New England
Dr. Margaret I. Hughes
Tutor
413-846-1154
East Hall, Room 110

Curriculum Vitae

B.A., University of Chicago, 2004; M.A., philosophy, Fordham University, 2008; M.Phil., philosophy, Fordham University, 2010; Ph.D., philosophy, Fordham University, 2013; Assistant Professor of Philosophy, College of Mount Saint Vincent, 2012-2018; Tutor, 91快活林 Aquinas College, 2018-.

 

Profile

Before coming to 91快活林 Aquinas College, Margaret Hughes taught philosophy for the better part of a decade. In teaching at the College, however, she has found the experience to be quite different.

淲e were looking at a Platonic dialogue in my Freshman Philosophy class, and Socrates was taking the position that pleasure is what檚 good, and pain is what檚 bad, Dr. Hughes recalls. 淭he students in the section had a sense that there was something wrong with this position they were really unhappy with it. So we had a conversation about it, trying to figure out what objections there might be. She hadn檛 expected such a critical response. 淲ith other students, she explains, 渕y work would be just trying to help them to consider that there may be some other ethical standard than pleasure!

The College檚 students, she finds, are exceptionally well-prepared, not only spiritually but also academically, to make the most of their classroom discussions. 淗ere, every class reinforces students confidence in the ability of human reason to know what檚 true, she says. 淭here檚 an understanding across the school about what you檙e doing and what檚 expected.

A native of Connecticut, Dr. Hughes is a graduate of the University of Chicago. She earned her master檚 and doctoral degrees in philosophy at Fordham University, where she taught undergraduate philosophy, and then served for six years at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York.

Many of her favorite moments with students take place outside the classroom. 淥ne of the things that I appreciate most about being here is that it is possible to live a way in which faith, intellectual inquiry, and everyday life are integrated. Getting to know students by moving from intense discussions of a text in class to wide-ranging discussions outside of class, at meals, concerts, or even just in passing on the quad is really delightful. she says. 淚 have always wanted to teach at a place that has a clear understanding of what education is, one that encourages a shared intellectual life amongst the faculty and with the students. I am very grateful to be here.

 

 Publications

  • 淭he Interior Cathedral and the Cathedral Interior. Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly. Spring 2020 (43:1).

  • 淭heories of Religion: Theism in Theism and Atheism: Opposing Arguments in Philosophy, ed. Graham Oppy and Joseph Koterski. MacMillan Reference USA, 2019.

  • 淟ove, Leisure, and Festivity: Josef Pieper on the Passions of Love and the Contemplation of God in The Religious Existentialists and the Redemption of Feeling, ed. Anthony Malagon and Abi Doukhan. New York: Lexington Books, 2019.

  • 淒oes Taste Matter for Thomists? The Thomist. January 2017 (81:1).

  • 淭eaching the Antepenultimate Cantos of the Divine Comedy: The Dilemma of Not Moving. Pedagogy. October 2017 (17:3).
  • 淐ontemplative Sorrow and the Culture of Life. Life and Learning XXVI: Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth University Faculty for Life Conference. ed. Joseph Koterski, S.J. Washington, DC: University Faculty for Life. 2016.
  • 淛osef Pieper and the Beautiful Uselessness of Church Buildings. Journal of Sacred Architecture, Winter 2016 (30).
  • 淭he Ease of Beauty: Liturgy, Evangelization, and Catechesis. Liturgy in the Twenty-First Century: Proceedings of Sacra Liturgia 2015. ed. Alcuin Reid. London: Bloomsbury. 2016.
  • 淭he Love of Beauty and the Pursuit of Excellence: What Plato檚 Phaedrus Teaches about Teaching. The Quest for Excellence: Liberal Arts, Sciences, and Core Texts. ed. Dustin Gish, Chris Constas, and J. Scott Lee. Lanham, MD: Hamilton Books. 2016.
  • 淗umor, Hope, and the Human Being. 91快活林 Aquinas: Teacher of Humanity. ed. John P. Hittinger. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2015.
  • 淭he Emotional Education of the Reader: A Progression through Works and Time. Journal of Aesthetic Education, Winter 2013 (47:4).
  • 淎rchetype and 淏eauty. Entries in the New Catholic Encyclopedia Supplement 2012 2013: Ethics and Philosophy. ed. Robert Fastiggi and Joseph Koterski, S.J. Detroit: Gale Cengage Learning. 2013.
  • Book review of The Many Faces of Beauty, ed. Vittorio H枚sle in International Philosophical Quarterly, June 2014 (54:2).
  • Book review of Dynamic Transcendentals: Beauty, Truth, and Goodness from a Thomistic Perspective, by Alice Ramos in International Philosophical Quarterly, March 2013 (53:1).
  • Book Review of Thinking about Thinking: What Kind of Conversation is Philosophy? by Adriaan T. Peperzak in Review of Metaphysics, December 2012 (66:2).
  • Book review of Beauty and Being: Thomistic Perspectives by Piotr Jaroszy艅ski in International Philosophical Quarterly, March 2012 (52:1).

