Cynthia R. Nielsen
PhD Candidate
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 Dallas
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M.A. Philosophy (August, 2006)
doctoral student of philosophy (2006-present)
Irving, TX
Westminster 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
Courses Taught
Eastfield College, 2005-present
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Introduction to Western Philosophy
History and Literature of the Bible
University of Dallas
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Philosophy of the Human Person (Fall 2008)
Philosophy and the Ethical Life (Fall 2009, Fall 2010)
Philosophy of Being (Spring 2010)
Non-credit Continuing Education Courses
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Augustine's Confessions (books I-IX, St. John's Episcopal Church, Summer 08)
From Modernism to Postmodernism (Redeemer Seminary, Summer 08)
Reading Languages
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Biblical Hebrew
French
German
Koine Greek
Latin
Russian
Awards
McDermott Fellowship in Philosophy
University of Dallas, 2007
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
North Texas Philosophical Association, Annual Conference
"Phenomenological Reflections on Music as Performed: Embracing Continua and
Deconstructing Dichotomies"
Date: April 2010
National Council for Black Studies, 34th Annual Conference
“Fanon and the Quest for a Phenomenology That Saves Difference”
Date: March 2010
Article
“What Has Coltrane to Do With Mozart: The Dynamism and Built-in Flexibility of
Music,” Expositions Vol 3 No 1 (August 2009): 57-71.
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. American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 84:1 (Winter
2010): 166-68.
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 82:2 (Spring
2008): 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
80:4 (Fall 2006): 642-646.
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 Academy of Religion
American Catholic Philosophical Association
National Council for Black Studies
North American Society for Philosophical Hermeneutics
North American Society for Social Philosophy
North Texas Philosophical Association
Society for Continental Philosophy and Theology
Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy
Research Interests
Philosophy/Phenomenology of Race, Philosophical Hermeneutics, Philosophy of
Music, Postmodern Philosophy, Cultural Criticism, Michel Foucault, Augustine
Career Goals
Upon completing my terminal degree, I hope to secure a tenure-track teaching position,
and to continue to publish and mentor students.