I initially came to Philosophy by way of travelling in my youth to Rwanda and Central America, and participating in social justice movements – in the spirit of the Gracci brothers. The pursuit of fundamental norms to measure political behaviours was a search for an arche (a principle) that would lead me to the domain of Philosophy, and to Dominican University College, where I did my undergraduate studies in Philosophy. Having been inspired by my professors, I actively pursued a speculative life.

After having completed my Masters in Philosophy at the University of Ottawa, where I wrote my MA Thesis on Aristotle and Hegel under the supervision of Dr. Theodore Geraets, I then completed a PhD in Philosophy (2004) at Boston University under the supervision of K.  Brinkmann and J. Cleary. My dissertation focused on the role and status of Intellect in the works of Aristotle and Plotinus. I equally benefitted from courses taught at Boston University by David Roochnik, Charles Griswold, Stanley Rosen, Rémi Brague, Daniel Dahlstrom, Henry Allison, Jaakko Hintikka, Juliet Floyd, amongst others, in the Department of Philosophy during its heyday.

In 2007, I returned to my intellectual home, at Dominican University College, where I now serve as Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and as editor in Philosophy for the house journal Science et Esprit. In 2012, I published my book entitled, Aristotle and Plotinus on the Intellect: Monism and Dualism Revisited. In 2017, I founded the Canadian Aristotle Society, which is housed at the Dominican University, where we host conferences every year on a given theme related to Aristotle. My main intellectual interests are in Aristotle, Aristoxenus, Plotinus, Arabic Philosophy, Ancient Metaphysics, German Idealism, Political Philosophy, and Music.  I am also an active musician and perform regularly in Ottawa and Montréal:  marknyvlt.com.

The Peripatetic life appeals to me the most.  I have attempted to foster in my students an appreciation for this life, and to encourage them to always challenge basic conventional assumptions that too easily animate an uncritical mind. It is a great pleasure to work at Dominican University College, where intellectual integrity remains an effortless and unapologetic standard of the Philosophical life. I attempt to demonstrate in my own life to students that one can be a philosopher and also a person engaged in the world. A peripatetic life requires such integration of intellect and action.