Allan W. Larsen, Ph.D.
343 Laurel Blvd.
New Castle, PA 16101
Telephone: 724-652-7325

Education:

Brooklyn College, CUNY - Major: Philosophy; Minor: Literature, B.A. 1962
University of Delaware - Philosophy, M.A. 1964
Duquesne University Philosophy, Ph.D. 1971
Heidelberg UniversityPost-Doctoral Research, Spring and Summer 1971, 1979

Special Study and Interest:

The Philosophy of: Martin Heidegger, Nicolai Hartmann, Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Edmund Husserl, Immanuel Kant, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Paul Shepard

Existentialism and Phenomenology, Religious Studies, Philosophy of Modern Literature, Comparative Mythologies, World Religions, Hermeneutics, Philosophy of Technology, Philosophy in Literature, Environmental Philosophy.

Teaching Experience:

Slippery Rock University, 1963 to 1994, full?time, tenured-Professor.

Courses taught: Introduction to Philosophy, Existentialism and Phenomenology, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Modern Literature, Ancient Philosophy, History of Modern Philosophy, Epistemology, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, Logic, Contemporary Philosophy, Independent Study (on various topics and authors), 19th Century Philosophy, Philosophical Anthropology, Introduction to Religious Studies, World Religions, Philosophy of Human Existence, General Ethics.

Institute for Learning in Retirement: Environmental Philosophy, Fall, 1999, Plato and Aristotle, Fall, 2001, Modern Philosophy, Fall, 2003

Westminster College, Existentialism, Fall 1985
Pavia, Italy, Philosophy in Literature, Summer 1985
Oxford, England, Philosophy in Literature, Summer 1990
Westminster College: part time: Existentialism, Ancient Philosophy, 1995-’96.
Gender and Religion, Environmental Philosophy, 2003-2004.

Other Academic Experience:

Department Chairman: 1965-1966, 1969-1971, 1976-1979 and 1990-1993. Introduced twelve new courses to the philosophy curriculum. Helped develop philosophy major. Developed and advised Philosophy Club. Conducted semi-annual philosophy lecture series (1982 to 1994). In charge of library acquisitions from 1965 to 1994. Founded and advised a chapter of the National Philosophy Honorary of Phi Sigma Tau. Organized and held a conference at SRU on existential philosophy, 1988. President of SSHE Philosophy and Religious Studies Association. Organized conference, 1993. Charter Member and Co-Founder – Institute for Learning in Retirement.

Faculty Governance:

Chaired the following committees: Faculty Council, Curriculum, Promotions, Constitutional Review, Planning, Academic Standards, Department Evaluation and Department Search..

Member of:  Professional Development, Humanities and Fine Arts Forum, University Forum, APSCUF, Pennsylvania Trust Fund, Tenure and Sabbatical, International Studies degree program, Master of Liberal Arts degree proposal, Dean Search Committee, Council of Chairs.

Foreign Languages:

German - read, write and speak
French - read

Recent Lectures:

"Nicolai Hartmann's New Ontology," invited paper, 1989, Gannon University
"Religious Foundation of Modern Science," 1992, Newman Center Lecture Series
"The Abiding and Historical Phenomenology," 1993, SSHE Philosophy and Religious Studies Association
"Nietzsche on the Socratic Morality as Decadence," 1994, SSHE Philosophy and Religious Studies Association
"Nietzsche on the Legacy of Socrates," 1994, International Society for the Study of European Ideas, Graz, Austria.
"Heidegger on Modern Technology," 1996, SSHE Philosophy and Religious Studies Association
Invited paper - "From Mythology to Philosophy," International Society for the Study of European Ideas, Utrecht, Holland, August, 1996.
Organized a Workshop on European Identity and the Separation from Nature in Bergen, Norway , gave a paper on Paul Shepard..
“In the Company of Others: The Ecophilosophy of Paul Shepard”, IAEP Conference, Oct. 2000 at Penn State Univ.

Publications

“European Identity as Separation from Nature: the Ecophilosophy of Paul Shepard”, ISSEI Conference in Bergen, Norway, August, 2000 in CD Rom.
“The Flight from the Earth” given at ISSEI conference in Haifa, Israel, August, 1998, in “European Legacy”.
“Mircea Eliade’s Phenomenology” in Changing Religious Worlds: The Meaning and End of Mircea Eliade. SUNY Press,2001.
Book review of a textbook, Philosophy: A Literary and Conceptual Approach, 3^rd Edition, 1994, for Harcourt, Brace.
“Nietzsche on the Legacy of Socrates”, 1996, in “History of European Ideas”, 1994 ISSEI Conference.
Book review of Maurice Cranston’s, The Noble Savage: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1754-1762, in “History of European Ideas”, 1994.
“The Problem of Freedom in the Philosophy of Nicolai Hartmann”, invited contribution to a memorial volume on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of Nicolai Hartmann, 1984, 2^nd ed. 1988.

Awards and Programs:

Listing in Outstanding Educators in America, 1973
Directory of American Scholars, 6th Ed., Vol. IV, 1974
Elected Outstanding Philosophy Professor, 1976, 1980, 1982
Developed Interdisciplinary Religious Studies Program
Retired, December, 1994, Awarded Philosophy Professor Emeritus Status January, 1995

Memberships:

American Philosophical Association
Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
Tri-State Philosophical Society
American Association of University Professors
Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties
SSHE Philosophy and Religious Studies Association, Vice President and program chair, 1991-1992; President 1992-1993
Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Retired Faculties, vice president, 1995-’97, President 1998-2001 local chapter.
Nietzsche Society
International Association of Environmental Philosophy
Institute for Learning in Retirement at Slippery Rock University

Research Underway:

Limits of Knowledge and Following Nature
Circularity and Linearity as an Environmental Issue
The Hebrew/Christian Origin of Estrangement from Nature
Paper on Plato's idea of the “Good”

Sabbaticals:

1971 Research in German philosophy, notably Nicolai Hartmann, Edmund Husserl and Martin
Heidegger. Completed translation of Heidegger's Die Frage nach dem Technik and wrote a paper on Hartmann's notion of "Ideal Being." Travel: mostly in Germany, but also spent time in Austria, Switzerland, Italy and England.

1979 Further study of German language, research in German Philosophy and religious studies. Began translation of Hartmann's Teleologisches Denken. Wrote papers on 1) "Sacred Center of Modern Technology" and 2) "Roots of Religiousness." Also attended six weeks of an NEH seminar on the History of Religions at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

1986  Research on philosophical foundations of modern technology, mostly at Penn State University, two chapters of a proposed book completed on Modern Technology.