Faculty

Dr. James Ford
Associate Professor

Health Sciences
Room 160

918-343-7749
jford@rsu.edu
Course Web Page

Education

Ph.D., Religious Studies
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
2000

M.A., Religious Studies
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
1997

B.A., Philosophy, Religious Studies (Cum laude)
University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
1994

Additional Education

• LERN “Teaching on the Net” Workshop, Summer 2004
• Goethe Institut-Dresden (Intensive German program), Summer 1998
• London School of Economics, Fall 1992
• University of Oklahoma, Fall 1990

Professional Experience

Fall 2006-Present
Associate Professor for Humanities (Philosophy and Religion)
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK

Fall 2000-Spring 2006
Assistant Professor for Humanities (Philosophy and Religion)
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK

• Courses taught: Humanities I, Humanities II, Introduction to Philosophy, Values and Ethics, Logic,  Comparative Religion, Philosophy of Law, Senior Capstone, Humanities Seminar, Freshman Honors Seminar, Sophomore Honors Seminar, Introduction to the New Testament, Foundations of World Languages

Fall 1999
Adjunct Professor, God and Human Suffering
University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK

Administrative Experience

2005-present
Director of the Honors Program
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK

• I have served as Director since the inception of the Honors Program in Spring 2005. The
  first class of Honors students was admitted in Fall 2005.

Fellowships & Honors

• Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, 2003-2006
• Outstanding Professors’ Workshop, Educators’ Leadership Academy, 2003-2004
• Nominated for Phi Theta Kappa’s Outstanding Teacher Award, 2002-2003
• Paul Ramsey Fellowship, 1997-1999
• Princeton University Graduate Fellowship, 1995-1999
• Phi Beta Kappa, 1994
• Humanities Award in Religion, 1992-1994
• Freeland Faculty Award for Outstanding Philosophy Student, 1992

Dissertation

Nietzsche, Nihilism, and Christian Theodicy
Advisors: Jeffrey Stout, Mark Larrimore, and Leora Batnitzky

Friedrich Nietzsche argues that nihilism is the product of Christianity’s misinterpretation of suffering. This dissertation considers the importance of suffering in Nietzsche’s philosophy and reconstructs his contrast between his own, life-affirming perspective and (what he takes to be) Christianity’s nihilistic, life-negating one. But what Nietzsche considers the essential meaning of Christianity is actually only one of many perspectives on suffering within the Christian tradition, and so the dissertation concludes by analyzing several of Christianity’s other, non-nihilistic interpretations of suffering.

Papers, Presentations & Panels

Introduction to The Sun Also Rises, “Alienation in The Sun Also Rises,” “Love in…,” and “Religion in…,” in General Themes in Literature, ed. Jennifer McClinton-Temple, forthcoming in 2009.

Introduction to Madame Bovary, “Fate in Madame Bovary,” “Freedom in…,” and “Love in…,” in General Themes in Literature, ed. Jennifer McClinton-Temple, forthcoming in 2009.

“Getting Honors Advice,” Panel Presentation, National Collegiate Honors Council National Conference, 1 November 2007.

“The Joys and Challenges of Team-Teaching,” RSU Colloquium for Humanities Research, 26 October 2007.

“Nietzsche, Nihilism, and Suffering,” RSU Colloquium for Humanities Research, 4 April 2005.

“Integrating General Education into Assessment: A Task Force Approach,” NCA Higher Learning Commission, 29 March 2004. 

“Nihilism in Popular Television,” Popular Culture Association Southwest Regional Meeting, 14 February 2003.

Review of Why Religion Matters, Rogers State University Library Review Series. 2 Dec. 2002.

“The Love that Commands,” Review Article, The Journal of Religion, p. 411-417, July 2002.

“Fate and Theodicy in Leibniz and Nietzsche” American Academy of Religion Southwest Regional Meeting, 16 March 2000.

Discussion panel participant, Snuggs Lecture Series, University of Tulsa, 16 November 1999.

“Nietzsche and Theodicy” University of Tulsa, 10 November 1999.

“Nietzsche and Christianity” Graduate Ethics Conference, University of Chicago Divinity School, April 1997.

Academic Service & Activities

• Faculty Chair, Maurice Meyer Lecture, 2001- (current)
• Director of the Honors Program, 2005- (current)
• Advisor, Alpha Chi Honor Society, 2005- (current)
• Member, Capstone/BALA Committee, 2006- (current)
• Member, CFA Realignment Task Force, 2006-2007
• Faculty Chair for Philosophy, State Regents Transfer Matrix Meeting, 2006
• Member, Search Committee for Assistant Professor in Philosophy/Logic, 2006
• Assessment Coordinator and Chair of CFA Assessment Committee, 2005-2007
• Chair, Faculty Senate, 2003-2005
• Chair, Capstone/BALA Committee, 2003-2005
• Chair, Search Committee for Assistant Professor in Humanities/Art History, 2005
• Member, Search Committee for Assistant Professor in Humanities/Logic, 2005
• Representative for Philosophy, State Regents Transfer Matrix Meeting, 2004
• Chair, BALA Self-Study Committee, 2003-2004
• Member, Search Committee for CFA Department Head, 2003-2004
• Member, Legal Studies Minor Committee, 2003-2004
• Member, General Education Task Force, 2003
• Criterion Three Co-Chair, North Central Accrediting Self-Study, 2002-2004
• Advisor, Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, 2001-2003
• Vice Chair, Faculty Senate, 2001-2003
• Member, CFA Department Curriculum Committee, 2001-2003
• Member, Faculty Committee on Student Assessment, 2000-2003
• Representative for Humanities, State Regents Transfer Matrix Meeting, 2001
• Chair, Search Committee for Assistant Professor in Humanities, 2000-2001
• Member, Search Committee for Assistant Professor in Bus. Tech., 2000-2001

• Religion Department Graduate Committee member, 1997-1998
• Member, Princeton University Search Committee for Assistant Professor in Religion/ Jewish Studies (joint appointment), 1996-1997

Other Scholarly Activities

• Host, KRSC-FM’s “The Meaning of Life,” a weekly philosophical radio show, 2006- (current).
  Each week I focus on some particular philosophical theme (courage, sin, justice, death, love, etc.), discuss some of the leading philosophers or thoughts on the topic, and play popular music that relates.
• Host, KRSC-TV’s “Perspectives,” a weekly television program focusing on community issues
  and minority affairs, 2006-2007. Hosted approximately twenty 30-minute episodes.

Professional Affiliations

• American Academy of Religion
• Friedrich Nietzsche Society

Foreign Languages

• German
• Spanish
• French (reading only)