh!

(05/17/11) Graduate Research Fellowship 2011–2012
Philosophy MA student Neil Richmond has been selected as the recipient of the AY11–12 Graduate Research Fellowship for the College of Liberal Arts. Neil will be working with Dr. Wallis on a project in Philosophy of Cognitive Science.

(05/01/11) Phi Beta Kappa
Congratulations to Antonio J. Mendoza, a double major in Philosophy & History, who was lauded as an inductee into Phi Beta Kappa, Member in Course.

(04/15/11) Masters Admission, University of California Los Angeles
Congratulations to undergraduate Honors student Rebekah Bonner, who was admitted to the Masters program in Library & Information Science at UCLA starting in FA11. We wish you the best in continuing your education.

UPDATE: Rebekah has since graduated from UCLA, and—after working on an NSF grant and receiving the 2013 UCLA Chancellor’s Marshall Award—is now a faculty member at the University of Utah working as a Research Data Management Librarian at the J. Willard Marriott Library.

(04/01/11) McNair Scholarship
Congratulations to Philosophy BA honors student and McNair Scholar Michael Moval, whose paper ‘A critique of external world skepticism’ appeared the in volume 15 of the McNair Scholars Research Journal.

(03/02/11) Graduate Dean’s List
Congratulations to
Philosophy MA student John Clevenger for being awarded the OGS Dean’s List award for AY10–11. Each academic year, the list of awardees is limited to no more than 1% of the overall number of students graduating with the Masters degree.

(03/01/11) Law School Admission, Loyola
Philosophy & Criminal Justice double major Edgar Vera has been admitted to Loyola School of Law, beginning FA11. (Having
graduated from Loyola and passed the California Bar Exam in SU15, Edgar is now an attorney at Karns & Karns.)

(05/01/10) Phi Beta Kappa
Congratulations to another of our Honors students in Philosophy, Clinton Packman, who was lauded as an inductee into Phi Beta Kappa, Member in Course.

(03/15/10) Doctoral Admission, University of Wisconsin
Philosophy BA student Clinton Packman accepted an offer to begin his doctoral studies this Fall 2010 in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, which happens to be one of the top-ranked programs in the world. Clinton was a McNair Scholar while here at Cal State Long Beach, and we wish him the best as he continues on to much bigger and better things!

UPDATE: Clinton defended his dissertation this past SP18, and will be moving to Miami to start as a TT Assistant Professor at Florida International University in FA18. Excellent, Clinton, we’re very proud of you!

(04/15/10) Law School Admissions, University of California Davis
Philosophy & Political Science double major Samuel Bullock is finishing up his honors thesis, and will begin the JD program at UC Davis Law School this FA10. He will be joined by Philosophy major Matthew Gomory, who is will also begin the program this fall. Good luck, both!

(03/15/10) Doctoral Admission, Rice University
Congrats to Roma Claudia Hernández, who accepted an offer to begin her doctoral studies in Philosophy in FA10 at Rice University. After earning her BA in Philosophy, Roma took some additional classes in Philosophy while studying in the German program for her MA. She was also a recipient of the Sally Casanova Predoctoral Fellowship, and also went on to obtain a Fulbright Research Fellowship to study at the Husserl Archive in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Cologne.

(07/29/09) Gilman Scholarship
Philosophy & German double major Justin Barner was awarded a Gilman Scholarship to study abroad at the University of Tübingen in Germany for AY09–10. Benjamin Gilman International Scholarships are sponsored by the U. S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, with the goal of supporting Pell Grant recipients who have been traditionally underrepresented in study abroad.

(04/06/09) 26th Annual CSULB Student Research Symposium
Clinton Packman was selected to present his paper, ‘Clearing the confusion on consciousness: a study of the knowledge argument and its implication’, at the 21st Annual Student Research Symposium. Clinton took home second place in the Humanities and Letters category.

(05/15/08) Phi Beta Kappa
Jonathan Dixon is an inductee into Phi Beta Kappa, Member in Course, and is graduating summa cum laude.

