Professional

I am professor of philosophy at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.  I primarily teach social and political philosophy and continental philosophy. Teaching is important to me and I have been honored with University of Texas Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award and several others from my university. My research takes the tools of social and political philosophy, many of which are usually only applied to states, and applies them to corporations. I focus on how corporations govern their publics through marketing, public relations, industrial design, and advertising.

Background

My introduction to politics, like so many things for teenagers, came through music. This left me wanting more and I took some initial college courses in Black Studies, Political Philosophy, and Postmodernism while I was in high school–I was lucky enough to have a high school program where I could take classes for free. I applied to undergraduate at the University of California at Santa Cruz so I could study with Angela Davis, Wendy Brown, Theresa de Lauretis, David Hoy and others. I also have to thank my experimenting peers for their pedagogy–my 1st year roommate was wearing armor and a cape when I met him at drop-off (my poor parents!) I went to Penn State for graduate school because I thought it had the best program in Genealogy and the history of philosophy, both of which I thought would be key to my own future writing on political philosophy.

Other Interests

I was a competitive swimmer when I was younger, working out twice a day from an early age. Now my interest in sports has broadened and I enjoy Kendo, boxing, weightlifting, cycling, hiking, and most recently, stair running.

I still have a love of the water and relish exploring natural swimming spots, from South Padre Island, to Kauai, to the fresh water rivers and swimming holes of Texas–here is a favorite.

More often than not though, I can be found doing something with my twins.

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