Brian Elliott

Brian Elliott

Instructor
School of History, Philosophy & Religion

United States

Brian Elliott has taught college-level philosophy continuously since 1998, initially at the University of Edinburgh and University College Dublin, before moving to Oregon in 2008. He held a full-time faculty position at Portland State University from 2011 to 2025. Building on a foundation in modern and contemporary European thought in the phenomenological tradition, Elliott's research and publishing profile has branched out to encompass architecture and urbanism, literature and culture, and political theory. He is the author of numerous articles and seven monographs in these areas, including Benjamin for Architects (Routledge, 2011), Natural Catastrophe: Climate Change and Neoliberal Governance (Edinburgh University Press, 2016), and The Roots of Populism: Neoliberalism and Working-Class Lives (Manchester University Press, 2021). His latest book projects, scheduled for publication in 2025, are A Child’s Place in Nature: From Romanticism to the Anthropocene (Bloomsbury) and a new edition of Art and Its Significance (SUNY Press).

Curriculum Vitae
Office Hours
Zoom by appointment
Research/Career Interests

Social and political philosophy; philosophy of architecture and urban planning; aesthetics and art theory; political ecology; philosophy of/for children; literary and cultural theory. 

Education

University of Edinburgh (1994)

University of Freiburg (1998)

Portland State University (2020) 

Employment

University College Dublin (2000-2009)

Portland State University (2010-2025)

Professional Affiliations

Public Philosophy Network

Courses Taught

PHL 205: Intro to Ethics

PHL 443: Worldviews and Environmental Values

PHL 444: Bioethics