This is the academic web site of Aili Whalen, JD, PhD (formerly Bresnahan)

This site contains information on my background and research, a curriculum vitae, and references related to my current areas of interest, which include the philosophy of art (particularly dance and performance), music, theatre, literature, film, the philosophy of law, mind, ethics, and culture, particularly where these areas intersect with the philosophy of art. 

As of December, 2022, I became the Director of Planned Giving for Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY.  Until then I was an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Dayton in Ohio. I was a Marc Sanders Foundation Philosophy in Public Media Fellow for 2021-2022. Before that, I was a 2020-21 Fulbright Research Scholar at the Centre for Dance Research at the University of Roehampton in London, UK. I am also a Trustee for the American Society for Aesthetics until January of 2024.

DancePhilosophers, a group I founded but no longer moderate, is an informal, networking and resource-sharing Google group that includes philosophers, dance studies scholars, dance historians, critics, performers, choreographers, students, and others who are interested in dance philosophy broadly construed. For more on my personal background see my Autographical Background page. For more on my academic professional background see my Curriculum Vitae page.