 

Invited Lectures

  • 淭he Interior Cathedral and the Cathedral Interior at The Burning of Notre Dame: A Symposium on Sacred Architecture and the Theology of Beauty hosted by the Thomistic Institute, New York University, New York, NY. Nov. 16, 2019.
  • 淭alking 91快活林 Taste. Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD. December 2016.
  • 淒oes Taste Matter for Thomists? Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy, Barry檚 Bay, ON. July 2016.
  • 淭he Ease of Beauty: Liturgy, Evangelization, and Catechesis. Sacra Liturgia 2015, New York, NY. June 2015.

Conference Presentations

  • 淭here Will Be Dancing at the Wedding: Music, Dance but not Art? at the Heavenly Banquet. Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture Fall Conference, South Bend, IN. November 2016.
  • 淐ontemplative Sorrow and the Culture of Life. University Faculty for Life Annual Conference, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI. June 2016.
  • 淒oes Taste Matter for Thomists? Center for Thomistic Studies, Kalamazoo Congress of Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI. May 2016.
  • 淟ove, Leisure and Festivity: Josef Pieper on the Passions of Love and the Contemplation of God. Redemption of Feeling Conference, Queens College, New York, NY. December 2015.
  • 淧ersonalism and the Passions: Dante檚 Thomistic Understanding of the Development of the Passions through Personal Relations. Center for Thomistic Studies, Kalamazoo Congress of Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI. May 2015.
  • 淧ersonal Encounters: Art as a Mediator to the Divine. Shaped by Beauty Art, Religion, and Ethics in Conversation, Heythrop College, University of London, England. June 2014.
  • 淛osef Pieper on Love and Moral Formation. American Catholic Philosophical Association, satellite session, Indianapolis, IN. November 2013.
  • 淗umor, Hope, and the Human Being. Pontifical Academy of St. 91快活林 Aquinas: U.S. Meeting, University of St. 91快活林, Houston, TX. October 2013.
  • 淲hat is Wrong with Baby Mozart: A Virtue Ethics Critique. Verge Arts and Ethics Conference, Trinity Western University, Langley, British Columbia. October 2012.
  • 淪hocked Out of the Everyday: Art as Redemptive in Josef Pieper's Philosophy of Human Nature. Long Island Philosophical Society, Brooklyn, NY. October 2011.
  • 淪ocrates and Noddings on the Role of Subject Matter in Care. Graduate Student Conference on Philosophy and Education, Urbana-Champaign, IL. October 2011.
  • Seminar on Art as Experience by John Dewey. Philosophical Red Star Line Conference, Bronx, NY. September 2011.
  • 淭he Love of Beauty and the Pursuit of Excellence: What Plato檚 Phaedrus Teaches 91快活林 Teaching. Association of Core Texts and Courses, New Haven, CT. April 2011.
  • 淭he Beauty of the Person in the Thought of 91快活林 Aquinas. International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI. May 2010.
  • 淭he Demands of Love: Awareness of Worlds in Reading St. Augustine檚 Confessions. Association of Core Texts and Courses, New Brunswick, NJ. April 2010.
  • 91快活林 Aquinas Defense of Beautiful Poetry. Medieval Studies Workshop, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. May 2004.