WELCOME TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
RELIGION & PHILOSOPHY
-
Program Overview
The Department of Religion and Philosophy offers both major and minor programs in Philosophy and Religion. Through these programs, the department seeks to provide inquiry into the ideas, beliefs and values that have shaped human history. Steeped in the liberal arts and consistent with the mission of the University, departmental programs offer opportunity for students to engage in critical thinking while cultivating the growth and development of the whole person. Over the last ten years fifty-four percent of our graduates in Religion and sixty-six percent of our graduates in Philosophy have gone on to advanced studies.
- Faculty Profiles
Bishop Thomas B. Stockton
Bishop Stockton serves as Bishop in Residence. In this capacity he works with students, parents, administrators, and faculty as the institution seeks to
better serve students and honor its responsibilities as a private, church - related university. He also preaches for Chapel worship services several times
each semester.
Bishop Stockton's formal education includes degrees from Davidson College, Duke University Divinity School, and study at Cambridge University. Pfeiffer University and Shennendoah University have awarded him honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees. Dr. Stockton served as Bishop, of The Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, 1988-1996. He serves as a Trustee of High Point University, and his experience includes service with distinction to six churches in the Western North Carolina Conference, the last of which were Wesley Memorial in High Point and Myers Park in Charlotte.Dr. Hal Warlick
Dean of the Chapel
Professor of Religion
(336) 841-9241
hwarlic@highpoint.edu
Dr. Warlick came to the University in 1989. He has served as Director of Ministerial Studies and Lecturer in Applied Theology in Harvard University Divinity
School and has taught in a number of universities, including UCLA, The University of Toronto School of Theology, and Union Theological Seminary, Virginia.
His pastoral experiences include serving as senior minister of churches in North Carolina, Texas, and South Carolina.
For seven years Dr. Warlick served as Guest American Summer Preacher for Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, United Church of Canada, Toronto. Dr. Warlick has authored sixteen books and his sermons and articles have appeared in over thirty journals and periodicals.
At High Point University Dr. Warlick teaches courses in Biblical studies, ethics, and Christian worship. He holds degrees from Furman University, B.A., Harvard University, S.T.B., and Vanderbilt University, D.Div. He is an ordained elder in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.Dr. Clinton D. Corcoran
Chair of the Department
(336) 841-4527
ccorcora@highpoint.edu
CV
Dr. Corcoran began teaching in the Department of Religion and Philosophy in 1991. He was promoted to Professor in 2003. He teaches courses in world
religions, ethics and philosophy. His specialty is in the history of philosophy, particularly Ancient Philosophy. Dr. Corcoran has taught the following
courses: Social Ethics, Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Modern Philosophy, Contemporary Philosophy, Existentialism, Logic and Critical Thinking, World
Religions, and World Religions and Eastern Philosophies.
Dr. Corcoran has presented numerous papers at professional conferences during the past three years and he has recently had a paper published by Nikephoros, "Wrestling and the Fair Fight in Plato". He presented a paper entitled "Theophrastus, Aristotle, Simplicius, and Heidegger on the Anaximander Fragment" at Fordham University in the Fall of 2008.
Dr. Corcoran is Chair of High Point's Academic Planning Committee and he serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees at New Garden Friends School and he is President of the North Carolina Philosophical Society.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Skidmore College, he holds a Ph.D. from Emory University.Dr. Carole B. Stoneking
Dean of the College of Arts & Science
Dr. Stoneking came to High Point University in 1991, was awarded tenure in 1999, and was promoted to Professor in 2002. She teaches courses in Biblical
studies, women's studies, ethics, and religion in America. Dr. Stoneking is an ordained minister and elder in the Western North Carolina Conference of the
United Methodist Church. She is a charge conference member of West Market Street United Methodist Church, Greensboro.
Dr. Stoneking serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Christian Bioethics. She has published articles in Christian Century, Christian Bioethics, and Studies in Christian Ethics. She has contributed a chapter to Aging, Spirituality, and Religion, vol. 2 (Fortress Press, 2003), Melvin A. Kimble and Susan H. McFadden, eds. She has co-edited and authored Growing Old in Christ (Eerdmanns, April, 2003) with Stanley Hauerwas and Keith Meador. Dr. Stoneking is contributing a chapter to Companion to Christian Ethics (Blackwell, 2004).
Dr. Stoneking serves on the Educational Policies Committee of High Point University. She holds degrees from Rhodes College, B.A., and Duke University, M.Div. and Ph.D., and is an active member of the Society of Christian Ethics and the American Academy of Religion.Dr. Phil Norwood
Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy
(336) 841-4634
pnorwood@highpoint.edu
Dr. Phillip Norwood joined the department of Religion and Philosophy in 1998 after serving as adjunct instructor for the department since 1992. He teaches
courses in Biblical studies, philosophy and ethics. His teaching experience includes adjunct relationships with Catawba College, Davidson County Community
College, and Guilford Technical Community College. In addition to his teaching experience, Dr. Norwood is an ordained United Church of Christ minister.
Before joining the faculty at High Point University he served congregations in North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina. He is a former member of the
Board of Directors for the Western Association of the Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ.
