Honors Faculty & Staff

About

Kevin S. Decker is Professor of Philosophy specializing in American Pragmatism, German Idealism, Social and Political Theory, Ethics and Philosophy and Popular Culture. He has served as the president of the EWU Faculty Organization, previously held the Chertok Endowed Chair position, and has published widely in journals and in the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series of books.

Link to Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture https://andphilosophy.com/

About

• PhD, Educational Leadership, Gonzaga University (1994)
• MA, Religious Studies, Gonzaga University (1986)
• BA, Religious Studies, Whitworth University (1980)

Specialization
New Testament Studies, Religious Studies, Humanities

About

Kirby joined the Philosophy Program in 2008. His general research interests are in the history of philosophy and comparative thought. He is particularly interested in ancient thinkers who drew insights from exploring nature – such as Aristotle and the Daoist sage, Zhuangzi – as well as more recent philosophers who have combined such insights with scientific or aesthetic modes of thought, like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, Arne Næss, and John Dewey.

Kirby is also the faculty sponsor to the Transcendental Apathetic (EWU’s Philosophy club).

Kirby’s personal page [links to an external site]

About

Interests:

• Early Modern European History
• Cultural/Intellectual History
• German History
• Teaching tough subjects through archival sources

Curriculum Vitae

About

• PhD, English, Early American Literature, Penn State (1985)
• MA, English, Western Washington University (1980)
• BA, English, Western Washington University (1978)

Specialization
Interdisciplinary Environmental Humanities, Creative Writing, Culture Studies

About

Terrance MacMullan is Professor of Philosophy who focuses on Latin American philosophy, philosophy of race and political philosophy. He served as EWU Faculty Organization President and has earned EWU’s President’s Award and the Inter-American Philosophy Award from the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy. His book Habits of Whiteness: A Pragmatist Reconstruction will be republished by Indiana University Press.

About

Educational Background

• PhD, University of Hawai’i, Political Science
• MA, University of Hawai’i, Political Science
• BA, Bryn Mawr College, Political Science

Research Interests

Feminist Theory, Queer Theory, Indigenous and Settler Colonial Studies, Critical Race Theory (CRT), Critical Ethnic Studies, and Disability Studies

Courses Taught

• WMST 498: Intersectional Social Justice

Judy Rohrer is the author of the three books below as well as a number of journal articles, book chapters, and popular essays.

• Staking Claim: Settler Colonialism and Racialization in Hawai’i (2016)
• Queering the Biopolitics of Citizenship in the Age of Obama (2014)
• Haoles in Hawai’i (2010)

About

Natalia Ruiz-Rubio is from Spain. She has a BA in Romances Languages and Certificate in Comparative Literatures from Universidad de Extremadura. She completed a MA in Hispanic Literatures and a PhD in Hispanic Cultural Studies at Michigan State University. She specialized in Latin American and Spanish Film.

Her dissertation focused on fashion and citizenship in Latin American.  Her current research project analyzes the cultural contributions of the post-dictatorship generation aiming to document of the struggles for truth, justice, and intergenerational dialogue in the South Cone and Spain. Her latest publication is entitled: “In Search of the Father: Forgetting and Autofiction in Two Argentine Documentaries: El (im)posible olvido (Impossible to Forget, Habegger, 2016) and El padre (The Father, Arruti, 2016).” in the volume War and Remembrance in World Cinema (forthcoming).

In her free time, she loves hiking, backpacking, cooking, and watching movies.

About

Parker Shaw has an MA in Spanish from the University of Utah (2007) and a PhD in Latin American Literature and Cultural Studies from the University of Pittsburgh (2015). His research is a literary and cultural study of varying senses of masculinities and nationality in Chilean Boy Scout manuals and magazines from the early 20th century.

His research and teaching interests include social and political categories of identity such as gender, sexuality, race, nationality, and social class in canonical and non-canonical texts. He teaches upper-level courses about Latin American literature and cultures, Spanish-language classes, and general studies of Hispanic literature in English translation.

About

• Coffee
• Food and Food Systems
• Latin America
• Ethnography

About

Academic Information

• PhD, University of Cape Town

Professional Background

Vice President of the International Music Council. Serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Popular Music Education. Has published numerous chapters and journal articles. Research focus is on music and wellbeing.