(04/15/08) Masters Admission, Virginia Tech
Congrats to undergraduate honors student Jonathan Dixon, who has accepted an offer to begin graduate study at one of the nation’s top-tier MA programs, Virginia Tech. Good luck, Jonathan.

UPDATE: After the MA Virginia Tech, Jonathan earned the PhD from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in SP21. In addition to having several new publications out in Ratio, Synthese, and Dialectica, he has taken up a position as Visiting Assistant Professor at Wake Forest University. Congrats!

(04/15/08) Admission, Pepperdine Law School
Philosophy major Josiah Parker will begin the JD program at Pepperdine’s Law School this fall. (Josiah is now an associate attorney at Weitz & Luxenberg.)

(03/15/08) Law School Admission, Chapman University
Philosophy major Stephane Quinn is graduating cum laude and headed to Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law to pursue his JD next fall. (Stephane is now a founding partner at Quinn & Dworakowski LLP.)

(04/15/07) Law School Admission, University of California Davis
After finishing his Honors thesis and graduating cum laude, Philosophy major Errol Dauis will be headed to UC Davis School of Law to pursue his JD next fall.

(04/06/07) Best Thesis Award
MA student Amanda Trefethen has won the College of Liberal Art’s award for Best Master’s Thesis in AY06–07. Amanda’s thesis, entitled ‘Back to the Future: A Modern Day Natural Law Understanding of the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789‘, is a study of the interpretation of human rights law. Congratulations on being lauded for your work, Amanda.

(04/01/04) Summer Internship with NEH
Out of more than 200 applicants nationwide, Chhunny Chhean was
one of 18 students selected for a 10-week summer internship with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The Internship Program introduces promising students to the programs, policies and operations of the federal agency charged with promoting scholarship, education and public programming in the Humanities in the United States. Interns were selected based on their interest in and commitment to the Humanities, and the conception, clarity, and execution of writing samples, two of which were submitted for the application process. Each intern receives a $4,000 stipend.

 

AY23–24 Philosophy Scholarships and Awards

AY23–24 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Frank Mendoza

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Bryson Lancaster

CSULB Student Research Competition First Place:
Travis Barnett

OGS Graduate Equity Fellowship:
Manuel Rojas

Sally Casanova Predoctoral Fellowship:
Cody Spjut

CLA Equity Scholars:
Sarah Nolte
Camille Wold

Congratulations to each of the winners on their accomplishments!

 

AY22–23 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Raley Zurcher

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Yahui Chen
September Zamora

Sally Casanova Predoctoral Fellowship:
Tanner Whitlow

CLA Equity Scholars:
Frank Mendoza
Victoria Cinquegrani
Esther Sims

AY21–22 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Graduate Research Fellowship:
Ryan Lam

Sally Casanova Predoctoral Fellowship:
Keilee Bessho
Tom Ho

CLA Equity Scholars:
Chavva Olander
Ning Shao

AY20–21 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Shawn Hernandez

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Nicholas Perez

Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Fellow:
Caitlin Mace

Graduate Research Fellowship:
Michael Lara

AY19–20 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Miguel Hernandez

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Amy Harms
Caitlin Mace

Graduate Research Fellowship:
Avery Amerson

CSULB Student Research Competition First Place:
Nicholas Roy

HOGAR Graduate Recruitment Scholarship:
Leandro Mendez

AY18–19 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

CSU Statewide Student Research Competition First Place
Avery Amerson

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Kyle Bollin

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Avery Amerson
Chris Mynatt

Graduate Research Fellowship:
Christopher George

HOGAR Graduate Recruitment Scholarship:
Miguel Hernandez

AY17–18 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Richard Link

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Gerardo Arroyo

HOGAR Graduate Recruitment Scholarship:
Vincent del Prado

AY16–17 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Alexander Beard
Kyle Waterbury

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Kylie Shahar

CSULB Student Research Competition First Place:
Vanessa Malabanan

AY15–16 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Aurora Clark
Jose Vera Cruz

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Alexander Beard
Corey Jenson

