Professor Eddy focuses on American pragmatism and American religion in her work. She also enjoys working with students on the moral aspects of the biological sciences. Improving student reading comprehension and writing skills are important to her as a teacher. She enjoys facilitating class discussions on important but controversial questions where the answers are not clear, but the issues remain important ones.
Research Interests
Pragmatism
American Religious Thought
Bioethics
Race and Gender Issues in Philosophy and Religion
Theory and Methods in the Study of Religion
Scholarly Work
The Rites of Identity: The Religious Naturalism and Cultural Criticism of Kenneth Burke and Ralph Ellison
“Struggle or Mutual Aid: Jane Addams, Petr Kropotkin and the Progressive Encounter with Social Darwinism,” The Pluralist, Spring 2010 (5.1).
“Activist Communities Advance by Focusing on the Specifics,” Capitalism Nature Socialism, Volume 19, Number 3 (September 2008) pp. 141-143.
“Henry Samuel Levinson: 1949-2010,” Overheard in Seville: Bulletin of the Santayana Society, Number 29, Fall 2011, p.33.
Professional Highlights & Honors
Pragmatism and Empiricism in American Religious Thought group of American Academy of Religion
The Worcester Business Journal covered a WPI forum on the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR. Noted in the article were: Dean, Arts and Sciences, Jean King; Assistant Professor, Social Science, Patricia Stapleton; Associate Professor, Humanities and Arts Bethel Eddy; Associate Professor, Biology and Biotechnology, Rita Rao; and Associate Teaching Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Destin Heilman.
