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"I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations....I have built my own factory on my own ground."
-Madame C.J. Walker
Dr. Paul Thomson (and team)
Faculty Last Name
Thomson (and team)
Faculty First Name
Dr. Paul
Role at CSS
Philosopher-in-Residence and Curriculum Consultant
Photo
CSS Email Address
Staffmember Bio
I received my Ph.D. in philosophy of science from Princeton University in 1990, and served as assistant and associate professor at John Carroll University until the beginning of 2007, teaching and publishing in epistemology, philosophy of science, and early modern philosophy. I am also past director of John Carroll's First Year Seminar. I am co-author, with Dr. Sharon Kaye, of On Augustine and the two volume set Philosophy for Teens, have written The Old Testament for Teens, and am now writing The New Testament for Teens, to be published January 2010. I have traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa and am an avid cyclist, photographer, and scuba diver.
Graduate Teaching Fellows Assisting Prof. Thomson:
Katie-Lynn Reilly
Katie is an MA student in the Philosophy and Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Before coming to Teachers College, she studied interdisciplinary Philosophy and Educational psychology at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education, where she majored in Perspectives Humanitas (honors) and human development with a focus in community advocacy and social policy. Her research interests include aesthetic education, philosophical anthropology, and the role of the arts in cultivating epistemological curiosity and creative expressiveness through reflective, philosophical encounters with literature and music. Katie intends to explore her conviction that philosophical engagement with our world can cultivate the empathy and the agency needed for students and educators to effectively recognize and communicate the endless complexities of the human condition in its range of sorrows, joys, and uncertainties. Thoughtful inquiry enlarges opportunities for human responsiveness and encourages openness to experience. Her educational philosophy is in part shaped by the philosopher John Dewey, who said, “Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself.”
Philosophy encourages us to challenge our thinking and to become more deeply and critically engaged in how we live our lives. With contemplation, communication, responsible choices, and reasoned dialogue, we can learn to recognize multiple perspectives and ways of being and grow as a happy and well-organized community of learners.
Brian Zimmerman
Brian Zimmerman is an Ed.M. student in the Philosophy and Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. He has also obtained a philosophy degree from Rutgers University. At Rutgers, Brian had the opportunity to study under Alvin Goldman and Peter Klein, two of the leading philosophers in the field of analytic epistemology. His current research interests revolve around ludic learning, skepticism, social epistemology, and postmodernism. When he is not studying, he teaches an after school literacy class for Harlem elementary students.
Nicolette Ocheltree
Nicolette Ocheltree is an alumnus of Southern Methodist University where she double majored in Film and Philosophy. While attending SMU she organized and ran a highly successful and well attended philosophy club which hosted countless famous philosophers from all over the world. She received the Isaac Gustave Bromberg Award for Outstanding Work in the Humanities in 2007. Currently Ms. Ocheltree is a 3rd year Phd student in Columbia University's Department of Philosophy. Her areas of interest include skepticism, philosophy of language, and metaphysics.
Timothy Ignaffo
Timothy Ignaffo is currently a PhD student in the Philosophy and Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Timothy is interested in researching service and experiential learning, as well as the philosophy of narrative and Pre-College Instruction of Philosophy. Timothy taught English Language Arts and Philosophy in East Harlem for four years before becoming the Program Manager/Field Coordinator for the Early Childhood Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he is in charge of student teacher placements. Before coming to Teachers College, Timothy graduated with a B.A. from the University of Scranton with a double major in Philosophy and Communication. He is one of the coordinators of the Columbia University Philosophy Outreach project.
