Curriculum Vitae

Matthew C. Halteman
matthewhalteman@gmail.com

Positions
Professor, Calvin University (September 2018—present)
Fellow, Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics (June 2008—present)
Associate Professor with tenure, Calvin College (September 2011—August 2018)
Assistant Professor, Calvin College (January 2004—August 2011)
Instructor, Calvin College (September 2003—December 2003)

Board and Advisory Work

Board Officer, Better Food Foundation, Washington, DC (December 2023 to present)
Board of Directors, Justice for Animals Fund, Shaker Heights, OH (Winter 2021 to Fall 2023)
Board of Advisors, Protocol Skincare Labs, Los Angeles, CA (Fall 2020 to present)
Board of Directors, CreatureKind, Eugene, OR (Fall 2019 to present)
U.S. Observer, Christian Ethics of Farm Animal Welfare Research Grant from the UK Arts and
Humanities Research Council (£450,000), David Clough, PI (Spring 2018-present)
Board of Advisors, National Interfaith Animal Welfare Initiative in partnership with
The Shamayim V’Aretz Institute, Phoenix, Arizona (2016 to present)
Board of Advisors, Sarx, London, UK (2016 to present)

Representation
Giles Anderson, Anderson Literary Agency, New York, New York

Education
Ph.D., University of Notre Dame (Philosophy), January 2004
B.A. summa cum laude, Wheaton College (Philosophy, Literature), May 1995

Areas of Specialization
Animal Ethics, Food Ethics, 20th Century European Philosophy, Philosophy as a Way of Life

Books
Trade Monograph
Hungry Beautiful Animals: The Joyful Case for Going Vegan, New York: Basic Books,
forthcoming in November 2024.

Edited Volume
Philosophy Comes to Dinner: Arguments about the Ethics of Eating (co-edited with Andrew
Chignell and Terence Cuneo), New York: Routledge, 2016.

Booklet
Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation, Washington, D.C., The Humane Society of the
United States, 2008; Second Print Edition, 2010.

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Articles, Book Chapters, and Online Writing
“The Roadhouse and Mindful Alienation: On Fearlessly Losing Hope in Twin Peaks’ House
Away from Home,” Supernatural Studies: Twin Peaks Special Edition, guest-edited by Marisa
C. Hayes and Frank Boulègue, forthcoming in 2024.

“Diversifying Effective Altruism’s Longshots in Animal Advocacy: An Invitation to Prioritize

Black Vegans, Higher Education, and Religious Communities,” in The Good It Promises, The
Harm it Does: Critical Essays on Effective Altruism, Carol J. Adams, Alice Crary, and Lori
Gruen, eds., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023, 76-93.

“Imagining Creation as a Christian Vegan,” Sarx: For All God’s Creatures (animal advocacy
charity in London, UK), May 2021, online at https://sarx.org.uk/articles/christianity-and-
animals/imagining-creation-as-a-christian-vegan-matthew-c-halteman/

“Beyond Stewardship: Reimagining Our Kinship with Animals” (with Megan Halteman Zwart),
in Beyond Stewardship: New Approaches to Creation Care, David Paul Warners and Matthew
Kuperus Heun, eds., Grand Rapids, MI: Calvin College Press, 2019, 121-134.

“Against Inefficacy Objections: The Real Economic Impact of Individual Consumer Choice on
Animal Agriculture” (with Steven McMullen), Food Ethics, Vol. 2, Issue 2-3, 2019, 93-110.

“Meat and Evil,” in Evil: A History of the Concept, Andrew Chignell, ed., Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2019.

“We Are All Noah: Tom Regan’s Olive Branch to Religious Animal Ethics,” Between the
Species, Vol. 21 (1), Tom Regan: In Memoriam, 2018, 151-177.

“Eating Toward Shalom: Why Food Ethics Matters for the 21st-Century Church,” The Banner,
March 2018 (online February 2018). https://www.thebanner.org/features/2018/02/eating-toward-
shalom-why-food-ethics-matters-for-the-21st-century-church

“Varieties of Harm to Animals in Industrial Farming,” in Animal Ethics for Veterinarians,

Andrew Linzey and Clair Linzey, eds., Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2017. (Originally
published in The Journal of Animal Ethics, 2011.)

