David Howell, Ph.D.

Professor

  • Milwaukee WI UNITED STATES
  • Grohmann Museum: GM305
  • Humanities, Social Science and Communication

Dr. David Howell is an expert in ethics, creative thinking, 20th Century American literature, servant-leadership, and research methods.

Contact

Education, Licensure and Certification

Ph.D.

Composition Studies, Qualitative Research, At-Risk Education, Eastern Philosophy

Washington State University

1997

M.F.A.

English, Creative Writing

University of Alaska Fairbanks

1991

B.A.

English

Whitworth College

1986

Biography

Dr. David Howell is a professor in the Humanities, Social Science, and Communication Department at MSOE. He has held positions at MSOE including Associate Director for Faculty Development, Dean of Students, Chair for Servant-Leadership, and Program Director. He teaches courses in ethics, creative thinking, composition, and research methods, and has created courses in Creative Non-fiction and Eastern Philosophy. He received a bachelor's degree in English from Whitworth College, an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. from Washington State University. Prior to joining MSOE in 2003, he worked in the high-tech sector as a project manager and instructional designer for companies such as Microsoft, Lindsay Communication, The Write Stuff, and Pointshare Corporation.

Areas of Expertise

American Literature
At-Risk Education
Technical Communication
Ethics
Creative Thinking
Research Methods
Postmodern Pedagogical Theory

Accomplishments

Student Advocate Award

MSOE, 2014

Oscar Werwath Distinguished Teacher Award

MSOE, 2018

Affiliations

  • The Kern Engineering Entrepreneurial Network (KEEN) : Member
  • The Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum
  • The Center for the Philosophy of Time
  • The Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership

Social

Event and Speaking Appearances

The Empathy Experiment

The Empathy Experiment  Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Continuing Education

Finding Value—and Values—in the Tangible: Nishida Kitaro’s Pure Experience Theory.

International Servant-Leader Summit  Milwaukee, WI

A More Beautiful Question

The 2020 Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network (KEEN) Conference  Dallas, January 2020

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Selected Publications

The Serenity Experiment: Searching for Personal Peace in a World That Won’t Slow Down

Blue Ear Books

David Howell

2021-02-21

A thought experiment is an instrument of the imagination, employed for many purposes–to entertain, educate, explore, or hypothesize. In response to a pandemic and social unrest, David Howell decided to begin such an experiment. He wanted to see what would happen if he became as serene as possible. He set out regularly on his bicycle to parks near his home just to sit still, eventually ritualizing the activity until it became a habit. The result is The Serenity Experiment, a book of reflections on the impact serenity can have on the self as it relates to surroundings and community.

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The Descent into Happiness

Blue Ear Books, 2016

David Howell

The Descent into Happiness: A Bicycling Journey over the Cascades and Rockies and across the Great Plains, David Howell brings us a blend of travel narrative and mental wandering. Howell takes us on a cross-country, solo, self-supported bicycle ride from Seattle to Milwaukee. The route follows the Northern Tier: over the North Cascades Highway, through Glacier National Park, along Highway 2 and across Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota.

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