Department of Philosophy, Religion, and Liberal Studies
Administrative Faculty and Staff
Dr. Sunita Manian
Interim Co-Chair, English, Chair of Philosophy and Liberal Studies
Beeson 337
(478) 445-2283
Courses/Topics
Gender and Sexuality in South Asia; Muslims in Europe; North Africans in France; Gender and Development; Multicultural Britain; Women and Economic Development; Ethics of Global Inequalities; Colonialism and Neo-colonialism; Global Economic Crisis and Future of the Euro.
Biography
Dr. Sunita Manian has a PhD in Economics and specializes in issues of Gender in South Asia. Her publications relate to gender and sexuality in South Asia, migration and diasporic dislocation in Europe, sex trafficking between the Maghreb and Europe, and most recently her book HIV/AIDS in India: Voices from the Margins (Routledge). She is currently the Chair for the department of Philosophy and Liberal Studies.
Jim McManmon M.A
Administrative Assistant / Instructor
Beeson 336
(478) 445-5221
Courses
Phil 2010 - Survey of Philosophy, GC2Y Equality and Justice, and GC1Y Philosophy and Social Justice.
Research
Political Philosophy, Race Theories, Feminist Philosophies, Theories of Democracies, Theories of Post-colonialities.
Department Faculty
Dr. James Winchester
Coordinator, Program of Philosophy, Professor of Philosophy
Beeson 358
(478) 445-5513
Courses
Love, Pleasure, Friendship and the Good Life; Philosophy, Art and the Art of Living; Philosophy of Law; Ethics; and Social and Political Philosophy
Biography
Dr. Winchester has published books on Nietzsche, Cross cultural understanding of art and his most recent work, Ethics in an Age of Savage Inequalities (Lexington Press). He is currently working on a book on the good life.
Courses
Myth, Magic, and Psychoanalysis; Confucianism and Daoism; Democracy and Identity: East and West; Existentialism, Buddhism, Daoism, and the Myth of Mediation.
Biography
Dr. Wang has been a member of the Georgia College faculty in the department of Philosophy since 2008. He received his doctoratal degree from Pennsylvania State University, and originally hails from China where he studied economics as an undergraduate. Dr. Wang specializes in areas of Asian philosophy and religion, contemporary continental philosophy, and ethics. He has published in a number of journals on topics of Asian philosophy, and is currently working on his book, tentatively titled The Enchantment of Ritual and the Way of Heart.
Dr. Sabrina Hom
Associate Professor of Philosophy; Program Coordinator for Women's Studies
Beeson 340
(478) 445-2291
Courses
Feminist Philosophies, Queer Theory, Existentialism, Logical and Critical Thinking
Biography
Dr. Hom earned her BA at Wellesley College, and an MA and PhD in Philosophy at Stony Brook University. She also completed an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies at Stony Brook. She is a co-founder of the Luce Irigaray Circle. Prior to her time at Georgia College, Dr. Hom taught at McGill University, and at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. She is originally from New York City. Her areas of research include Feminist Philosophy, Contemporary Continental Philosophy, Critical Mixed Race Theory, and Asian American Philosophy.
Courses/Topics
Survey of Philosophy; People, Politics, and Pandemics (2Y); Politics of Emotion; Philosophy of Love & Sex; Philosophy and the Holocaust; Social-Political Philosophy; Ethics
Biography
Dr. Newman earned her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. She completed undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and International Relations at Middle Tennessee State University. Her research interests are in 20th century continental philosophy, ethics, and social-political philosophy. She is especially interested in the intersection of ethics and public memory. Her dissertation was on the ethics of memory/memorialization and genocide remembrance through representation.
Dr. Juli L. Gittinger
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies; Program Coordinator for Religion
Beeson 341
(478) 445-8618
Courses
World Religions South Asia, Introduction to World Religions, Hindu Traditions, Islam in the Modern World, Religion and the Body, Religion and Media, Religion and Human Rights, Religion and Science Fiction, and other special topics.
Website
Biography
Dr. Gittinger’s work focuses on religion, media, and popular culture. She received her doctorate from McGill University in Montreal, and has master’s degrees from University of Colorado in Boulder and SOAS in London. Her research interests include Hindu nationalism, Islam in pop culture, and virtual methodologies. Her third book was published in 2024 titled American Apocalyptic: beliefs, rituals, and expressions of doomsday culture in the US (Palgrave-Macmillian). See website for complete list of publications.
Dr. Mark Causey
Senior Lecturer of Philosophy & Religious Studies
Beeson 354
(478) 445-5226
Courses
Environmental Ethics; Animal Ethics; Liberation Theology; Religion, Science and the Natural World; Christianity and the Environment; Historical Jesus
Biography
Dr. Causey is a lecturer and teaches courses in the core curriculum as well as in Christian thought and ethics. His main research interests are in animal ethics, environmental ethics, and food ethics. He is a member of the Sustainability Council.