“Food and Religion” (with Tyler Doggett), in Food, Ethics, and Society: An Introductory Text
with Readings, Anne Barnhill, Mark Budolfson, and Tyler Doggett, eds., Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2016.

“Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation,” in Food, Ethics, and Society: An Introductory Text
with Readings, Anne Barnhill, Mark Budolfson, and Tyler Doggett, eds., Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2016.

“Introduction to Philosophy Comes to Dinner: Arguments about the Ethics of Eating” (with
Terence Cuneo and Andrew Chignell), New York: Routledge, 2016.

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“Philosophy as Therapy for Recovering (Unrestrained) Omnivores” (with Megan Halteman
Zwart), in Philosophy Comes to Dinner: Arguments over the Ethics of Eating, New York:
Routledge, 2016.

“Ontotheology,” Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015.

“Knowing the Standard American Diet By Its Fruits: Is Unrestrained Omnivorism Spiritually
Beneficial?,” Interpretation 67 (4), 383-395, October 2013.

“Religion and the Sublime” (with Andrew Chignell) in The Sublime: From Antiquity to the
Present, ed. Timothy M. Costelloe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

“Varieties of Harm to Animals in Industrial Farming,” The Journal of Animal Ethics, 1 (2): 122-
131, Fall 2011. (Anthologized in Animal Ethics for Veterinarians, 2017.)

“Food for Thought: Practical Advice for Peaceful Eating,” Washington, D.C., The Humane
Society of the United States, 2009.

“Reading the Fine Print: Ontological Transcendence and Tremors of the Turn in the 1929
Footnotes to “On the Essence of Ground,” in Heidegger Circle Proceedings, Volume 40: 160-
172, 2006.

“On the Problematic Origin of the Forms: Plotinus, Derrida, and the Neoplatonic Subtext of
Deconstruction’s Critique of Ontology,” Continental Philosophy Review, November 2006.

“Towards a “Continental” Philosophy of Religion: Derrida, Responsibility, and “Non-Dogmatic”

Faith,” in Rethinking Philosophy of Religion: Approaches from Continental Philosophy, ed.
Philip Goodchild, New York, Fordham University Press, 2002.

Reviews
Review of David McPherson’s Spirituality and the Good Life: Philosophical Approaches, Notre
Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2018.10.26, https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/spirituality-and-the-good-
life-philosophical-approaches.

Review of Judith Wolfe’s Heidegger and Theology, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews,
2015.11.02, https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/62097-heidegger-and-theology.

Review of Paul Waldau and Kimberly Patton’s A Communion of Subjects: Animals in Religion,
Science and Ethics, The Christian Century, April 6, 2010.

“Anticipating Arrival: Notes on Garcia and Wolpa’s Death Will Come,” in Exquisite History
Volume Two, Charlottesville: University of Virginia (The Printmakers Left), 2009.

Review of James Bernauer and Jeremy Carrette’s Michel Foucault and Theology: The Politics of
Religious Experience, Scottish Journal of Theology, Volume 61, Issue 3, 2008.

Review of Mark Dooley and Liam Kavanagh’s The Philosophy of Derrida, Notre Dame
Philosophical Reviews, 2008.04.07, http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=12843.

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Review of Paul Edwards’ Heidegger’s Confusions, Philosophical Review, April 2007.

“Agent Provocateur: Richard Rorty’s Truth and Progress” (co-authored with Andrew Chignell),
in Books and Culture, July/August 2000.

