David H. Calhoun
Associate Professor
Philosophy Department
Gonzaga University, Spokane,
Washington
|
David H. Calhoun is
Associate Professor of Philosophy at Gonzaga University in
Spokane, Washington, where he has been teaching since
1989. Calhoun has degrees from Louisiana State
University (B.A., Philosophy, 1981) and Northwestern
University (M.A., Philosophy, 1985, and Ph.D., Philosophy,
1989). He regularly teaches courses on ancient
philosophy, philosophy of human nature, and
existentialism. Over the past decade he has
developed a course on Christianity and Science that
explores the origins of western science in connection with
Greek philosophy and Christian theology and culture and
critically examines the popular view that science is at
war with Christianity. He and his colleague Brian
Clayton have been team-teaching philosophy of human nature
in summers since 1994, and recently began offering a
course on philosophy in film. Calhoun has published articles and book reviews on philosophical theology, ethics, and philosophy of education and spoken at conferences on topics such as human nature / philosophical anthropology, New Atheism, Christian themes in film and literature, and Christianity and science. Current projects include the philosophical underpinnings of human dignity, philosophical and theological themes in the films of Terrence Malick, and virtue and character in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. Calhoun directs the Gonzaga Socratic Club, which promotes philosophical inquiry into the Christian worldview after the model of the Oxford Socratic Club, which was presided over by Christian scholar and apologist C. S. Lewis in the 1940s and 50s. Recent publications: “Who Has Eyes to See, Let Him See:
Terrence Malick as Natural Theologian.” Theology and the
Films of Terrence Malick, ed. Christopher B.
Barnett and Clark J. Elliston. Routledge,
2016. 66-98. (publisher
info / Amazon
book listing) “From Solitary Individualism to
Post-Christian Stoic Existentialism: Quests for
Community, Moral Agency, and Transcendence in the Films
of Clint Eastwood.”
The
Philosophy of Clint Eastwood, ed. Brian Clayton
and Richard McClelland.
University of Kentucky, 2014. 13-40. (Amazon
book listing) “The Euthyphro Problem.” New
Catholic Encyclopedia Supplement 2012-13: Ethics and
Philosophy. Ed. Robert L. Fastiggi. 4 vols. Detroit:
Gale, 2013. Vol.
2: 519-20. “Prospects for Human Dignity before
and after Darwin.” Human Dignity in
Bioethics: From Worldviews to the Public Square,
ed. Steven C. Dilley and Nathan J. Palpant. Routledge
Annals of Bioethics.
Routledge, 2012.
166-198. (Amazon
book listing) “Human Exceptionalism and the Imago Dei: The
Tradition of Human Dignity.” Human Dignity in
Bioethics: From Worldviews to the Public Square,
ed. Steven C. Dilley and Nathan J. Palpant. Routledge
Annals of Bioethics.
Routledge, 2012.
19-45. (Amazon
book listing) Recent Conference and Public Presentations:
“Distinctly Christian Higher
Education in Secularizing (and
Already Secular) Institutions,” Higher Learning: 2016
Baylor Symposium on Faith
and Culture, Baylor University (Waco, TX), October
27-29, 2016. (presentation
handout) “The Ascent of Eros in Terrence
Malick’s To the
Wonder,” The Thought of Terrence Malick,
Gettysburg College Philosophy and Film Seminar,
Gettysburg College (Gettysburg, PA), April 8-9,
2016. (proposal
abstract) “How Films Can
Argue, and Even Evangelize:
The Case of Terrence Malick.” Plenary
lecture at “Defend the Faith” conference. School of
Apologetics. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
(New Orleans, LA). January 7, 2016. (link
to video) “Apologetics,
Culture, and Science.”
Lecture series at “Defend the Faith”
conference: (1) “The Epistemology of Religious Belief:
Evidence and Interpretive Stance” (2) “Pascal’s
Anthropological Apologetic: Beyond the Wager” (3) “Film
Apologetics: Aggressive
Naturalism in Popular Film” (4)
“Christianity and Science: Creationism and Other
Christian Models.” School of
Apologetics. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
(New Orleans, LA).
January 5-7, 2016.
“Freedom and the Human
Practice of Giving Reasons,” For Freedom Set Free,
Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture 2015 Fall
Conference (South Bend, IN), November 20, 2015. “Human Reason and the Limits
of Naturalism: From Darwin’s Doubt to C. S. Lewis’
Argument from Reason.”
Plenary lecture at “Defend the Faith”
conference. School of Apologetics. New Orleans Baptist
Theological Seminary (New Orleans, LA). January 7,
2015. “Cinematic Natural Theology: Design and Providence in Contemporary Film,” Faith and Film: 2014 Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, Baylor University (Waco, TX), October 23-25, 2014
“Idols to an Ill-Known God:
Signs of Grace in Contemporary Film.” Plenary
lecture at “Defend the Faith” conference. School of
Apologetics. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
(New Orleans, LA). January 9, 2014 (link
to video) “Kierkegaard’s Philosophical
Anthropology,” Kierkegaard: A Christian Thinker for our
Time?: 2013 Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture,
Baylor University (Waco, TX), October 31–November 2,
2013 (proposal
abstract) “Darwin, Human Distinctiveness, and Human Dignity.” Biology and and the God of Abraham lecture series. Gonzaga Faith and Reason Institute. April 17, 2013 (link to video)
First Year Seminar (FYS): Conversion
and Personal Transformation (draft
for Fall 2016) Philosophy of Human Nature (Spring
2016) Ancient Philosophy (Fall 2014) Philosophical
Reflections on Christianity and Science (Spring
2016)
Theses on Jeannot on the Subject of Jesuit Catholic Identity. A reflection on basic principle of Jesuit Catholic higher education in the modern context, spurred by Philosophy Department colleague Tom Jeannot (Spring 2014).“Galileo as Scientific Martyr? Examining the Myth,” The Crux 1.1 (November 2013):25-29, 31. Prayer for the Beginning of the Academic Year, Invocation for Fall Faculty Conference, Gonzaga University, August 29, 2013. David Calhoun's Curriculum Vitae (updated January 2016) |
[Gonzaga
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Contact Information |
Department of
Philosophy Campion 211 (1208 N Standard St, on the circle driveway leading to the east end of College Hall) 509.313.6743 Campus Extension 6743 Email: calhoun at (use the "at" sign) gem.gonzaga.edu |
AD Box 50, Gonzaga
University Department of Philosophy Gonzaga University Spokane, WA 99258 |
© 1998-2016 by David Calhoun. All rights
reserved.
This page last updated on November 23, 2016.