Karmen MacKendrick

Karmen MacKendrick is a professor of philosophy at Le Moyne College. Her work in philosophical theology is entangled with several other disciplines, particularly those involved with words, with flesh, or with the pleasures to be taken in both. These preoccupations appear in several books, most recently Faling Desire, from SUNY Press (2018) and The Matter of Voice: Sensual Soundings (Fordham University Press, 2016).

Karmen is currently engaged in two book projects. The first is on materiality and mysticism, and has led her to become unreasonably excited about the Neopythagorean One and Unlimited Dyad. The second is on exile, abandonment, and loss, perhaps to counter the undue cheerfulness of her other recent projects.

Publications

Karmen is the author of Failing Desire, The Matter of Voice: Sensuous Soundings, Divine Enticement: Theological Seductions, Fragmentation and Memory, Word Made Skin, Immemorial Silence, and counterpleasures, and the co-author of Seducing Augustine, along with book chapters and articles on related subjects. See more.

Presentations

A frequent panelist, presenter, and guest lecturer, Karmen speaks on a number of topics including Augustine, the flesh, and immanent divinity, among others. So far no one is taking her up on her offer to lecture on the fractal materiality implied by Valentinianism, but the offer stands. See more

Teaching

Karmen teaches core classes, philosophy electives, and Honors courses. She is particularly fond of interdisciplinary and co-teaching, She recently taught a course on attention and focus that drew speakers from music, dance, theater, varied religious traditions, food writing, and more. She is developing a course on the care of the self. See all of Karmen’s courses.