Dr. Caley Smith
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies (Jain Fellow)
Beeson 347
(478) 445-5238
Courses
RELI 3500 Buddhist Traditions in Asia
GC1Y 1000 Critical Thinking: Religion and Non-violence
RELI 3950 Religious Epics
GC2Y - 2000 Global Perspectives: Religion and Reciprocity
Biography
Caley Smith is a scholar of early South Asian religious history and political imagination. His work focuses primarily on the conceptual continuities and disruptions between the Vedas and emergent ascetic and householder traditions. His current book project, The Invisible Mask, explores the ritual impersonation of the god Indra and its influence on the recitation traditions of early Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.
Courses
Survey of Philosophy
Research
Dr. Eckley earned his Bachelor’s in political science and philosophy from Ferrum College and his Master’s and Ph.D. in philosophy from Purdue University. Prior to teaching at GCSU, he taught at the University of Portland. His research is primarily in Simone de Beauvoir’s existentialist ethics applied to contemporary social and moral topics. He is a visiting lecturer for the 2023-24 academic year.
Biography
Gehad Abdelal received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees with Honors from Cairo University, Egypt, and went on to earn her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia, Athens. Her research is centered on feminist philosophy and religion, non-Western philosophy, water ethics, and AI ethics. In her teaching, she prioritizes philosophical analytical and critical writing.
Courses
Intro/Survey to Philosophy, Intro to Ethics, Science in its Cultural Context
Biography
Joel David Alvarez earned an undergraduate degree in Philosophy (2019) minoring in both history and Latino studies from Brooklyn College and a master’s in philosophy from University of South Florida (2023). Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in Philosophy at the University of South Florida. He was awarded the Paul Copan Scholarship (2023) from Palm Beach Atlantic University and his paper "Christian Materialism, Logic & The Spiritual Realm" won the third prize in the 2022 Tyndale House Cambridge for Philosophers of Religion. He published two works on Indigenous Philosophy: “Native American Epistemology Through Dreams.” Ways of Being in the World: An Introduction to Indigenous Philosophies of Turtle Island, Andrea Sullivan-Clarke (ed.) (Broadview Press 2023) and “Spinozism and Native Americans on Pantheism and Panentheism.” Pantheism and Ecology. Cosmological, Philosophical, and Theological Perspectives, – Luca Valera (ed.) (Springer Series Ecology and Ethics 2023). His areas of expertise are early modern philosophy (Especially Leibniz), philosophy of religion, and Native American philosophy. Areas of competence are, medieval philosophy, African philosophy, ethics, philosophy of science, and metaphysics.
Dr. Sunita Manian
Courses/Topics
Gender and Sexuality in South Asia; Muslims in Europe; North Africans in France; Gender and Development; Multicultural Britain; Women and Economic Development; Ethics of Global Inequalities; Colonialism and Neo-colonialism; Global Economic Crisis and Future of the Euro.
Biography
Dr. Sunita Manian has a PhD in Economics and specializes in issues of Gender in South Asia. Her publications relate to gender and sexuality in South Asia, migration and diasporic dislocation in Europe, sex trafficking between the Maghreb and Europe, and most recently her book HIV/AIDS in India: Voices from the Margins (Routledge). She is currently the Chair for the department of Philosophy and Liberal Studies.
Jim McManmon M.A
Courses
Phil 2010 - Survey of Philosophy, GC2Y Equality and Justice, and GC1Y Philosophy and Social Justice.
Research
Political Philosophy, Race Theories, Feminist Philosophies, Theories of Democracies, Theories of Post-colonialities.
Dr. James Winchester
Courses
Love, Pleasure, Friendship and the Good Life; Philosophy, Art and the Art of Living; Philosophy of Law; Ethics; and Social and Political Philosophy
Biography
Dr. Winchester has published books on Nietzsche, Cross cultural understanding of art and his most recent work, Ethics in an Age of Savage Inequalities (Lexington Press). He is currently working on a book on the good life.
Courses
Myth, Magic, and Psychoanalysis; Confucianism and Daoism; Democracy and Identity: East and West; Existentialism, Buddhism, Daoism, and the Myth of Mediation.
Biography
Dr. Wang has been a member of the Georgia College faculty in the department of Philosophy since 2008. He received his doctoratal degree from Pennsylvania State University, and originally hails from China where he studied economics as an undergraduate. Dr. Wang specializes in areas of Asian philosophy and religion, contemporary continental philosophy, and ethics. He has published in a number of journals on topics of Asian philosophy, and is currently working on his book, tentatively titled The Enchantment of Ritual and the Way of Heart.
