Academic/Professional/Personal Focus
Areas of Expertise
Dr. Tiberiu Popa studied classical languages and literature at the University of Bucharest as well as at the University of Amsterdam. He taught both Greek and Latin at the University of Bucharest before embarking on a yearlong fellowship at the Hungarian Institute for Advanced Study. As he was becoming increasingly interested in the history of philosophical and scientific ideas, he accepted a Mellon Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh where he pursued a doctorate in an interdisciplinary field, combining philosophy, classics and history of science (he defended his dissertation in 2005).
Contributions: (published works or studies, conference presentations)
Tiberiu Popa’s research and articles focus mainly on classical antiquity, although some of his publications and projects are relevant to contemporary theories and concerns (e.g. in the philosophy of time and philosophy of dispositions).
Butler Assignment (classes or work duties)
While Tiberiu Popa is a specialist in classical philosophy, his interests and teaching competence extend well beyond this area. At Butler University he has taught courses on philosophical topics and fields ranging from Philosophy of Religion and Aesthetics to topics that are close to his ongoing research – Ancient Philosophy, an honors course on the history of the idea of time and an upper level philosophy seminar on the history of the idea of nature. He also teaches Contemporary Moral Issues, Introduction to Philosophy (on a regular basis), and occasionally a civilization course (beginning in the spring of 2008 this will focus exclusively on the ‘invention’ and tribulations of modernity in Europe; his interest in this field is also reflected, among other things, by the Certificate in Western European Studies that he received from the University of Pittsburgh).