Interview with Cabrini Pak, Summer Session Participant

This post is part of a series of interviews with our incoming class for the “Virtue, Happiness, & Self-Transcendence” 2017 Summer Seminar. Cabrini Pak is
a Teaching Fellow with the School of Business and Economics and a PhD candidate in Religion and Culture at the Catholic University of America. Valerie Wallace is Associate Director, Communications, for Virtue, Happiness, & the Meaning of Life.

Valerie Wallace: Where are you from?

Cabrini Pak: I grew up all over the United States, having lived on the East and West Coasts, north and south.

VW: Tell me about your research.

CP: I am currently working on: integration of personal identity and ethical frameworks in context shifts, particularly for military service members; the role of transcendence in resilient American POWs; moral conflict, ambiguity, and injury; suicide; spiritual resilience; transcendence as experiential process rather than as “event” or “state of being.”

The “Why”: The human person in the 21st century world is often reduced to individualistic jumbles of needs and wants (material and immaterial), which the global marketplace then feeds from & caters to. This creates a rather pernicious feedback loop that ultimately results in the objectification of the human experience and human beings, individually and in groups. Exacerbating this problem is the disturbing rise of human trafficking (especially women and children) to fortify industrial supply chains that really just feed the vices.

I hope that my research can help recover a more holistic understanding of human flourishing, individually and in groups. Deeper conversations about human dignity, solidarity, subsidiarity, and a “common good” need to return to the public square. Time-space horizons can be stretched to include a telos that informs the activities we engage now and anticipate in the future. It goes back (for me) to integrating personal identity (which is social in nature) with ethical frameworks (which are cultural products).

VW: What are you most looking forward to about this summer’s seminar?

CP: I am really looking forward to just meeting people from different fields and hearing their stories, their thoughts on these topics. Very much looking forward to hearing what our speakers have to share, especially regarding what progress or shifts they have seen as the project itself unfolded.

VW: What are your non-academic interests?

CP: Seirenkai Karate (2nd Dan), photography, exploring the outdoors, and delving into the lives of the saints.

Interview with David McPherson, Summer Session Participant

McPherson - Philosophizing with Charles Taylor in Background.jpg

This post is part of a series of interviews with our incoming class for the “Virtue, Happiness, & Self-Transcendence” 2017 Summer Seminar. David McPherson is
Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Creighton University. Valerie Wallace is Associate Director, Communications, for Virtue, Happiness, & the Meaning of Life.

Valerie Wallace: Where are you from?

David McPherson: I am originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, but my family and I now live in Omaha, Nebraska, where I teach at Creighton University. I am a Midwesterner through and through.

VW: Tell me about your research.

DM: My research is primarily in contemporary virtue ethics and philosophy of religion. I am especially interested in the ways that these two fields intersect (or should intersect) around issues of spirituality and meaning in life. Although these issues are obviously of great importance in human life, they have tended to be neglected in contemporary virtue ethics. One reason for this neglect, I think, is the stress on an analogy between human flourishing and the flourishing of other living things, which encourages what John McDowell calls a “sideways-on” view of human life, that is, a disengaged, observer standpoint rather than an engaged, participative standpoint.

In order to better appreciate the significance of linking virtue ethics with spirituality and self-transcending sources of meaning, I think we need a deeper exploration of the “space of meaning” that arises for us from within our distinctively human form of life as meaning-seeking animals engaged in purposive activities. As part of this project, I have recently edited a book for Cambridge University Press titled Spirituality and the Good Life: Philosophical Approaches, which will come out later this year (http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/religion/philosophy-religion/spirituality-and-good-life-philosophical-approaches?format=HB#q8bAlsC6SIGY3BZq.97).

I am also currently working on a monograph in which I situate contemporary neo-Aristotelian ethics within the context of the modern problem of disenchantment, that is, the perceived loss or threat of a loss of meaning or value, which is often connected to various forms of scientism in modern intellectual life. I contend that all neo-Aristotelians seek varying degrees of re-enchantment, but I seek to articulate and defend an even fuller kind of re-enchantment than is found in any of the major views on offer.

VW: What are your non-academic interests?

DM: I love playing with my two young children (though I’d call being a parent a “vocation” rather than an “interest”!), and my wife and I enjoy playing Irish, Scottish, English, and American folk music together (I play guitar and she plays fiddle and guitar).

VW: What are you most looking forward to about this summer’s seminar?

DM: I am most looking forward to engaging with and learning from the other seminar participants with regard to the central themes of the seminar, which are so closely connected to my own research interests. As an Aristotelian, I am also just interested in getting to know and forming friendships with others who are engaged in the contemplative life and have shared research interests.

Interview with Sanaz Talaifar, Summer Session Participant

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This post is part of a series of interviews with our participants for the “Virtue, Happiness, & Self-Transcendence” 2017 Summer Seminar. Sanaz Talaifar is earning her PhD in Social-Personality Psychology at the University of Texas, Austin. Valerie Wallace is Associate Director, Communications, for Virtue, Happiness, & the Meaning of Life.

Valerie Wallace: Where are you from?

Sanaz Talaifar: I grew up in North Texas, and I live in Austin now.

