Spring 2022 Graduate Student News & Accomplishments

Michael Starling is a recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award for 2022. He will be developing and teaching an Introduction to Philosophy course at Whitworth Women’s Facility (a long-term incarceration facility in North Georgia) as part of Bard College’s Clemente Courses in the Humanities partnership with Common Good Atlanta. This partnership provides courses for college credit to underserved and non-traditional students, specifically offering courses for college credit to incarcerated students in the Metro Atlanta area.

Michael Aaron Lindquist’s PHIL 3900S: Philosophy for Children course is partnering with the Athens-Clarke County Regional Library to offer a philosophy for teens program called “Let’s Talk About That!”  In December 2021, Lindquist presented “Wilderness Values in Outer Space” as a part of UGA’s Workshop on Philosophies of Nature, Technology and Artificial Intelligence, organized by associate professor Piers Stephens. Lindquist presents this paper at the 4th Biannual Meeting of The Society for Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology (SSoCIA) March 7-9 at the University of Mississippi. Michael Lindquist has accepted a tenure-track position at the rank of assistant professor at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. Northland College is a liberal arts college with a focus on the environment and sustainability and one of six colleges in the EcoLeague, a consortium of colleges focused on ecological education.

Gehad Mohamed Abdelal presented “Islamization of Facebook: Exclusive Freedom at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics in Cincinnati in February. Abedelal has also been awarded a 2022 Excellence in Research Award from the UGA Graduate School.

Alex Asay and Samuel Bennet were both awarded Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards for the 2021-'22 academic year. 

Josué Piñeiro presented “On the Importance of Hearing and Being Heard without Prejudice: Reflections on Freedom of Thought and Discussion” in January 2022 at the American Philosophical Association Eastern Division 2022 Affiliated Program: North American Society for Social Philosophy.     

Laura Matthews successfully defended her PhD dissertation in November 2021: "Mental Illness as Inadaptivity: An Enactive Approach."