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As part of our commitment to bringing you the latest social-scientific research on religion, GCRR is proud to introduce the Head of our "Philosophy of Religion" division, Professor George Dunn.
Professor Dunn is an accomplished Research Fellow at the Institute for Globalizing Culture (Zhejiang University) and a recognized scholar on René Girard and Chinese religious thought. He studied philosophy at both Purdue University and Christian Theological Seminary. Being well-versed in global approaches to the philosophy of religion, Professor Dunn has held teaching positions at the University of Indianapolis, Purdue University, and Zhejiang University Ningbo Institute of Technology. He has also authored or edited eight books in English, the most recent being A New Politics for Philosophy: Essays on Plato, Nietzsche, and Strauss (2020), co-edited with Mango Tell, and The Philosophy of Christopher Nolan, co-edited with Jason T. Eberl (2019), as well as having served as the English language editor for two bi-lingual (Chinese-English) books.
We highly recommend checking out some of Professor Dunn's more popular work:
As a director, writer, and producer, Christopher Nolan has substantially impacted contemporary cinema through avant garde films, such as Following and Memento, and his contribution to wider pop culture with his Dark Knight trilogy. The Philosophy of Christopher Nolan collects sixteen essays, written by professional philosophers and film theorists, discussing themes such as self-identity and self-destruction, moral choice and moral doubt, the nature of truth and its value, whether we can trust our perceptions of what’s “real,” the political psychology of heroes and villains, and what it means to be a “viewer” of Nolan’s films. Whether his protagonists are squashing themselves like a bug, struggling to create an identity and moral purpose for themselves, suffering from their own duplicitous plots, donning a mask that both strikes fear and reveals their true nature, or having to weigh the lives of those they love against the greater good, there are no simple solutions to the questions Nolan’s films provoke; exploring these questions yields its own reward.
Katniss Everdeen is "the girl who was on fire," but she is also the girl who made us think, dream, question authority, and rebel. The post-apocalyptic world of Panem's twelve districts is a divided society on the brink of war and struggling to survive, while the Capitol lives in the lap of luxury and pure contentment. At every turn in the Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss, Peeta, Gale, and their many allies wrestle with harrowing choices and ethical dilemmas that push them to the brink. Is it okay for Katniss to break the law to ensure her family's survival? Do ordinary moral rules apply in the Arena? Can the world of The Hunger Games shine a light into the dark corners of our world? Why do we often enjoy watching others suffer? How can we distinguish between what's Real and Not Real? This book draws on some of history's most engaging philosophical thinkers to take you deeper into the story and its themes, such as sacrifice, altruism, moral choice, and gender.
Partner with Professor Dunn
If you are, or someone you know is, a philosopher and would like to partner with Professor Dunn in conducting research into the philosophy of religion, send him a message: info@gcrr.org