Graduate Research Fellowship:
Nathan Lackey

AY14–15 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

CSULB Student Research Competition First Place:
Christian Weede

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Christian Weede

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Nathan Lackey

AY13–14 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Emily Barrett

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Joshua Feng

Graduate Research Fellowship:
Emily Barrett

AY12–13 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Caleb Campbell

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Karen Schindler

AY11–12 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Josh Folk

49er Bookstore Textbook Stipend:
David Smith

Graduate Research Fellowship:
Neil Richmond

AY10–11 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Rebekah Bonner Cummings

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
John Clevenger

AY09–10 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Nathan Glover

Wegner-Fells Scholarship:
Clinton Packman

AY08–09 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Clinton Packman

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
tbd

AY07–08 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Rick Fox
Jonathan Dixon

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Kara Sutton-Jones
Saad Anis

AY05–06 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
tbd

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Nicholas Allen

Pei-Sung Tang Scholarship:
Joe Moss
Alex Wilson

AY04–05 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
tbd

Pei-Sung Tang Scholarship:
tbd

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Chhunny Chhean
Michael Rings

AY03–04 Philosophy Scholarships and Fellowships news release

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Franklin Sims

Pei-Sung Tang Scholarship:
Jason Sheley

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Eric Balmer
Rebecca Canales
Daniel Deen
Joe Z. Moss

AY02–03 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Eric Balmer

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Russell Daley
Daniel Deen
Daniel Gould
Jennifer Hagaman
James Haley
David Labinger

AY01–02 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Russell Daley

Peccorini Scholarship:
Alan Casselman
Michael Zar

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Carlos Castillo
Kimberly Gainey
Keith F. Gibbs
Wendy McGlothlin

AY00–01 Philosophy Scholarships and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Carlos Castillo

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Kimberly Gainey
David Brazgel

Phi Beta Kappa: news release
Carlos Castillo

Phi Kappa Phi: news release
Diane Anderson
Nancy Choy
Carlos Castillo
Janet Horrigan
Laura Clark
Kimberly Gainey
John Whipple

AY99–00 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Ted Preston

Friends of Philosophy Scholarship:
Jack Bowen
John Whipple

AY98–99 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Matthew Brophy

Paul C. L. Tang Scholarship:
Daniel Considine

William McGowan Scholarship:
Erik Baldwin 

AY97–98 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Paul C. L. Tang Scholarship:
Victoria Rogers

AY95–96 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Marie Whittington Scholarship:
Michael Ashooh

AY80–81 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Sartre Memorial Scholarships:
tbd

AY71–72 Philosophy Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

Frank C. Wegener Memorial Prize:
tbd

Nietzsche Reading Group

The Nietzsche Reading Group (NRG) is open to any student interested in the work and thought of Friedrich Nietzsche. The NRG shall meet monthly in the Department of Philosophy conference room (9th floor McIntosh Humanities Building) to discuss his published work, as well as important secondary scholarly work within Nietzsche studies. The group is organized by Joe Gordon; please e-mail him if you have any questions about participation or would like further details.

Tentatively, the meeting and reading schedule is as follows:

Spring 2024

May 1st @ 5:30pm in MHB–915
The Gay Science (Books IV & V)
Translation suggestions: Adrian del Caro (preferred) or Walter Kaufmann

April 10th @ 5:30pm in MHB–915
The Gay Science (Books I, II, & III)
Translation suggestions: Adrian del Caro (preferred) or Walter Kaufmann

March 6th @ 5:30pm in MHB–915
Dawn (Books IV & V)
Translation suggestions: Brittain Smith or R. J. Hollingdale

February 7th @ 5:30pm in MHB–915
Dawn (Books I, II, & III)
Translation suggestions: Brittain Smith or R. J. Hollingdale

Autumn 2023

December 7th @ 5:00pm in MHB–915
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Parts 3–4)
Translation suggestions: Adrian del Caro (preferred) or Walter Kaufmann

