Gerald J. Erion, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Dr. Erion joined Medaille's full-time faculty in 2002. He teaches courses in Philosophy and General Education at the College, and his current research includes topics in ethics and moral philosophy, philosophy of mind, and the teaching of philosophy. He is also the immediate past Director of Medaille's undergraduate honors program, the College Scholars Program.
Education
- Ph.D., University at Buffalo, State University of New York
- B.S. magna cum laude, State University of New York College at Geneseo
Academic Interests
- Philosophy: Metaphysics (esp. Ontology and Philosophy of Mind), Epistemology, Ethics and Moral Philosophy, Applied Ethics, Logic and Critical Thinking, selected History of Philosophy, Philosophical Pedagogy.
- General Education: First-Year Experience, World Civilization, American History and Culture, Capstone Senior Seminar and Thesis Direction.
Recent Scholarship
- "Amusing Outselves to Death With Television News: Jon Stewart, Neil Postman, and the Huxleyan Warning." In J. Holt (ed.) The Daily Show and Philosophy (Malden, MA/ Oxford, UK: Blackwell), 5-15.
- "Engaging Student Relativism." Discourse: Learning and Teaching in Philosophical and Religious Studies 5(1), 120-133.
- "Descartes' Action Test." In J. Moor (ed.) The Turing Test: The Elusive Standard of Artificial Intelligence (Dordrecht/Boston: Kluwer), 241-251.
News
As a part of St. John Fisher College's United Nations World Philosophy Day activities on November 20, Dr. Erion presented his paper "McLuhan, Postman, and Media Ecology."
Dr. Erion was in New York November 14-16 to present his paper "Visual Propositions" at the Institute of General Semantics Symposium hosted by Fordham University.
During Medaille's "Election Reflections" colloquium on November 3, Dr. Erion served as a faculty panelist; WKBW-TV coverage of the event is available here.
Dr. Erion traveled to Edmonton, AB October 16-19 to present his latest work on student relativism to the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Dr. Erion delivered the Medaille College Family Weekend Community Conversation lecture, titled "City as 'Text,' City and Text," on September 26; a complete schedule of Family Weekend activities is available online here.
Dr. Erion traveled to Silicon Valley to present his "Postman, Pictures, and Propositions" at the Ninth Annual Media Ecology Association Convention, Santa Clara University, June 22, 2008. For more on the MEA Convention, see coverage by the Santa Monica-based Wide-Eyed here.
The National Teaching and Learning Forum interviewed Dr. Erion for a feature article on his student relativism research; the article is available online here.
Neal Justin of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune interviewed Dr. Erion for a story on philosophy and popular culture; the resulting article was published in newspapers worldwide and remains available online here.
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