Humanities and Languages

Drawn to the arts, nature, and classical scholarship, Professor Widdison investigates contemporary issues of urban sustainability, public art, and ecological balance as they intersect with aesthetic judgment. A specialist in the history of philosophy, comparative aesthetics, philosophy of emotions, and epistemology, she has studied across places, including Los Angeles, Ireland, and Honolulu, where she worked as a Research Assistant in the School of Pacific Asian Studies and with the Eastern Philosophies of Consciousness programme. Professor Widdison is currently working on a research handbook incorporating aesthetic emotions into the discourse around environmental philosophy, wherein she aims to break new ground on applying ontologies in recognising and responding to ecological relations. She continues to build on her graduate studies to address interdisciplinary questions through contemporary readings of classical texts, uncovering the relevance of philosophical thought for successful, creative, and impactful projects. Professor Widdison aspires to further assist students in the academic process, building on previous experience as a co-editor, reviewer, and research advisor.

Postgraduate Research

• 2024 Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) Fellow, Faculty Development Field Seminar conducted by the American Institute of India Studies (AIIS) in Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Lucknow to understand varying economic, cultural, social, and environmental pressures in conjunction with faculty from international and Indian institutions.
• 2024 St Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas, Faculty Institute Fellow, Institute on Learning Technologies. Institute topics included digital learning, rich media instruction, deepening engagement, assets-based pedagogy, universal design, and finding authentic voices in teaching and learning.
• 2023-2024 Official Judge, 26th and 27th Annual Texas Regional Ethics Bowl Competition, Texas A&M University-San Antonio.

• Widdison, L. (2024). Review of The Matter of Wonder: Abhinavagupta’s Panentheism and New Materialism by Loriliai Biernacki. Sophia. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-024-01040-y
• Widdison, L. (Ed.). (2024). Traditional Indian virtue ethics for today: An East-West sharing of ideas. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Widdison, L. (2024). Emotion concepts for virtue theory: From aesthetic to epistemic and moral. In S. S. Chakravarti, A. Chatterjee, A. Chakravarti, & L. Widdison (Eds.), Traditional Indian virtue ethics for today. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47972-4_13
• Widdison, L. (2022). The epistemic significance of adbhutarasa: Aestheticized wonder as a virtue of inquiry. DHARM, 5, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42240-021-00115-0
• Widdison, L. (2022). Aestheticized tragedy (Karuṇarasa) as an intellectual virtue. Comparative Philosophy, 13(1), Article 7. https://doi.org/10.31979/2151-6014(2022).130107
• Widdison, L. (2019). The power of suggestion: Rasa, dhvani, and the ineffable. DHARM, 2, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42240-019-00032-3

Applied Philosophy, Topics in Indian Philosophies, Buddhist Philosophy, Islamic Philosophy, Comparative Aesthetics, and Classical Sanskrit Language and Literature

Previous courses taught

World Philosophies, History of Western Philosophy (Greco-Roman Ancient Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Renaissance Philosophy, Modern Philosophy, European Enlightenment to the present), Philosophy of Law, Social Philosophy, Foundations of Ethics, Deductive Logic, Epistemology, Environmental Philosophy, and Philosophies of Asia and the Pacific.

Guest Lectures

Buddhist Ethics, Rasa Aesthetics, Sāṅkhya Metaphysics, Nyāya on the Definition of Perception, Spinoza on Self Nature, The Kashmir Shaiva Concept of Self, Advaita Vedānta Idealisms and Realisms, Comparative Environmental Ethics, Aristotle on the Virtue of Friendship

• Widdison, L. (2024, September 16). World-wide-words from Bhagavadgītā 15.15 to Pratyabhijñā in epistemology. Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy 56th Annual Meeting: Philosophical Encounters, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
• Widdison, L. (2022, October 12). Philosophies of Indian and Sanskrit aesthetics [University presentation]. St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX, United States.
• Widdison, L. (2022, April). Aestheticized pathos as intellectual virtue [Panel discussion]. Center for Comparative Philosophy, San Jose State University, San Jose, California, United States.
• Widdison, L. (2019, October). Emotion concepts for virtue theory: From aesthetic, to epistemic and moral. Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla, India.
• Widdison, L. (2019, January). The politics of conceptual resources in comparative environmental philosophy. American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, New York, NY, United States.
• Widdison, L. (2018, April). The power of suggestion (dhvani): Aestheticized emotions and the ineffable. University of Hawaiʻi Center for South Asian Studies Symposium, Honolulu, HI, United States.
• Widdison, L. (2017, March). In the margins of reason: Philosophical comedy and the aesthetics of irrationality. Uehiro Philosophy Conference: Margins, University of Hawaiʻi, Honolulu, HI, United States.
• Widdison, L. (2017, February). The aim (prayojana) of comparative philosophy. Karnataka Saṃskrit University, Melkote, Karnataka, India.