Donald R. Keefer's CV - Rhode Island School of Design

Education
Donald Keefer
Professor of Philosophy
Department of History, Philosophy, & Social Science
Rhode Island School of Design
2 College St.
Providence, RI 02903
Off.: (401) 454-6263
dkeefer@risd.edu
http://faculty.risd.edu/dkeefer/
Temple University, PhD, Philosophy, 1988
University of Maryland, Baltimore County, BA, Philosophy, 1978
Carnegie-Mellon University, Conservatory of Music, BFA candidate
Dissertation: Musical Investigations: An Ontology of Music
Abstract: The thesis of Musical Investigations is concerned to defeat every theoretical attempt to solve the riddles of
musical ontology which abstracts itself from or ignores the works embedding performance practices and other socialhistorical
conditions which make performance possible. Striking a middle ground between Platonic-realist and purely
nominalist forms of reductionism, I construct a pragmatic, performance-oriented ontology of musical works. Through the
investigation of the semiotics of musical notation, the nature of social practices, and the ethical education of musicians, I
conclude that a musical work is a “sonic-formula within the musical performance-practices of our time.” Its nature cannot
be understood independently from the world of performance. There can be no final theoretical criterion of authenticity.
This view accounts for the undeniable historicity of musical values and practices, while at the same time it provides a
model for the explanation of convergence within the world of musical performance.
Readers: Dr. Charles Dyke, supervisor; Dr. Richard Shusterman; Dr. Joseph Margolis;
Dr. Michael Krausz, Bryn Mawr College
Areas of Specialization/Areas of Competence
AOS: Aesthetics, Philosophy of Cultural Studies
AOC: History of Philosophy (Ancient, Modern, 19 th C.), American Pragmatism, Ethics
Teaching Experience
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI. (1988-present)
Rank: Professor (since Fall 2003)
Interim Dean, Division of Liberal Arts, (2001-2002)
Department Head (Fall 1997—Winter Session 2001)
St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, PA. Rank: Lecturer (Fall 1987, Fall 1983-Fall 1985)
Lehigh Community College, Schnecksville, PA. Rank: Instructor (Summer 1986))
Allentown College, Center Valley, PA. Rank: Instructor (Spring 1986)
Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA. Rank: Instructor (Spring 1983)
Camden Community College, Camden, NJ. Rank: Instructor (Spring 1983)
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. Rank: Teaching Assistant (Fall 1980-Spring 1983)
Don Keefer—curriculum vitae 1

Publications
“Speaking Well of the Dead: On the Aesthetics of Eulogies,” Sophia, v. 50, no. 2, 239-245 (2011).
Review article on Richard Shusterman, Practicing Philosophy, “What makes a philosophical life
significant?” The Journal of Metaphilosophy, Spring 1999.
“Message of the Bottle: Design Products on the Shores of Semiotics,” in Zed, vol. 4., 70-83 (1998).
“Why we don’t do it in the road: Thoughts on Public Art,” RISD Views, Summer 97.
“Review of Michael O’Toole’s The Language of Displayed Art,” Journal of Aesthetics and Art
Criticism, vol. 54, no. 3 (Summer 1996).
"The Rage of Innocents: On Casting the First Stone in a Sea of Cultural Pain" in States of Rage:
Emotional Eruption, Violence, and Social Change, Renée Curry and Terry Allison, eds., (New York
University Press), 1996.
“Reports on the Death of the Author" Philosophy and Literature, vol. 19, no. 1 (April, 1995).
“Review of J-J. Nattiez's Music and Discourse,” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Spring, 1993.
Invited Papers & Talks
“Who is Frederick Douglass to a pragmatist?” A lecture on the contribution of Frederick Douglass to
development of American Pragmatism. UNC Pembroke, November 2, 2005
“Social Justice and the Shocking Impotence of the 14 th Amendment” Constitution Day Forum, RISD,
September 20, 2005.
“Narratives and Signs,” The Telling and the Told, Lecture Series at University of Massachusetts at
Dartmouth, October 12. 1998.
“Romancing the Stone: Philosophical Reactions to Romanticism in 19th century Europe.” Philanon
Lecture Series, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, November 1996.
“The Fabric of Reality: Philosophical Fashions from Idealism to Pragmatism.” RISD Museum’s
Exhibition, Dress, Art, and Society from 1750-1890, October 4, 1996. Funded by the Rhode Island
Council on the Humanities.
“Reflections on Cornel West’s Race Matters.” A presentation as part of The Black Intellectual, given
by the Langston Hughes Center for the Arts and Education, May 1995. Funded by the Rhode Island
Council on the Humanities.
The Machette Lectures, Dept. of Philosophy and Religion, Pembroke State University, Pembroke,
NC, February 10-11, 1994. "The Rage of Innocents: The Moral Fundamentalism of the PC Debate,"
and "Music-performance Practices: Who's Minding the Score?"
"How to do things with notes: Interpretation and the Meaning of Music," at Bates College, November
10, 1993, Lewiston, Maine.
"Postmodern Anxieties over Hypermedia," October 9, 1991, Computers in Humanities Users Group,
Brown University, Providence, RI
Don Keefer—curriculum vitae 2

