Upcoming Courses
SPRING 2027 undergraduate courses
Asian Philosophies
PHIL 1502 A01-A08 MWF various times Dr. Trevor Pearce
This course will introduce students to a variety of Asian philosophies, concentrating on ancient texts and traditions. The first three quarters of the class will cover Chinese philosophy during the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), specifically Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, and their interrelations. The last quarter of the class will cover a separate tradition within Indian philosophy: Buddhism, which emerged during this same time period and famously argued that the self does not exist.
Citizens And Their Cities
PHIL 1502 001 T/Th 4:00–5:15pm Dr. Gregory Convertito
In this course, we examine the relationship of “city” and “citizen” through different geographic, cultural, and historical contexts, as an introduction to the practices and uses of philosophical thinking. In the first part, we consider Socrates as a citizen of ancient Athens and consider his philosophical practice as a duty to his city. In the second part, we turn to the political thought of the Enlightenment in Europe, where these ideas are joined to new ideas of cosmopolitanism and the public sphere. In the third part, we cross the Atlantic and trace ideas pertaining to citizenship in Latin America. In the final part, we consider how citizenship and political participation have transformed through the history of US democracy.
Future Politics?
PHIL 1502 W 5:30-8:15 pm Dr. Martin Shuster and Dr. Tina Shull
“Politics” refers to how humans exist with each other, in plural, how they “belong together.” This class begins with two observations: (1) throughout history, humans have existed with each other in many ways (think tribes, castes, cities, communes, conflicts, empires, and so forth), and (2) with the present rise of authoritarianism, crisis, and war, perhaps this is a moment where human “being together” demands novelty or change. What would it mean to organize ourselves differently? What would it mean to do politics differently? In this class, we will examine the past (in order to understand how humans have organized themselves previously) while we think about the future (in order to imagine ways humans may organize themselves moving forward). This class will also have a funded “Future Politics Incubator” that will put students in a position to start something (a novel organization or initiative or whatever else).
View a trailer for the class here: https://tinyurl.com/future-politics
Local Arts/Humanities
PHIL 1512 001 online asynchronous Prof. Reginald Raymer
Through the study of the experiences of different peoples, societies, cultural traditions, and modes of expression in communities at the city, regional, or national level students will be able to better understand the complexity and diversity of the society in which we live. This course involves philosophical reflection on the processes and structures that shape how people live, struggle, and make progress together in a set of overlapping communities.
Democracy And Virtue
PHIL 1512 L01 L02 L03 online asynchronous Dr. Daniel Boisvert
This general education course provides students with opportunities to study processes, beliefs, and structures that shape how people live, struggle, and make progress together in a set of overlapping communities. In particular, we will identify 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 us raise interesting and important questions in political philosophy, ethics, theory of knowledge, cognition, and other areas of philosophy. Consequently, this course will also serve as an excellent introduction to the field of philosophy.
Philosophy and Science Fiction/Fantasy
PHIL 1512 S01-S08 T/TH 11:30am – 12:45 pm Dr. Damien Williams
When it comes to core philosophical questions like what is the nature of reality, what it means to be a mind, how do we know ourselves, and how do we know at all, Speculative Fiction, or Science Fiction and Fantasy, have a long history of providing illuminating and challenging lenses. This course will look at several different pieces of speculative fiction in television, film, short stories, books, and comics, and use them to explore different philosophical questions and problems. From the works of Ursula K. Le Guin and Octavia E. Butler, to television series such as FARSCAPE, to musical projects in multiple genres, this course will use many interesting tools to discuss tricky and dense topics in a way that students at many different levels will find engaging and relevant to their daily lives.
Critical Thinking in Philosophy
PHIL 2100 001/002 MWF various times Dr. Tina Talsma
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.
Deductive Logic
PHIL 2105 001-003 various times various instructors
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 Hybrid MWF 10:10–11:00am Prof. Reginald Raymer
An examination of major ethical dilemmas within medical science and biology. Issues include reproductive and genetic technology, death and dying, patient rights, and justice in distribution of healthcare benefits and burdens.