November 2nd @ 5:00pm in MHB–915
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Parts 1–2)
Translation suggestions: Adrian del Caro (preferred) or Walter Kaufmann

October 5th @ 5:00pm in MHB–915
The Dionysiac worldview
Geuss & Speirs translation

September 7th @ 5:00pm in MHB–915
The Birth of Tragedy
Translation suggestions: Geuss & Speirs or Walter Kaufmann

Summer 2023

July 26th @ 5:30pm in MHB–915
Reading: Beyond Good and Evil (rest of book)
Translation suggestions: Adrian del Caro (preferred) or Walter Kaufmann

June 28th @ 5:30pm in MHB–915
Reading: Beyond Good and Evil (Preface, Parts 1–2)
Translation suggestions: Adrian del Caro (preferred) or Walter Kaufmann

Alumni Spotlight: Christian Weede

Christian Weede, MA in Philosophy Class of ‘15

Christian first discovered his love of philosophical inquiry and discussion at Chaffey College; he later completed his BA in philosophy at CSUSB in 2011, and continued his education by joining the MA program in philosophy at CSULB. During his time in Long Beach, and with the help of his classmates, Christian organized weekly meetings for the graduate students to meet up and discuss ideas or papers that they might be working on. He earned several awards as a graduate student, including a summer research assistantship with Dr. Charles Wallis and the department’s Whittington Scholarship. Christian also presented at the Southern California Philosophy Conference, the Berkeley/Stanford/Davis Graduate Student Conference, and won first place at the 27th annual CSULB Student Research Competition. His MA thesis, entitled Overcoming the Present and directed by Dr. Cory Wright, argued against presentist theories of time. Upon completing the Master’s degree, Christian was hired as a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at CSUSB in 2016. He often teaches ‘Introduction to Philosophy’ and ‘Moral Choices in Life’, but recently began teaching a course entitled ‘Truth, Lies, and Bullshit’ that addresses the value of truth within society. He continues to love philosophical puzzles, and hopes to share this love with his students.

Alumni Spotlight: Josh Feng

Dr. Joshua Feng, BA in Philosophy Class of ‘14

Josh earned both a BA in Philosophy and a BS in Biochemistry—and both with departmental honors, no less—while also graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. After Cal State Long Beach, he continued on into graduate studies at the University of Southern California, where he earned his Ph.D in Chemistry in 2022. During this time, he performed research on covalent drug discovery, investing most of his efforts in designing therapeutics for BRAF-positive melanoma and anti-virals against SARS-CoV-2. His work has been published in journals such as Journal of Medicinal ChemistryNature Chemical Biology, and mBio. Throughout his academic career, Josh has been heavily invested in education and culminated his stay at USC as an Anton B. Burg teaching fellow for organic chemistry lecture and laboratory. He has since returned to Cal State Long Beach as a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, where he teaches pre-general, general, organic, and biological chemistry. In his free time, he works on continually growing and learning but has recently enjoyed suffering through marathons and getting humbled while playing chess.

 

Alumni Spotlight: Jessica Manzo

Jessica Manzo, MA in Philosophy Class of ‘23

Jessica began her college education in Biochemistry at Bakersfield College—the community college in her hometown—but switched to Philosophy after a called ‘the ethics of living and dying’. From there, she transferred over to California State University Bakersfield in 2017, and in 2019 she earned a BA in Philosophy along with a minor in Economics. Along the way, Jessica became very invested in the Philosophy for Children Program (P4C), and so decided to continue in Philosophy at the graduate level. While at CSULB, she interned at Golden West Community College and worked as a peer mentor in CSULB’s GradMentor program. Jessica writes, ‘I am thankful for the relationships, mentoring, education, and time spent at CSULB. I now work at Dignity Health, Mercy & Memorials Hospitals as a Health Services Coordinator serving all ages across Kern County. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family, partner, and friends and catching up on my favorite shows’.

New Faculty Joining the Department!

The Department of Philosophy is delighted to announce that Marie Jayasekera will be joining us this coming FA23 as a new Assistant Professor of Philosophy.