Dissertation
The Problem of Transcendence in Heidegger and Derrida
Advisor: Stephen H. Watson
Committee: Karl Ameriks, Gary Gutting, Gretchen Reydams-Schils

Lectures, Presentations, and Workshops

Better Food Foundation, Washington DC (November 2024)
Author Conversation: “Diversifying Effective Altruism’s Longshots in Animal
Advocacy: An Invitation to Prioritize Black Vegans, Higher Education, and Religious
Communities” (via Zoom)

Earth-Honoring Faith Lecture, St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, Chatham, MA (March 2023)
“Eating as an Act of Justice: From Religious Food Ethics to Climate Action”

Jackson Family Center for Ethics and Values, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC
(October 2022)
“The Vegan Imagination: Why Vegans Aren’t as Bad as You Thought”

Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA (September 2022)

“Animals and the Kingdom of God: Why Food Ethics Matters for Christians” (via Zoom)

University of California Irvine Religious Studies and Producing Alternate Futures Series
co-sponsored by Calvin University Animals the Kingdom of God Lecture Series and University
of San Diego Food Studies Initiative (May 2022)
Session panelist, Carol J. Adams, “Feminism, Religion, Animals: The Interweaving of
Life and Theory”

Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church LIFT Series, Grand Rapids, MI (April 2022)
A Conversation on “Beyond Stewardship: Reimagining our Kinship with Animals”

Social Justice and the Common Good Seminar, Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN (April
2022)
“Animals and Food Justice” (via Zoom)

Saint Mary’s College Center for Spirituality, Notre Dame, IN (November 2021)
“Eating as an Act of Justice: From Religious Food Ethics to Climate Action”

“It is In Our House Now:” The First Twin Peaks Online International Conference, Zoom and
YouTube (Sponsored by Lynchland and Unwrapping the Plastic) (June 2021)
“The Roadhouse and Mindful Alienation: On Fearlessly Losing Hope in Twin Peaks’
House Away from Home” (via Zoom)

Protocol Skincare Labs Leadership Summit, Yucca Valley, CA (May 2021)

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 Keynote Presentation: “The PROTOCOL for Conscious Leadership: Science-backed,
Evidence-based, and Radically Effective…Self-Help?!” (via Zoom)

Philosophy Department Speaker Series, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL (April 2021)

“Eating as an Act of Justice: From Religious Food Ethics to Climate Action” (Earth Day)

Philosophy, Religion, and Animals Workshop Inaugural Meeting, Princeton University, NJ

(April 2021)

Religion, Ethics, and Animals (A. Chignell, S. Marmon), Princeton University, NJ (March 2021)
“Beyond Stewardship to Shalom: From Compassionate Eating to All-Species Kinship”

Food and Philosophy Seminar (J. Gordon), Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL (March 2021)
“Animal Ethics: Welfare or Abolition? (via Zoom)

Culture Club, The Good Food Institute, Washington DC (February 2021)

“Philosophy Break: The Vegan Imagination with Matthew C. Halteman” (via Zoom)

Ethics, Justice, and Social Justice (N. Nobis), Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA (January 2021)
“Eating as an Act of Justice: A Conversation on Religious Food Ethics, Climate Action,
and Black Veganism” (via Zoom)

Development Brunch and Learn, The Good Food Institute, Washington DC (January 2021)
“The Vegan Imagination: On Aspiring to Live Toward a Good, True, and Beautiful
Vegan World” (via Zoom)

Ethics of Eating Seminar (A. Chignell), Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (October 2020)
“Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation: Conversation with the Author” (via Zoom)

Davidson College, Davidson, NC (February 2020)

2020 Staley Distinguished Christian Lecture: “Eating as an Act of Justice: From
Religious Food Ethics to Climate Action”

Goshen College, Goshen, IN (October 2019)

1. “If Animals Matter, What Should We Do?: CAFOs, Cultivated Meat, or Veganism?”
2. “The Vegan Imagination and Religious Ethics”

Orientation Rev 21.5 Session, Calvin University, Grand Rapids, MI (August 2019)
“Eating Toward Shalom: Why Food Ethics Matters for the 21st-Century Church”

Mellon Philosophy as a Way of Life Workshop, University of Notre Dame, IN (June 2019)
“Philosophy as a Way of Life at Institutions with Religious Missions”

Forum for Earth-Honoring Faith, St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, Chatham, MA

(February 2019)
“Eating Toward Shalom: Why Food Ethics Matters for the 21st-Century Church”

Love Thy Neighborhood, Louisville, KY (November 2018)

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 “Eating Toward Shalom: Why Food Ethics Matters for the 21st-Century Church”