VW: Tell me about your research.

ST: I study the self and identity. I am interested in how our personal and social identities inform our moral values and well-being. More specifically, how does the strength of attachment to a group, rather than the content of the group’s values, influence our personal moral values? And how does making a group identity a core part of one’s personal identity influence well-being?

VW: What are you most looking forward to about this summer’s seminar?

ST: I’m really excited to meet researchers in disciplines other than my own. I am in the Social-Personality Psychology area at UT Austin, and I often think about how the research questions that psychologists pose (e.g. What does it mean to lead a happy or meaningful life?) are similar to the questions that religious scholars and philosophers have also posed for centuries. I’m looking forward to learning how other branches of knowledge have tried to answer these very human questions.

VW: What are your non-academic interests?

ST: I love reading (mostly fiction), listening to podcasts, taking walks, and traveling.

Interview with Sarah Ann Bixler, Summer Session Participant

This post is part of a series of interviews with our participants for the “Virtue, Happiness, & Self-Transcendence” 2017 Summer Seminar. Sarah Ann Bixler is earning her PhD in practical theology and Christian education at Princeton Theological Seminary. Valerie Wallace is Associate Director, Communications, for Virtue, Happiness, & the Meaning of Life.

Valerie Wallace: Where are you from?

Sarah Ann Bixler: Raised in southeastern Pennsylvania, I spent my adult life in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia (Harrisonburg) until moving to Princeton, NJ in 2013 to attend graduate school.

VW: Tell me about your research.

SAB: Research areas: a) Young people’s experiences in congregations. Having worked for 8 years of my career as a youth minister, I became interested in the diverse faith experiences of young people and how they find meaning through connecting to God within communities of faith. My research seeks to interpret the ways young people “attach” to God, congregations and individuals within the faith community through the lens of the psychological theory of attachment. I believe that understanding attachment to the church from the Aristotelian perspective of a constitutive good provides a theologically robust conception of ecclesiology.

b) Leadership of new church plants and revitalization efforts. As a founding member of a 2010 church plant, I am curious about how the church adapts and thrives in changing cultural contexts yet remains faithful to the gospel it holds dear. The formation of leaders who initiate new congregations, and leaders who guide congregations in decline through deep change and revitalization, is particularly important to me as someone with a professional background in church leadership. I currently have the opportunity to engage this research interest as the assistant to the pioneer missional theologian Dr. Darrell Guder, who directs Princeton Seminary’s new Center for Church Planting and Revitalization.

VW: What are your non-academic interests?

SAB: Outside of my scholarship, I find meaning in spending time with my biological and church family and in the outdoors. My spouse, Benjamin, and I have three children ages 10, 6 and 4. Together we enjoy camping, hiking and bicycling. I am also a jogger. We enjoy gardening and preserving our own produce through canning and freezing. I am also a committed member of a diverse urban church in Philadelphia, Oxford Circle Mennonite Church.

VW: What are you most looking forward to about this summer’s seminar?

SAB: I most look forward to developing my research ideas amid colleagues who will push me to think about topics from new angles, because they have studied particular themes that overlap with those I am exploring. I expect Fr. Brock’s session on friendship, Dr. Frey’s session on self-love and self-transcendence and Dr. McAdam’s work from a psychological perspective hold the most promise for my work. I am interested in working through the nuances of my research interests more through these sessions.

Interview with Andrea Yetzer, Summer Session Participant

This post is part of a series of interviews with our participants for the “Virtue, Happiness, & Self-Transcendence” 2017 Summer Seminar. Andrea Yetzer is earning her PhD in Psychology at Northwestern University. Valerie Wallace is Associate Director, Communications, for Virtue, Happiness, & the Meaning of Life.

Valerie Wallace: Where are you from?

Andrea Yetzer: I’m originally from Chicago, but currently live in Colorado Springs, CO for my Master’s program. I’ll actually be moving back to Chicago this fall to start my PhD program at Northwestern.

VW: Tell me about your research.

AY: My research framework stems from working in a terror management theory lab where I have focused on the relationship between morality and psychological equanimity. Prior to beginning my Master’s program, I worked with veterans in mental health at the Jesse Brown VA in Chicago. It is there that I came across research on the construct of moral injury—a trauma dimension that occurs from perpetrating, experiencing, or witnessing acts or events that violate deeply held moral values and beliefs; this experience is what drove my passion to research the role of morality in psychological functioning.

Currently, my research focuses on the self-regulatory processes of moral behavior and emotions, and how perseveration on failures to achieve moral behavioral standards may lead to moral injury. In doing this research, I have become fascinated with the almost ubiquitous role of morality–from religious and secular laws, to self-regulation, and to politics and intergroup relations. As I transition into my PhD program, my research will now focus on the more positive aspects of morality and how such worldviews can stimulate other-oriented moral emotions and motivate prosocial action.

VW: What are your non-academic interests?

AY: I’m really into a wide variety of music (Chicago house music, soul, Motown, hip-hop, etc.) and I used to frequent the Lyric Opera. I also love podcasts, going to baseball games (White Sox fan here), and you can be sure that my answer is always a ‘yes’ for karaoke. Before I entered grad school and fell out of “fighting shape,” I was pretty involved in obstacle course racing (e.g., Spartan Race, Tough Mudder) and team endurance events (GORUCK).