Dr. Jayasekera earned a Bachelor’s of science degree in biology from Yale University. She went on to earn an MA in Philosophy from Tufts. She took her PhD from Michigan, which is one the most distinguished doctoral programs in Philosophy in the United States. Before arriving here in Long Beach, Dr. Jayasekera taught at Colgate University and was a visiting researcher at the University of California Irvine.

Dr. Jayasekera’s primary areas of expertise are in the history of early modern period (esp. Descartes) and applied metaphysics (esp. free will and agency). Secondarily, she also does research in moral psychology as well as the history of political philosophy and normative ethics. Among her most recent publications is  “All in Their Nature Good’: Descartes on the Passions of the Soul’, which was published in volume 58 of the Journal of the History of Philosophy. This past spring, she presented new work on the Hobbes vs. Bramhall debate on liberty here at CSULB and at the APA.

This FA23, students are in for a special treat, as Dr. Jayasekera will be teaching a course on John Stuart Mill’s Moral and Political Philosophy (PHIL496/596). Previously, she has also taught Political Philosophy (PHIL351), Social Contract Theory (PHIL491/591), Moral Responsibility (PHIL496/596), and Free Will in Early Modern Philosophy (PHIL491/591). Some students have also been able to work with her as a summer research assistant, too.

Welcome, Professor Jayasekera!

Philosophy Equity Scholars

The Department of Philosophy is currently home to five graduate students who have been awarded research assistantships over the past two years courtesy of the ‘Equity Scholars’ program in College of Liberal Arts. These students have received mentorship to assist them with their research goals, both within PHIL and CLA, and financial support.

The Philosophy Equity Scholars, pictured below from left to right, are Ning Shao, Frank Mendoza, Esther Sims, Victoria Cinquegrani, and Chavva Olander.

Ning Shao became interested in philosophy after reading her high school teacher recommended that she read Jostein Gaarder’s Sophie’s World—a book that explores the history of philosophy through the perspective a young girl who was asked by a philosopher: ‘Who are you?’ Later, Ning was inspired by the works of David Lewis and by her meetings with Dr. Ivan Ivanov, who encouraged her to continue on in philosophy. Ning also met her partner at the beginning of her philosophical journey and together they have pursued a shared passion for analytic philosophy and similar areas. Ning states that she loves the community she’s found in the department here at CSULB, saying that the friends she’s made among her peers and the excellent faculty members, especially noting the devoted and caring Dr. Cory Wright, have made her feel like she is part of a family—something that’s become very important to her as an international student. Ning credits the EQS program for giving her the financial support and extra time to focus on her work. Ning wants to pursue a PhD in philosophy and hopes to make contributions to civilization and the welfare of mankind through her philosophical research and teaching.

Initially, Frank Mendoza began from reading texts by the French existentialists Sartre and Camus; but it was an introductory philosophy class at Santa Ana College—with the tough but fair Carlos Brocatto—that ignited his interest to pursue philosophy seriously. Frank cites the opportunity to explore his interests deeply as having a profound impact on his well-being. Having also completed his undergraduate degree in Philosophy here at CSULB, Frank was grateful for the comfort and familiarity that came with beginning the MA program, and has found it to be full of kind and welcoming people so far. Mentorship from Drs. Max Rosenkrantz and Kyle Banick have also pushed him to further sharpen his skills. Frank says that being selected for the EQS program has allowed him to give full attention to his work rather than to fret over finances, and he hopes he will make his department proud with his efforts. Frank wants to pursue a PhD in Philosophy; but in the event that that somehow doesn’t work out, he is glad that he was able to pursue something he cared about and which challenged him, noting the intrinsic value inherent in such opportunities.

