Faculty

Dr. Crippen has been teaching philosophy in the Philosophy and Religious Studies Department at Fullerton College since 2000. He regularly teaches courses in the History of Philosophy series along with the core Philosophy courses. Dr. Crippen has participated in Learning Communities and the Honors program, advised the Philosophy Club, as well as serving on the Faculty Senate.

Dr. Crippen wrote his dissertation on the topic of the intersection of history and the individual in the Pragmatic philosophical tradition. His areas of interest include the central themes in German and American Philosophy. He is an active member of the American Philosophical Association and the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, and regularly attends and presents at conferences internationally.

Professor Donley, born and raised in Orange County, began his higher education journey at a community college, where he completed his general education requirements. Then, he transferred to Cal State Fullerton, eventually double-majoring in Philosophy and American Studies. This was a formative period enriched by his courses, the mentoring he received from his professors, and the friendships he formed with his classmates. During this time, he decided that he wanted to become a professor.

His graduate experience began at CSUF with a master's degree in American Studies. Afterward, he was admitted to UC Santa Cruz, where he earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. in philosophy. His primary interest in philosophy is ethics (the study of morality). As a child, before he even knew of philosophy, questions about right and wrong, fairness, living a good life, and justice would arise in his mind. He was lucky enough to have parents who nurtured his curiosity and never tired of his "why" questions. After writing an essay on Richard Wright's "The Outsider" in high school, his English teacher suggested that he take a philosophy course in college. He did, and it forever changed the trajectory of his life.

Mr. Fike is especially interested in thought experiments, and the ways in which these are capable of revealing to students the contents of their own minds. Once these contents are apparent, students are free to think about the thinking that is occurring within them. This is often a focus in his introductory courses (Introduction to Philosophy, Introduction to Ethics, Logic and Critical Thinking).

A former foster child and first-generation college graduate educated at Cerritos College, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, UCLA and Columbia University, he empathizes with students who are trying to find their way through academic environments in a manner that will clarify and enhance their long-term objectives.

Mr. Fike likes Joshua Tree (where he now lives), Paris, Edinburgh, modern art, literature, Eastern philosophy, and New York City. In 2002 he was tenured elsewhere but missed California too much to stay away for long.

Personal website: www.larryfike.net

I received my Ph.D. at UC Irvine's logic and philosophy of science program. I wrote my dissertation on the ethical use of AI and machine learning algorithms. In my free time I like to read fiction, run and hug my two cats, Eddie and Peachy.

I received my bachelor's degree from CSUF, my master's from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and my PhD from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. I specialize in metaphysics, particularly on topics concerning the ontological nature, status, function, and explanation of relations and values, with other research concentrations on German Idealism, Anglo-American Idealism, the classic era of American Pragmatism, and Process Philosophy. My own philosophy is idealistic and resembles Leibniz's metaphysics in its broad outlines.

My book The Becoming of Continuity: Whitehead, Deleuze, and the Problem of Relations is published by Palgrave Macmillan. I live in Placentia with my wonderful husband, Gene, and our cats, Blake and Mr. Beekman.

Do you ever find yourself preoccupied with seemingly unanswerable questions, plagued by doubt about, well, everything or spending an inordinate amount of time lost in thought? If so, congratulations: you might be a burgeoning philosopher. Philosophy is an amazing discipline because it offers methodologies for approaching the questions that keep us awake at night: How should we live? Does life, can life, have meaning? What even are we?

In my classes, "philosophy" is a verb. We do philosophy, tackling the big questions critically, creatively and collaboratively through discussions, debates, projects and games. Philosophy classes can also help you improve your academic reading, writing and argument skills. If you're reading this, philosophy is for you, because philosophy is for everyone!

As part of my efforts to see "the big picture," I earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from UC Riverside. Philosophy is both the expression and study of wisdom. My philosophical views have been published in various media, including several articles in peer-reviewed academic journals and original songs that have over a million listens on major streaming platforms.

Although I have taught a wide range of philosophy courses, my focus has been on Logic and Critical Thinking courses for the past decade. Reasoning is an aptitude that helps us figure out what is true, or at least probably true, in a confusing and uncertain world. Our reasoning skills can be vastly improved with guidance and practice, which is the purpose of Logic and Critical Thinking courses.

Professor Ryan joined Fullerton College as full-time faculty in fall 2025. He has taught philosophy since 2014.

Professor Ryan hopes to help address two broad questions through his teaching and research: what gets in the way of successful reasoning, and what can we do to make ourselves more productive reasoners? To do so, he studies critical philosophy (a tradition begun by Immanuel Kant that explores the limits of reasoning), the nature of mental disorder and the impediments to learning to reason well. He co-founded the SoCal Pragmatist Forum, which organizes biannual events.

He is working on two ongoing course-related initiatives that students and the public are encouraged to join. First, Dissensus is a research and civic engagement project that translates academic research into strategies that those who shape our disagreement culture can use to make disagreements more productive. Second, he hosts a reading group on underrepresented philosophical traditions to help make intro-level philosophy courses representative of world philosophy.

Dr. Smith has been a professor of religious studies since 2005. She was hired to a full-time position at Fullerton College in Fall 2020. Prior to that, she has taught around the country, in Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and California.

Dr. Smith's area of expertise is North American religions and cultures, and she teaches classes on all religious traditions. Her primary research is a critical analysis of post-racial and post-ethnic theories of American religious pluralism and extending this analysis to critical pedagogies of religious studies. Dr. Smith is also working on a co-authored manuscript analyzing the various spiritualities emerging within the hula hooping subculture in the United States. Her work has been published in the journal Nova Religio, as well as in several edited volumes.

Dr. Smith has served as the Executive Secretary/Treasurer for the North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR), and on the Board for the Institute for Diversity and Civic Life (IDCL) in Austin, Texas. She is an active member in the American Academy of Religion (AAR) as well.