Life After Philosophy

Lexi Pintar (nee Zambito) is a 2022 graduate of Mount St. Mary's University, with a BA in Theology, Philosophy, and Latin. She and her husband Jacob are expecting their first child in March 2024. Topics Discussed: Transition from school to the workforce, Work as an integral part of life, Leaving the workforce for home life, Josef Pieper's Leisure the Basis of Culture, Value of community, M...

Monsignor McLean Cummings is Coordinator of Spiritual Formation at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He graduated from Harvard University in 1987 with a philosophy major and completed a Licentiate in Philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1993. He earned a doctorate in Moral Theology in 2009. https://seminary.msmary.edu/index.html https://en.wikipedia.org...

Alex Wakaluk is a software engineer who builds loan origination software for a mortgage company. He graduated in 2017 from Mount St. Mary's University with a double major in philosophy and computer science. He lives in Frederick, Maryland. Topics Discussed: Changing jobs due to stress, Asking stupid questions in order to ask smart questions, Communication with clients, Body-Mind balance, Book...

Fr. Justin Bolger, O.P., is a Dominican Friar and the Chaplain and Director of Campus Ministry at Providence College in Rhode Island. He entered the novitiate for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph in 2012, and graduated from Mount St. Mary’s University in 2013 with a Master of Arts in Philosophical Studies degree. He received his B.T.S. and Masters of Divinity from the Pontifical Faculty of the...

John-Paul Heil is a Core Fellow at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He completed a BA in philosophy, history, and Italian studies in 2015, and subsequently earned an MA and PhD in History from the University of Chicago. He is currently pursuing a MTS degree in Biotechnology and Ethics from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute.

Landon DePasquale is Strategic Clients Director a AmericanEagle.com, a web development company. He graduated from Wheaton College in 2009 with a philosophy major, and is a convert to Catholicism. He offers firearms training at wolfbee.com. Topics Discussed: Intellectual Conversion vs Conversion of the Heart, Living in Harmony with your Beliefs, "Doing Philosophy" vs Living a Well-Ordered Life, Loc...

Matthew Samson is a landman working with oil, gas, and mineral rights, and a Youth Coordinator for a Catholic parish in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He studied in the Mount St. Mary's Seminary philosophy curriculum in 2018-19, and has earned bachelor's degrees in Business Management and Accounting. https://www.landman.org/about/who-we-are/what-is-a-landman Topics discussed: Fides et Ratio, J...

Stephen McGinley is a farmer and philosophy teacher. He graduated in 2010 from Mount St. Mary's University and earned an MTS in 2012 from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. https://goodsoilfarmllc.com/ Topics discussed: Regenerative Agriculture, Philosophy as a Way of Life, Extent of the Modern Rupture, How to Live Tolerably Well

What the Season 1 interviewees are doing after philosophy. 1. Executive Director, Nebraska Catholic Conference 2. Goat Farmer & Middle School Teacher (Private) 3. Litigation Attorney 4. Pastor 5. High School English Teacher (Public) 6. Montessori Elementary Guide 7. Associate Pastor & College Chaplain 8. Cofounder of Media Company 9. Theology Professor 10. Media Design Consultant 11. Accou...

What Olivia, Gary, Fr. Dominic, Jarrod, John, and Anna are doing with their lives (after philosophy). Olivia the Missionary: Episode 15 Gary the Entrepreneur: Episode 10 Fr. Dominic the Professor: Episode 12 Jarrod the Industrial Engineer: Episode 11 John the Accountant: Episode 14 Anna the Media Consultant: Episode 13

Olivia Prevost is an urban missionary with Christ in the City, serving the homeless population of Denver, Colorado. She graduated in 2022 from Mount St. Mary's University with a philosophy major. Topics Discussed: daily activities as a missionary; individual relationships vs systematic solutions; poverty of loneliness; Chris Arnade's book Dignity; how her ministry is an extension of her ph...

John Zalesky is a government accountant, husband, and father living in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was a Catholic seminarian from 2014-2016 and earned a Master of Arts in Philosophical Studies degree from Mount St. Mary's University (Class of 2017). Topics Discussed: the work world before & after studying philosophy; "meaningful work"; integration and living a well ordered life;...

