About Me
My name is Amber Leigh Griffioen. I have a B.A. in Philosophy, German, and Linguistics from St. Olaf College and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from The University of Iowa. In 2009-10 I was a guest researcher in the Theology Department at The Philipps University of Marburg in Germany, and from 2010-2019 I was a member of the Philosophy Department at the University of Konstanz. I am currently working remotely from Germany as a Visiting Associate Professor of Philosophy at Duke Kunshan University and Associate Professor of the Practice in Global Studies at Duke University. I am fluent both in my native English and in German.
Still, I'm a Midwesterner at heart. I can often be found tuning in to the Milwaukee Brewers, Green Bay Packers, or Iowa Hawkeyes, though I enjoy watching most any sport! For the record, I am a committed umpire voluntarist, and I believe the designated hitter is evidence of a fallen creation.
I love to read, and lately I've been getting back into science fiction, horror, and utopian/dystopian literature...you know, the fun stuff! My favorite books, however, remain Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and The Iowa Baseball Confederacy by W.P. Kinsella. I also nerdily adore the Thessaly series by Jo Walton, and I can't help but love Mary Renault's wonderful classic, The Last of the Wine.
I enjoy music of (nearly) all sorts, live or otherwise. I play the piano (and a bit of organ) in my spare time and am currently trying to conquer the last movement of Franz Liszt's piano transcription of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, but it's a long and verrrrry slow process.
Finally, when time, money, and global pandemics permit, I also enjoy exploring various nooks and crannies of the globe with my partner, Dr. Daniel Schumacher, and our rainbow baby girl, Charlie Rae.