Papers Presented
“Speaking Well of the Dead: On the Aesthetics of Eulogies,” American Society for Aesthetics,
National Meeting, Denver, CO, Fall 2009.
“Doing It Beautifully: On Living and Dying as an Artwork,” American Society for Aesthetics, National
Meeting, Santa Fe, NM, October 31, 1997.
“The Postmodern Syndrome,” March 3, 1995, Rhode Island School of Design, First Friday Faculty
Forum.
“Off the Record: A Response to Lee Brown’s Philosophy of Recorded Music,” at the Eastern
Meetings of the American Society for Aesthetics, March 31, 1995, at Bowling Green State University
in Bowling Green, Ohio.
"Split Ends in the Search for a Good Conditioner of the Aesthetic Experience." a paper presented with
Cheryl Foster's "Splitting Hairs: Fragmentation in Philosophical Aesthetics," at University of Rhode
Island, November 5, 1994, at the Rhode Island Philosophical Society Fall meeting.
"Begging to Differ: Individualism and the Politics of Difference," April 16, 1993, RI School of Design,
Faculty Colloquium on Dimensions of Difference, Providence, RI, papers published internally at RISD.
"If it ain't got that swing: Performance Practices and the Meaning of Music," March 17, 1992,
American Society for Aesthetics --Eastern Meetings, Bard College, Annadale-on-the-Hudson, NY.
"Postmodern Anxieties in the Age of Information," August 12, 1991, International Conference on
Computers and Philosophy, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven.
"The Rebellion of Art/The Art of Rebellion," March 16, 1991, Colloquium on Images of Power, Images
of Rebellion, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, papers published internally at RISD.
“Transcendental Etudes,” NEH Summer Institute, Aesthetics and the Histories of Art, San Francisco,
CA, summer 1991.
"Ethics and Information in Wartime--A Quest for Lessons," January 18, 1991, Town Meeting on the
War in the Gulf, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI.
"Hypertechnologies: The Problem of Information Management in Age of Information Overload,"
October 12, 1990, Conference on Fin de Siecle at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI.
Work in Progress
Book, In memoriam: Philosophy and Loss—while philosophers have devoted considerable attention
to the death of oneself and the metaphysics of death, they have studied little meaning of death for
those who remain to experience the loss. This works is aimed at an educated public hungry for
philosophical reflection the problem of loss and its relevance to the deep questions we ask about our
existence.
Current Research Interests
Philosophy of Death
Especially concerning the interests of the dead.
The Cultural Contradictions of Corporate Personhood
The relationship between ethical life, the arts and aesthetic value
Especially concerning issues around forgery and negative aesthetic value
American Pragmatism’s Debt to Frederick Douglass: a conjecture
Don Keefer—curriculum vitae 3

