Philosophy » Current

Stephen Henderson (’96)

Lisa Heldke — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:44:33 +0000

Stephen Henderson (’96) teaches English in Osaka, Japan. He reports that “My two most memorable conversations were with an 80-year old man who fled Japan to China in the 1930s and lived out the war hiding in Manchuria. He had hundreds of wonderful stories to tell. I also had the opportunity to “interview” a woman who was in the outskirts of Nagasaki when it was destroyed by the atomic bomb.”

Chris deLaubenfels (’08)

Lisa Heldke — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:30:11 +0000

Chris deLaubenfels (’08) is spending the 2008-09 academic year teaching in New York City, as part of Teach for America.

Charles Stringer (’85)

Lisa Heldke — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:52:49 +0000

Charles Stringer (1985) is a licensed attorney in California and Washington with over 15 years experience in commercial, environmental, natural resources, and American Indian law and policy. He is in-house counsel and a principal with Renewable Resources Group, where he manages several renewable energy and large-scale water conservation, storage, and transfer projects.

Joel Jensen (’97)

Lisa Heldke — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:48:48 +0000

Joel Jensen (’97) received a Ph.D. in architecture, with a dissertation in architectural ontology. He teaches philosophy at North Hennepin Community College.

Danny George (’08)

Lisa Heldke — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:31:23 +0000

Danny George (’08) is teaching English in South Korea during the 2008-09 year.

Kara Barnette (’05)

Lisa Heldke — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:49:59 +0000

2005 graduate Kara Barnette is a graduate student in philosophy at the University of Oregon. Her first paper, on Josiah Royce and entitled “Communities, Traitors and the Feminist Cause,” was published in 2007 in The Pluralist.

Jeanie Reese (’92)

Lisa Heldke — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:56:52 +0000

Jeanie Reese (’92) is the mother of another philosophy department graduate; Don McNeil (’85).

Chris Marshall (’90)

Lisa Heldke — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:55:11 +0000

Chris Marshall (’90) is Field Editor for Woodworker’s Journal. He lives in rural Ohio on a ten acre farm, where, he reports, “I build things from wood, write about them, photograph the process and am always there at the end of the driveway at the end of the day to get my kids off the school bus.”

Erica Lucast Stonestreet (2000)

Lisa Heldke — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:43:25 +0000

Erica Lucast Stonestreet (2000) is assistant professor of philosophy at the College of St. Benedict. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. You can find her senior thesis on our webpage.

Mary Stone

Lisa Heldke — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:03:46 +0000

Mary Stone is studying at University of Denver’s School of Social Work, where she will receive an MSW in animal-assisted social work.

Kristen Richardson Wilcox (’96)

Lisa Heldke — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:01:27 +0000

Kristen Richardson Wilcox (’96) is a lawyer who is presently negotiating fulltime with her two children in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she is a “Domestic Goddess.”

Ted Stoneberg (’62)

Lisa Heldke — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:08:48 +0000

Ted Stoneberg (’62) is retired from a career of pastoral counseling, and serving as a professor of pastoral care.

Bjorn Hedstrom (’05)

Lisa Heldke — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:16:55 +0000

Bjorn Hedstrom (’05) received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota. He is now employed as an attorney for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota. Bjorn has this to say about how philosophy prepared him for the study of law.

Paul Hoff (’72)

Lisa Heldke — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:08:04 +0000

Paul Hoff (’72) worked with the Peace Corps in Korea teaching English, before moving to Japan where he joined a British stockbroker. He runs the Asia Pacific licensing business of FTSE, an index provider owned by the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Times. His territory covers all of Asia west to Pakistan. He lives in Tokyo.

Gerald Christianson

Lisa Heldke — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:17:51 +0000

Gerald Christianson is Emeritus Professor in Residence at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where he has taught early and medieval church history since 1967. Among his recent works, he is the co-author or co-editor of The Spirituality of the German Awakening, a volume in the series Classics of Western Spirituality (2003); Introducing Nicholas of Cusa: A Guide to a Renaissance Man (2004); Reject Aeneas, Accept Pius: Selected Letters of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II) (2006); and the forthcoming The Church, the Councils, and Reform: The Legacy of the Fifteenth Century (2008).

