Curriculum Vitae Dr. Walter Robinson Greetings: I am a Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy and Religion having received said degree in 1993 from the California Institute of Integral Studies, which has been accredited since 1981 by the Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Haridas Chaudhuri founded the Institute in 1968 as the California Institute of Asian Studies. The name was changed to reflect an expanding curriculum that went beyond but included Asian Studies. Dr. Chaudhuri was a student of Sri. Aurobindo, a leading Hindu philosopher whose school of thought is called “Integralism.” For Aurobindo Integral means “essential to wholeness” — thus integral studies express a unifying vision that sees beyond duality of mind and body, spirit and matter, to a unity in non-duality My dissertation, Primal Tao and Civilized Ethos, focused on Philosophical Taoism. Its thesis is that, if one assumes “Tao” as normative, then one would view modern conditions as pathological. On the other hand, Primal Ethos, that is to say the ethos of many indigenous tribal people, would be viewed as mostly healthy and having values consistent with the Tao. My doctoral work specialized in applying the Tao Te Ching and other classical works in Taoism, to cross-cultural understanding. I have been trained to read and translate classical Chinese into English. From Indiana University I have earned a B.A. in Philosophy and a M.S. in Philosophy of Education. My undergraduate interest was Non-Western perspectives on Western Thought. My studies of Western Thought included intellectual history from ancient philosophy leading up to and through Post-modern. By Non-Western I mean Eastern Thought and indigenous philosophies such as may be found among Native Americans. I am of Cherokee descent and grew up with an interest in Native American culture. I have been active in the Native American Church, and have been educated in several forms of Native American religions. In 1988 I taught at the Rough Rock Demonstration School in the Navajo Nation. This school was the first Native-American-run school with a cross-cultural curriculum that included Navajo culture, language and religion. After this I served in the Peace Corps teaching philosophy and social science at the National University of Samoa. When living in San Francisco I entered Zen practice through the Zen Center of San Francisco. I became a member of the Hartford Street Zen Center, which is affiliated with the Zen Center of San Francisco. The Hartford Street Zen Center is both a Zen Temple and a hospice. Hence as part of my Zen training I worked with issues of death and dying. After I received my Ph.D, I became a resident scholar at the Zen Center of Los Angeles studying under Maezumi Roshi. I lived two years as a Zen Buddhist monk after which I became ordained as a Soto Zen Priest through the Sanshin Zen Community under Rev. Shohaku Okumura. My current interests include cross-cultural philosophies, philosophical psychology of religion, Asian and American Indian philosophies and religions, and environmental ethics based on Deep Ecology. I am on the associate faculty in the Philosophy Department and the Native American and Indigenous Studies program at Indiana University School of Liberal Arts. I have taught: Introduction to Philosophy, Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, Buddhist Philosophy, Philosophies of China, American Indian Philosophies, and a variety of courses on Non-Western Philosophies. I have a book published: Primal Way and the Pathology of Civilization. Walter Robinson IUPUI Philosophy Department 425 University Blvd. Indianapolis In. 462002 warobins@iu.edu Phone 317/ 439-2201
Introduction to Philosophy, Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, Buddhist Philosophy, Philosophies of China, American Indian Philosophies, and a variety of courses on Non-Western Philosophies
Primal Way and the Pathology of Civilization.
Non-Western philosophical psychology of religion; Asian and American Indian philosophy and religion; Environmental ethics, Zen.