Like Ning, Esther Sims became interested in philosophy during high school while writing a report on Machiavelli’s The Prince. Esther was intrigued by the experience of agreeing with the premises but not the conclusions, analogizing it to a good horror movie. Esther also cites Deleuze & Guattari’s Anti-Oedipus as being influential in her decision to pursue philosophy. She thinks that it alleviated the disorientation she felt around questions she had about the world, and subsequently realized that philosophy could also actively create the world rather than merely describe it. In philosophy, Esther has found a way for others to be able to recognize her. She worries that it creates a separation between those lucky enough to have the opportunity to access it and those who do not, but she desires to teach in the community colleges to help erase that accessibility divide. She is grateful to the Philosophy Department, especially the professors and fellow graduate students, for making her feel welcome as a trans person in an elite discipline; without the EQS, Esther says that she’d have been unable to pursue a graduate education.

Victoria Cinquegrani became interested in philosophy by taking courses with Drs. Jeff Helmreich and Aaron James during her undergraduate studies in Philosophy at UC Irvine, where she pursued the Law, Society, and Public Health Policy program. Victoria enjoyed the methodological challenges of arguing for views that she did not necessarily agree with, and gained valuable practice in developing her analytical skills. Her research concerns the ways legal and natural rights are forsaken in depictions of social injustice, and she has a particular interest in better understanding the suffering and persecution of Armenians under Turkish ideological authority. Victoria is extremely grateful to have been selected for CLA’s EQS program, and hopes to take advantage of the faculty mentorship that will help propel her forward and grow academically. She believes that Philosophy here at CSULB will help her further sharpen her the analytical and argumentative skills that are necessary to pursue a JD in law school.

Chavva Olander says the critical tradition of philosophical inquiry, along with its creativity and rigor, have enriched her life in ways far beyond mere occupational concerns. She says the philosophy program at CSULB teaches philosophy as a practice as well as a subject of study, and that it has provided her support and guidance for in her philosophical efforts—particularly in working with Dr. Marie Jayasekera last year—as well as important opportunities to participate in the discourse in philosophy outside the university. Like Ning and Frank, Chavva affirms that the financial support provided by the EQS program has given her the gift of time to focus on research projects and participate in conferences. She is grateful to the program for introducing her to a group of driven and impassioned students, and faculty whose personal stories and academic pursuits are sources of inspiration.

We are grateful for the college’s investment in the lives of our graduate students, and to CLA Dean Deb Thien and EQS coördinator Mariya Mileva for their support. It will be exciting to see these students achieve their goals and make a positive impact on our world.

Interviews by Tracie Hoops
Photo by Debbie Hildreth Pisarcik

AY23–24 Commencement Awards

Congratulations to each of these students on their accomplishments!

AY23–24 Commencement Awards

OGS Dean’s List of Graduating Masters Students:
Chavva Olander

Finalist for Outstanding Baccalaureate:
Eleanor Nicklin

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
Yahui Chen
Cody Spjut

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Students:
Raimond Noll
Bryson Lancaster

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
???

AY22–23 Commencement Awards

Phi Beta Kappa Nominee for Member-in-Course:
Elian Leal

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
Pedro Rapallo Zubillaga
Raley Zurcher

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Students:
Elian Leal
Martin Corona

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Davis Albright
Gavin Gerbershagen
Tom Ho
Frank Mendoza
Nicholas Perez
Valarie Rivas
Ning Shao
John Tranquang
Jon Tryby
September Zamora

AY21–22 Commencement Awards

Best Masters Thesis, College of Liberal Arts:
Caitlin Mace  |  announcement

OGS Dean’s List of Graduating Masters Students:
Shawn Hernandez
Keilee Bessho

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Students:
Cassidy Hutton
Cheyenne Luna

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
James Reuter
Ryan Lam

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Pedro Mendez
Joe’l Santos
Matthew Moghadam
Serena Sanchez
Uriel Angeles
Arasely Carranza
Martin Corona
Johnny Dahi
Dillon Kennedy
Joseph Fasano
Christopher Flores
Giovanni Garcia
Enri Gonzales
Keilee Bessho
Shawn Hernandez
Jonny Reza

AY20–21 Commencement Awards  |  program

OGS Dean’s List of Graduating Masters Students:
Caitlin Mace

Finalist for Outstanding Baccalaureate:
Sandra Avitia

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
Michael Lara
Lissa Dechakul

