Meet the Faculty
Department faculty cover a wide range of fields in philosophy, including the history of philosophy (ancient, modern, and Twentieth Century Continental), Eastern philosophy and religion, ethics (including biomedical, environmental, education, and business ethics), philosophy of law, social and political philosophy (including Marxism and feminist philosophy), logic, aesthetics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science (natural and social), philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of religion. Faculty members have authored many journal articles and books, including one which received a “best first book” award. Research and teaching interests of most faculty are interdisciplinary, drawing upon anthropology, economics, literary studies, law, sociology, linguistics, and other fields. Two professors have received the prestigious Distinguished Maine Professor award, most recently in 2000, one received the Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award, and others have been awarded for their teaching excellence. Faculty in philosophy are also very active in service to the university community and the wider public, as sponsors of student organizations, bringing nationally known speakers to campus, as faculty representatives to the Board of Trustees, on the Maine Humanities Council, participating in grand rounds at Eastern Maine Medical Center, on state-wide bioethics commissions, on committees of the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine, and in many other roles.
Douglas Allen, Professor of Philosophy
More info about Professor Allen
Visit Professor Allen’s Website
douglas.allen@umit.maine.edu
B.A Yale University
M.A. Vanderbilt University
Ph.D Vanderbilt University
Professor Allen had Smithsonian and Fulbright grants in India, and teaches courses in Marxism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. His courses deal with sexism, racism, and peace and justice issues. He has authored four books in the phenomenology of religion and others on the Indochina/Vietnam War and on religious-political conflict.
Michael Howard, Professor of Philosophy
Professor Howard’s Homepage
michael.howard@umit.maine.edu
B.A University of Chicago
M.A. Boston University
Ph.D. Boston University
Professor Howard specializes in social and political philosophy and teaches courses on justice, political and economic democracy, the history of philosophy (ancient and modern) and formal logic. He has published numerous articles in social and political philosophy, a book, Self-Management and the Crisis of Socialism, an anthology of readings, Socialism, and two co-edited books on Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend.
Kirsten Jacobson, Associate Professor of Philosophy
More info on Professor Jacobson
kirsten.jacobson@umit.maine.edu
B.A., St. John’s College (Santa Fe, NM).
Ph.D., Penn State University.
Professor Jacobson specializes in 19th and 20th Century Continental Philosophy. Her research interests include the study of spatiality and the interpersonal significance of space, the nature of home and dwelling, and, more generally, the philosophical significance and status of the phenomenological method. She teaches courses in Continental Philosophy and the Philosophy of Art.
Roger King, Chairperson and Associate Professor of Philosophy
More info about Professor King
roger.king@umit.maine.edu
B.A. University of Kansas
B.A. Oxford University
M.A. Oxford University
Ph.D. Boston University
Professor King has a wide range of interests in ethics, political philosophy and history of philosophy. He has published articles on environmental ethics and moral theory.
Jessica P. Miller, Associate Professor of Philosophy
More info about Professor Miller
jessica.miller@umit.maine.edu
B.A. Boston College
M.A. University of Connecticut
Ph.D. University of Connecticut
Professor Miller specializes in ethics, bioethics, and feminist theory. She has published several articles on the theory of trust and distrust as it pertains to her main research fields. She is also an active health care ethics consultant and educator in the community at large.
Jefferson (Jeff) White, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy
jeff.white@umit.maine.edu
B.A. Baylor University
M.A. Yale University
Ph.D. Yale University
Professor White’s primary interests are in theories of knowledge and the philosophy of language. He has long studied and taught the philosophy of art and has recently done work in the philosophy of law, including co-authoring a text. Professor White retired in Spring 2010.
James Page, Adjunct Associate Professor
B.A. University of Maine at Fort Kent
M. Phil. St. Andrews University, Scotland
Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Professor Page teaches courses in formal and informal logic, philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of language. He has research interests additionally in philosophy of mathematics, metaphysics, history of early analytic philosophy, and Wittgenstein. Professor Page became Chancellor of the University of Maine System in Spring 2012, and consequently will not be teaching courses.