Philosophy and Religious Studies Faculty
Department Chairwoman
Sophie Berman, Associate Professor
Education
BA, University of Paris-Nanterre
MA, University of Toulouse
Ph.D., Fordham University
Dr. Berman’s research interests focus on Descartes, Neoplatonism, and the notion of infinity. She has published “Aspects of Infinity in Plotinus and Descartes” in the Journal of Neoplatonic Studies, and lectured locally and nationally on Plotinus, Anselm, Nicholas of Cusa, and Descartes. Her lectures at the Second and Third St. Anselm Conferences, respectively “The Ontological Argument for God’s Existence: Descartes and Anselm” and “Human Free Will in Anselm and Descartes” have been published in the St. Anselm Journal. Dr. Berman is currently working on a book on “Descartes and the Infinite” for which she has signed a publishing agreement with The Edwin Mellen Press. At the College, she has designed three new courses: Women in Philosophy, Business Ethics (in collaboration with the Department of Management), and Neoplatonism. Dr. Berman became Chairman of the Department of Philosophy (now Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) in 2000, and has served on five Faculty Standing Committees (on two of them as Chair). She is a member of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, and an honorary member of the Duns Scotus Honor Society.
Gerald Galgan, Professor
Education
BA, Cathedral College
MA, Fordham University
Ph.D., Fordham University
Professor Galgan’s recent work, focusing on technology and its effect upon human thought and action, stems from his interest in the bearing of medieval theological categories on the origin and development of modern philosophical thought. Co-editor of Perspectives on 9/11(Praeger Greenwood, 2004), Dr. Galgan has published articles in The Maine Scholar, Excelsis, American Philosophical Quarterly, Cross Currents, The New Scholasticism, The Political Science Reviewer, and Commonweal. He is the author of three books: Interpreting the Present (University Press of America, 1993), God and Subjectivity (Peter Lang, 1990), and The Logic of Modernity (New York University Press, 1982). He has appeared on the television show Dialogue on two separate occasions, a two-part series on “The Vision of St. Bonaventure” in 1994, and the 1993 six-part series, “The Mind of St. Augustine.” Senior member of the Department of Philosophy, Dr. Galgan began teaching at St. Francis College in 1966. He served as the Department’s Chairman from 1998 to 2000, and was Assistant Dean of the Humanities for St. Francis College from 2000 to 2002.
Frank Macchiarola, Professor
Education
BA, St. Francis College
LLB, Ph.,D. Columbia University
Frank J. Macchiarola, Ph.D., graduated from St. Francis College in 1962, returning to his alma mater and serving as president from 1996 to 2008. He is now Chancellor of the College. In addition to advising pre-law students and lecturing as part of the mandatory SFC 1001 course, Dr. Macchiarola has also taught religious studies courses. Among Dr. Macchiarola's accomplishments are serving as Chancellor of the New York City Public School system for five years, serving as dean and professor of law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University, being named president and chief executive officer of the New York City Partnership, Inc. and mediating the strike of Local 802 Musicians Union against the League of American Theaters and Producers, which had shut down Broadway.
Priscilla K. Pedersen, Professor
Education
BA, Bryn Mawr College
MA, M. Phil., Ph. D., Columbia University
Education
BA, St. Francis College
MA, The Catholic University of America
Ph.D., Georgetown University
Professor Udoff's scholarly work chiefly concerns the areas of Jewish thought (medieval and post-modern) and the Western philosophical tradition (classical, modern, and post-modern). He has been the contributing editor of volumes on Franz Kafka, Leo Strauss, and Franz Rosenzweig. His published essays include studies of Buber, Celan, and Amery, and questions dealing with ethics, metaphysics, and the Holocaust. Professor Udoff was formerly the founding editor of the series The Culture of Jewish Modernity (Wayne State University Press), and has served as an outside reader and reviewer for some two dozen academic presses and journals. During the course of his academic career, he has delivered more than seventy papers at conferences throughout the United States, Europe, and Israel. Among the Universities at which Professor Udoff delivered guest lectures are: Johns Hopkins University, The University of Amsterdam and Oxford University.
Mary Bolan, Assistant Professor
Education
BS, St. Francis College
MA, St. John's University
Ph.L., Catholic University of America
MD, University of Connecticut
Dr. Bolan has graduate degrees in Philosophy, Theology and Medicine. Before coming to St. Francis College, she was the Assistant Editor of the Theological Journal, Homiletic and Pastoral Review. She has written papers ranging from "The Analogy of Being in Przywara's Polarity," to "The Marian Principle of Unity in the Thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar." She has special interest in medical ethics, and the interrelation of the philosophical and theological disciplines.
Bro. Owen Sadlier, Assistant
Professor
Education
BA, St. Francis College
MA, Catholic University of America
MA, University of Notre Dame
Elaine L. Hurst, Lecturer
Alexandria Egler, Adjunct Professor
Brother Thomas W. Grady, Adjunct Professor