American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (November 2018)

“The Vegan Imagination and Religious Ethics”

Ferrysburg Community Church Adult Education Hour, Ferrysburg, MI (October 2018)

“Eating Toward Shalom: Why Food Ethics Matters for the 21st-Century Church”

Mad Farmer Food Festival, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI (May 2018)
Workshop: “The Vegan Imagination”

Plant Based Roots Inaugural Event, Grand Rapids, MI (April 2018)

Keynote Lecture: “The Vegan Imagination”

Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI (November 2017)

“Who Cares About Animals?! Animal Ethics in Theory and Practice”
1. First Van Reken Floor Meeting
2. Philosophy Symposium

St. Cloud University, St. Cloud, MN (October 2017, via Skype)

“Animal Ethics, Christian Pacifism, and Eating as an Act of Discipleship” (Advanced
Seminar in Contemporary Christian Thought, Professor Kevin Sharpe)

University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont (October 2017)

“Who Cares About Animals?! Animal Ethics in Theory and Practice” (University of
Vermont First Year Seminar Series, Professor Tyler Doggett)

University of Vermont Food Systems Workshop, Burlington, Vermont (May 2017)

Invited Discussant

Animals and the Kingdom of God Tenth Anniversary Celebration, Grand Rapids (April 2017)
Conference organizer
Session panelist, “Animal Ethics and Christianity” (with Nekeisha Alayna Alexis,
Andrew Chignell, David Clough, Bob Fischer, Sarah Withrow King, Candace
Laughinghouse, and Steve McMullen)

Frederick Meijer Honors College, Grand Valley State University (November 2016)
“Who Cares About Animals?! Animal Ethics in Theory and Practice”

Saint Joseph’s College, Standish, Maine (October 2016)

“Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation”

Calvin College Sexuality Series, Grand Rapids, Michigan (October 2016)

Session panelist, “Christian Feminism: A Panel Discussion,” (with Austin Channing
Brown, Mary Hulst, and Kristin Du Mez)

University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont (October 2016)

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 “Who Cares About Animals?! Animal Ethics in Theory and Practice” (University of
Vermont First Year Seminar Series, Professor Tyler Doggett)

“Real, Relevant, Reforming: Food and Faith,” Calvin Orientation Series (September 2017)
“Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation”
Summer School on Eating Animals, Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, St. Stephen’s House,
Oxford, England (July 2016)
1. “Philosophy as Therapy for Conflicted Carnivores” (with Megan Halteman Zwart)
2. “Against Causal Inefficacy Objections: The Real Economic Impact of Individual
Consumer Choices on Animal Agriculture” (with Steven McMullen)

American Philosophical Association, Central Division, Chicago, Illinois (March 2016)

Invited Symposium: “Animal Ethics in Theory and Practice” (Speakers: Andrew Chignell
(Cornell University), Matthew C. Halteman (Calvin College) and Megan Halteman Zwart
(Saint Mary’s College), Anne Barnhill (University of Pennsylvania)

Young Harris College, Young Harris, Georgia (January 2016)

1. 2016 Warner B. Ragsdale Lecture: “Who Cares About Animals?! Animal Ethics in
Theory and Practice”
2. Invited talk to Student Inquiry Group for Humanist Thought (S.I.G.H.T.): “Animals,
Humans, Gods”

Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, Michigan (December 2015)
Session Panelist: “A Public Conversation of Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret,”
West Michigan Environmental Action Council’s Documentary Series at UICA

Houghton College, Houghton, New York (November 2015)*

1. Workshop: “Heidegger’s Critique of Ontotheology: On the Spiritual Risks of Seeing
the World as Our Oyster”
2. Chapel Address: “Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation: Animal Welfare,
Environmental Sustainability, and Human Flourishing”
3. Public Lecture: “Animal Ethics for Good Eating: Is Unrestrained Omnivorism
Spiritually Beneficial?”
*Funded by a Society of Christian Philosophers Lecture Grant

Church of the Servant Education Series, Grand Rapids, Michigan (November 2015)
“Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation: Animal Welfare, Environmental
Sustainability, and Human Flourishing”

