Dr. Sean Cridland
Assistant Professor
of Philosophy
Group Leader
Sean Cridland is an assistant professor of political science and philosophy who earned his B.A. in philosophy from Fort Lewis College and his M.A. and Ph.D. in East-West comparative philosophy from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. His dissertation, entitled Of Nothingness and Nomads: An Ecology of Self and Other, was a comparative examination of the effects of French existentialism, Zen Buddhism, and post-modern nomadism on the formation of culture. Cridland's path to the academic world was a circuitous one which included careers in ski racing, teaching skiing, and river guiding, which greatly influenced his decision to study existential, religious, and post-modern philosophies. Similarly, his time in the Four Corners region and in Hawaii have led him to study the philosophical and political interactions of peoples and cultures. Cridland teaches courses in the philosophy of religion, the interaction of religion and politics, post-modern and post-colonial theory, iconoclastic philosophy, and aesthetics. He also teaches a course on the interaction of cultures in the multi-disciplinary Human Heritage program and serves as advisor to both the Philosophy Club and to the Wanbli-Ota Club (which organizes and sponsors the annual Hozhoni Days Native American festival consisting of a pow-wow, speakers series, 5k run/walk, pageant, and basket-ball tournament). Cridland has traveled extensively throughout Europe and New Zealand and has visited Argentina and Fiji for extended stays. In May 1999 he began taking groups of students to Nepal, Tibet, and India for an immersive study of Buddhist imagery, culture, and politics. After returning from Nepal and Tibet in the spring of 2000 he was awarded a Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to Study the Politics, Philosophies, and Culture of India at the East-West Center during June and July of 2000. Dr. Cridland is a member of the Association of Experiential Education and the American Himalayan Foundation. He is also certified as a Wilderness First Responder whose first concern on any trip is safety. Contact Sean Cridland at: cridland_s@fortlewis.edu
Back to Innovative Month May/June 2002: Taj Mahal/Dharamsala/Ladakh