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Students:
Zuezenia Villegas
Madison Larsen
Sandra Avitia [awarded via RGRLL]

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Sandra Avitia
Faris Babineaux
Damaris Gomez Lopez
Grant Gutierrez
Miguel Hernandez
Austin Jenkins
Joo Kim
Michelle Levia Mejia
Devon McCollumn
Damon Paffenroth
Maya Portier
David Ramirez Ruz
Timothy Ruiz
Alex Salvador
Alexandra Stepanov
Amy Umaña-Harms
Adrian Urias
Keali’I Justin Witczak

AY19–20 Commencement Awards  |  program

Best Masters Thesis, College of Liberal Arts:
Dean Bruce  |  announcement

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
Dean Bruce
Christopher Mynatt

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Students:
Kyle Bollin
Tanner Whitlow

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Avery Amerson
Damien Fernando
Owen Hammer
Michael Hurley
Austin Jenkins
Samantha Morales
Henry Pickett
Katrina Sinson
Jasmine Vargas

AY18–19 Commencement Awards

Finalist for Outstanding Baccalaureate:
Richard Link

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
Burgandy Basulto
Vincent del Prado

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Students:
Amanda Dilger
Richard Link

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Margaret Gibbons
James Krausen
Michael Lara
Reese Perez
Michael Redding
Erik Rodriguez Cerda

AY17–18 Commencement Awards

Finalist for Outstanding Baccalaureate:
Kylie Shahar

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Students:
Andrew Shin
Cameron Stein

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Yousef Ahmed
Jeffrey Allen
Jacee Cantler
Monica Casares
Crystal Jones
Tim Shaker
Jake Teran
Spencer Wianecki

AY16–17 Commencement Awards

OGS Dean’s List of Graduating Masters Students:
Alexander Beard

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
Corey Jenson
Mitch Kaufman

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Students:
Nickolas Sackett
Jose Vera Cruz

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Aurora Clark
Claire Filson
Brandon Howell
Jin Ri Kim
Kory Kordich
Michael Kosak
Nathan Lackey
Giovanni Navarro

AY15–16 Commencement Awards

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Student:
Andrew Bollhagen

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Students:
Robbie Brown
Jose Gonzalez Jr.

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Livia Espiritu
Robert Marlow Jr.
Chloe Bell
Vincent Garrido

AY14–15 Commencement Awards

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
Christian Weede

Phi Beta Kappa Nominee for Members-in-Course:
Christopher Nielsen

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
David Amargo
Gilbert Benavidez
Santiago Calogero
Alex Campise
Cameron Conway
Zachary Finn
Zackary Ford
Anhthu Hoang
Rene Rodriguez
Dhariane Sou
Kevin Watson

AY13–14 Commencement Awards

OGS Dean’s List of Graduating Masters Students:
Emily Barrett

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
Emily Barrett
Holly Mikhael

Finalist for Outstanding Baccalaureate Award:
Josh Feng

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Students:
Josh Feng
Rob Garsson

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Asmita Deswal
Stephanie Fleming
Celia Guzman
Raisa Lobo
Gustavo Miranda
Austin Mitchell
Ann Nettleton
Jarrod Phipps
Jessica Zheng

AY12–13 Commencement Awards

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Emma Björngard
Caleb Campbell
Andrew Casas
Jordan Ezell
Zien Halwani
Joseph Komenda
Antonio Mendoza
Tyler Morand
Daniel Shultz
Thomas Thomassian

AY11–12 Commencement Awards

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Student:
Kristopher Gay

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Jessica Howell
Joseph Diminutto
Michael Hurley
Daniel Wilson

AY10–11 Commencement Awards

OGS Dean’s List of Graduating Masters Students:
John Clevenger

Finalist for Outstanding Baccalaureate Award:
Rebekah Bonner

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
John Clevenger
Amy Conti

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Students:
Rebekah Bonner
Michael Moval

