Educational Background

Ph.D. in Philosophy

University of St. Andrews/Scotland   

M.A. in Theology

M.A. Equivalency

       Major: Latin and Theology

Teaching Style:

My personal experiences as a European who has lived in various states in the USA considerably influence the content of my teaching. A global world, characterized by a great diversity of multicultural roots, worldviews, beliefs, and philosophies, is in the center of this endeavor to explore new ways of seeing this world, thinking about it and critically assessing it. Philosophy and Religious Studies offer a most colorful field to start such an exploration. As a teacher, I strive to promote an environment characterized by considerable flexibility and freedom to develop creative thought as well as a structured framework of responsibility and respect for students and the teacher. The goal is to encourage students to think critically, engage in rigorous reasoning, and construct knowledge while interacting with texts, other people, as well as diverse media that inspire interest to investigate and challenge key questions and ideas in human life. Such fundamental engagement with beliefs, ideas, and knowledge ideally fosters critical reflection in which the teacher and the students become learners.

Areas of Research Interest:

• Visuality, Texuality, and Imagination
• Philosophy of Art
• Religion in a Global Environment

Publications:

• Richter, Kent, E. Eva Maria Räpple, John C. Modschiedler, R. Dean Peterson. Understanding Religion in Global Society. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2005.

• Räpple, Eva Maria. The Metaphor of the City in the Apocalypse of John. Studies in Biblical Literature 67. New York: Peter Lang, 2004.

• Räpple, Eva Maria. "The City in Revelation" Bible Today 34/6 (1996) 359-65.

• Räpple, Eva Maria. "Verschiedene Dienste - ein Herr" Bibel im Jahr (1988) 38-45.

• Several Articles in J. Hainz, A. Sand Ed. Münchner Theologishes Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament (Düsseldorf/ Germany: Patmos 1997).

• An Intercultural Crossroad Between Christians and Muslims in Thirteenth Century Italy: Reflections on Dante's Divine Comedy. Panel discussions and lectures in the context of: Viewing Place and Space: A Window to Middle Eastern Cultures, a program sponsored by the Illinois Humanities Council and College of DuPage, March 11 - 13, 2003.

• The Seductive Serpent: The Power of Textual Visuality. (Midwest American Academy of Religion, April 8-9, 2005)

• Revised Version of The Seductive Serpent: The Power of Textual Visuality. (Meaningful Marginalities: Religious Influences and Cultural Constructions. University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. May 11-13, 2006)

• Overview on theological appropriations of Foucault in theology and state of the disciplines in religious scholarship. (The Future of Foucault in Religious and Theological Studies: Engagements with Derrida and Postcolonialism during the Annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Washington DC.November 2006)

• Paper presented at a consultation entitled "Scripture as Artifact" during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature in San Diego, November 2007
  " Curbing Phantasm: The Bible Moralisée"

• Paper presented during the Asian Studies Development National Conference in Chicago, IL. March, 2008 "Divan Japonais: Toulouse-Lautrec and Japanese Art"

  
  
  

Courses Taught:

• Philosophy 1100 - Introduction to Philosophy (Honors Course)

• Philosophy 1100 - Introduction to Philosophy (online)

• Philosophy 1110 - Global Ethics (Honors)

• Philosophy 2250 - Philosophy of Artistic Pursuits (Honors Seminar)

• Philosophy 1116 - Environmental Ethics

• Religious Studies 1100 - Introduction to Religion (Honors Course)

• Religious Studies 1100 - Introduction to Religion (online)

• Religious Studies 2160 - Judaism, Christianity, Islam (Honors Course)

• History of Philosophy I (1170)

• History of Philosophy II (1175)

• March, 2007: Author and co-director of a major grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, for a series of faculty workshops entitled Conversations about the Arts and Philosophies of Asia and the West, a comparative study of Western as well as Asian philosophical ideas under the guidance of fifteen distinguished scholars

• Director of Viewing Place and Space: a Window to Middle Eastern Cultures a photo exhibit, Website, and lecture series funded by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council and the College of DuPage

• Nomination as outstanding faculty at College of DuPage 2006

International Tour

January 2006: Co-director for "Convivencia," a field exploration of the historical-cultural context in Al-Andalus, Spain, a study of architectural, artistic, literary, and cultural evidence of a society that fostered an exchange of philosophical ideas, religious worldviews, political, and economic advances during the period of the Caliphate of Cordova in 711 to the fall of Granada in 1492.