Westminster Presbyterian Church Education Series, Grand Rapids, Michigan (October 2015)
1. “Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation: Animal Welfare, Environmental
Sustainability, and Human Flourishing”
2. “Practical Advice for Peaceful Eating”

Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho (October 2015)

1. Panel Discussion on Compassionate Eating
2. Chapel address: “Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation: Animal Welfare,
Environmental Sustainability, and Human Flourishing”

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Animals and the Kingdom of God Faculty Development Workshop, Calvin College and Trinity
Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan (June 2015)
Inaugural Session on “Divine Goodness, Animal Suffering, and Human Ethics” (a three-
day workshop with Marilyn McCord Adams, Rebecca Chan, Andrew Chignell, Trent
Dougherty, Aaron Griffith, Beth Seacord, and John Schneider)

Adult Education Hour, Trinity Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan (June 2015)
“Eating as an Act of Justice: Animal Welfare, Environmental Sustainability, and Human
Flourishing”

Workshop on Food Justice, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan (May 2015)
“Philosophy as Therapy for Recovering (Unrestrained) Omnivores” (with Megan
Halteman Zwart)

Calvin College Culinary Club, Grand Rapids, Michigan (April 2015)

“Why Vegan?”

Moral Cultures of Food Conference, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas (April 2015)
“Philosophy as Therapy for Recovering (Unrestrained) Omnivores” (with Megan
Halteman Zwart)

Calvin Academy of Lifelong Learning, Grand Rapids, MI (May 2014 and September 2014)
“Animal Ethics for Good Eating”

St. Peter Claver Catholic Worker House, South Bend, IN (April 2014)
“Eating as an Act of Justice”

Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, IN (November 2013)

“Animal Ethics: Three Strategies for Keeping the Focus Where it Belongs”

McElmurry Ethics & Society Lecture, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI (October 2013)
“Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation”

Food Ethics Workshop, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT (May 2013)

“The Hermeneutics of Eating Animals: Resources from the Continental Tradition”
“Teaching Food Ethics” (with Andrew Chignell)

Advancing Public Philosophy Conference, Emory University, Atlanta, GA (March 2013)

“Eating Animals and Ecological Crisis: The Hermeneutics of Revaluing Omnivorism”

American Society of Aesthetics Annual Conference, Invited Panel on “Art, Religion, and the
Sublime,” St. Louis, MO (October 2012)
“Religion and the Sublime” (co-authored with Andrew Chignell, presented in absentia by
Timothy Costelloe, respondents: Anne Eaton and Lambert Zuidervaart)

Society for Continental Philosophy and Theology 2012 Annual Conference, Creation,
Creatureliness, and Creativity: The Human Place in the Natural World,” Loyola Marymount
University, Los Angeles, CA (April 2012)

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 “Eating Animals and Ecological Crisis: Continental Epiphanies for Revaluing
Omnivorism”

Animal Suffering and the Problem of Evil, Notre Dame Center for Philosophy of Religion (April
2012)
Invited participant (funded by Templeton Grant on Animal Pain)

Kent County Health Department, Grand Rapids, MI (June 2011)

“Health Beyond Just the Self: Eating Toward Holistic Wellness for Humans, Animals
and the Environment”

Tom Regan: A Celebration, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (April 2011)
“We Are All Noah: Tom Regan’s Olive Branch to Religious Animal Ethics”

Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT (December 2010)

“The Theological Life, Philosophical Askesis, and Non-Human Creation” (in Professor
S. Dolff’s “The Theological Life” graduate seminar)
Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN (November 2010)
“Claiming Food Autonomy” (with Megan Halteman and Lena Spadacene)

Center for Philosophy of Religion Workshop, Notre Dame, IN (November 2010)

“The Religious Sublime” (with Andrew Chignell)

Hope College Philosophy Department, Holland, MI (October 2010)

“Animal Welfare and Global Sustainability: Eating as an Act of Christian Discipleship”

Thinking in Public: Christian Philosophers as Public Intellectuals, Grand Rapids, MI (May

