PhD Student Placement Record

Below is information about the current employment of all graduates from the Florida State University Ph.D. program.

2022

Vincenza Berardo

University of Massachusetts, Lowell – Lecturer (2022-present)
Advisor: Dr. Nathanael Stein
Dissertation: TBD

Marshall Bierson

Catholic University of America – Assistant Professor (2022-present)
Advisor: Dr. John Schwenkler
Dissertation: “Moral Worth as the Formal Excellence of Practical Reason”

Robert Bishop

California State University, San Bernardino – Assistant Professor (2022-present)
Advisor: Dr. John Schwenkler
Dissertation: “Essays on Virtue and Practical Reason”

Matthew C. Taylor

Florida A&M University – Assistant Professor (2022-present)
Advisor: Dr. Alfred Mele
Dissertation: “Moral Agency and Situationism”

Michael Albert

Advisor: Dr. Edward Hinchman and Dr. Michael Bishop
Dissertation: “The Variable Weight View: An Alternative to Peer-Oriented Accounts in the Epistemology of Disagreement”

Jorge Oseguera Gamba

Autonomous University of the State of Morelos – Research Professor (2022 – Present)
Advisor: Dr. Michael Bishop
Dissertation: “Letting a Hundred Flowers Bloom: The Diversity of Good Lives and Their Dynamics”

2021

Aron Vadakin

Delaware State University - Visiting Lecturer (2021- Present)
Advisor: Dr. Alfred Mele
Dissertation: “Against Reason: A Defense of Moderate Normative Skepticism”

Francis Caruso

Georgia Tech – MA program (2021-Present)
Advisor: Dr. Randolph Clarke
Dissertation: “An Alternative Approach to Analyzing Disposition Ascriptions”

Jay Spitzley

Convival Brands – Planning Analyst (2021-Present)
Advisor: Dr. Alfred Mele
Dissertation: “Moral Responsibility Intuitions and Their Explanations: Problems for Retributivism and Desert”

Mathew Taylor

Florida State University – Visiting Teaching Faculty (2021-Present
Advisor: Dr. Alfred Mele
Dissertation: “Moral Agency and Situationism”

Paul Rezkalla

Hillsdale College – Post-doctoral fellow (2021-Present)
Advisor: Michael Ruse
Dissertation: “Survival of the Ethicist: A Neo-Aristotelian Solution to Evolutionary Debunking Arguments”

2020

Brad Stockdale

University of West Florida – Visiting Instructor (2020-Present)
Advisor: Alfred Mele
Dissertation: “On Challenges to Free Will: Contemporary Debates in the Metaphysics and Science of Free Will”

Nick Byrd

Stevens Institute of Technology – Assistant Professor (2021 - Present )
Intelligence Community Research Fellowship Program – Fellow (2020 - Present)
Advisor: John Schwenkler
Dissertation: “Reflective Reasoning For Real People

2019

Joshua Turkewitz

William Woods University – Assistant Professor (2019 - Present)
Advisor: Stephen Kearns
Dissertation: “A Defense of Semantic Vagueness”

Kyle Boerstler

Data Science Resident – Data Scientist/Data Ethicist (2020 - Present
Florida State University – Teaching Faculty I (2019 - 2019)
Advisor: Stephen Kearns
Dissertation: “The Value of Emotion in the Advance Directive Debate”

Aaron Brooks

Durham Tech - Instructor (2020-Present)
Tallahassee Community College – Assistant Professor (2017 – Present)
Advisor: David McNaughton
Dissertation: “The Meaning of Life: What We Mean by “Meaning””

2018

John Stigall

Howard University – Lecturer (2022-present)
Advisor: Randolph Clarke
Dissertation: “Omission Impossible? It Depends”

Gabriel De Marco

Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford – Research Fellow in Applied Moral Philosophy (2018 – Present)
Advisor: Alfred Mele 
Dissertation: "Manipulation, Moral Responsibility, and History"

Mirja Pérez de Calleja

University of Los Andes – Postdoctoral Fellow (2020 - Present)
Philosophical Research Institute, National Autonomous University of Mexico – Post-Doctoral Fellow (2018 – 2020)
Advisor: Alfred Mele
Dissertation: "Free Will, Luck, and Indoctrination"

2017

Martha Lang

Grants Management Specialist – Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (2019-Present)
Florida State University – Teaching Faculty I (2019-2020)
Philosophy & Zen - President, Philosopher, and Consultant (2017-Present)
Advisor: Michael Bishop
Dissertation: “The Network Theory of Well-Being, Revamped”

Benjamin Kimmell

Cavalry Baptist Church – Full-time Pastor (2017 – Present)
Advisor: David McNaughton
Dissertation: “Modified Molinism: A Source-Based Solution to the Problem of Human Freedom and Divine Foreknowledge”

