Patricia Easton re-joins the executive team as Vice President of Strategy responsible for leading institutional strategy, long-term planning, and organizational transformation to ensure Claremont Graduate University meets its mission, goals, and financial sustainability. Easton has over two decades of experience as a leader in higher education in various roles, including dean, associate provost for academic affairs and planning, vice president of student and enrollment services, and executive vice president and provost. She has served on national fellowship panels such as the American Council of Learned Societies, the Council of Graduate Schools Humanities Coalition, and has served as Vice Chair and Chair for Re-accreditation reviews for the Western Senior College and University Commission.
Easton is Professor of Humanities at Claremont Graduate University. As a professor and researcher, she specializes in the history of modern philosophy, particularly the philosophy of René Descartes and the Cartesians of the 17th century. Her interests also include the philosophy of mind, the history of science, and the history of philosophy. Easton current research centers on the role of mechanization in developments in medicine and psychology in early modern science, with recent studies on Nicolas Malebranche (forthcoming in: Oxford Handbook of Malebranche) and Antoine Le Grand (forthcoming in: Cartesian Physics and Their Receptions: Intellectual and Institutional Contexts). Recent teaching includes seminars in early modern philosophy, humanities interdisciplinary topics, and transdisciplinary courses such as “Leading through Crisis” and “From Modern Thought to Wicked Problems.”
Easton received her BA in Psychology and Philosophy from Glendon College, York University, and her MA and PhD in Philosophy from the University of Western Ontario. She has received numerous awards from the Getty Foundation, the CGS/Ford Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation, among others.
Co-authored with Melissa Gholamnejad (current doctoral student). “Louis de la Forge and the Development of Cartesian Medical Philosophy.” In Early Modern Medicine and Natural Philosophy, edited by Peter Distelzweig, et al., 207–25. Netherlands: Springer Publishing, 2016.
Co-edited with Kurt Smith. The Battle of the Gods and Giants Redux: Papers Presented to Thomas M. Lennon. Boston, MA: Brill Publishers, 2015.
“The Father of Cartesian Empricism: Robert Desgabets on the Physics and Metaphysics of Blood Transfusion.” In Cartesian Empiricisms, edited by M. Dobre and T. Nyden, 185–202. Netherlands: Springer Publishing, 2013.
“Decoding Descartes’ ‘Myth’ of Mind.” In Philosophy of Mind: The Key Thinkers, edited by Andrew Bailey, 17–36. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2013.
“Descartes on Moral Judgment and the Power of the Passions.” In Essays on Neuroscience and Political Theory: Thinking the Body Politic, edited by Frank Vander Valk. New York: Routledge, 2012.
“The Cartesian Doctor, François Bayle (1622–1709), on Psychosomatic Explanation.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological & Biomedical Science 42, no. 2 (2011): 203–09.