Kimberly A. Blessing, Ph.D.

Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo

Dr. Kimberly Blessing joined the faculty at Buffalo State in fall 2004 after teaching at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, PA, from 2003 to 2004, Siena Heights University in Adrian, MI, from 1997 to 2003, and Canisius College in Buffalo, NY, from 1996 to 1997. Her part-time teaching includes positions at Attica and Wyoming Correctional Facilities, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Fredonia, and Niagara County Community College.  Her research interests focus attention on questions and issues related to the meaning of life. She also enjoys writing articles on topics in philosophy and popular culture.

Dr. Blessing has been teaching philosophy for over 25 years. Her primary teaching interests include philosophy of religion, existentialism, and the history of philosophy. She continues to enjoy teaching introductory courses in philosophy, including her favorite freshman-only introduction to philosophy, which uses popular culture to help students read and understand primary philosophical texts.

She served as department chair for two terms, 2008-2014. In 2006, she received the President's Award for Excellence in Academic Advisement. She was invited to deliver the 2017 address for the Buffalo State College Honors Convocation, titled "Educating For Humanity," which articulates the value of the humanities and liberal education. Each semester, Blessing coordinates the Philosophy Department Faculty & Student Philosophy Colloquia, which she founded in spring 2006. As of 2024, the department has hosted over 120 faculty and student presentations, primarily in philosophy and including Religious Studies. This number includes six public lectures presented by national and international guest speakers.

In 2014, Dr. Blessing co-founded BLIP, or Buffalo Ladies in Philosophy, with Dr. Julie Kirsch (D'Youville College), a consortium of women professors of philosophy representing seven colleges and universities in Western New York.  In 2013, she founded WIP or Women in Philosophy with Dr. Leigh Duffy, a faculty-run support group for female philosophy students at Buffalo State.  WIP functions as an academic group and social club that provides various avenues for women to study and discuss philosophy and share concerns about the challenges related to being a woman studying philosophy in particular and being a woman intellectual in general. 

Dr. Blessing, an Honorary Member of the French National Honor Society, double-majored in French and philosophy as an undergraduate (spending her junior undergraduate year studying in Nancy, France). She is also a member and former board member of the Alliance Française de Buffalo, where she enrolls in French language courses.

Dr. Blessing helped to edit two published works by her husband and local historian, Tim Bohen, Against the Grain: A History of Buffalo's First Ward (2012) and The Emerald Thread: A History of Buffalo's Irish (forthcoming), see also www.oldfirstward.com.  She and her husband live in the Elmwood Village, a short walk from campus. They enjoy Buffalo's vibrant arts and culture, including Buffalo's Irish Classical Theater, The Buffalo Philharmonic, as well as making several annual trips to enjoy theater at Shaw and Stratford Festivals in Canada.

Publications

Books
Movies And The Meaning of Life: Philosophers Take on Hollywood, co-edited with Paul J. Tudico (Open Court, 2005).

Articles and Chapters in Books

"Optimism in Ted Lasso: Kansas City Candide Meets Albert Camus" in Ted Lasso and Philosophy, edited by David and Mary Baggett (Wiley-Blackwell), forthcoming.

"Little Women: Death or Marriage and The Meaning of Life." The Palgrave Handbook of Popular Culture as Philosophy, edited by David Kyle Johnson, 2020.

"Groundhog Day as Philosophy: Phil Says No To Eternal Return," The Palgrave Handbook of Popular Culture as Philosophy, edited by David Kyle Johnson, 2020.

"Cosmic Justice in Breaking Bad: Can Sociopaths and Antiheroes Lead Meaningful Lives? in Philosophy and Breaking Bad, edited by Kevin Decker (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).

"The Meaning of Life and Work in Downton Abbey," in Downton Abbey and Philosophy, edited by Robert Arp (Open Court, 2015).

“What HBO’s Girls Has to Say About Meaning in Life for Millennials,” principal author with Samantha Wezowicz in Girls and Philosophy, edited by Richard Greene (Open Court, forthcoming).

''Atheism and Meaningfulness in Life,'' Oxford Handbook of Atheism, (Oxford University Press, 2013).

“What’s Done, is Done: Descartes on Resoluteness and Regret.” Essays in Philosophy: Cartesian Virtue and Freedom. Vol. 14, No. 2, July 2013, pp. 141-161.

“Is the PR-ization of Media… Bullshit?,” co-authored with Joe Marren. Media Ethics, Vol. 24. No. 2, Spring 2013. 

''More Bullshit: Political Spin and the PR-ization of Media,'' with Joseph Marren, in The Ultimate Daily Show and Philosophy edited by Jason Holt (Wiley-Blackwell: 2013).

“I Re-Read, Therefore I Understand: Kimberly Blessing Tells Us René Descartes’ Advice on Reading Philosophy,” Philosophy Now, January-February 2013.

''Mal-Placed Regret'' in Inception and Philosophy, edited by David Johnson (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).

"One Monk’s Message: Establishing An Enlightened Ethic for the Media," co-authored with Joe Marren, Media Ethics, Vol. 21, No. 9, Spring 2010.

"Bullshit and Political Spin: Is The Medium The Massage?," with Joseph Marren, in The Daily Show and Philosophy, edited by Jason Holt (Blackwell Philosophy and Popular Culture Series, 2007).

"The Beer-Truck Hypothesis and Groundhog Day: What Time Can Tell Us about The Meaning of Life." Dialogue: A Journal of Religion and Philosophy, November 2007.

"Fade to Black: Absurdity, Suicide, and the Downward Spiral" co-authored with Justin Donhauser, in  Metallica and Philosophy, edited by William T. Irwin (Open Court, 2007).

"The Cartesian Meditator and his Moral Muse: Ethics of the Discourse on Method and Correspondence with Elizabeth," The Modern Schoolman, November 2005.

"Deceit and Doubt: The Search For Truth in The Truman Show and Descartes’ Meditations," in Movies And The Meaning of Life: Philosophers Take on Hollywood (Open Court, 2005).