Faculty Biography - Michael Paradiso-Michau

Michael Paradiso-Michau

Lecturer

B.A. Lewis University
M.A. Governor State University
M.A. Purdue University
Ph.D Purdue University 

847.635.1950
mmichau@oakton.edu
Room 2430 Des Plaines

Personal Statement

I was awarded the Ph.D. in Philosophy and Literature at Purdue University in 2008. I also hold an MA in Philosophy (Purdue University, 2003) and an MA in Political and Justice Studies (Governors State University, 2001). My undergraduate studies were conducted at Lewis University, majoring in Philosophy and Criminal-Social Justice. My areas of scholarly and pedagogical specialization include nineteenth and twentieth century Continental European philosophy, value theory, and philosophy of religion. I am the author of a number of journal articles, book chapters, and book reviews, and the forthcoming book The Ethical in Kierkegaard and Levinas (Continuum International Publishers).

I have taught at a number of colleges and universities in Indiana, Ohio, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and now Illinois. Most recently, I was Malvin and Lea Bank Postdoctoral Fellow in Jewish Studies and Philosophy at Penn State University. One of my guiding lessons in teaching was learned from the nineteenth century Danish thinker Soren Kierkegaard, who struggled to find his readers where they were, and to begin the conversation from there. I aim to find a student where he or she is, and strongly encourage the successful development of critical reading, writing, and thinking skills.