FALL 2023
Asian Philosophies
PHIL 1502 | Dr. Trevor Pearce | MWF 10:10–11:00
Introduces students to a variety of Asian philosophies, concentrating on ancient texts and traditions. The first two thirds of the class will cover Chinese philosophy during the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), specifically Confucianism, Mohism, and Daoism. The last third of the class will cover a separate tradition within Indian philosophy: Buddhism, which emerged around the same time and famously argued that the self does not exist. = PHIL 1001 / 1002 / 1101 / 1102
Philosophies of Death and Dying
PHIL 1502 | Dr. Ruth Groenhout | MWF 10:10–11:00
Introduces students to the field of philosophy via the theme of death and dying. Examines the meaning(s) of death and dying and how one’s attitude toward death could be connected to living a good life. Includes both historical and contemporary perspectives in bioethics on death and dying. Topics in bioethics may include: euthanasia, physician assisted suicide, brain death, and end-of-life care such as hospice and palliative care. = PHIL 1001 / 1002 / 1101 / 1102
Democracy and the Virtues
PHIL 1512 | Dr. Daniel Boisvert | multiple sections
Introduces students to a number of important virtues—including intellectual virtues such as intellectual honesty, truth-seeking, humility, courage, and others—that any thriving deliberative democracy would appear to require of its citizens. Doing so will help raise interesting and important questions in political philosophy, ethics, theory of knowledge, cognition, and other areas, allowing the course to serve as an introduction to the field of philosophy. = PHIL 1001 / 1002 / 1101 / 1102
Philosophy of Love & Sex
PHIL 1512 | Dr. Shannon Sullivan | MWF 11:15–12:05
Introduces students to the field of philosophy via the topic of love and sex. Topics may include monogamy, homosexuality, bisexuality, intersexuality, sexual perversion and normality, masturbation, rape, prostitution, gay marriage, and pornography. = PHIL 1001 / 1002 / 1101 / 1102
Critical Thinking in Philosophy
PHIL 2100 | Dr. Tina Talsma | MWF 12:20–1:10
Fundamental skills of clear thinking that help students reason better during communication, problem-solving, and design, particularly as these integrate scientific/engineering efforts with social needs and values. Focuses on clarifying goals, identifying constraints, and generating and evaluating ideas or solutions. = PHIL 1105
Deductive Logic
PHIL 2105 | multiple sections
Principles of deductive logic, both classical and symbolic, with emphasis on the use of formal logic in analysis of ordinary language discourse.
Healthcare Ethics
PHIL 2220 | Prof. Reginald Raymer | MWF 9:05–9:55
Major ethical dilemmas within medical science and biology are examined to assist students to identify, analyze, and decide ethical issues in such a way that they can defend their positions to themselves and others. Issues include reproductive and genetic technology, death and dying, patient rights, and distribution of healthcare benefits.
Karl Marx
PHIL 3009 | Dr. Martin Shuster | W 5:30–8:15
This course will be an introduction to Marx’s thought. By reading Marx’s writings, we will aim to understand Marx as a philosopher with a comprehensive “take” on the modern world. The concepts we will discuss may include alienation, capital, class struggle, ideology, utopia, and revolution. We will conclude the class by reading one or two figures that respond explicitly to Marx (e.g., Grace Lee Boggs, Max Horkheimer, Rosa Luxemburg, etc.).
Philosophy of Religion
PHIL 3243 | Dr. Tina Talsma | MWF 1:25–2:15
Philosophical implications of religious experience including the definitions, development, and diverse forms of the problems of belief and reason in modern thought.
Advanced Logic
PHIL 3251 | Dr. Daniel Boisvert | W 2:30–5:15
This course will help us appreciate and use the system of Predicate Logic. Doing so will help us improve our deductive reasoning skills. More importantly, it will help us raise interesting and important questions in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and about our own humanity as thinking, reasoning beings.
Feminist Philosophy
PHIL 3261 | TBA | MW 2:30–3:45
Overview of feminist critiques of the philosophical canon, contemporary feminist work on philosophical topics (e.g., feminist epistemology, feminist aesthetics, etc.), and philosophical work on topics such as gender, sexuality, and intersectionality. Critical race, postcolonial, and global feminisms will also be studied.
Philosophy of Education
PHIL 3274 | Dr. Mark Sanders | T/Th 1:00–2:15
This class will explore the philosophy of education in terms of classic Western approaches to education and the contemporary moral problems faced by America’s schools, including the effect of race, class, and gender on school culture. It will also look specifically at the role that philosophy can and should play in education. Class members will help construct and deliver a philosophical lesson plan to a K-12 class.
Caribbean Philosophy
PHIL 4019 | Dr. Eddy Souffrant | M 2:30–5:15
We shall consider the nature of Caribbean Philosophy and explore its critical and expansive aspects with the works of Cesaire, Conde, Fanon, Glissant, Price-Mars, Scott, Trouillot, and Wynter.
Black Aesthetics
PHIL 4039 | Dr. Michael Kelly | online asynchronous
Aesthetics (critical imagining, making, and thinking about art, culture, design, everyday life, and nature) is as old as philosophy, but Black aesthetics typically has not been recognized as part of the modern history of aesthetics because of anti-Black racism. Some of the most creative philosophical as well as political developments in modern and contemporary aesthetics are to be found within the history of Black aesthetics.
Senior Seminar
PHIL 4600 | Dr. Mark Sanders| T/Th 4:00–5:15
This capstone course provides an opportunity to develop or secure philosophical literacy for those who will end their studies of philosophy with a B.A. and for those who are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in philosophy or a related field. The course will thus help advanced students integrate their studies in philosophy, pursue their individual philosophical interests in more depth, and study philosophical texts or issues that they have not yet had a chance to cover but that are important to a well-rounded education in philosophy. = PHIL 3620