What Are Rights?
PHIL 3039 001 T/TH 11:30 am – 12:45pm Dr. Paula Landerreche Cardillo
The idea that we each possess fundamental rights that have something to do with our moral standing and status in the world is now widely accepted. Yet, the notion of rights is far from transparent. This course will look at competing theories concerning the nature, function, justification, and significance of rights, as well as their place in our political vocabulary. We will read a series of texts that understand rights as a legal category that must be defended by political institutions and others that take rights to be something that we possess by virtue of being human. We will study the historical development that moved from the affirmation of civil rights to that of human rights and explore the virtues and limitations of political projects that ground their demands on rights (civil or human).
Feminist Healthcare Ethics
PHIL 3039 002 online asynchronous Dr. Bradley-Volz
Feminist Healthcare Ethics examines various healthcare topics through a bio/ethical feminist lens.
Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence
PHIL 3059 001 online asynchronous Dr. Marianna Bergamaschi Ganapini
Artificial Intelligence is reshaping how we live, work, govern, and understand ourselves. This 3000‑level course surveys core philosophical questions raised by AI together with pressing ethical and political issues. We will blend classic readings (e.g., Turing, Searle) and topics (for instance, Consciousness and AI) with contemporary debates (e.g., alignment, AI and democracy). Technical details are introduced as needed and no coding is required.
Language, Culture, and Thought
PHIL 3059 002 T/Th 1:00 – 2:15 pm Dr. Elise Berman
Can you think without language? Can you talk without thinking? This course delves into these questions, combining linguistics, psychology, anthropology, and digital studies. Students begin with an investigation of semiotic relativity, or how language shapes human cognition, debating the differences between human and non-human communication and cognition, including animal communication and AI. Students then investigate the effects of language in particular on thought-including specific syntactic and semantic forms. Students also examine discursive relativity, or the relationship between cognition and language in use, investigating verbal art, pragmatics and political speech, and changes in writing forms-including literacy, the internet, and interactions with AI. Scholars debate the degree to which these technological developments change, and have changed, thought patterns. Students will investigate these debates and write a final research paper.
Topics in Women’s Studies: Race, Gender, Biology and the Politics of Difference
PHIL 3079 001 online asynchronous Dr. Amore Jackson
This course will examine the biological and cultural contexts for our understanding of “difference.” Although some scientists have claimed that differences are determined by our biology – such as research on sex and racial differences, math abilities, spatial ability, etc., other scientists challenge the idea that race, sex, gender, and sexuality are innate and immutable. How do we weigh these claims and counterclaims? This course will give students the tools to analyze scientific studies to understand the relationship of nature and culture, science and society, biology, and politics.
Feminist Thought
PHIL 3079 002 Hybrid T 11:30 – 12:45 Dr. Jennifer Byrd
Cross-cultural and interdisciplinary survey of the main traditions of feminist theory in the context of their historical and philosophical roots.
Philosophy of Law
PHIL 3079 090 M 6:30 pm – 9:15 pm Dr. Jonathan Perry
Philosophy underlying the legal system and the Anglo-American practice of law. Topics include: what is “law;” obligation to obey the law, liberty, privacy and tolerance; and criminal responsibility and punishment.
History of Classical Political Philosophy
PHIL 3201 T/Th 11:30 – 12:45 Dr. Joshua Miller
Major concepts and systems of political philosophy of Ancient Greece and Rome.
Modern Philosophy
PHIL 3202 MW 4:30 – 5:45 pm Dr. Trevor Pearce
Modern philosophic and scientific thought from Descartes to Kant. Readings selected from representative works in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Latin American Philosophy
PHIL 3211 MW 10:10 – 11:30 am Dr. Monque Lopez
This course is a survey of central texts and movements within Latin American philosophy. Themes of the course include pre-colonial Indigenous metaphysics, political philosophy within conquest-era debates and nation-building projects, Afro-Latin American movements, Latin American feminist philosophy, and philosophical lessons from decolonial and anti-imperial projects across Latin America.
