American Philosophy Graduates and Current Students
Graduates
David Agler
Received a BA in Philosophy and in English from IUPUI in 2004. In 2005 he became a Graduate
Assistant at the Peirce Edition Project to work on annotations research related to volume 9 of the
Writings of Charles S. Peirce. Agler received travel grants from the Graduate School and the
Graduate Student Organization to deliver a paper at the 7th International Pragmatism meeting,
São Paulo. In 2006 he received the Kern Award and in the spring or 2007 he will be teaching his
first introductory ethics course within the Philosophy Department. Agler is interested in
pragmatism, semiotics, personal identity, and the thought of Charles S. Peirce and Josiah Royce.
PAPER PRESENTATIONS
 “The Role of Replication in the Growth of Symbols,” 31 Annual Meeting of the Semiotic
Society of America, Purdue University, Sept. 2006.
 Commentary on “Am I My Brother’s Keeper? Royce and Dewey on the Community’s
Responsibility for the Lost Individual” by Albert Spencer. 6th Annual Donald G. Wester
Conference, Oklahoma City, April 2006.
 “The Semiotic Self,” 8th International Pragmatism meeting, São Paulo, Brazil, Nov.
2005.
Sean Brown
Coming from Vincennes University, Brown received his BA from IUPUI. At Vincennes
University he was Student Senate President and he served as the Student Trustee of Vincennes.
Troy Crayton
Received a BA in Philosophy and a BS in Management, both at IUPUI in 2005. He is interested
in religious studies and metaphysics, as well as the theories of William James and Carl Jung.
PAPER PRESENTATIONS
 “On Semeiotic and Human Consciousness,” 31 Annual Meeting of the Semiotic Society of
America, Purdue University, Sept. 2006.
Daniel Kruidenier
Received a BA in Philosophy from Appalachian State University in 1999. After enrolling into
the MA program, Kruidenier became a Graduate Assistant at the Institute for American Thought
through a generous grant from Arthur and Alice Burks, with the assignment to work on the
collection of documents and artifacts related to the ENIAC computers that were previously
donated to the IAT by the Burks’s. In 2006 he got accepted in the PhD program at the university
of South Carolina.
PAPER PRESENTATIONS
 “Is Prophetic Pragmatism Pragmatist?” 28th MidSouth Philosophy Conference, Memphis,
Feb. 2005.
Bonnie Meyer
Bonnie Meyer received a BA degree in English at IUPUI, with a minor in philosophy. She
works as a tutor in the IUPUI Writing Center.
Current Students
Dereck Coatney
Received a … in … from … in … He has been awarded a graduate assistantship at the Institute
for American Thought for 2010-11.
Wes Fenton
Received a B.A. in … from … in …. He has been awarded a teaching assistantship in the
Department of Philosophy for 2010-11.
Michael Griffin
Received a BS in accounting from Purdue University with highest distinction and a JD from IU
Bloomington cum laude. Employed as a professional lawyer in downtown Indianapolis, Griffin
has a strong interest in legal pragmatism and the work of Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Monica Morrison
Received a B.A. in Philosophy from Washington University in 2008. During her undergraduate
studies, she served as treasurer for the student philosophy club, “Philosophia,” as well as
treasurer and editor for the undergraduate philosophy journal, Enquiry. She has been awarded a
graduate assistantship at the Institute for American Thought for 2010-11.
Benjamin Peltz
Received his BA in Philosophy from IUPUI in 2005, having first attended the University of
Iowa. Peltz has worked as a Graduate Assistant for the Santayana Edition to work on annotations
research related to the critical edition of Santayana’s Life of Reason (MIT Press, forthcoming),
and is currently teaching a writing course for the Department of English.
PAPER PRESENTATIONS
 “The Moment of Meaning: Apperception in the Philosophy of Josiah Royce.” 10th
International Pragmatism meeting, São Paulo, Brazil, Nov. 2006.
 Commentary on “Communities, Traitors, and the Feminist Cause” by Kara Barnette. 6th
Annual Donald G. Wester Conference, Oklahoma City, April 2006.
Scott Philotoff
Received a B.A. in Philosophy and in English from Indiana University in …. In 2005 he also got
accepted in the Graduate Certificate Program in Professional Editing.
Steven Takacs
Received a B.A. in … from … in … . In 2010, he graduated with his M.A. in Philosophy with a
concentration in American Philosophy. His thesis is entitled “An Instrumentalist's Guide to the
Perpetuation of Human Individuality.”
Brian Wilson
Received his BA from Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA, in 2000. In 2004 he became a
Graduate assistant at the Peirce Edition Project to work on annotations research related to
volume 9 of the Writings of Charles S. Peirce, as well as other miscellaneous projects. Wilson
received travel grants from the Graduate School and the Graduate Student Organization to
deliver a paper at the 7th International Pragmatism meeting, São Paulo. In 2005, he got accepted
in the Ph.D. Program at Purdue University.
PAPER PRESENTATIONS
 “Peirce's Fallibilism, Realism, and the Scientific Method of Inquiry.” 7th International
Pragmatism meeting, São Paulo, Brazil, Nov. 2004.
Chris Wilson
Received his BA in Philosophy from SUNY-Fredonia in 1994, and a MLS Library and
Information Science, from SUNY-Buffalo in 1995. A former student of Randall Dipert, Wilson’s
main interest is in logic. Employed through the Development Office of the School of Liberal
Arts, Wilson worked part time on the Peirce Edition Project Newsletter.
PAPER PRESENTATIONS
 “The One Law of Mind,” 31 Annual Meeting of the Semiotic Society of America, Purdue
University, Sept. 2006.