Mark Novak, PhD
Contact
St Joseph's College
- mfnovak@ualberta.ca
Overview
Area of Study / Keywords
Philosophy of religion phenomenology
About
I did an MA in philosophy at the Institute for Christian Studies, and then a PhD in religious studies at McMaster University, both in the area of contemporary continental philosophy of religion.
Research
- Contemporary continental philosophy of religion. Phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics.
- Philosophy/Religion and Pop Culture (especially film and literature).
- The intersection of philosophy and psychology. Phenomenological psychology, embodied cognition, enactivism, existential psychotherapy, psychoanalysis.
Courses
PHIL 209 - The Human Person: Philosophical Issues
Personal identity, interpersonal relationships, sex and gender, freedom and immortality in historical and contemporary contexts.
PHIL 219 - The Art of Living Well: Meaning and the Good Life
Philosophies of the good life. Topics may include integrated wellness, attentiveness, objects of devotion, and community in historical and contemporary contexts.
Featured Publications
"Writing Life: Michel Henry's Phenomenology of Literature"
Palgrave. 2026 March; Palgrave Handbook of Phenomenology and Literature
Phenomenologies of Incarnation in Michel Henry and Emmanuel Falque: Saving Flesh, Redeeming Body
Mark Novak
London: Bloomsbury Academic. 2025 November;
Mark Novak
Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave. 2018 March; William Desmond’s Philosophy Between Metaphysics, Religion, and Aesthetics: Thinking Metaxologically