Mike Finstad (’93)

Lisa Heldke — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:06:38 +0000

Mike Finstad (’93) is a broker, CRS and realtor for Remax Results.

John Owens

Lisa Heldke — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:21:40 +0000

John Owens is Chief of Party for Microenterprise Access to Banking Services in Hong Kong. He reports, “I will never forget the class we had one J-Term on artificial intelligence. That class inspired me to think quite a bit about how technology can change the way we live and work and the various philosophical implications about artificial intelligence. I believe that after that course, I got even more intrigued by the uses of technology and how it could improve the lives of others, especially in the developing world.I have to give some of the credit for my exploration in this new world to Professor George Georgakarakos and a J-Term course some 26 years ago. To learn a bit more about our work in mobile phone banking, check out www.mobilephonebanking.rbap.org or the videos on You Tube at www.YouTube.com/rbapmabs. ”

After graduating with degrees in philosophy and accounting, John served in the Peace Corps in Jamaica, before earning a J.D. from Notre Dame.

Christopher Hamsher (2000)

Lisa Heldke — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:19:38 +0000

Christopher Hamsher (2000 graduate) is back in Minneapolis, studying law at the University of Minnesota, after spending several years in Chicago, where he formed two rock bands and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Josh Preiss (’99)

Lisa Heldke — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:36:50 +0000

Josh Preiss (’99) received a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago, where he worked with Martha Nussbaum. He now teaches in the Department of Political Science at Bucknell University.

Michael Boe (’82)

Lisa Heldke — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:13:57 +0000

Michael Boe (’82) is a librarian with the Hennepin County Library System. For several years, he was the bookmobile librarian, where he learned, firsthand, the cognitive power of reading to children: “the neurons that fire together wire together.”

Andi Twiton (’08)

Lisa Heldke — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 16:32:57 +0000

Andi Twiton (’08) is working for Lutheran Volunteer Corps at Thunder Road Rehabilitation Center, Oakland, California, for the 2008-09 year.

Andrew Erickson (’05)

Lisa Heldke — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:22:39 +0000

Andrew Erickson (’05) is a graduate student in history at the University of Wisconsin.

John Biewen (’83)

Lisa Heldke — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:41:12 +0000

John Biewen (’83) is the audio program director for Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies. A voice frequently heard on NPR, John first started in public radio work at the suggestion of his philosophy professor, Deane Curtin. John has a few thoughts about how the study of philosophy is useful.

Nathan Carroll (’95)

Lisa Heldke — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:05:17 +0000

Nathan Carroll (’95) is a professor in the Department of Communication and Theater Arts at St. Scholastica, Duluth, Minnesota.

John Hallstein

Lisa Heldke — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:11:12 +0000

John Hallstein is retired, from several “different lives”; parish pastor in several parishes, in what is now the ELCA, Lutheran University Pastor (NLCM) at CSU in Ft. Collins, CO, clinical psychologist at UAF in Fairbanks, Alaska, Clinical Supervisor, Yukon–Tanana Region of the Tanana Chiefs in Interior Alaska, and private practice in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Timothy Colburn (’74)

Lisa Heldke — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:10:24 +0000

Timothy Colburn (’74) reports that he was the only philosophy major in his class. He received a Ph.D. in philosophy from Brown University but was wooed by the siren song of computer science, and pursued a degree in that field at Michigan State. After spending several years at Honeywell, he took a position as professor of computer science at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he remains today.

J.R. Roever (’01)

Lisa Heldke — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:00:57 +0000

J.R. Roever graduated in 2001 and went on to receive and M.A. in philosophy and a J.D. from Marquette University. He’s now an attorney for Halloin Murdock in Milwaukee.

Gabe Ormsby (’93)

Lisa Heldke — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:19:13 +0000

Gabe Ormsby (1993) worked for many years in the nonprofit sector. His last job was “equal parts webmaster, database administrator, ‘help desk,’ and general techie at Friends of the Mississippi River in historic downtown Saint Paul.” Recently, Gabe has made the move to higher ed; he now works for the University of Minnesota as a web and database developer.