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Stephanie Williams
Nicole Chen
Edgar Vera
Mark Shively
Andrew Velin
Robert Schwin

AY09–10 Commencement Awards

Finalist for Outstanding Baccalaureate Award:
Clinton Packman

Phi Beta Kappa Nominee for Members-in-Course:
Clinton Packman

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
David Glover
Kara Sutton-Jones
Andrew Velin

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Students:
Samuel Bullock
Timothy Feliciano
Nathan Glover
Daniel Magno
Clinton Packman

AY08–09 Commencement Awards

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
Richard Fox
Saad Anis

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Student:
Glenn Marchand Jr.
Gabriella Taj Ka

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Matthew Franko
Debraun Ellis Morrison
Rex Styzens
Jeffrey Dollarhide
Tyler Hahn
Ernest Hinojos
Jamie Panter
Philip Simpkin

AY07–08 Commencement Awards

Best Masters Thesis, College of Liberal Arts:
Amanda Trefethen

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Student:
Amanda Trefethen

Phi Beta Kappa Nominees for Members-in-Course:
Jonathan Dixon
Taylor Jerri

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Matthew Franko
Matthew Glover
Pat Parks
Cindy Rand
Justin Wells
Douglas Carter
Jonathan Dixon
Kevin Jamison
Taylor Jerri
Stephanie Quinn
Jake Read
James Walker

AY06–07 Commencement Awards

Finalist for Outstanding Baccalaureate Award:
Errol Dauis

Phi Beta Kappa Nominee for Members-in-Course:
Thomas Miller

AY05–06 Commencement Awards

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Student:
Amanda Trefethen

Finalist for Outstanding Baccalaureate Award:
Joao Pereira

Phi Beta Kappa Nominee for Members-in-Course:
Zachary Margolies

Phi Kappa Phi
Andrea Reynolds

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Students:
Joao Pereira
Veeken Tashjian

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Alex Wilson
Sara Auguilar
Frank Arenas
Theresa Demonte
Talia Drake
Greg Keener
Sara Leimbach
Natasha Marek
Zachary Margolies
John Parducho

AY04–05 Commencement Awards

Outstanding Baccalaureate Award Winner:
Chhunny Chhean

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
Eric Balmer
Daniel Deen
Cyd Fass
Michael Rings

Phi Beta Kappa Nominees for Members-in-Course:
Kelly Laumbach
Laura Pomella

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Student:
Chhunny Chhean

AY03–04 Commencement Awards

OGS Dean’s List of Graduating Masters Students:
Cathleen Clay

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Students:
Aaron Bradford
Cathleen Clay

Finalist for Outstanding Baccalaureate Award:
Nathan Brodnax

Phi Beta Kappa Nominee for Members-in-Course:
John Cho

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Student:
Matthew Glover

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
Joy Brehaut
Christopher Buechler
Rebecca Caneles
Rene Fonseca
Charles Larson
Franklin Sims
Venessa Volz

AY02–03 Commencement Awards

Unknown

AY01–02 Commencement Awards

Outstanding Baccalaureate Award Winner:
Kimberly Ann Gainey

Distinguished Philosophy Graduate Student:
Carlos Castillo

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Student:
Kimberly Ann Gainey

Academic Excellence in Philosophy Awards:
James Bonar
Laura Clark
Albert Lara
Wendy McGlothlin
Ryan Murphy
Brian Quinlan
Scott Sward
Michael Zar
Alan Casselman
Barbara Hogan
Amy Murphy
Timothy Parker
Melvin Sanchez
Mark Vukadinovich

AY00–01 Commencement Awards

Phi Kappa Phi  |  announcement
Diane Anderson
Carlos Fernando Castillo
Nancy Choy
Laura Clark
Kimberly Ann Gainey
Janet Horrigan
John Whipple

AY96–97 Commencement Awards

OGS Dean’s List of Graduating Masters Students:
Michael Ashooh

Distinguished Philosophy Undergraduate Student:
Timothy Parker

AY83–84 Commencement Awards

Phi Beta Kappa
Louisa Lee Moon