Dr. Sabrina Hom
Courses
Feminist Philosophies, Queer Theory, Existentialism, Logical and Critical Thinking
Biography
Dr. Hom earned her BA at Wellesley College, and an MA and PhD in Philosophy at Stony Brook University. She also completed an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies at Stony Brook. She is a co-founder of the Luce Irigaray Circle. Prior to her time at Georgia College, Dr. Hom taught at McGill University, and at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. She is originally from New York City. Her areas of research include Feminist Philosophy, Contemporary Continental Philosophy, Critical Mixed Race Theory, and Asian American Philosophy.
Courses/Topics
Survey of Philosophy; People, Politics, and Pandemics (2Y); Politics of Emotion; Philosophy of Love & Sex; Philosophy and the Holocaust; Social-Political Philosophy; Ethics
Biography
Dr. Newman earned her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. She completed undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and International Relations at Middle Tennessee State University. Her research interests are in 20th century continental philosophy, ethics, and social-political philosophy. She is especially interested in the intersection of ethics and public memory. Her dissertation was on the ethics of memory/memorialization and genocide remembrance through representation.
Dr. Juli L. Gittinger
Courses
World Religions South Asia, Introduction to World Religions, Hindu Traditions, Islam in the Modern World, Religion and the Body, Religion and Media, Religion and Human Rights, Religion and Science Fiction, and other special topics.
Website
Biography
Dr. Gittinger’s work focuses on religion, media, and popular culture. She received her doctorate from McGill University in Montreal, and has master’s degrees from University of Colorado in Boulder and SOAS in London. Her research interests include Hindu nationalism, Islam in pop culture, and virtual methodologies. Her third book was published in 2024 titled American Apocalyptic: beliefs, rituals, and expressions of doomsday culture in the US (Palgrave-Macmillian). See website for complete list of publications.
Dr. Mark Causey
Courses
Environmental Ethics; Animal Ethics; Liberation Theology; Religion, Science and the Natural World; Christianity and the Environment; Historical Jesus
Biography
Dr. Causey is a lecturer and teaches courses in the core curriculum as well as in Christian thought and ethics. His main research interests are in animal ethics, environmental ethics, and food ethics. He is a member of the Sustainability Council.
Dr. Caley Smith
Courses
RELI 3500 Buddhist Traditions in Asia
GC1Y 1000 Critical Thinking: Religion and Non-violence
RELI 3950 Religious Epics
GC2Y - 2000 Global Perspectives: Religion and Reciprocity
Biography
Caley Smith is a scholar of early South Asian religious history and political imagination. His work focuses primarily on the conceptual continuities and disruptions between the Vedas and emergent ascetic and householder traditions. His current book project, The Invisible Mask, explores the ritual impersonation of the god Indra and its influence on the recitation traditions of early Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.
Courses
Survey of Philosophy
Research
Dr. Eckley earned his Bachelor’s in political science and philosophy from Ferrum College and his Master’s and Ph.D. in philosophy from Purdue University. Prior to teaching at GCSU, he taught at the University of Portland. His research is primarily in Simone de Beauvoir’s existentialist ethics applied to contemporary social and moral topics. He is a visiting lecturer for the 2023-24 academic year.
Biography
Gehad Abdelal received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees with Honors from Cairo University, Egypt, and went on to earn her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia, Athens. Her research is centered on feminist philosophy and religion, non-Western philosophy, water ethics, and AI ethics. In her teaching, she prioritizes philosophical analytical and critical writing.
Courses
Intro/Survey to Philosophy, Intro to Ethics, Science in its Cultural Context
Biography
Joel David Alvarez earned an undergraduate degree in Philosophy (2019) minoring in both history and Latino studies from Brooklyn College and a master’s in philosophy from University of South Florida (2023). Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in Philosophy at the University of South Florida. He was awarded the Paul Copan Scholarship (2023) from Palm Beach Atlantic University and his paper "Christian Materialism, Logic & The Spiritual Realm" won the third prize in the 2022 Tyndale House Cambridge for Philosophers of Religion. He published two works on Indigenous Philosophy: “Native American Epistemology Through Dreams.” Ways of Being in the World: An Introduction to Indigenous Philosophies of Turtle Island, Andrea Sullivan-Clarke (ed.) (Broadview Press 2023) and “Spinozism and Native Americans on Pantheism and Panentheism.” Pantheism and Ecology. Cosmological, Philosophical, and Theological Perspectives, – Luca Valera (ed.) (Springer Series Ecology and Ethics 2023). His areas of expertise are early modern philosophy (Especially Leibniz), philosophy of religion, and Native American philosophy. Areas of competence are, medieval philosophy, African philosophy, ethics, philosophy of science, and metaphysics.