AAPT 2024 Board Elections, Candidate Statements
The 2024 election for positions on
the AAPT Board of Directors is underway.
All AAPT members (and only AAPT members) are eligible to vote.
Current members will soon receive an email providing instructions and a link to the ballot.
Questions about the ballot or election should be directed to
J.Robert Loftis (jloftis@lorainccc.edu) chair of the Nominating Committee
The polls close October 31, 2024.
The candidate statements are below.
Vice President
Jane Drexler
Hello all. I am honored to be nominated for Vice President of the AAPT. I have been a member of AAPT since 2014, and most of that time I served as chair of the Organizing Committee of the biennial Workshop-Conference (2017-2022). In that role, I got to know a great many of you, and to see the incredible work you do. It was for this role – particularly for my work during the pandemic ensuring that the AAPT would continue to bring us all together — that I was awarded the 2022 AAPT Award of Merit for Outstanding Leadership and Achievements in Advancing the Teaching of Philosophy (a high point of my career, for sure. And thank you.).
I have served for several years as a member-at-large on the AAPT Executive Board, and on the AAPT-APA Teaching Hub Committees. In these roles, I have worked directly with our Past President, our incoming President, our Board members and Executive Director. I know the issues and conversations that AAPT is currently engaging, and I have a communication style that (I think) is earnest and directed, and also personable, supportive and empowering.
I have served on the APA Committee for Teaching Philosophy and the Editorial Advisory Board for the journal Teaching Philosophy. I co-edited a special issue of Studies in Pedagogy: “Teaching Philosophy as a Way of Life” (that’s my research area), and was also awarded Honorable Mention for this year’s Lenssen Prize for best essay on teaching philosophy from the last two years (which was also super-cool!). In 2018, I was selected to participate in the NEH Summer Institute on Reviving Philosophy as a Way of Life, which has had a major impact on me and my teaching for the past 7 years.
I am Full Professor of Philosophy at Salt Lake Community College, where I’ve been since 2007, and I believe that I have found my philosophical and professional home in the AAPT. Not only have you all helped me to become a better teacher, but you helped me to find my voice, and to come to understand that my location as a 5-5-load professor at a community college gives me a valuable opportunity and place from which to substantively contribute to the conversations about the purpose, value, and best pedagogical practices of our discipline today.
I am honored to be nominated for this position, and am so proud to have been an active part of promoting the vision of this organization for these past 10 years. Thank you.
Board of Directors Member at Large
Nicole Fice
Hello all! I’m Nicole (she/her). I’m currently working as an limited term appointment assistant professor at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. The first AAPT event I attended was a workshop on inclusive pedagogy in 2019, which helped me expand my pedagogical horizons and made me feel like I belonged in philosophy. I think the AAPT is special in that way—it is a community that makes people feel at home in philosophy. Since then, I’ve participated in online seminars facilitated by the AAPT during the pandemic, the AAPT-APA Teaching Hubs as a presenter and now co-chair of the undergraduate poster sessions, and the AAPT biennial conference. I also have experience working in other teaching-focused spaces, such as the Centre for Teaching and Learning at my PhD institution. As a member-at-large, I would be happy to serve the organization so that it can continue to flourish and help its members do the same.
Rebeka Ferreira
I am honored and privileged to accept the nomination to run for a two-year term as a Member-at-Large of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Philosophy Teachers beginning in 2025.
I began formally studying Philosophy at Community College (2005-2007). There, I was fortunate to have several female instructors who created supportive, inclusive classrooms. This inspired me to pursue Philosophy and contribute to similar learning environments. After transferring to San Francisco State University, I participated in a unique Master’s program that emphasized teaching. As a Graduate Teaching Associate, I gained invaluable experience leading my own courses. In 2012, I moved to the Pacific Northwest and became an adjunct instructor. In 2015, I secured a full-time tenure-track position at Green River College which allowed me to focus on improving my pedagogy and curriculum design. Since earning tenure in 2018, I have dedicated myself to mentoring students and instructors, developing Open Educational Resources, and promoting Philosophy education. I am particularly proud of my outreach efforts and contributions to the American Philosophical Association Teaching Program.
I believe my diverse background and experience make me a valuable asset to the AAPT. I am excited to participate in the 2024 Biennial Workshop-Conference and hope to host the 2026 event.
I professionally submit this personal statement to the leadership of the AAPT and look forward to continue working with my peers in enthusiasm and passion for what we do. For more details on what I have outlined above, please see my curriculum vitae, and/or reach out if there is any additional information I can provide. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Jerry Green
I’m an Associate Professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, a regional commuter campus outside Oklahoma City. At UCO I serve as Assistant Chair for my department (as well as Program Coordinator for Philosophy and for Classical Studies), as advisory board member of our teaching and learning center (among numerous other committees).
