Navy veteran, State Department employee earns Dean's Medal in religious studies


April 20, 2022

Editor's note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2022 graduates.

Joshua Herald grew up in a rural town in Ohio called Jamestown and went into the U.S. Navy, where he served for 13 years. Three years after getting out of the Navy, Herald joined the U.S. State Department as a foreign service specialist. Photo of Joshua Herald Joshua Herald is graduating this semester with his bachelor’s in religious studies and was chosen as the Dean’s Medalist for the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies. Download Full Image

He had taken a few college courses while he was still in the military and decided to finish his bachelor’s degree while he was serving with the State Department in Pakistan. Looking at schools to attend, Arizona State University caught his eye because of their online program and breadth of courses to choose from.

“Initially I could not decide what to major in, so I took the liberal arts major. I took some humanities courses, philosophy and English, and they really had an effect on me,” Herald said. “They opened my eyes to the idea that I might be missing out on something in life. Almost like I had not been reading or thinking as deeply as life deserved.”

He took a religious studies course as an elective and decided to change his major to it. Religious studies was a way to combine all the subjects he loved. 

“Religion can be viewed through historical sources, accessed through anthropology or sociology, analyzed as literature. I could make a study of the philosophy of religion, or study the psychological phenomenon of religious belief,” Herald said. "I also saw the study of religion as an opportunity to understand other people better.”

Herald is graduating this semester with his bachelor’s in religious studies and was chosen as the Dean’s Medalist for the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies for his work ethic and excellent academic record.

“He is a first-generation student who dropped out of high school, later getting a GED,” said Clinical Professor of religious studies Agnes Kefeli Clay, who nominated Herald for the medal. “He is particularly interested in the intersection of religion and public life, in particular the ways that religion affects post-colonial politics.”

He was asked about his time at ASU and in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies.

Question: What’s something you learned while at ASU — in the classroom or otherwise — that surprised you or changed your perspective?

Answer: I took an English course, ENG 200, and one of the modules was about using feminist critical theory to analyze literature. This changed my view about what feminism was, as I was used to the colloquial definition used on cable news and in culture wars. That one module had such an effect on me that I would say it has shaped how I approach religious studies. It also led to me taking Dr. Doe Daughtrey’s “Women, Gender and Religion” course, which caused me to further evaluate my understanding of feminism. 

Q: Why did you choose ASU?

A: I chose ASU because of the course selection. As an online student, I looked at several different schools and ASU seemed to offer the biggest selection of courses. This was important as I was unsure what I wanted to study. It gave me the ability to take courses and see what subjects interested me the most. 

Q: Which professor taught you the most important lesson while at ASU?

A: Wow, I do not know if I can answer that. Earlier when I said I took a religious studies elective and that made me change my major, that was half the answer. The full answer is the faculty in the religious studies department made me change my major. I was so impressed with them that I felt like I wanted to be a scholar like them. Since I’m in my last semester I will give you an example from there, but I could give you examples from every semester I have had at ASU. 

First, I am taking REL 407, which is the religious studies capstone course. Dr. Joel Gereboff is patient and very giving of his time. He is a mentor who understands how to guide you, while allowing you to find the answer, and is always giving feedback or helping to solve a problem. This is a lesson that I find myself applying not only in an academic setting but in my professional life as a mentor to junior personnel. Again though, the entire faculty at ASU and (the school) have been amazing. 

Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to those still in school?

A: Find something you enjoy and pursue it. I have been a technician for 20 years and early on it would have never occurred to me to get a humanities degree. I always thought I would end up getting an IT or business degree. But I was interested in the humanities and that is why I was successful academically. Life is short, do what interests you. 

Q: What was your favorite spot for power studying?

A: My favorite spot to study was at my dining room table. It is much larger than my office desk and allowed me to spread out a little more when I had a lot of reference materials. 

Q: What are your plans after graduation?

A: I am going to take some time off to work on developing my foreign language skills better to allow me to access primary data. I am planning to apply to graduate schools next year.  

Q: If someone gave you $40 million to solve one problem on our planet, what would you tackle?

A: Childhood food insecurity is something that concerns me. I think that the problem though is not just feeding children but creating economic conditions in which families can afford food or improving social programs that combat childhood hunger in America. 

Rachel Bunning

Communications program coordinator, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies

Graduate to earn 5 bachelor’s degrees spanning STEM, social sciences, humanities


April 20, 2022

Editor's note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2022 graduates.

Langston “Languini” Tillman was born in California, but moved to Taiwan with his parents when he was very young. He grew up in Taipei until he was 14 years old before moving to Tempe to live with his grandparents and attend school in the U.S. Photo of Langston Tillman Langston Tillman is earning his bachelor’s in chemical engineering, mathematics, political science, anthropology and philosophy with a concentration in morality, politics and law. Download Full Image

He went to high school just down the road from Arizona State University, had family members who worked at the university and many of his friends were planning to attend. Enrolling at ASU was a no-brainer for him.

“Having connections has obviously helped me tremendously, knowing which professors are experts in which areas has really helped me focus on which classes I should take and what I expect to learn from these scholars,” Tillman said. “Additionally, being so close to the campus even before attending gave me a great feel for the campus and what it has to offer.”

