After a long search and interview process, visiting assistant professor of philosophy Heidi Savage will begin her tenure track position in August as the newest addition to the department of philosophy. Savage grew up in New Brunswick, Canada, and lived in Nova Scotia for 10 years. She attended the University of Maryland for her undergraduate studies in sociology. She didn’t discover philosophy until near the end of her degree at the University of Maryland, when she added philosophy as a minor and two more years to her undergraduate education.
After attending school, she returned to Canada to earn her master’s degree in philosophy at Dalhousie University. Savage returned to her alma mater to work toward her Ph.D. and spent two years there as a doctoral fellow. Before coming to Geneseo, she worked as a visiting assistant professor at Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia and then held the same position at the University of Rochester.
Savage said she likes Geneseo significantly more than the previous schools and hopes to be teaching here for the rest of her career. According to Savage, the students here are motivated, interested in learning beyond earning grades and are generally sharp and smart students.
She added that Geneseo students are, for the most part, kind and caring people and active and involved members of the community.
Savage said that she was inspired to become a philosophy professor by Duncan MacIntosh, the chair of the philosophy department at Dalhousie University. She said that his funny and engaging class discussions made the material interesting and applicable to her life. She added that he also enjoyed reading his work.
Despite popular belief that a philosophy degree is outdated, Savage listed a plethora of fields for philosophy majors including law, bioethics, programming artificial intelligence and academia. For any students undecided on a major, she said, philosophy can be practical because it teaches logical thinking that can be helpful in any field.
Savage’s advice to students is in the words of comedian and musician Tim Minchin: “Don’t forget to pay attention to what is in your peripheral vision,” she said. Savage herself found philosophy by accident.
“I wasn’t looking for it; it found me,” she said.