Anna Bradley works in digital design consulting as a Web Content Strategy Director at Reingold Inc. in Virginia. She graduated in 2016 from Mount St. Mary's University with a double major in Philosophy and Criminal Justice and then earned an MBA. Topics Discussed: what her job is like; usefulness of logic; going from philosophy to business study; experiences of women in philosophy; advice to curre...

Fr. Dominic Verner, O.P. , is Assistant Professor of Theology at Providence College and a 2011 graduate of Mount St. Mary's University with a Master of Arts in Philosophical Studies degree . He entered the Dominican order in 2010, was ordained a priest in 2016, and earned his Ph. D. in Moral Theology from the University of Notre Dame in 2022. Topics Discussed: philosophy in his vocation story;...

Jarrod Thome is Manager, Global Operations Strategy and Standards at the McDonald's corporation. He earned a BA in philosophy (2005) from Conception Seminary College, and later a MBA and a Master's in industrial engineering. He lives in Wichita, Kansas with his wife and four daughters. Topics Discussed: Jarrod's education & career trajectory; raising 2 sets of twin daughters; what...

Gary Gasse is the cofounder of Coronation Media in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and a 2012 graduate of Mount St. Mary's University with a double major in philosophy and theology. Topics Discussed: Founding a company right out of college; choosing a philosophy major; benefits of liberal arts education for creative & business work; how businesses live or die by their culture; no regrets; thinking &...

This is some of what you’ll hear on the Life After Philosophy podcast. Tom tells us about the philosophical roots of his public policy work Rebecca shares how studying philosophy prepared her for law school Brian says every part of his life was changed by philosophy Olivia mentions an important insight from the philosopher Martha Nussbaum that informs her high school teaching today And we might ha...

Fr. Chiedozie (Dozy) Ononuju is a newly ordained Catholic priest of the diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Born in Nigeria, he came to the United States in 2010 and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Bucknell University before enrolling in Mount St. Mary's Seminary in 2017. He was ordained in 2023 and is now associate pastor at St. Patrick Catholic Church and c...

Tom Crowe is a Montessori guide in Steubenville, Ohio, and cohost, with his wife Noelle, of the American Catholic History Podcast. He studied philosophy as a seminarian at Mount St. Mary's Seminary from 2005-2007. Topics Discussed: living life With (not After) philosophy; hands, intellect, love; Montessori teaching philosophy; synthesis as grasping reality as a whole; importance of good classm...

Olivia Aungst teaches English at Catoctin High School in Thurmont, Maryland. She was a Philosophy and English double major at Mount St. Mary's University (Class of 2014), where she studied with the late Prof. Trudy Conway. Olivia wrote her honors project on on Thomas Aquinas' virtue of misericordia in light of Portia's speech on mercy in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Topics Discussed: valu...

Fr. Joshua Miller is a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Joliet. He is the pastor of parishes in Coal City and Braidwood, Illinois. He studied philosophy in the seminary pretheology curriculum at Conception Seminary College from 2004-2006. Topics Discussed: his prior study for a Ph. D. in English Literature (Derrida!), reading philosophy to feed a hunger for truth, relevance of philosophy to theol...

Rebecca Schisler-Adams is a real estate attorney in Annapolis, Maryland. She graduated from Mount St. Mary's University in 2017 with a double major in philosophy and sociology, and from law school at Catholic University of America in 2020. She practices civil litigation with the firm of Council Baradel, located in downtown Annapolis. She is married to another Mount grad and they have a 9 month old...

Brian Fink is a homesteader, goat farmer, and middle school teacher in Michigan. He earned an M.A. in Philosophical Studies from Mount St. Mary's University (Class of 2010), and is a former seminarian. Topics Dicussed: living an integrated life, applied philosophy, freedom, benefits of still reading philosophy, advice for anxious zoomers, and philosophy as an antidote to modern malaise. The video...

Emma Weinheimer was a student worker in the Mount St. Mary's University Philosophy Department office for 4 years. She earned a B.A. from Mount St. Mary's University (Class of 2022) with a communications major and a philosophy minor. Topics Discussed: working in the department, "I think" vs "I feel," acting early if you choose a Philosophy major, the importance of relationships in education, reduci...

Tom Venzor is Executive Director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference. He earned an M.A. in Philosophical Studies from Mount St. Mary's University (Class of 2016) and is a former seminarian. Topics Discussed: how public policy is philosophy in disguise, role of philosophy in seminary formation, relation of philosophy to politics, how philosophy makes us more human, importance of the affective/emoti...