Cynthia R. Nielsen
Doctoral Student of Philosophy
University of Dallas
cynthia.nielsen@gmail.com
Academic History
University of North Florida
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Bachelor of Music, Jazz Studies
Jacksonville, FL
Graduated magna cum laude
University of Texas
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12 hours of graduate coursework (philosophy)
Arlington, TX
University of Dallas
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M.A. Philosophy (August, 2006)
doctoral student of philosophy (2006-present)
Irving, TX
Westminster Theological Seminary
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M.A. Religion (May, 2005)
Philadelphia, PA
Graduated summa cum laude.
Moscow State University
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Advanced Language Studies
Moscow, Russia
I studied Russian at MSU (intensive language program for international
students) for 6 months and with a private tutor for 3 years while living in
Moscow.
Portland State University
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Advanced Language Studies
Portland, OR
Teaching Experience
Eastfield College, 2005-present
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Introduction to Western Philosophy
History and Literature of the Bible
University of Dallas, Fall 2008
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Philosophy of the Human Person
Languages
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Biblical Hebrew
German
Koine Greek
Latin
Russian
Awards
McDermott Fellowship in Philosophy
University of Dallas, 2007-present
Edwin L. Jones Graduate Fellowship
Westminster Theological Seminary, 2005-2006
Graduate Fellowship
University of Texas (Arlington), 2004-2005
Various Undergraduate Music Scholarships
Northlake College, University of Texas (Arlington), University of North Florida, 19891994
Papers Presented & Published Works
Article
“What Has Coltrane to Do With Mozart: Towards a Positive View of Indeterminacy and
Built-In Flexibility,” Expositions: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities
(currently under editorial review, 2009)
Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting
“Paul and Slavery: Submit, Subvert or Something In-Between?”
Date: Nov. 2009
Review
Jeremy S. Begbie. Resounding Truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of Music. Grand
Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007. (Forthcoming, American Catholic Philosophical
Quarterly).
Article
"St. Augustine on Text and Reality (and a Little Gadamarian Spice)," Heythrop Journal
Vol 50 issue 1 (Jan 09): 98-108.
Villanova University: 33rd Annual Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference
"Scotus and the Will as a Self-Determining Active Power”
Date: Oct, 2008
Review
Edward T. Oakes (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Hans urs Von Balthasar.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. (American Catholic Philosophical
Quarterly, Issue No. 2, Vol. 82, Spring 2008, pp. 374-378).
Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, Friendship: Quests for Character,
Community and Truth
"A Glimpse at Christocentric Friendship in the Heartbeat of Hans Urs von Balthasar"
Date: Oct, 2007
Villanova University: 32nd Annual Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference
"St. Augustine on Text and Reality (and a Little Gadamerian Spice)"
Date: Oct, 2007
University of Dallas: IPS Colloquium
“Hermeneutical Continuities: St. Augustine and Hans-Georg Gadamer”
Date: Oct, 2007
Review
Louis Dupré's, The Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations of Modern Culture
(New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 2004). [Philotheos 6 (2006)].
Date: 2006
Midwest Regional Conference of the Society of Christian Philosophers (Notre Dame)
"Does God's Incomprehensibility Combined with Human Finitude (and
Fallen-ness) Make Reasonable (a qualified) Fideism and a Certain Kind of Defeat
Immunity?"
Date: 2006
Review
James K.A. Smith. Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and
Foucault to Church. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006.
(American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Issue No. 4, Vol. 80, Fall 2006, pp. 642646).
Baylor University; "The World and Christian Imagination"
The Anti-Enlightenment Nature of Jazz: Embracing Particularity and Universality,
Freedom and Form, Tension and Resolution
Date: Fall, 2006
Midwest Meeting of the Society of Christian Philosophers (Lincoln Christian College)
"Plantinga's Construal of Calvin's Sensus Divinitatis"
Date: Spring, 2005
Review
Jean-Luc Marion. Being Given. Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press, 2002.
(Ars Disputandi: The Online Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Vol. 5 (2005),
http://www.ArsDisputandi.org. ISSN 1566-5399).
Review
James K.A. Smith. Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-secular Theology.
Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004. (Christian Scholar's Review, Number 1, Vol. XXXV, Fall
2005).
Texas State University Philosophy Symposium
"A Fresh Look at Newton's Laws"
Date: Spring, 2004
Societies & Clubs
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American Catholic Philosophical Association
Calvin Studies Society
National Council for Black Studies
North American Society for Philosophical Hermeneutics
North Texas Philosophical Association
Society for Continental Philosophy and Theology
Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy
Society for Philosophy in the Contemporary World
Society for the Study of Africana Philosophy
Research Interests
Philosophy/Phenomenology of Race, Philosophical Hermeneutics, Biblical
Hermeneutics, Philosophy of Music, Augustine, Duns Scotus, Postmodern Philosophy
Career Goals
I am currently a doctoral student of philosophy at the University of Dallas. Upon
graduating, I hope to teach and mentor university students and to continue to publish.