When he started out as a first-year student, the thought of pursuing three degrees at once seemed like an impossible task, but he is graduating this semester with five concurrent degrees. 

Tillman is earning his bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, mathematics from the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, political science from the School of Politics and Global Studies, anthropology from the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and philosophy with a concentration in morality, politics and law from the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies.

“It has been an odd journey, to be sure,” Tillman said. “Honestly, I don’t know where I would be without my friends’ support. Whether it’s having someone to bounce ideas off of or being able to chat about one subject or another, surrounding myself with people who care about me has been crucial.”

He started out by pursuing two concurrent degrees, but as he took more and more classes that interested him, he found it easier than he expected to add more majors. 

“The most important part is to enjoy all these disciplines so that there is always something to look forward to,” Tillman said. “Also, having so many different projects allows me to hop from one project to another. Overall, I really appreciate how big ASU is and how diverse my education has been.”

In addition to earning five degrees, Tillman was the winner of 10 awards and grants during his time at ASU, including the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship and the Michael J. Konen Engineering Scholarship.

He is graduating as the current president of the Chess Club at ASU and as a member of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society. Here’s what he had to say about his time at ASU.

Question: What was your “aha” moment, when you realized you wanted to study the field you majored in? (Might be while you were at ASU or earlier.)

Answer: I started with chemical engineering and math because, well, I liked the subjects and felt like I could do alright in them. I started taking some philosophy courses and I really enjoyed thinking about ethics and logic. Ethics, of course, is very important in engineering and design, and having a better conception of what one ought to do. Additionally, I credit a class on medical anthropology that really inspired me to learn more about the humanities and social sciences. Through that course I realized the limitations of science and how even the more innovative technical solutions can fail due to cultural or political barriers.

Q: What’s something you learned while at ASU — in the classroom or otherwise — that surprised you or changed your perspective?

A: What immediately comes to mind was taking professor Douglas Portmore’s class on ethical theory. I had always been a consequentialist, but that class changed my mind greatly. I think that my whole conception of ethics was impacted by that class and changing how something might be justified – it would be hard to change my perspective more than that. 

Q: Why did you choose ASU?

A: Well, part of it is that I have family connections with ASU, and also, I went to high school down Rural Road, so ASU was the obvious choice. In high school, I had a lot of activities that took place at ASU, so I knew the campus pretty well. I loved the large university atmosphere; I felt that I could learn a lot of the various disciplines that are housed at ASU. Additionally, being in state, ASU was financially the right move and I was fortunate enough to have been awarded a few scholarships. ASU was just the obvious right choice for me.  

Q: Which professor taught you the most important lesson while at ASU?

A: Oh, dear, I don’t think I can pick just one. I think I learned a lot about how to live from professor, now emeritus, Steven Reynolds. He is a walking encyclopedia and has such a deep understanding of the world, yet he is so endlessly humble. I started to appreciate my education more during my class with him and I hope to one day be as knowledgeable as him. Additionally, I can’t go without mentioning Dr. Thad Botham, who has acted as an excellent mentor, especially with training my mind to reason clearly and logically. Understanding the subtle differences between superficially similar arguments is such an important skill, and I owe my ability to make these distinctions mainly to Thad. 

Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to those still in school?

A: It depends on their goals, but I think the most important thing to do well in college is to go to class. I know — I’ve had my fair share of professors who essentially read off the textbook or who were boring beyond reason. No matter. Go to class. I think there are some imperceptible things that students gain by being in classes that go beyond merely learning class content. Also, this is just a personal preference, but write notes on paper instead of typing on a computer. It seems counterintuitive, but you have so much more freedom over paper than on your laptop, sketching graphs and indicating lines. I definitely don’t think it’s necessary to do that, but hey, it helped me.

Q: What was your favorite spot on campus, whether for studying, meeting friends or just thinking about life?

A: I really like the Memorial Union (also known as the MU) and Noble Library. The MU is such a vibrant space and is the singular marker on campus that all students know. Perhaps engineering students aren’t too familiar with Coor Hall and philosophy students don’t know their way around Engineering Center G Wing, but the MU is always a good place to meet friends for a coffee or lunch. In my mind, the MU is the heart of campus. When I want to go somewhere a bit more secluded, I enjoy studying in the libraries on campus. Both are fantastic but I do have a bias toward Noble because of its individual study rooms. 

Q: What are your plans after graduation?

A: I will most likely attend the University of Chicago Law School. I was fortunate enough to have done a summer internship at the Taiwan Innocence Project where I delved into the complications in using science in court. I hope to one day work at the interface between science and law and be able to communicate between the two fields to advance justice backed by scientific reason. 

Q: If someone gave you $40 million to solve one problem on our planet, what would you tackle?

A: I would try to do more translational work in carbon capture and climate change. We have a lot of good technologies that can help decrease our carbon emissions, but they’ve just been held back from going into the marketplace for regulatory or monetary reasons. I would like to help in translating excellent lab results into actual implemented solutions.

Rachel Bunning

Communications program coordinator, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies