Dr. Aphrodite Alexandrakis is Professor of Philosophy and Humanities and Director of the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program. She earned a Diploma from the School of Archaeology for guides (Athens, Greece), a BA from Douglas College, Rutgers State University, in Art History and Archaeology, an MA. and PhD degrees in Philosophy (Hegel and Plotinus on Beauty) from the University of Miami. She has been teaching for Barry since 1981.

She is a Fulbright Scholar, the recipient of three National Endowments for the Humanities fellowships, and is on the list of the Fulbright Senior Specialist Program roster (2006-present). She also is the recipient of the Outstanding Barry University Faculty Award, and the Sister Jeanne O’Laughlin Scholar Award.

Dr. Alexandrakis speaks and writes in Greek, English, French, and moderate Arabic. She reads and translates the ancient Greek philosophy texts she uses for her research.

Her research interests include topics in Ancient and Neo-Platonic, Hegelian, Byzantine, Medieval, as well as modern aesthetic/ethical theories on the notion of beauty and in fine arts, architecture, and music. Her research publications include the Pythagorean, Epicurean, and Byzantine concepts and the main topic has been Plato’s and Plotinus’ theory of beauty.

Dr. Alexandrakis’ publications include:

Book:

Edited, Neoplatonism and Western Aesthetics, SUNY Press, 2002.

Articles:

• “The Role of Music and Dance in Ancient Greek and Chinese Ritual” reprint in Kant and the Wisdom of Chinese Philosophy, Remnin University Press, 2009.

• Epicurus’ Notion of Love:  His Pythagorean Roots and The ‘Zorba’ Lifestyle.” Greek Philosophy and the Issues of our Age, Ionia Publications,Vol. II (2009),11-19.

• “A Byzantine’s Neoplatonic  ‘Poetic’ Dialectic.” Diotima The Academy of Athens, Vol. 37 (2009), 143-160.

• “The Bird’s Song and Platonic Formalism.” Philotheos, International Journal of Philosophy and Theology, Vol. 7 (2007), 172-177.

• “The Role of Music and Dance in Ancient Greek and Chinese Rituals: Form Versus Content” Journal of Chinese Philosophy, Vol. 33 (2006), 267-278.

• “The Artist, Artistic Production, and the Role of Education” Teaching Ethics, Society for Ethics Across Curriculum, Vol. 6, number 2 (Spring 2006), 43-51.

• “Aeschylus and Medical Knowledge in the Prometheus Bound.” Odlamki Rosbitich Luster, Rozprawyz Filozofii Kulturi Sztuki ed. Iwona Lorenc, Uniwersytet Warszawski, (The Institute of Philosophy, Warsaw University), 2005.

• “Plotinus, Marcillio Ficino And Renaissance Art,” Neoplatonism and Aesthetics (Boston, 2004).

• “Ethics and the Arts” WLRN and the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, February 2002.

• “Neoplatonic Influences on Iconoclasm: a Greek-Rooted Tradition” Neo-Platonism and Western Aesthetics Vol.12 (SUNY Press, 2002):75-85.

• “The Foundations of Ethics” produced and taped by WLRN in collaboration with the Miami Chamber of Commerce, (summer, 2000).

• “Ideal and Sensual Beauty in Works of Art,”Alexandria, Vol. 5, (2000).

• “Does Modern Art Reflect Plotinus’ Notion of Beauty?” Neoplatonism and Contemporary Thought, Vol. 11, (SUNY Press, 2002): 231-242.

• “Neopythagoreanizing Influences on Plotinus Mystical Notion of Numbers.” Philosophical Inquiry, Vol. xxi (1998), 101-110.

• “Plotinus’ Aesthetic Approach to the One.” Philosophia The Academy of Athens, Vol. 27-28 (1998), 224-235.

• “Animal Images in Greek Thought and Art.” Prima Philosophia (1998), 11 (3), 339-356.

• “The Notion of Beauty in the Structure of the Universe:  Pythagorean Influencesm,” Neoplatonism and Nature (SUNY 2002), 149-155.

• “The Classical Notion of Beauty in Byzantine Art” Diotima (1995), 157-161.

• “The Notion of Beauty in Space in Light of Greek Aesthetics” Skepsis; A Journal for Philosophy and Inter-Disciplinary Research (1992), 90-107.

• “The Notion of Beauty in Plotinus and Hegel” Philosophia, Vol. 21-22 (1991-92): 341-34.

• “Plotinus’ Notion of Beauty:  Its Significance and Application in Renaissance Painting,” Annales D’Esthetique, Vol. 31-32 (1992-93):129-138.

• “The Concept of Beauty in the Pythagorean Structure of the Universe” International Association for Greek Philosophy, No. 1:  Ionian Philosophy, Samos 1989, K.J. Boudouris, Ed. (Athens, 1989), 28-35.

• “A Differing View:  Plato’s Books III and X of the Republic,” Diotima, Vol.8 (1980), 196-198.

• “The Aesthetic Appeal of Art in Plato and Aristotle,” Diotima, Vol. 6 (1978), 178-185.