Peter Takacs

The University of Sydney – Postdoctoral Research Associate (2018 – Present)
Advisor: Michael Ruse
Dissertation: “Philosophical, Historical, and Empirical Investigations into the Concept of Biological Fitness”

2016

Matthew Flummer

Porterville College – Assistant Professor (2016 – Present)
Advisor: Alfred Mele
Dissertation: "In Defense of Historicism: An Essay on the Metaphysics of Moral Responsibility"

Kyle Fritz

University of Mississippi
 • Assistant Professor (2017-Present)
 • Visiting Assistant Professor (2016-2017)
Advisor: Randolph Clarke
Dissertation: "Responsibility, Control, and the Nonvoluntary"

Daniel Miller

West Virginia University – Assistant Professor (2022 – Present)
West Virginia University – Visiting Assistant Professor (2018 – 2022)
Fayetteville State University – Visiting Assistant Professor (2017 – 2018)
Florida State University – Visiting Assistant Professor (2016 – 2017)
Advisor: Randolph Clarke
Dissertation: "Blameworthiness and Ignorance"

2015

Richard Cordero 

Tallahassee Community College – Adjunct Professor (2015 – 2016)
Advisor: David McNaughton
Dissertation: “Particularism and Holism: Not a Necessary Marriage” 

Daniel Deen

Christ College, Concordia University – Assistant Professor (2010 – Present)
Major  Professor: Michael Ruse
Dissertation: "Science, Religion, and Virtue: Toward Excellence In Dialogue"

Katherine Guin

SUNY Brockport – Adjunct Professor (2015 – Present)
Advisor: David McNaughton 
Dissertation: “An Aristotelian Approach to Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park” 

Megan McGrew

The Autism Learning Center – Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) (2013 – Present)
Advisor: Randolph Clarke
Dissertation: “Moral Responsibility and Mental Health: An Interdisciplinary Project in Philosophy, Psychology, and Applied Behavioral Analysis” 

James Quigley

Software Engineer – CoverHound (2016 – present)
Junior Software Engineer – Avant (2016)
Web Developer (2015 – Present)
Advisor: David McNaughton
Dissertation: "Caring and the Apprehension of Value"

2014

Robyn Repko Waller

Iona College – Assistant Professor (tenure track) (2018 – Present)
Franklin & Marshall – Visiting Assistant Professor (2017 – 2018)
King’s College London – Lecturer (2015 – 2017)
University of Alabama – Visiting Professor (2014 – 2015)
Advisor: Al Mele
Dissertation: "A Response to Some Conceptual and Scientific Threats to Compatibilist Free Will."

Zachary Martin

Law School Admission Council – Test Specialist (2015 – Present)
Ashford University – Adjunct Instructor (2014 – 2015)
Advisor: Randolph Clarke
Dissertation: "Are We Free? Psychology's Challenges to Free Will."

2013

Joshua Shepherd

Carleton University – Assistant Professor of Philosophy (2017 – 2020), Associate Professor of Philosophy (2020 – Present)
Oxford Uehiro Centre – Wellcome Trust Research Fellow (2014 – 2017)
Jesus College – Junior Research Fellow (2014 – Present)
Oxford Martin School – James Martin Fellow (2014 – Present)
University of Oxford– Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Neuroethics (2013 – 2014)
Advisor: Al Mele
Dissertation: "Intentional Control and Consciousness"

Heather Perez

Broward College – Assistant Professor (2018 – Present)
Ashford University – Adjunct Professor (2014 – 2018)
Advisor: Michael Bishop
Dissertation: "Norms and Normativity"

Michael Robinson

Chapman University – Assistant Professor (2016 – Present)
Florida State University – Big Questions in Free Will Postdoctoral Fellow (2015 – 2016)
Washington and Jefferson College – Visiting Assistant Professor (2014 – 2015)
Florida State University – Big Questions in Free Will Postdoctoral Fellow (2013 – 2014)
Lecturer– Grand Valley State University – Visiting Assistant Professor (2010 – 2013)
Advisor: Al Mele
Dissertation: "Moral Responsibility and Its Alternatives"

Daniel Haas

Red Deer College – Instructor (2012 – 2013), (2014 – Present)
Idaho State University – Visiting Assistant Professor, Philosophy (2014 – Present)
Advisor: Randolph Clarke
Dissertation: "Source Incompatibilism, Manipulation, and Basic Desert" 

Jason S. Miller

Law School Admission Council – Test Specialist (2013 – Present)
Advisor: Alfred Mele
Dissertation: “Free Will in Context: A Defense of Descriptive Variantism”