Other Academic Experience
Humanities Consultant and panelist, ACTION SPEAKS, RI Council on Humanities, AS220, Fall 2000
Humanities Consultant and panelist, ACTION SPEAKS, RI Council on Humanities, AS220, Fall 1998.
Chair, Steering Committee, Eastern Division of the American Society for Aesthetics, 97-98.
Humanities Consultant for Dress, Art, and Society from 1750 to 1890, at the Rhode Island School of Design
Museum of Art, 1996.
Visiting Lecturer, RISD European Honors Program in Italy, Spring 1996
Referee for Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, since 1994.
Reviewer of Book Manuscripts for Praeger, Greenwood, and Harvard University Press
Participating Scholar, The Black Intellectual, sponsored by the Langston Hughes Center, and funded by Rhode
Island Council on the Humanities, Spring 1995 (see invited papers).
Consultant, International Conference on Computing and Philosophy, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA,
August, 1993.
Organizer/host with Yuriko Saito, American Society of Aesthetics, Annual Eastern Meetings, at Rhode Island
School of Design, Spring 1993.
RISD, Liberal Arts Division, twice Music Director for The RISD Cabaret, 1989-90.
Awards and Grants
RISD Faculty Development Grant, Attendance at a Critical Thinking Workshop, Seattle, WA, Fall 1994
Fellowship, National Endowment of the Humanities, Summer Institute, 1991, "Philosophy and the Histories of
Art," directed by Arthur Danto and Donald Crawford, at San Francisco State University.
Research Assistantship, Temple University, Department of Philosophy, 1979-1980.
Nominee, The Danforth Foundation Fellowship, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1978.
Professional Organizations
Rhode Island Philosophical Association
♦ President, 1998-2001, 2004-6
♦ Program Committee, 1994-6
♦ Nominating Committee, 1993-5
American Philosophical Association
American Society for Aesthetics
♦ Local Coordinator (with Yuriko Saito), National Meeting in Providence, October 2005
♦ Coordinator of Steering Committee of the Eastern Division, 1998-9
♦ Co-chair of the Program Committee for Eastern Division, 1996-97
♦ Steering Committee of the Eastern Division, 1995-9
Recent Courses Taught (RISD)
Ø Intellectual History/Philosophy
Introduction to Philosophy
The Quest for Wisdom
19th Century German Thought
American Pragmatism
Ø The Arts
Aesthetic Challenges
Cultural History of Western Music
Seminar: Aesthetics and the Practices of Art
Don Keefer—curriculum vitae 4

Ø Culture and Cultural Theory
The Matrix of Wisdom: Introduction to Philosophy
through Science Fiction (ws)
Meaning and Message: an Introduction to the Theory
of Signs
Humanity, Natural and Unnatural in the X-Files (ws)
Administrative Accomplishments
Interim Dean—Division of Liberal Arts (July 2001 to September 2002)
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RISD Center Planning
Updated Academic Plan for the Division of Liberal Arts
Curricular Planning and Staffing Oversight of the Division—four new full-time appointments across the
three departments
Facilitated Revision of First Year Curriculum in Art History
Helped to usher in the HPSS Concentration
Worked to raise the requirements for English proficiency for entrance to RISD
Liberal Arts Web Site, including pages for all three departments—design and implementation
Department Head—HPSS (July 1997 to February 2001)—Highlights
Ø HPSS—Five-year Plan (2000)
In 2000, the new Provost, Joe Deal, unveiled his Academic Plan. This was developed out of his initiative to solicit
the five-year plans for each academic department and division within the school. In consultation with members of
HPSS, I wrote the HPSS plan which reflects both the directions that HPSS has been charting for the last decade.
The report stressed the need for more full-time faculty appointments, workload reduction for full-time members, the
department’s dedication to adding more courses in the sciences, and the importance of providing HPSS courses for
first year students. Baruch Kirschenbaum, then Dean of Liberal Arts, incorporated the reports of the three
department heads of LA in his report to the Provost.
Ø One year Academic Plan (Fall 1999)
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HPSS Self-study for Visiting Committee on Liberal Arts—I wrote an overview of the department and
compiled the HPSS documents for the Visiting Committee (Spring 1998)
Regularized, rationalized HPSS offerings—built upon our already rich multi-disciplinary offerings
HPSS Offers Courses to First Year Students
Initiated and developed HPSS Course offerings to First-year students
Pro-seminar: Human Heritage Initiative
Sponsored, raised and standardized the increased profile of science courses within HPSS and HPSSsponsored
Liberal Arts Electives
Highlights of Committee Service
Ø Digital Media Curriculum Committee (2001-2)
Ø Financial Aid Appeals Committee (Administrative Appointment, 1996-2001)
Ø Search Committee for Dean of Liberal Arts (2000-1)
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Liberal Arts Workload Committee (Spring 2001), numerous earlier committees
Ad hoc Committee on the Student Disciplinary Code, Spring 2000, through summer, adopted Fall
2000—committee revised large parts of the code as regards to procedure and communication between
parties
New Media Task Force—group worked from Fall 1999 through Spring 2001 on development of an MFA
Program in Digital Media.
Ø Committee on Faculty Appointments (1999-2001)
Ø Ad hoc Schedule Committee II (1998-9)—new schedule adopted Spring 1999
Don Keefer—curriculum vitae 5

Ø Ad hoc Committee on the Development of the RISD Research Institute
Ø Faculty Steering Committee, Chair, (1996-7)
Ø Ad hoc Schedule Committee I, (1995-6)
Ø Instruction Committee, (3 terms of service since 1991, Curriculum and Wintersession subcommittees)
Ø Search Committee for Registrar—Steve Berenback hired
Ø Ad hoc Committee on CNS Director Position (prior to national search)
Ø Smoke-free Task Force
Don Keefer—curriculum vitae 6