Charles Wright

Place of Birth:

St. Louis, Missouri (I’ve moved around some).

Education:

B.A.- Philosophy from Haverford College, 1984

M.A.- Philosophy from SUNY Stony Brook, 1990

Ph.D.- Philosophy from SUNY Stony Brook, 1996.

Academic Interests:

Moral philosophy & psychology; deliberative theories of morality and democracy; evolutionary accounts of morality; Chinese & Indian philosophies, political philosophy.

Story:

I came to CSB/SJU straight from SUNY Stony Brook, where I held a number of positions as a graduate student. Apart from a wide variety of teaching positions in NY, I also served for 2 years as the University Graduate Student Advocate and for a year as an Organizer and Contract Negotiator for the Graduate Student Employees Union. Those were fun jobs – getting paid to cause trouble. I initially came to CSB/SJU because my spouse, Jean Keller, also in the Philosophy Department, was offered a full time position in 1996. I accompanied her to St. Cloud with a Ph.D. but no firm job prospects. My first job in the area was working as a temporary worker at the Sartell paper mill. The first class I taught at CSB was in Spring 1997 for the Education Department, who on the strength of my dissertation work on moral psychology allowed me to teach a section of Human Development. I then taught Symposium and Senior Seminar for a year before getting a one year full time position in the Philosophy Department. Once I got my foot in the door, the Department gradually opened it wider and after a couple of years invited me in with a full time job offer.

Hobbies:

Aikido (a Japanese martial art), biking, walking, canoeing, gardening, reading anything I can get my hands on.

Publications:

No publications relevant to Asian Studies, I'm afraid. My professional training is in Modern Western Philosophy. I teach Chinese and Indian philosophies because I find them to be personally rewarding and so I like to share their insights with students