Ancient Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Mysticism, Philosophy in Popular Culture
Dr. Jeffrey Gold is the longest-serving faculty member to have taught in the ETSU Department of Philosophy and Humanities. He joined the department in 1978. He retired in 2020 and is now an Emeritus Professor. Dr. Gold served as Department Chair between 1981 and 1987, and again between 2004 and 2010. During the 1990s, he served for 5 years as an Associate Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences. A highly respected instructor throughout his career, he received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching in 2007, from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Gold graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison (B.A.) and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. He was hired by ETSU as a specialist in Ancient Greek Philosophy and thus taught hundreds of ETSU students about the joys of reading and studying Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Later in his career, Dr. Gold took a scholarly interest in Asian Philosophy and mysticism, which resulted both in publications and unique course offerings.
His current interests focus on The Axial Age (around 500 BCE) especially Plato, Patanjali and Yoga, the Buddha, and Chuang Tzu. He is fascinated by connections between Popular Culture (especially the lyrics of Rock and Roll Music) and themes from Asian Philosophical Traditions. His recent work on Rock and Roll and Asian Philosophical traditions can be found on his academia web page.
Dr. Gold served the department, college, university, and profession in a wide variety of capacities throughout his career, including serving as the President of the Tennessee Philosophical Association and twice as President of the Intermountain Philosophical Association.
Dr. Gold currently resides in his hometown Cleveland, Ohio where he lives with his wife, Patti. They have two daughters and three grandchildren. He continues to root for the hapless Cleveland sports teams (Browns, Cavs, and Guardians). His hobbies include vegetable gardening, feeding birds in his backyard, and meditating.