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 Jerry Piven
Background:
Grew up in Larchmont, NY where I spent long hours in Manor Park reading and gazing languidly at the water. I still love to walk there late at night and listen to the sound of the snow falling on the waves. My education is interdisciplinary, having studied philosophy, psychology, religion, and comparative literature. After graduate school I spent four years training at the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis institute. I taught at the New School for Social Research in NY for seven years, offering courses in death, evil, religion, and sexuality. Afterwards I landed at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, where I teach courses in existentialism, philosophy of religion, and psychoanalysis and metaphysics.
Interests/Activities:
The central focus of my research is on the psychology and philosophy of religion, exploring the nature of belief systems, the dynamics of dogma, faith, violence, and apocalyptic eschatologies. For the past several years I've been writing on terrorism and religious violence, querying and debating contemporary notions of what engenders political and theological hostility, the motives for slaughter, the language of hallowed vengeance, killing and dying in the name of love and God.
Publications include Death and Delusion (2004), The Madness and Perversion of Yukio Mishima (2004), Terrorism, Jihad, and Sacred Vengeance (edited collection, 2004), The Psychology of Death in Fantasy and History (ed., 2004), Nihon No Kyoki (November 2007), and Death, Religion, and Evil (ed., 2008).
Other interests: Jazz is my oasis.
Background:
I grew up in the countryside near Dayton, Ohio. I gained early admittance to the University of Delaware's Honors Program, and so, went to college after 10th grade. I actually never graduated from High School. After changing my major from pre-vet to modern language to anthropology, spending time in France, Brazil, and Japan, and changing colleges twice, I graduated from Kent State University. I have a Master's Degree in Physical (Biological) Anthropology from Yale University, having done museum and field work in Wyoming, France, Spain, and Kenya. I am currently finishing my PhD dissertation in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University.
Interests/Activities:
My major research and teaching interests concern the history and philosophy of science, that is, science as a creative human enterprise. Where do scientific ideas, especially scientific genius, come from? How does science influence broader aspects of culture, and vice-versa? What is science, and how might it be different from other forms of knowledge?
I've always been fascinated by animals, and this led naturally to an interest in evolution while I was still very young. Another manifestation is my tendency to keep largish numbers of domestic animals. Over the years, I've had dozens of sheep, goats, horses, cats, and dogs, plus miscellaneous birds, raccoons, gerbils, a chinchilla, etc. I maintain breeding populations of Great Pyrenees and Pyrenean Shepherd dogs, and compete with them at dog shows and other performance events. You can see them at www.geocities.com/pprincehouse/
Comments:
I've been teaching in the College Scholars Program since 1998, and in that time 've seen CSP grow into a mature program that successfully encompasses a wide array of personalities, interests, and projects. It has been a distinct privilege to work with the Junior-year students, and with a stunning procession of dynamite speakers and visitors. I look forward to participating as CSP further expands its horizons in the university and world communities.
 Mano Singham
Background:
I am a dilettante. Starting out in life as a theoretical nuclear physicist, my interests shifted to the question of how best to teach science, and then shifted again to how people learn and what are the conditions that are most conducive to learning. Concurrently, I have had long-standing interests in the history and philosophy of science, and in politics.
I am currently Director of Case's University Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning which enables me to interact with faculty and students from all academic areas, which suits me just fine. I have published two books: "Quest for Truth: Scientific Progress and Religious Beliefs" (2000) (which deals with the philosophy of science and the science-religion conflict); and "The Achievement Gap in US Education" (2005) (which examines the educational and political roots of black-white disprarities in education).
I maintain a blog at http://blog.case.edu/mxs24 where I write about science, history and philosophy of science, religion, politics, the media, education, learning, books, and films. I told you I was a dilettante!
 Sara Waller
Background: I grew up in New Hampshire and I can milk a cow, drive a tractor, and bail hay. I did my undergraduate work in philosophy and psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and my graduate work at Loyola University Chicago. I taught in South Central Los Angeles at California State University and had a visiting scholarship in the Chatterjee neurology laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania before coming to Case in 2005. My areas of interest include Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language, and Philosophy of Cognitive Ethology.
Interests/Activities: My research and scholarship includes a project on dolphin cognition and vocalization, some work on the philosophy of method in cognitive neurology. I also occasionally record coyote vocalizations for the MacAulay Library of Natural Sounds. I am the advisor for the Case Animal Rights and Ethics Society. When I get a chance, I listen to rap & hip-hop.
Comments: I am excited by the potential of the College Scholars Program to gather some of the best minds in the country and focus their powers on creating a better society and ending injustice locally and globally.
 Peter J. Whitehouse
Background:
I am Director of Integrative Studies at Case Western Reserve University in the Department of Neurology and Professor of Cognitive Science, Psychiatry, Neuroscience, Psychology, Nursing, Organizational Behavior and History. I received my undergraduate degree from Brown University and an MD-PhD (Psychology) from The Johns Hopkins University, followed by a Fellowship in Neuroscience and Psychiatry and a faculty appointment at Hopkins.
I moved to Cleveland in 1986 to develop the University Alzheimer Center at Case. In 1999 my wife Catherine and I founded The Intergenerational School, a unique public multiage, community school. The school serves learners of all ages from Cleveland and the surrounding suburbs and is committed to excellence in life long learning and spirited citizenship.
Interests/Activities:
My principal educational interests are to develop innovative learning environments that promote the creation of collective wisdom and which are committed to environmental sustainability and social justice. I'm priviledged to continue my work at the at University Hospitals' Joseph Foley Elder Health Center at Fairhill Center caring for individuals with concerns about their cognitive abilities as they age. Other research interests include the neurobiology of Alzheimer's disease and related conditions, the development of more effective treatments for individuals with cognitive impairment, including drugs and non-biological interventions, ethical issues in the medical profession and integrative health care systems, and the value of reading and writing for cognitive vitality.
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