2010)
Keynote Address: “Christian Philosophy as a Way of Life: Compassionate Eating and
Public Witness” (Society of Christian Philosophers Central Region Annual Meeting)

Wheaton College Philosophy Department Lecture Series, Wheaton, IL (January 2010)

“Animal Welfare and Global Sustainability: Eating as an Act of Christian Discipleship”

Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL (November 2009)

“Compassion, Stewardship, and God’s Creation”

Belstra Milling Farm Managers Annual Meeting, Grand Rapids, MI (November 2009)
“Animal Welfare and Contemporary Animal Advocacy”

Christian Educators Association Annual Meeting, South Bend, IN (October 2009)

“Eating as an Act of Justice: Food Production, Sustainability, and Global Hunger”

Calvin College Quest Program (Invited Address to the Class of 2013) (September 2009)
“The Opportunity of a Lifetime: Christian Liberal Arts as Liturgy for Living”

Philosophical Reflections on Liturgy, Calvin College Summer Seminars (July 2009)

“Liturgical Life as the Spiritual Disciplinary Pursuit of Shalom”

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Social Justice Committee, Sherman Street Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids,
MI (March 2009)
“Eating as an Act of Justice: Food Systems and Global Hunger”

Society of Christian Philosophers, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL

(November 2008)
“Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation” (with Terence Cuneo and Stephen Webb)

The Episcopal Church at Cornell, Ithaca, NY (May 2008)

Author’s Workshop on Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation (Funded by the
Greenblade Project in partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York and
the Trinity Grants Program)

Focus the Nation “Teach-In” at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI (January 2008)
“Food and the Future: Industrial Animal Agriculture and Global Warming”

Christian Perspectives in Science, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI (November 2007)

“Animal Welfare and Global Sustainability”

Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning Conference on “Reimagining Educational
Excellence,” Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI (October 2007)
“Peaceable Pedagogy: Teaching Compassion for Animals as Creation Care”

Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, IN (March 2007)

“Food For Thought: Practical Advice for Peaceful Eating”

Center For Applied Christian Ethics Annual Conference on “Environment, Economic, and
Equity,” Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL (February 2007)
1. Public Lecture: “Animal Rights and Christian Responsibility”
2. Keynote Address: “Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation”

Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, IN (December 2006)

“Living Toward the Peaceable Kingdom: Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation”

Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture Annual Conference (December 2006)
“Eating After Anthropocentrism: The Moral and Spiritual Prospects of Vegetarianism”
(with Terence Cuneo and Stephen Webb)

American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. (November 2006)

“Neoplatonism at the Margin of Fundamental Ontology: Inklings of Ascent “Beyond
Being” in Heidegger’s “On the Essence of Ground”

Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI (November 2006)

“Factory Farming and Political Responsibility: What Engaged Citizens Should Know
About Contemporary Agribusiness” (Funded by a grant from the Carnegie Foundation
and New York Times’ American Democracy Project)

The Oregon Extension, Ashland, OR (October 2006)

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 “Reflections on Veganism as a Spiritual Exercise”

For Animals Annual Meeting, Traverse City, MI (October 2006)

“Animal Advocacy and Religion: How to Cultivate Compassion Among the Faithful”

International Society for Neoplatonic Studies, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (June 2006)
“Neoplatonism at the Margin of Fundamental Ontology: Inklings of Ascent “Beyond
Being” in Heidegger’s “On the Essence of Ground” (presented in absentia)

North American Heidegger Conference, Boston University, MA (May 2006)

“Reading the Fine Print: Ontological Transcendence and Tremors of the Turn in the 1929
Footnotes to “On the Essence of Ground” (Theodore Kisiel, commentator)
Calvin College Social Justice Committee, Grand Rapids, MI (March 2005)
“Animal Advocacy and Social Justice: Is Animal Suffering a Pressing Social Issue?

Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy Annual Meeting, Loyola University,
Chicago, IL (October 2002)
“Thinking Faith as Praxis: Responsibility, Edification, and Discipline in ‘Continental’
Reflections on Religion”

American Philosophical Association (Eastern Division), Atlanta, GA (December 2001)

“Towards a “Continental” Philosophy of Religion: Derrida, Responsibility, and “Non-
dogmatic” Faith” (winner of a graduate student travel stipend)
Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy Annual Meeting, Goucher College,
Baltimore, MD (October 2001)
“On The Problematic Origin of The Forms: Plotinus, Derrida, and the Neoplatonic
Subtext of Deconstruction’s Critique of Ontology”

American Philosophical Association (Central Division), Minneapolis, MN (May 2001)

“Re-reading Rorty on Derrida: Why Irony Isn’t Enough”

American Philosophical Association (Pacific Division), San Francisco, CA (March 2001)

“On the Problematic Origin of the Forms: Plotinus, Derrida, and the Neoplatonic Subtext
of Deconstruction’s Critique of Ontology”

Modernity and Moral Identity, University of Helsinki, Finland (August 2000)

“On The Right and The Good: Habermas, Gadamer, and the Justice/Virtue Debate”

Congress on Continental Philosophy of Religion, St. Martin’s College, Lancaster, England (July
2000)
“Calculating the Incalculable: Derrida’s “Religion” of Radical Responsibility and the
Task of Articulating a “Continental” Philosophy of Religion”

American Philosophical Association (ISNS meeting), Chicago, IL (April 2000)

“The One and the Other: Neoplatonism and Deconstruction in Conversation,” Panel on
Neoplatonism and Continental Philosophy (with Wayne Hankey, Philippe Hoffmann, and
Jean-Marc Narbonne)

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International Society for Neoplatonic Studies, Vanderbilt University, TN (May 1999)
“Similar Spaces: Plotinus and Derrida on Matter and Khora”

Calvin College Philosophy Symposium, Grand Rapids, MI (April 1999)

“Transcending Irony: A Critical Reading of Rorty’s Derrida”

Honors, Grants, and Awards

Matching Challenge Grant for “Hungry Beautiful Animals Public Scholarship Campaign” from
Karuna Foundation (Academic year 2024-2025, $75,000)
Matching donation for scholarship campaign from Justice for Animals Fund
(Academic year 2024-2025, $5,000)
Matching donation for scholarship campaign from private donors
(Academic year 2024-2025, $30,000)
Research Grant for “The Vegan Imagination” from Better Food Foundation
(Academic year 2023-2024, $20,000)
Calvin Research Fellowship with support from the Alvin Plantinga Faculty Research Fund
(Academic Year 2023-2024)
Research Grant for “The Vegan Imagination” from Better Food Foundation
(Academic Year 2022-2023, $15,000)
Sabbatical Leave for “The Vegan Imagination and Religious Ethics,” Calvin University
(Fall 2021 and May Term 2022)
Research Grant for “The Vegan Imagination and Religious Ethics,” Anonymous donor
(Spring 2021, $49,000)
Calvin Research Fellowship/Sustainability Research Initiative Award (Fall 2017)
Calvin Research Fellowship (Spring 2016)
Society of Christian Philosophers Visiting Lecturer Grant, Houghton College, New York
(November 2015)
Grant for Animals and the Kingdom of God Faculty Development Workshop, Calvin College,
Grand Rapids, Michigan (June 2015, $5,000)
Sabbatical Leave, Calvin College (Interim and Spring 2013)
Major Grant for Faculty Working Group on “Eating as an Act of Justice,” Calvin Center for
Christian Scholarship (Academic Year 2011-2012, $6,000)
Fellow, Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, Oxford, England (June 2008—present)
Distinguished Innovative Course Award (for “Peaceable Kingdom”), Animals and Society
Course Awards, The Humane Society of the United States, Washington D.C. (2007)
Faculty Advisor of the Year (Students for Compassionate Living), Calvin College Student
Activities Office (2006-2007)
Calvin Research Fellowship (Summer 2006)
Calvin Research Fellowship, Diekema Distinction (Spring 2006)
Graduate Teaching Fellowship, Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame (2001-2002)
GSU Graduate Teaching Award, Graduate Student Union, University of Notre Dame (2001)
Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher Award for Excellence in Teaching, Kaneb Center for
Teaching and Learning, University of Notre Dame (2001)
Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher Award For Excellence in Teaching, Kaneb Center for
Teaching and Learning, University of Notre Dame (2000)
Fellow, Erasmus Institute, Notre Dame, Indiana (Summer 2000)