Ethical Theory
PHIL 3221 W 10:00 – 12:45 Dr. Daniel Boisvert
Selective examination of major normative ethical theories that undergird our practical judgments about morally right actions and virtuous persons. This course will focus on virtue ethics, but will also introduce consequentialism, deontology, and representative feminist theories.
Philosophy of Mind
PHIL 3242 MWF 1:25 – 2:15 pm Dr. Tina Talsma
An exploration of epistemological, metaphysical, and ethical questions concerning the mind. The main focus is on the possibility of integrating classic philosophical perspectives with contemporary research in cognitive science. Topics include: the descriptive/normative relation, the connection between philosophy and science, the plausibility of the mind and/or brain as a computational, symbol-manipulating system, including cases in which ethical consequences emerge from this orientation, and other topics such as consciousness, free will and determinism, logic and language, emotion and reasoning, and rationality.
Disability Theory and Politics
PHIL 3263 T/Th 10:00 – 11:15 am Dr. Amber Knight
This course applies insights from the field of disability studies to Western political thought in order to examine the political nature of disability and the disabling nature of politics. In this course, students are exposed to varying definitions, cultural representations, social justice and human rights issues, and current bioethical debates related to disability.
Hip Hop as Redescription
PHIL 3275 T/Th 1:00 – 2:15 pm Dr. Mark Sanders
A philosophical examination of hip hop culture-its origins and evolution. Students will examine many aspects, ideas, and perspectives of and on hip hop, including beats, lyrics, race, authenticity, misogyny, homophobia, commercialism, and more. Students will read about hip hop, watch hip hop videos, listen to hip hop music, and maybe even make a little hip hop.
Manufacturing Medicine: Bioethics, Power, and the Construction of Disease
PHIL 4039 T/Th 10:00 – 11:15 am Dr. Toby Schonfeld
This course offers an advanced philosophical and ethical examination of the foundational concepts that shape modern medicine, public health, and biomedical technology. Students will investigate how definitions of health, disease, and illness are constructed, contested, and applied across historical and contemporary contexts, critically evaluating how diagnostic categories function socially, morally, and clinically. Beginning with early biomedical models and psychiatric frameworks, the course traces conceptual shifts toward modern naturalist and normativist theories of health. Students will engage with classic bioethical debates surrounding human variation, biological normativity, and the boundaries of medical authority. Thematic units will include Pregnancy and Reproductive Health (examining the medicalization of natural biological processes, fetal status, maternal autonomy, and the line between reproductive care and pathology); Mental Health and Illness (analyzing diagnostic inflation, the social construction of psychiatric categories, and ethical dilemmas surrounding agency, consent, and involuntary treatment) and Weight Management and the Body (deconstructing body size as a clinical category, the ethical implications of weight-loss interventions and pharmaceuticals, and the intersection of public health metrics with stigma). Designed for upper-level undergraduates in philosophy, bioethics, health humanities, and pre-health tracks, this course equips students with the analytical tools to interrogate who decides what counts as a disease and how those labels impact human identity, clinical practice, and justice.
Sustainability
PHIL 4079 W 2:30 – 5:15 pm Dr. Pedro Monque Lopez
No one is against a sustainable society. Everyone pays lip service to the ideal of sustainability. But do people even agree on what sustainability is? For many, sustainability has just become a label used by companies to greenwash their practices. For others, sustainability remains the key ideal that we need to pursue in order to turn things around and achieve an ecological society. This class will look at the major theories of what sustainability is in itself—for example, those of Donella Meadows, Bryan Norton, and J. Baird Callicott. It will then look at how to apply the idea of sustainability to various human endeavors, from food to energy to human civilization as a whole.
Senior Seminar/ Honors Senior Seminar
PHIL 4600 /4700 T/Th 4:00 – 5:15 pm Dr. Mark Sanders
This capstone course provides an opportunity to develop or secure a 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. The focus in the seminar will be on contemporary philosophy, though a research project may involve more historical figures or issues.