Tina Talsma

UNC Charlotte – Adjunct Instructor (2014 – Present)
Florida State University – Adjunct Instructor
Advisor: David McNaughton
Dissertation: "Free Will and Divine Omniscience" 

Steven McFarlane

University of Minnesota Morris – Assistant Professor (2016 – Present)
Advisor: David McNaughton
Dissertation: “Can Value Properties Earn Their Keep? The Metaphysics of Value”

2012

John Carpenter

Florida Department of Transportation – IT project coordinator (2014 – Present)
Evergreen Solutions, LLC – Senior Analyst (2013 – 2014)
Advisor: Russell Dancy
Dissertation: "Remedying Some Defects in the History of Analyticity" 

Melissa Lammey

Miami Dade College – Associate Professor (2006 – Present)
Advisor: Michael Ruse
Dissertation: "Distinguishing Science from Philosophy: A Critical Assessment of Thomas Nagel's Recommendations for Public Education" 

Michael B. Miller

Spokane Community College – Associate Registrar (2020 - Present)
University of California, Santa Cruz – Graduate Program Coordinator, Department of Physics (2017 – 2020)
Florida State University
 • Adjunct Instructor, Academic Program Specialist (2014 – 2017)
 • Adjunct Instructor, Academic Program Assistant (2013 – 2014)
Advisor: Michael Bishop Dissertation: "The Utility of the Illusion of Character"

2011

Amirah Albahri

Kuwait University – Professor
Advisor: Michael Bishop
Dissertation: "Framework for Understanding Naturalized Epistemology" 

Justin Capes

Flagler College
 • Assistant Professor (2017 – Present)
 • Visiting Assistant Professor (2016 – 2017)
East Tennessee State University – Lecturer (2012 – 2016)
Florida State University– Big Questions in Free Will Postdoctoral Fellow (2011– 2012)
Advisor: Alfred Mele
Dissertation: "I Couldn't Help It! Essays on Moral Responsibility and Alternative Possibilities" 

Shidan Lotfi

University of Tennessee, Knoxville – Lecturer (2010 – Present)
Advisor: David McNaughton
Dissertation: "A Theory of Flourishing"

Travis Rodgers

Valencia College – Assistant Professor (2014 – Present)
University of Central Florida – Lecturer (2012 – 2014)
Advisor: Randolph Clarke
Dissertation: "Accounting for Character"

Clifford Sosis

Coastal Carolina University – Lecturer (2013 – Present)
Mississippi State University, Meridian – Visiting Lecturer (2012 – 2013)
Advisor: Michael Bishop
Dissertation: "Well–Being: The Good Syndrome"

Christopher Zarpentine

Wilkes University – Visiting Assistant Professor (2013 – Present)
University of Utah – Visiting Professor (2011 – 2013)
Advisor: Alfred Mele
Dissertation: "The Fragmentation of Moral Psychology: Reason, Emotion, Motivation and Moral Judgment in Ethics and Science" 

2010

Charles Alt

Faculty at Greenwich Academy, Duff Center for STEM Initiatives (2006 – Present)
Fairfield University – Adjunct Professor (2011 – Present)
Advisor: Michael Ruse Dissertation: "Refining the Boundary Conditions of the Darwinian concept of Adaptation: The Affirmation of Darwinism" 

Alison Brown

San Diego State University – Adjunct Lecturer (Present)
Dependency Legal Group of San Diego – Attorney (2014 – Present)
Hanna Brophy Law Firm – Associate Attorney (2013 – 2014)
San Diego County Office of the Alternate Public Defender – Certified Legal Intern (2012)
University of San Diego, School of Law – Research Assistant (2010 – 2012)
Advisor: Randolph Clarke
Dissertation: “Moral Luck and Moral Responsibility” 

Tracie Mahaffey

Florida State University
 • Teaching Faculty II (2014 – Present)
 • Assistant-in-Teaching (2010 – 2014)
University of North Florida, Visiting Instructor (2009 – 2010)
Advisor: Alfred Mele
Dissertation: "Socialization and Psychological Autonomy" 

Scott Mueller

Freelance Editor and Proofreader (2011– Present)
University of Wisconsin Press – Editorial Assistant (2011 – 2013)
Advisor: Alfred Mele
Dissertation: "The Phenomenology of Action and the Problem of Free Will."

