A bridge-building civic leader, innovative experience designer, and award-winning teacher, Dr. Sarah Pessin is Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Thought at the University of Denver where she researches and teaches topics in coexistence, meaning-making, religious pluralism, interfaith civics, and ethics. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Award (2026) and an ACE Fellowship (2023); she has served as the Director of Judaic Studies (2008-2019), as Interfaith Chair, and is Director of Spiritual Life in Student Affairs on her campus (Jan. 1, 2024-).

Featured by the Association of American Colleges & Universities for her intercultural work, Sarah has served as Creative Director for a Holocaust Memorial Social Action Site and has won grants for her successful civic experience designs from such orgs as Interfaith America, the Mellon Foundation, and the Council of Independent Colleges. Dedicated to cooperative leadership, she received an inaugural award for shared governance for her work as Faculty Senate President during the especially challenging onset of COVID (2020-2022).

Currently working on adult learning theory, projects on liberal democratic civics, and two academic philosophy studies, Sarah is author of nearly 100 research essays, over 250 presentations, and a book on the philosophical ethics of Solomon Ibn Gabirol (Cambridge University Press). She is also the editor of the Jewish Tradition section of a multicultural reader and has published in key academic resources, including the Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy, Oxford Philosophical Concepts, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Routledge Companion to Islamic Philosophy, The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Philosophy, and the Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism.

Sarah is also passionate about micro learning formats–such as her ever-growing “Think Tiles” collection and her Writers on Writing interview project. She has also published op-eds with the Denver Post and Inside Higher Ed and writes popular essays about politics and hope on medium.com.

Holding a PhD in Philosophy from The Ohio State University and an MA in Philosophy from Columbia University, Sarah is also a collage artist and poet who enjoys playing with goats and a good afternoon of gardening.