Comings and Goings

The beginning of the academic year is a bittersweet time: Summer play is ending and the exciting work of  fall is beginning.  We pause in this moment of change to mark the comings and goings in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies.

We say goodbye to Dr. Anika Simpson, our colleague for twenty years and most recent chair.  Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Simpson was the founding coordinator of the Women and Gender Studies Program at Morgan.  She has moved on to become chair of the Department of Philosophy at Howard University, and we wish her well.  Morgan’s loss is Howard’s gain.

Two of the greatest losses we suffered in the past two years were passing of our colleagues, Dr. Joanna Crosby and Dr. Cliff DuRand.  Dr. Crosby passed away in November 2023, Dr. DuRand in March of that same year.  Look to this page later in the semester for memorials to them.

For the fall semester, we’re very happy to welcome four full-time lecturers: Dr. Ryan Ross, who recently completed his PhD at Johns Hopkins; Mr. Aramias Watson, who is ABD at Georgetown; Ms. Verónica Dávalos, who recently completed her Masters at American University; and Dr. Ed Hostetter, who returns to Morgan after a 17-year absence.  We look forward to working with our new colleagues.