Kimberly A. Blessing
Chair and Associate Professor
(716) 878-5136
Campus Address: Bishop Hall 234
blessika@buffalostate.edu
Dr. Blessing's Curriculum Vitae
Bio: Dr. Blessing joined the faculty at Buffalo State College in Fall 2004 after teaching at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, PA from 2003-2004, Siena Heights University in Adrian, MI from 1997-2003, and Canisius College in Buffalo, NY from 1996-1997. Her research interests focus attention on questions and issues related to the meaning of life, as well as early modern philosophy, focusing attention on Descartes and his views on ethics. She is also interested in the area of philosophy and popular culture.
Dr. Blessing teaches classes in early modern philosophy, philosophy of religion, the meaning of life, and existentialism; and her introductory courses in philosophy use popular culture to help students to read and understand primary philosophical texts. She is an Honorary Member of the French National Honor’s Society, and is on the board of the Alliance Française de Buffalo. She has been chair of the Department of Philosophy and Humanities since Fall 2008, and she directs advising for majors and minors in philosophy.
Education:
Ph.D. (Philosophy): State University of New York at Buffalo, 1996.
Dissertation: "The Missing Cartesian Ethic: An Examination of Descartes’ Provisional Morality."
Awarded William T. Perry Prize for Outstanding Ph.D. Scholarship in Philosophy.
M.A. (Philosophy): State University of New York at Buffalo, 1992.
B.A. Cum Laude (Philosophy and Religious Studies and Modern Languages): Buffalo State College, 1990.
Diplôme: Certificat Pratique de Langue Français: Université de Nancy II: Faculté Des Lettres, 1988.
Areas of Interest:
Early Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy and Popular Culture
Publications:
Books:
Movies And The Meaning of Life: Philosophers Take on Hollywood, co-edited with Paul J. Tudico (Open Court, 2005).
Articles and Chapters in Books:
''Atheism and Meaningfulness in Life,'' Oxford Handbook of Atheism, Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
''More Bullshit: Political Spin and the PR-ization of Media,'' with Joseph Marren, in The Ultimate Daily Show and Philosophy edited by Jason Holt (Blackwell Philosophy and Popular Culture Series, forthcoming).
''Mal-Placed Regret'' in Inception and Philosophy, edited by David Johnson (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).
"One Monk’s Message: Establishing An Enlightened Ethic for the Media," co-authored with Joe Marren, Media Ethics, Vol. 21, No. 9, Spring 2010.
"Bullshit and Political Spin: Is The Medium The Massage?," with Joseph Marren, in The Daily Show and Philosophy, edited by Jason Holt (Blackwell Philosophy and Popular Culture Series, 2007).
"The Beer-Truck Hypothesis and Groundhog Day: What Time Can Tell Us about The Meaning of Life." Dialogue: A Journal of Religion and Philosophy, November 2007.
"Fade to Black: Absurdity, Suicide, and the Downward Spiral" co-authored with Justin Donhauser, in Metallica and Philosophy, edited by William T. Irwin (Open Court, 2007).
"The Cartesian Meditator and his Moral Muse: Ethics of the Discourse on Method and Correspondence with Elizabeth," The Modern Schoolman, November 2005.
"Deceit and Doubt: The Search For Truth in The Truman Show and Descartes’ Meditations," in Movies And The Meaning of Life: Philosophers Take on Hollywood (Open Court, 2005).
Book Reviews:
A review of Christopher Grau’s, ed., Philosophers Explore the Matrix (Oxford University Press, 2005), in Journal of Value Inquiry (2007) 41: 403-407.
A review of Vance Morgan’s Foundations of Cartesian Ethics (Humanities Press, 1994), in Canadian Philosophical Review, May 1995.
Work in Progress:
"What’s Done, Is Done: Descartes on Resoluteness and Regret"
Review, Susan Wolf’s Meaning in Life and Why It Matters (Princeton University Press, 2010)
Conference Presentations:
Commentator, "Descartes and the Danger of Irresolution" by Shoshana Brassfield. Upstate New York Workshop in Early Modern Philosophy (UNYWEMP): Descartes Day a.k.a. ‘A Cartesian Colloquium,’ Syracuse University. March 2010.
"Acting With Cartesian Resolve." Creighton Club New York State Philosophical Association. Hobart and William Smith Colleges (October 2008).
"One Monk’s Message: Establishing An Enlightened Ethic for the Media," co-authored with Joe Marren. Colloquia fellow for Colloquia 2000 series in Applied Media Ethics. University of Hawaii at Manoa (October 2007).
"Resoluteness and Reasonable Regret in Descartes’ Thinking about Morality." Eastern Division American Philosophical Association (December 2006).
"Beer-Truck Hypothesis and Groundhog Day: What Time Can Tell Us about The Meaning of Life." Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association National Conference (April 2006).
"Understanding Cartesian Moral Theory." Midwest Seminar on Early Modern Philosophy. University of Chicago (April 2001).
"Maxims of Morality, Not Methodology." NEH Summer Seminar: "Descartes and His Contemporaries: Scholastics and Novatores." Virginia Tech (Summer 2000).