Bio
Zachary Calhoun is a writer from New Mexico and an Assistant Teaching Professor at ISU, where he teaches creative writing, film studies, game writing, and environmental humanities courses. Zach has a PhD in Philosophy from Tulane University and an MFA in Creative Writing and Environment from ISU. His fiction is often set in the American Southwest. His recent work in environmental humanities research explores intersections of class, environment, imperialism, and colonialism in film and material culture. He is the Book Review Editor of Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment, and a Faculty Steward of the Everett Casey Nature Center & Reserve.
Courses Taught
- ENGL 3020: Business Communication
- ENGL 3040: Creative Writing: Fiction
- ENGL 3050: Creative Writing: Nonfiction
- ENGL 3140: Technical Communication
- HON 3210-C: Environmental Justice at the Movies
- HON 3210-3: Kaiju Cinema: The Japanese Monster Movie Tradition
- HON 3220-F: Monsters at the Movies
- ENGL 4040: Advanced Creative Writing Workshop: Fiction
- SPCM 2120: Fundamentals of Public Speaking
Research Areas of Interest
- Creative Writing & Climate Fiction
- Environmental Film Studies & Video Essays
- Environmental Ethics & Environmental History
- History of Philosophy & Political Philosophy
Selected Publications
“The Concept of Totality in ‘Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables’,” in Christopher Innes (ed.), The Dead Kennedys and Philosophy (McFarland, 2026). Forthcoming.
“How to Blow Up a Pipeline and the Art of Environmental Film Adaptation: A Review Essay,” Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment (July 2024).
“Seeing Me When I See That,” Last Leaves Magazine, Issue 9: Fall, 2024.
“Review of Matt Huber: Climate Change as Class War,” Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment (July 2024).
“Two Poems,” After the Pause, 2022.
“The Unexpected Empathy in Cormac McCarthy’s The Passenger: A Review Essay,” Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment, 2022.
“Kant on Positing: Being as Self-Determination,” The Review of Metaphysics, 73:1 (2019).
“Hegel and Jonas on the Ethical and Onto-Theological Implications of Life,” Pli: The Warwick Journal of Philosophy, 31:1 (2019). Co-authored with Paul Wilford and Nicholas Anderson.
“Second Comings,” Eunoia Review, 2017.
“Rabbit Mind,” From Sac, Vol. 4: Outsider, 2016.
Recent Honors & Awards
Excellence in Teaching Speech Communication Courses Award, Iowa State University, 2025
Research Excellence Award, Iowa State University, 2022
Writer-in-Residence Fellowship, Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, 2022
Summer Research Assistantship Award, Iowa State University, 2021
Graduate College Scholar Award, Iowa State University, 2019
Aristotle Prize, Metaphysical Society of America, 2018
Selected Conference Presentations and Literary Readings
“Excerpt from The Generation of Leaves: A Novel,” Literary Reading, May 2022 CWE Thesis Festival, Iowa State University.
“Excerpt from ‘The Generation of Leaves: A Novel’,” April 2022 Emerging Writers Series.
“Uses and Abuses of Homer in Kant’s ‘Critiques’,” 2021 American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting. Delivered during the “Poetry in Philosophy” panel.
“Jonas, Kant, and the Ethical Ground of Environmental History,” Plenary Session on Hans Jonas, 2021 Meeting of the Metaphysical Society of America: Nature and its Meanings.
“Metaphysica Naturalis: Kant on History and the Discipline of Reason,” 2019 Northeastern Political Science Association Conference.
“Revitalizing the Good: Hans Jonas and the Outcry of Mute Things,” 2019 Meeting of the Metaphysical Society of America: Metaphysics and Political Thought.
Aristotle Prize Lecture, “Kant on Positing: Being as Self-Determination,” 2018 Meeting of the Metaphysical Society of America: Philosophy of Action. Winner of the 2018 Aristotle Prize.
“Hegel on Ethical Love,” 2017 Braniff Conference in the Liberal Arts (University of Dallas).
“Kant’s Other Peace,” 2016 Kant Multilateral Colloquium (Hofstra University).
“John Locke on Mother’s Grief and Personal Identity,” 2016 North Carolina Colloquium in Medieval and Early Modern Studies (Duke University).
Current Research Projects
Zach is currently working on several novels, including a work of eco-fiction, as well as a book about climate cinema that considers representations of environmental justice movements across film history.