I am one of many people for whom the AAPT was literally life-changing. I first encountered the AAPT in grad school via a one-day workshop. I then got involved with APA-AAPT Teaching Hubs, twice as presenter, then as session organizer, and then as co-organizer of the Eastern Teaching Hub. I’ve also been on several AAPT planning committees for the summer workshop-conference, and twice I’ve been a facilitator of the summer workshop-conference seminar. I’m always eager for more opportunities to give back a group that has done so much to inspire my own teaching and to foster an amazing community.
Alida Liberman
I’m an associate professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. I was an AAPT Board member in 2022 – 2024, and would love to continue serving an organization that has transformed my teaching and provided a supportive community like no other. I’ve facilitated AAPT Teaching & Learning Workshops at Salem State, Michigan, MIT, IU Bloomington, Harper College, and Duquesne (including co-developing the first inclusive pedagogy version of the workshop). I received the Concepción Prize for Excellence in Philosophy Teaching in 2022, and the 2024 Lenssen prize for my paper “In Defense of Doing Philosophy ‘Badly.’” I also organized the APA/AAPT Teaching Hubs at the Central APA for 2023 and 2024. I’m interested in developing online programming, building community outside of conferences, and cultivating an academic culture that values teaching. If elected, I look forward to continuing to apply my experience, organizational skills, and passion to support existing and new AAPT projects.
Courtney Morris
I’m Courtney Morris, an associate professor at West Point. I am interested in how our pedagogical methods affect our students, and I believe that a teacher’s approach can make the difference between a student loving the discipline or feeling disenchanted with it or that it is not applicable to “real life.” I believe philosophical reflection is an essential part of real life, and I want to inspire students to engage in it, so I was thrilled to find like-minded scholars and teachers at the most recent AAPT biannual conference. I’ve never left a conference so stimulated, and my students’ lives have already been enriched through what I learned. I want to support and contribute to the already thriving community of the AAPT to help keep it flourishing. That is why I am running to be an at-large board member. I would be honored to serve in such a role.
Carissa Phillips-Garrett
I’m Associate Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, and I regularly teach courses on ethics, feminist philosophy, and writing-focused first-year seminars. I first found a home at AAPT in 2015 when I attended a one-day seminar as a graduate student. Since then, I have regularly participated in the AAPT Workshop, completed both the Summer Seminar and the Facilitator Training Workshop, and served on various AAPT committees. I am currently co-organizing the Pacific APA Teaching Hub, a member of the AAPT Conference Program Committee, and chair of the AAPT Keynote Speaker Sub-Committee. Previously, I was a member of the AAPT Teaching & Learning Committee.
I love the AAPT and I want to continue to give back to it. On the Executive Committee, I would look forward to using my experience and organizational skills to support the AAPT’s existing projects and push for continued growth through outreach to early career philosophers and in the broader community, with programs like “Talking Teaching” and the Teaching Hubs.
Jonathan Spelman
I am an associate professor at Ohio Northern University, and I primarily teach courses in ethical theory, practical ethics, and critical thinking. I was first introduced to the AAPT community as a Graduate Seminar participant in 2016. That experience not only transformed my teaching, but also reassured me that there was a place for teaching-oriented philosophers like me in the field. I have been actively involved in the AAPT ever since, presenting at several of its Workshop-Conferences and several of its Teaching Hubs. I have also served on the AAPT Awards Committee since 2019.
I have enjoyed getting to know so many of you over the years and have learned so much along the way. I am honored to be nominated to serve as a member at-large on the AAPT board, and I am excited about this opportunity to serve. I think the AAPT has so much to offer our discipline of philosophy, and if elected, I would do my best to help grow its impact.
Tricia Van Dyk
I’m an associate professor at LCC International University, a small liberal arts university in Klaipėda, Lithuania. I teach courses in ethics, introduction to philosophy, logical reasoning, and historical feminism. Although I teach at an international university in Eastern Europe rather than in North America, every one of the courses I teach is influenced by what I’ve gained from the AAPT. I was introduced to the AAPT in 2018, and since then attending the biennial workshop-conference has become the event I schedule my summer around. Because thinking about philosophical pedagogy is the best form of entertainment I can envision, I am also an avid reader of the Teaching Philosophy and AAPT Studies in Pedagogy journals, which are a wonderful part of AAPT membership. I am honored to be nominated to serve on the board as a way to give back to the organization that has given me so much.
Kimberly Van Orman
I have been honored to chair the Teaching and Learning Committee over the last year. Over the last two years, we were able to continue the Talking Teaching discussion series, train more Seminar and One-day workshop facilitators and run another successful Seminar at the biennial meeting this summer. Over the past 10 years that I’ve been a member of the AAPT and over my 7 years of service related to the AAPT and the teaching of philosophy, I have made incredible friends, improved my own teaching, and worked to help make more invite more people to engage with us. I hope to continue to serve the AAPT as we start up the traveling One Day workshops to help support graduate students in the development of their teaching skills.
Overall, I want to continue share the benefits I’ve gained from my AAPT involvement and would like to contribute to the amazing growth that we have created over the last several years.
