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Ariane Nomikos

Assistant Professor

Specializations

  • Aesthetics
  • Ethics
  • Environmental Philosophy

Research Interests

Dr. Nomikos’s research focuses on issues at the intersection of ethics, aesthetics, and the environment. She is particularly interested in how people give personal and social meaning to places—especially to the places they call home—and how their well-being is wrapped up in their relations to these places. This stems from a more general interest in the interactions between ethical and aesthetic considerations in everyday contexts, and the broader implications of such interactions. 

Her recent work explores the aesthetic dimensions of place-loss due to global climate change. Specifically, it looks at how climate change-related processes can transform the aesthetic character of people’s everyday living environments in a way that detracts from their ability to live well and flourish. She plans to continue investigating the aesthetic underpinnings of complex ethical issues like place-loss, migration, and sustainability in her future work.

Other Interests

Outside of philosophy, Dr. Nomikos enjoys traveling, cooking, painting, and hiking. (She recently completed a 165-mile loop around Lake Tahoe!) And she’s always up for a game of Wingspan (despite her somewhat irrational fear of birds with large wingspans), a David Attenborough documentary (yes, even the bird heavy ones), or MCU movie marathon.

Courses

  • PHIL 130: Current Moral Problems
  • PHIL 331: Healthcare Ethics
  • PHIL 332: Environmental Ethics
  • PHIL 393A: Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art