VW: What are you most looking forward to about this summer’s seminar?

AY: What I am most looking forward to about this seminar is gaining knowledge from the moral philosophical framework of virtue and happiness, and how this may inform and/or strengthen my research. To be honest, I think all the seminars are going to be incredibly insightful and engaging, and I’m looking forward to meeting other scholars working in this area, and creating strong research networks!

Interview with Elise Murray, Summer Session Participant

This post is part of a series of interviews with our participants for the “Virtue, Happiness, & Self-Transcendence” 2017 Summer Seminar. Elise Murray is earning her PhD in Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University. Valerie Wallace is Associate Director, Communications, for Virtue, Happiness, & the Meaning of Life.

Valerie Wallace: Where are you from?

Elise Murray: I hail from Lancaster, Pennsylvania originally–Amish Country, born and raised. I am more recently coming from Boston, where I am in the PhD program for Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University.

VW: Tell me about your research.

EM: My research areas fall under the general umbrella of character virtue development, by taking a holistic approach to understand the bidirectional relationship between an individual and his or her context as it pertains to how virtues develop across time and place, within and between various individuals. My work has focused more specifically on theoretically and empirically investigating intellectual virtues, in particular, intellectual humility, its psychometric properties, and its intersections with other various character virtues.

Long-term, as a doctoral research assistant, I am working with a larger group of senior researchers and professors, investigating the developmental trajectory of character at the United States Military Academy as part of a longitudinal, collaborative project between Tufts University and the United States Military Academy, Project Arete, funded by the Templeton Religion Trust. This work is both important and engaging for me because character virtues are vital for developing personal strengths and encouraging positive engagement with others and our communities, skills that we must continue to cultivate and facilitate in college. Intellectual Humility, in particular, is important for positive, civil discourse, as well as intellectual growth, which are, again, valued skills in the college context. As such, I am passionate about finding ways to best serve college students by way of promoting character virtues in the collegiate environment.

VW: What are your non-academic interests?

EM: I am a huge sports fan, and love any Notre Dame sporting event, as that is my alma mater (Go Irish!). I am a big fan of the beach (and the occasional long walk on one), hiking, running, comedy (Mike Birbiglia or Jim Gaffigan, don’t make me choose), and performing and listening to music. I like to keep my hand in a little bit of everything!

VW: What are you most looking forward to about this summer’s seminar?

EM: Attending the seminar will allow me to engage in an intensive, interdisciplinary environment to augment my current research on virtues as a whole. This provides an opportunity to supplement my conceptualization of virtues with resources from domains outside of psychology, and improve the dialogue between science and the humanities around the topic of virtues. I also hope the seminar experience will forge interdisciplinary collaborations that may result in future research and publications pertinent to the study of virtues, and potentially, more specifically, intellectual virtues and intellectual humility.

Reading List for “Virtue, Happiness, & Self-Transcendence” – 2017 Summer Session

We’ve had some requests for the reading list from our 2017 Summer Session, “Virtue, Happiness, and Self-Transcendence”. Here it is, organized by faculty member.

Summer Session Reading List

Talbot Brewer:

Lear, Jonathan – Radical Hope, pp. 1-41

Burnyeat, Myles – Aristotle on Learning to be Good

Stephen Brock:

Aquinas – Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics, books VIII & IX

Aquinas – Summa Contra Gentiles: chapters 111-112 and question 60 and 90-96

Aristotle – Nicomachean Ethics, books VIII & IX

Brock, Stephen – Natural Inclinations of Man

Gallagher, David – Thomas Aquinas on Self-Love as the Basis for Love of Others

Gallagher, David – Desire for Beatitude and Love of Friendship in Thomas Aquinas

Pakaluk, Michael– Identification and Identity in Aristotelian Philia

Jennifer Frey:

Foot, Philippa – Natural Goodness, chapter six “Happiness and Human Good”

Aquinas – Summa Theologiae, I-II QQ1-6

Candace Vogler:

Kant – Anthropology From a Pragmatic Point of View

Kant – Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

Engstrom, Stephen – The Concept of the Highest Good in Kant’s Moral Theory

Dan McAdams:

McAdams, D. P – Psychological science and the Nicomachean Ethics: Virtuous actors, agents, and authors

McAdams, D. P – The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by.

McAdams, D. P., & Guo, J. Narrating the generative life.

Walker, L., & Frimer, J. – Moral personality of brave and caring exemplars

The Virtue Blog

Blogging about the good life. Host of podcast, Sacred and Profane Love.

Category: Summer Seminar 2017

Interview with Cabrini Pak, Summer Session Participant

Interview with David McPherson, Summer Session Participant

Interview with Sanaz Talaifar, Summer Session Participant

Interview with Sarah Ann Bixler, Summer Session Participant

Interview with Andrea Yetzer, Summer Session Participant

Interview with Elise Murray, Summer Session Participant

Reading List for “Virtue, Happiness, & Self-Transcendence” – 2017 Summer Session