Dr. Norwood holds the B.A. from High Point University, M.Div. and Th.M from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary at Wake Forest, N.C. and the D.Min. from Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, S.C. in conjunction with the Atlanta Association of Theological Schools. His educational background also includes pastoral counseling courses through Dorothea Dix Hospital, Raleigh, N.C. and the Anderson Hospital, Anderson, S.C.Dr. Chris Franks
Assistant Professor of Religion
Pre-ministerial Advisor
(336) 841-4501
cfranks@highpoint.edu
CV
Mr. Franks joined the department in 2003 as Instructor in Religion and Philosophy. In 2004 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Religion. He teaches
courses in the history of Christian thought, Biblical studies, ethics, and religion in America. He specializes in the history of theology and ethics,
especially ancient and medieval theology. He is an ordained minister in the Western North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church and his Charge
Conference is First United Methodist Church, High Point. He has served as parish minister of Methodist churches in Dinas Powys and Penarth, Wales. His
published work has appeared in the Journal of Religion and Modern Theology.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University, he also holds the Certificate of Medieval Studies from Catholic University of America, and M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from Duke University. He is also an active member of Society of Christian Ethics and the American Academy of Religion, and serves on the Educational Policies Committee Committee at High Point.Thaddeus M. Ostrowski
Assistant Professor of Religion and Philosophy
(336) 841-9410
tostrows@highpoint.edu
Mr. Ostrowski joined the department in the fall of 2007. He teaches courses in theological ethics and philosophy. Mr. Ostrowski's academic interests include
Catholic moral theology, virtue ethics, and religious autobiography. Mr. Ostrowski is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Boston College, has a Master of
Theological Studies from Vanderbilt Divinity School, and looks forward to receiving his Ph.D. in Moral Theology from Boston College in the near future.Dr. Pamela Hedrick
Assistant Professor of Religion
(336) 841-4537
phedrick@highpoint.edu
CV
Dr. Hedrick is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she majored in Classics. She earned an MA from Wake Forest
and a Ph.D. from Baylor University. Her specialty is Christian origins. Her dissertation, "The Christ is Jesus: Metamorphosis, Possession, and Johannine
Christology," is published by the Society of Biblical Literature. Dr. Hedrick is presiding over the Book of Acts Section of the National Society of Biblical
Literature for three meetings from 2006 to 2008. Dr. Hedrick started with the Department in the Fall of 2008.Dr. Amy MacArthur
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
(336) 841-9072
amacarth@highpoint.edu
Dr. MacArthur has an MA in Philosophy and a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University. She received her Ph.D. in Philosophy from University of
California-Riverside. Dr. MacArthur wrote her dissertation on "The Duty of Self-Knowledge in Kant's Ethics" and she has research interests in moral
psychology, free will and moral responsibility, and agency theory. She Joined the Department in the fall of 2008.Mark Toole
Assistant Professor of Religion and Philosophy
(336) 841-9323
mtoole@highpoint.edu
Webpage/Blog
After a three-year appointment at the University of Colorado, Professor Toole will join High Point University's Department of Religion and Philosophy in the
fall of 2009. His passion is exploring the intersection of religious belief, practice, and identity through comparative analysis. Courses he will offer in
the near future examine topics such as Zen Meditation, Pure Land devotionalism, Hindu Philosophy and yoga, and religious fundamentalism and violence.
He holds a B.A. in Sociology from DePauw University and an M. Div. from Chicago Theological Seminary. He expects to complete his Ph.D. in Theology, Philosophy, Cultural Theory and Comparative Religious Studies, from the University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology in 2009.Dr. David Hammond
Instructor, Religion and Philosophy
Ph.D., The Catholic University of America
B.A., University of Notre Dame
dhammond@highpoint.edu
A former Department Chair and member of the Board of Directors of The College Theology Society, Hammond has many years of university teaching experience. His
published articles in philosophy, theology and religion and the arts have appeared in several academic journals in England and the United States. Hammond is
also the editor of a collection of essays entitled "Theology and Lived Christianity" (2000).
Dr. Matthew Brophy
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Dr. Brophy joined the department in the fall of 2010. His specialty is business ethics and he also teaches courses in ethical theory, and social and political philosophy. His current research interests include the application of Rawlsian methodology to the stockholder/stakeholder debate; virtue ethics and corporate cultures; and care ethics related to business ethics.
Some of his selected publications include: Chapter entitled, "Bumfights and Care Ethics," pending publication in Taking Care of Business: Business Ethics and Care Ethics (Springer Press), Essay entitled "Santa's Sweatshop: Elf Exploitation for Christmas," in Christmas & Philosophy (ed. Scott Lowe), Essay "Corporation as Avatar: Maximizing Profits for Principals/Principles" pending publication in Avatar & Philosophy (ed. George Dunn).
Dr. Brophy holds degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara, B.A., California State University, M.A., and the University of Minnesota, Ph.D.Jacob Waldenmaier
Assistant Professor of Religion
Professor Waldenmaier joined the department in the fall of 2010. He specializes in comparative approaches to the study of religion, especially concerning Islam in dialogue with other faiths. Some of his selected publications include: "Embodied Theological Space: An Uncertain Boundary?" British Academy for the Study of Religions Annual Conference, Bangor University, 2009; "Muslim-Christian Cooperation and the Development of the Natural Sciences in Abbasid Baghdad," Seminar Series, Oxford Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, 2009; "Jesus in the World's Religions," DBTS Alumni Day, University of Oxford, 2009.
He holds degrees from Ashland Theological Seminary, M.Div., and the University of Oxford, M.S. in Religion. He also anticipates completing his Ph.D. in Comparative Theology from the University of Oxford this year.Professor Emeritus
Dr. E. Vance Davis
Instructor Religion and Philosophy
Ph.D., Drew University
B.D., Yale University
A.B., High Point College
Mr. Steve Rockwood
Instructor Philosophy
MBA., High Point University
B.S., Guilford CollegeShannon J. LeFever
High Point University
Manager of Chapel Programs
Phone 336.841.9132
slefever@highpoint.edu