Jason Grinnell

Jason D. Grinnell, Ph.D.

Chair and Professor Buckham Hall B223
Office: (716) 878-5289
Email: grinnejd@buffalostate.edu

About Jason Grinnell

Dr. Jason Grinnell joined the Buffalo State faculty in fall 2007. His research focuses on applied ethics, character (Aristotelian) ethics, and the philosophy of education. He is currently working on a project addressing ethical issues in the adoption of children, and another on education ethics.

Dr. Grinnell teaches courses on ancient philosophy, professional and applied ethics, and philosophy of race.

Education

Ph.D. (Philosophy): Bowling Green State University, 2006
Dissertation: Biology, Policy, and the Racial Contract. Michael Bradie, Supervisor

M.A. (Philosophy) Bowling Green State University, 1997 

B.A. (History) University of Minnesota, Duluth, 1994

Areas of Interest

Professional ethics, bioethics, ancient philosophy

Publications

  • “Hobbes on the Hudson: Philosophy, Leviathan, New York, Ethics, and the 1970’s.” (with Joseph Marren) Media Ethics. Spring 2014, Vol. 25, No. 2

  • “Aristotle, Eastwood, Friendship, and Death.” The Philosophy of Clint Eastwood. R. McClelland and B. Clayton, (eds.), Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2014.

  • “Came to Do Good, Stayed to Do Well: Professional Ethics in The Wire.” The Wire and Philosophy, D. Bzdak, J.Crosby, S. Vanetta (eds.), Chicago: Open Court Press, 2013.

  • ''Aristotle, Kant, Spike, and Jayne: Ethics and Character in the Whedonverse'' in The Philosophy of Joss Whedon, D. Kowalski and S. Kreider, (eds.), University Press of Kentucky, 2011.

  • "The Ed.D. v.2.0: Reimagining the Doctorate in Education." (with William White) Higher Education and Human Capital: Re/thinking the Doctorate in America, D. Callejo, et al(eds.),. Amsterdam: Sense Publishers, 2011.

  • ''Toward Curricular Coherence.'' (with William White) SUNY Faculty Bulletin, Fall 2010.

  • "Protagoras," in Tom Flynn (ed.), The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief. Amherst: Prometheus Books 2007.

Book Reviews

  • Race, Equality, and the Burdens of History by J. Arthur. Journal of Value Inquiry 44, Issue 2 (2010)

  • Racial Diversity and Social Capital by R. Hero. Journal of Value Inquiry 43, Issue 4 (2009)

Presentations

  • “The Future of the Undergraduate Major” (with Kevin Railey) American Association of State Colleges and Universities Academic Affairs Summer Meeting. July 23-25, 2015

  • “Metaphors and Models: The Future of the Undergraduate Major” (with Kevin Railey) American Association of State Colleges and Universities Academic Affairs Winter Meeting. Feb 5-7, 2015

  • “Three Perspectives on Educational Ecologies: Ethics, Security, and Foundations” (with Alexander Means and William White) 2014 American Association of Teaching and Curriculum National Convention, Tampa, FL, October 9-11, 2014

  • “From Aristotle to Dilbert: Wise Words from Well-known Sages Regarding Best Practices and Standards in Education” (with William White) 2014 American Association of Teaching and Curriculum National Convention, Tampa, FL, October 9-11, 2014

  • “The Virtues of Adam Smith,” Economics and Social Science Seminar, SUNY Buffalo State April 25, 2014

  • “Aristotle and Eastwood: Friends as Refuge,” Exploring Liberty Colloquium, The College of New Jersey, April 4, 2014 

  • “Rethinking Aesthetics and Education” (with William White) 2013 American Association of Teaching and Curriculum National Convention, Chicago, IL, October 10-12, 2013

  • “Critical Curriculum, Critical Character” (with William White) 2013 American Association of Teaching and Curriculum National Convention, Chicago, IL, October 10-12, 2013

  • “Aristotle, Clint Eastwood, and Other-Selves: Aristotelian Ideas of Friendship in the Films ‘Million Dollar Baby’ and ‘Gran Torino’,” University of Northern Iowa Department of Philosophy and World Religions Colloquium Series, Cedar Falls, IA, September 20, 2013

  • “Forced to Be Free?” (with William White), 2012 American Association of Teaching and Curriculum National Convention, San Antonio, TX, October 4-6, 2012

  •  “Bringing Just in Time Teaching to the Humanities” (with John Draeger) International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 2011 Conference: Transforming the Academy Through the Theory and Practice of SOTL, Milwaukee, WI October 20-23, 2011

  • "Education Ethics from Aristotle to Dewey" (with William White), 2011 American Association of Teaching and Curriculum National Convention, Denver, CO, October 13-15, 2011

  • "Legitimacy, Illegitimacy, and Education" (with William White), 2011 American Association of Teaching and Curriculum National Convention, Denver, CO, October 13-15, 2011

  • "Questioning the Questions that Determine School Success" (with William White), 2011 American Association of Teaching and Curriculum National Convention, Denver, CO, October 13-15, 2011

  • "Adoption Asymmetries," American Philosophical Association 2010 Central Division Meeting: American Society for Value Inquiry Session, Minneapolis, MN, March 30-April 2, 2010

  • "Teaching Abstractions with Abstracts," 12th International Conference on Ethics Across the Curriculum: Bioethics and Ethics Across the Curriculum: The Challenges of Teaching, Researching, and Publishing Across Disciplines, Schenectady, NY, October 7-9, 2010

  • "Curricular Coherence" (with William White), 2010 American Association of Teaching and Curriculum National Convention, St Louis, MO, October 7-10, 2010

  • “Secrecy, Adoption, and Respect,” Third International Conference on Adoption and Culture: Adoption, Secret Histories, Public Policies, Cambridge, MA, April 29-May 2, 2010

  •  “Reimagining Graduate Studies in Education” (with William White), 2009 American Association of Teaching and Curriculum National Convention, Arlington, VA, October 1-3, 2009

  • “An Inconvenient Truth: The Impossibility of Multi-cultural Education” (With William White), 2008 American Association of Teaching and Curriculum National Convention, Austin, TX, October 9-11, 2008

  • “Biology, Race, and Social Policy,” University of Minnesota-Duluth Philosophy Department Colloquium Series, Nov 26, 2002

  • “Bad Biology, Bad Policy: Why Michael Levin’s Science Doesn’t Get Him His Society,” Purdue University Contesting the Racial Contract Symposium, March 22-24, 2001

  • “Heritability and Social Policy,” St. Norbert College Philosophy Colloquium Series, November 20, 2000

  • “Race and Free Will” (with James Stacey Taylor), Kentucky State University Institute for Liberal Studies Science and Culture Conference, March 2000 

Work in Progress

  • Ethics in an Age of Accountability (with William White)--- Book proposal for an edited volume on ethical issues in education

  • ''Parental Sovereignty and Children''--- An analysis of the concept of parental sovereignty and its effect on reproductive ethics

  • ''Habits of Mind and Curricula'' (with William White) --- An exploration of  the meaning and purpose of education in terms of those habits of mind that foster genuine and meaningful learning

  • "Socially Constructed Natural States"--- an analysis of the role Aristotelian essentialism plays in socially constructed racial categories.