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Courses Taught
Calvin University (as Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor):
Phil 153: Fundamental Questions in Philosophy
Phil 153-S: Fundamental Questions in Philosophy (Sustainability)
Phil 223: Peaceable Kingdom: Transforming Our Relationships with Animals
Phil 233: Philosophical Transformation
Phil 252: History of Modern Western Philosophy
Phil 340: Contemporary Continental Philosophy
Phil 390: Heidegger’s Being and Time; Heidegger After Fundamental Ontology
Phil 396: Historical and Contemporary Prospects for Philosophy as a Way of Life
Phil W10: Peaceable Kingdom: Transforming our Relationships with Animals (Interim)

University of Notre Dame (as Instructor):

First Year Writing 110: Media and Popular Culture
Phil 212: Thinking in Practice: Four Approaches to Philosophy

University of Notre Dame (as Teaching Fellow)

Phil 101: Introduction to Philosophy (under Paul Weithman)
Phil 204: Morality and Modernity and Phil 206: Medical Ethics (under David Solomon)

Professional Activities and Service

Senior Fellow, Sentient Media (Winter 2020 to present)
Chair and Budget Officer, Animals and the Kingdom of God Lecture Series, Calvin College,
Grand Rapids, MI (Fall 2007-present)
Consultant Editor, The Journal of Animals Ethics (Spring 2009-present)
Advisory Board, Palgrave Macmillan Book Series in Animal Ethics (Fall 2008-present)
Referee for European Research Council Starting Grants
Referee for Oxford University Press
Referee for The ILAR Journal (Institute for Laboratory Animal Research, Oxford U Press)
Referee for Columbia University Press
Referee for Palgrave Macmillan Publishers
Referee for Philosophical Quarterly
Referee for Wiley-Blackwell Publishers
Referee for Christian Scholars Review
Co-convener (with Nate Himba), Grassroots Green, Calvin College (Spring 2019)
Member, Beyond Stewardship Research Initiative, Calvin College (Directed by Matt Heun and
Dave Warners, Summer 2018-Spring 2019)
Faculty Senate (philosophy), Calvin College, (Fall 2018-Spring 2021)
Organizer, The Philosophical Transformation Lecture Series at Calvin College (Spring 2016)
Member, North American Advisory Board, CreatureKind (March 2016-present)
Organizer, Animals and the Kingdom of God Faculty Development Workshop (June 2015)
Member, Gender Equity Committee, Calvin College (Fall 2013-Spring 2016)
Organizer, Summer Reading Group on The Ethics of Animal Research (Summer 2014)
Member, Humane Society of the United States Faith Advisory Council (Spring 2012-present)
Chair, Symposium on the Ethics of Eating Animals (with Alastair Norcross, Ted Warfield, and
David DeGrazia), American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting,
Chicago, Illinois (February 2012)
Committee Member, Safer Spaces: Education Committee on Sexual Harassment, Abuse of

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 Power, and Sexual Misconduct, Calvin College (Spring 2012-Fall 2013)
Co-leader (with Chris Smit and Steve McMullen) of Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship
Working Group on “Eating as an Act of Justice” (Academic Year 2011-2012)
Area Expert in Animal Welfare, Rights, and Protection, Philanthropedia (Summer 2011-present)
Participant, Philosophical Reflections on Liturgy, Calvin Seminars in Christian Scholarship,
Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI (Summer 2009)
Board of Directors, Farm Kind, New York (Spring 2007-Spring 2011)
Co-Founder and Convener, Wake Up Weekend Annual Conference (January 2006-June 2014)
Faculty Advisor, Calvin College Philosophy Symposium (Fall 2003-Spring 2009, 2012-present)
Faculty Advisor, Students for Compassionate Living (Spring 2005-Spring 2018)
Member, Student Life Committee, Calvin College (Fall 2005-Spring 2008)

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