Meet Kathryn Phillips

By: Jessica Reynolds

I would like to introduce you to Kathryn Phillips. This year she was the Krieger Visiting Scholar in Religious Studies. Next year, her title will be Assistant Professor of Religious Studies. She has been at Defiance College for 2 years. She decided to come to Defiance College because Defiance Collegel is focused on teaching. She knew she wanted to work for a school that was focused on teaching. She knew she really wanted to be in the classroom with the students. Her favorite part about working at Defiance College is the smaller class sizes, so she can get to know her students. She worked for a large state school and some of her classes had almost 200 students in one class. Kathryn got her PhD in Religious Studies from the University of California, Riverside. 

Dr. Phillips grew up in Southern California in Riverside County. She lived more inland and closer to the deserts. She did live close to the beach and Hollywood, but it took a couple of hours to get to those places. She lived about an hour and a half away from Disneyland. She had an annual pass for a few years to go to Disneyland.

Kathryn’s favorite food is carne asada fries. She said they are similar to steak nachos but with French fries. They are hard to find outside of Southern California. She also really likes pizza and buffalo wings, but she needs blue cheese with her wings. Dr. Phillips does like to collect more books than she can ever read. She also collects Funko Pop figures. She has close to 100 of the Funko Pop figures. She likes to collect the Funko Pop figures from The Office because that is one of her favorite shows. She is very passionate about teaching, but she is also about LGBTQ+ issues. She is currently the advisor for DC Pride on campus. She is very passionate about “creating safe environments and communities for people to be their authentic selves.” She thinks she is more of a night owl because she hates waking up early. Lastly, her favorite season is fall. Halloween is her favorite holiday because she loves dressing up and decorating for it. 

Dr. Phillips can be located in Dana 6.