Ashley Bohrer works on making philosophy transcend disciplinary and institutional boundaries. Her research focuses on the intersections of capitalism, colonialism, racism and hetero/sexism in both the early modern period and in the contemporary world. In addition to her academic work, Bohrer is a committed activist who has organized with a variety of feminist, anti-racist and anti-capitalist grassroots collectives. She received her bachelor's degree in political science and philosophy from George Washington University and her master's and doctorate in philosophy from DePaul University in Chicago.
Katheryn Doran studies and teaches courses on American philosophy, contemporary Anglo-American philosophy, environmental ethics and philosophy and film. She co-edited the most recent edition of Critical Thinking: An Introduction to the Basic Skills and has published several papers on the problem of skepticism. She is serving as the guest editor of a special issue of the American Philosophical Association's APA Newsletter that addresses teaching philosophy in nontraditional settings, a role based in part on a panel she chaired and participated in at the APA Eastern Division meetings in 2014. She was appointed in 2013 to the American Philosophical Association Committee on the Teaching of Philosophy. Doran has run a philosophy book group at Marcy Correctional Facility for many years and serves as the vice chair of the board of Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson.
Douglas Edwards works mainly on issues in metaphysics, philosophy of language and metaethics, particularly theories of truth. He is the author of Properties (Polity Press, 2014) and numerous journal articles on truth. He is currently working on a monograph, The Metaphysics of Truth (Oxford University Press), and an anthology, Truth: A Contemporary Reader (Bloomsbury Press). Edwards has received two major research awards: a Marie Curie Fellowship from the European Commission and a Government of Ireland Research Fellowship. He received his doctorate from the University of St. Andrews and previously held posts at University College Dublin and the University of Aberdeen.
Todd Franklin's research focuses on the existential, social and political implications of various critical and transformative discourses aimed at cultivating individual and collective self-realization. He teaches courses on existentialism, Nietzsche and critical cultural studies and is a past recipient of the Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award. The author of several scholarly works on the social and political import of various forms of existential enlightenment, Franklin is also the co-editor of a volume titled Critical Affinities: Reflections on the Convergence between Nietzsche and African American Thought. He holds a doctorate from Stanford University.
Marianne Janack, who received her doctorate from Syracuse University, teaches classes in philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, feminist philosophy and philosophy and literature. In 2004, Janack won both the College's Hatch Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Richardson Award for Innovation in Teaching. She received a major National Science Foundation grant in 2008-09 to support her work on What We Mean By Experience, published by Stanford University Press in 2012. She is also the editor of Feminist Interpretations of Richard Rorty. She is working on a book about David Foster Wallace, teaching and philosophy, based on a course she co-taught with students in spring 2014.
Russell Marcus teaches logic and modern philosophy, as well as philosophy of language and philosophy of mathematics, his main area of research. In addition to working on our knowledge of mathematics and Descartes’s epistemology, Marcus has published articles on philosophical pedagogy. He also spends some time thinking about, and teaching a course on, the role of intuitions in philosophy. In 2015, he published Autonomy Platonism and the Indispensability Argument. Before Hamilton, Marcus taught philosophy at Queens College, Hofstra University and the College of Staten Island, and high school mathematics in New York City and in Costa Rica. He received a doctorate from City University of New York.
Originally from New York City, Alexandra Plakias graduated from Hamilton College in 2002 before moving to Santa Cruz, Calif., where she received a master’s from the University of California. She then completed her doctorate at the University of Michigan and spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland. Her research focuses on issues in moral psychology, such as the role of evolution and culture in our moral values. She has also written about moral relativism and about the role of empirical research in philosophical theorizing.
Richard Werner’s research interests center on issues relating to applied philosophy: war, climate change, experimental ethics and evolutionary ethics. Werner is the author of articles on ethical realism, pragmatism, just war theory and medical ethics in such journals as The Monist, Ethics, Analysis, Social Theory and Practice, and Contemporary Pragmatism. Werner is co-editor of Just War, Nonviolence, and Nuclear Deterrence. He is a past Tennent Caledonian Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and Public Affairs, University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Werner received a doctorate from the University of Rochester.
Bob Simon retired in December 2014 after 47 years on the faculty. Having earned his bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College and doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, he specializes in philosophical and ethical issues in sport, political philosophy, theories of justice and ethical issues in law. A past Rockefeller Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities fellow, he has served as president of the Philosophic Society for the Study of Sport. Among his published works are Fair Play: The Ethics of Sport; Neutrality and the Academic Ethic; and The Blackwell Guide to Political and Social Philosophy (editor). From 1986 to 2000, Professor Simon was head coach of Hamilton’s golf team and led several nationally ranked NCAA Division III players. The recipient of numerous teaching and professional honors, as well as the 2010 Distinguished Service Award presented by the Alumni Association, he sits on the editorial board of the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport.
