[ Philosophy ]

Faculty

Elmhurst’s distinguished philosophy faculty members are first and foremost dedicated teachers, but their valuable scholarly experience enriches classroom discussions as well. What’s more, our program draws on the experience and knowledge of a dedicated group of well-qualified and experienced adjunct faculty.

Full-time Faculty
William Hirstein
Professor and Chair   
Ph.D., University of California, Davis
Dr. Hirstein’s research interests include autism, confabulation, consciousness, and misidentification disorders. In his work, he applies the findings emerging from today’s neurosciences, especially cognitive neuropsychology, to classical philosophical problems. Dr. Hirstein is the author of several books, including Brain Fiction: Self-Deception and the Riddle of Confabulation, published in 2005.

Russell Ford
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Ford specializes in continental philosophy, applied ethics, and aesthetics. His research is currently divided into two projects, one that focuses on the ethical consequences of modeling business as a game, and another that investigates the historical development of philosophical accounts of the imagination.  He is the author of several recent essays and articles, and has also translated Pierre Klossowski's Such a Deathly Desire, forthcoming from SUNY Press.  In addition to working at Elmhurst, Dr. Ford is also the Vice-President of Ford Personnel, Inc., a Denver-based legal staffing agency.

Katrina Sifferd
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. King’s College, London
Dr. Sifferd’s areas of speciality include philosophy of law, philosophy of mind, and ethics. She is the author of various articles and book chapters on the use of commonsense psychology in legal contexts, on issues surrounding charging adolescents as adults for serious crimes, and on ethical issues raised by nanotechnology research. She also holds a J.D. from the DePaul University College of Law. Prior to coming to Elmhurst College, Dr. Sifferd held the Rockefeller Fellowship in Law and Public Policy and a Visiting Professorship in philosophy at Dartmouth College. Prior to earning her Ph.D., she worked as a senior research analyst on projects for the National Institute of Justice.

Adjunct Faculty
John Barasinski
Jon Benson
Melinda Campbell
Samuel Galloway
Douglas Giles
Mandy Lobraico
William Nelson
John Reis
Anjli Sandhir
Vincent Thomas