Why study philosophy? Here’s what Gabe has to say.

Jonathan Olson (’07)

Lisa Heldke — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:24:18 +0000

Jonathan Olson, who graduated in June 2007, spent the following year working in East St. Paul as a VISTA volunteer, “helping flesh out the mayor’s ’second shift’ initiative, doing after school activities for kids. In my free time after work, I’ve been exploring the city by bike, bus, and foot. It’s surprising to find a number of nice bike trails tucked away in this bustling city.”

After his year with VISTA, John has headed to China, where he is teaching English.

Don McNeil (’85)

Lisa Heldke — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:55:30 +0000

Don McNeil (’85) is a trial lawyer, working in business litigation. He reports that “I take on some cases for a cause just to keep things a little on the edge. I would imagine the latter is true for most Philosophy majors.”

Cory Mehan (’99)

Lisa Heldke — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:51:32 +0000

Cory Mehan, a 1999 graduate, reports that he spent seven years working in the public sector on housing issues, before making the move to United Health Group Information Technology, where he works as a business analyst.

Adam Tehle (’07)

Lisa Heldke — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:25:10 +0000

Adam Tehle (’07) lives in Duluth, Minnesota, where he is employed by Marshall College Preparatory School as their Director of Alumni Relations.

Christine (Eilertson) Bronson (’94)

Lisa Heldke — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:49:37 +0000

Christine (Eilertson) Bronson (’94) is the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Human Services for the State of Minnesota.

David Walker (’90)

Lisa Heldke — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:03:45 +0000

The movie Bella begins with a line, “If you want to make god laugh, tell him you plans.” This line neatly sums up Dave’s experience in the nearly 20 years since graduating from Gustavus.

Since graduating, Dave studied philosophy in a wonderful MA program in Ireland under a wise and fatherly advisor. This was followed by an equally disastrous and miserable PhD experience in Montreal under a wicked and ruthless advisor (at least this is his distinct recollection).

While vacationing in Texas, Dave stayed for fifteen years. For the last 10 years his professional life has been tied to the wireless telecommunications industry. He manages the North American technical training center for a large international telecom gear manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China.

Nathan Carroll (’95)

Lisa Heldke — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:47:36 +0000

Nathan Carroll (’95) is a professor in the Department of Communication and Theater Arts at St. Scholastica, Duluth, Minnesota.

Brooke Lundquist

Lisa Heldke — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:23:32 +0000

Philosophy graduate Brooke Lundquist found her honors philosophy paper from a 1999 Wittgenstein seminar taught by Douglas Huff cited as part of a discussion thread in Dutch! Brooke notes, “pretty much everything on the page that is in English is from my paper, and at some point, I am credited with it, as well. Unfortunately, I don’t know Dutch, so I’m not sure what the reaction is….” Alas, that discussion seems to have evaporated in the heat of a cyber day, but wait! There’s more! Brooke’s thesis now appears in a bibliography of works on LW published by someone in Helsinki! Who says truth doesn’t prevail?

Harald van Gaasbeek (’08)

Lisa Heldke — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:34:16 +0000

Harald van Gaasbeek (’08) is attending the Boston University School of Law.

Sean Kirkland (’90)

Lisa Heldke — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:39:59 +0000

Sean Kirkland (’90) is a philosophy professor at DePaul University, Chicago. He received his Ph.D. from SUNY Stony Brook. Sean came back in the spring of 2006 to deliver a paper entitled “Letting the Good Appear More Clearly: The Phenomenological Ethics of Aristotle’s Rhetoric”

Kelsey Payne (’06)

Lisa Heldke — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:39:33 +0000

Kelsey Payne (’06) teaches in Japan, where he began with the JET program, and now works for a private company in Takase.

Erin Dana (’01)

Lisa Heldke — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:30:36 +0000

Erin Dana graduated with a degree in philosophy and feminist theory in 2001. Subsequently she received an M.Ed. in Student Personnel Management. She is the Assistant Director of Academic Advising at Pacific Lutheran University. And here’s why she thinks it’s useful to study philosophy.