2009

Joseph Long

The College of Brockport, SUNY
 • Assistant Professor (2014 – Present)
 • Visiting Assistant Professor (2011 – 2014)
Florida State University– Visiting Instructor (2010 – 2011)
Advisor: J. Piers Rawling
Dissertation: "Kinds and their Terms: On the Language and Ontology of the Normative and the Empirical" 

Jamie Watson

Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities and Bioethics at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (2020 – Present)
Clinical Ethicist at Arkansas Children's Hospital (2020 – Present)
Broward College – Assistant Professor (2014 – Present)
Young Harris College – Assistant Professor (2009 – 2014)
Advisor: Michael Bishop
Dissertation: "A Priori Justification and Experience" 

2008

Adam Feltz

Michigan Technological University – Assistant Professor (2013 – Present)
Max Planck Center for Human Development Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition– (2009 – 2012)
Schreiner University – Assistant Professor, Director of Behavioral Philosophy Lab (2008 – 2013)
Advisor: Alfred Mele
Dissertation: "The Relevance of Folk Intuitions to Philosophical Debates" 

2007

Lisa Liseno

Florida State University
 • Assistant Dean of the Graduate School (2014 – Present)
 • Academic Center for Excellence, Instructor (2008 – 2014)
Advisor: Alfred Mele
Dissertation: "The Problem of Akratic Action"

Jason Zinser

University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point – Assistant Professor (2017 – Present)
University of Wisconsin, Marathon County – Senior Lecturer (2010 – Present)
University of North Florida – Visiting Assistant Professor (2007 – 2010)
Advisor: Michael Ruse
Dissertation: "Modal Concepts in the Biological Sciences" 

2006

Charles Hermes

University of Texas–Arlington – Undergraduate Adviser and Visiting Assistant Professor (2007 – Present)
Advisor: Alfred Mele
Dissertation: "Scientific Essentialism and the Lewis/Ramsey Account of Laws of Nature" 

Elizabeth Kanon

Texas State University – Lecturer (2010 – Present)
University of North Florida – Visiting Assistant Professor (2006 – 2009)
Advisor: Peter Dalton
Dissertation: "Stipulating Moral Status" 

2005

George Abaunza

Felician College – Associate Professor and Chair (2000 – Present)
Bergen Community College – Lecturer/Instructor (1996 – 2000)
Advisor: C. David Gruender
Dissertation: "Making Artists of Us All: The Evolution of An Educational Aesthetic" 

Jeremy Kirby

Albion College – Assistant Professor (2006 – Present)
Advisor: Russell Dancy
Dissertation: "Material Migration and Aristotelian Metaphysics" 

Thomas Nadelhoffer

College of Charleston
 • Associate Professor of Philosophy (2016 – Present)
 • Assistant Professor of Philosophy (2012 – 2016) 
 • Affiliate Faculty of Psychology (2014 – Present)
 • Roster Faculty of Neuroscience Program (2015 – Present)
Dickinson College
 • Assistant Professor of Philosophy (2006 – 2012)
 • Roster Faculty of Law and Policy Program (2006 – 2012)
Advisor: Alfred Mele
Dissertation: "Intentions and Intentional Actions in Ordinary Language and the Criminal Law"

2004

Stephen Morris

College of Staten Island – Assistant Professor (2009 – Present)
Western Missouri State University – Assistant Professor (2005 – 2009)
Florida A & M University – Instructor (2004 – 2005)
Florida State University – Instructor (2004 – 2005)
Advisor: Michael Ruse
Dissertation: "Deciphering the Secret Chain: An Evolutionary Perspective on Enlightened Self-Interest"  

Deena Hurst

Research Associate for the Florida Institute of Government at Florida State University (2005 – Present)
Advisor: Donald Hodges
Dissertation: “America’s National Interest: Politics of Deceit”

2003

Christopher Pynes

Western Illinois University
 • Professor of Philosophy (2014 – Present)
 • Associate Professor of Philosophy (2009 – 2014)
 • Assistant Professor of Philosophy (2005 – 2009)
University of Tennessee, Knoxville – Lecturer of Philosophy (2003 – 2005)
Advisor: Michael Ruse
Dissertation: "Human Cloning and Moral Status"  

2002

Justin Barnard

Union University – Associate Professor and Director of the Carl F.H. Henry Institute for Intellectual Discipleship (2007 – Present)
Crichton College – Assistant Professor (2005 – 2007)
Messiah College – Lecturer (2002 – 2004)
Advisor: Alfred Mele
Dissertation: "Rationally Justified Belief and Mental Causation: An Epistemic Argument Against Physicalism"

Gregory Smith

Patrick Henry College – Professor of Philosophy
Advisor: Russell Dancy
Dissertation: "Aristotle and Cognitive Intentionality"

2001

John Farnum

Portland Community College – Instructor (2000 – Present)
Advisor: Peter Dalton
Dissertation: "Habermas and the American Context: Toward a Theory of a Substantive Democracy"  

Bradford Hadaway

Georgetown College – Professor (2001 – Present)
Advisor: Maria Morales
Dissertation: "Hobbesian Individualism and the Self: Bringing Hobbes to Bear on the Communitarian Critique of Liberalism" 

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