Cynthia Krkoska-Nielsen

Cynthia R. Nielsen has taught philosophy at the university level since 2005. Prior to her appointment at UD, she was a Catherine of Sienna Teaching Fellow at Villanova University, where she taught courses in the Ethics Program, Honors College, and the Peace and Justice Program. Nielsen’s research focuses on hermeneutical philosophy, especially the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer. Her interest in hermeneutics applies to a broad range of topics, including aesthetics, ethnomusicology, social and political philosophy, Ukrainian Studies, cultural and political resistance in conflict situations, and postcolonial studies. Her most recent monograph is Gadamer’s Hermeneutical Aesthetics: On Art as a Performative, Dynamic, Communal, Event (Routledge, Oct. 2022), which brings Gadamer’s hermeneutical aesthetics into conversation with the montages and collages African American artist Romare Bearden, Banksy’s street art, and avant-garde expressions of jazz.

Areas of Expertise

• Philosophical Hermeneutics (esp. Hans-Georg Gadamer), Aesthetics, Social & Political Philosophy, Philosophies of Resistance

Education

• Ph.D., Philosophy, University of Dallas, 2011
• M.A., Philosophy, University of Dallas, 2006
• Graduate Studies in Humanities and Philosophy, University of Texas at Arlington, 2003–2004
• Advanced Russian Studies, Moscow State University, 1997–1998
• B. Music, Jazz Studies and Performance, University of North Florida, 1994

Academic Appointments

• Catherine of Sienna Teaching Fellow, Villanova University, 2012–14

Research Interests

• Philosophical Hermeneutics (esp. H-G Gadamer)
• Aesthetics
• Social & Political Philosophy
• Ukrainian Studies
• Eastern European Dissident Thinkers
• Cultural and Political Resistance in Conflict Situations

Recent Courses

• PHI 1301 Philosophy and the Ethical Life
• PHI 2323 Philosophy of the Human Person
• PHI 3311 Philosophy of Being
• PHI 3345 From Modern to Postmodern
• PHI 3346 Contemporary Philosophical Approaches
• PHI 3351 Junior Seminar: Gadamer
• PHI 4341 Senior Seminar: Philosophy of Music
• PHI 4342 Senior Thesis
• PHI 6341 TS/Hermeneutical Traditions: Heidegger and Gadamer
• PHI 5332 Philosophy of Technology
• PHI 7377 Hermeneutics and Language
• PHI 7381 20th Century German Philosophers of Art (Directed Reading)
• PHI 7381 Gadamer, Hermeneutics, and Intellectual Disability (Directed Reading)
• PHI 7381 Gadamer’s Hermeneutical Aesthetics (Directed Reading)
• PHI 3332/5301 Aesthetics (spring 2020)
• PHI 7381 Kierkegaard (Directed Reading)
• IPS 8352 Hegel, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky
• PHI 4339 Information Ethics
• PHI 7381 Critical Theory and Hermeneutics (Directed Reading)