Course Information

Course PHI 101LEC GRA: Introduction to Philosophy
UB Learns
Semester Spring 2025
Units 3.00
Time Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 9:00AM–9:50AM
Location Park Hall 250
Instruction P (In Person)
Documentation Syllabus
   
Instructor Professor David Emmanuel Gray (he/his)
Contact Park Hall 118
degray@buffalo.edu
Zoom Meeting ID: 716 645 3983 & Passcode: 14260
Student Meetings Tuesday, Thursday: 12:00PM–2:00PM
   
Course Assistant L Bates-Rodriguez, lbatesro@buffalo.edu

Final Presentation PowerPoint Template

Activities & Grading

As you complete these course activities, you will earn philosophy experience points:

Activity Points Available
👋 Group Discussions 3,500
✏️ Social Annotations 2,600
🗃 Professional Development 2,000
🧪 Experiments in Philosophy  
      - Civic Action 500
      - Change Making Letter 1,500
      - Volunteer Activity 1,000
      - Charitable Giving Investigation 500
      - Organize an Activity 2,500
      - Letter to Future Students 500
💬 Final Presentation 1,500
Total 16,100

You have entered this class as a New Philosophy Student, but as you do these activities and earn philosophy experience points you will advance to higher levels. The level at which you end the semester will determine your final letter grade in the course:

Points Earned Level Title Letter Grade
Less than 6,799 1 New Philosophy Student F
6,800 to 7,399 2 Philosophy Student D−
7,400 to 7,999 3 Philosophy Initiate D
8,000 to 8,599 4 Novice Philosopher D+
8,600 to 9,399 5 Apprentice Philosopher C−
9,400 to 10,199 6 Unemployed Philosopher C
10,200 to 10,999 7 Armchair Philosopher C+
11,000 to 11,899 8 Stand-Up Philosopher B−
11,900 to 12,799 9 Assistant Philosophy Professor B
12,800 to 13,699 10 Associate Philosophy Professor B+
13,700 to 14,699 11 Philosophy Professor A−
14,700 to 15,699 12 Philosopher Royale A
15,700 or higher 13 Philosopher Supreme A+
Please note that UB does not allow final course grades to be an A+ or a D−. Therefore a final course grade of an A+ will be assigned an A and a final grade of a D− will be assigned a D.

Schedule

Date Class Meeting Topics / Readings Activities*
1/20 (Sat)   MLK Day of Service from 10:00AM to 2:00PM (counts as 4 hours towards the volunteer activity).
1/22 (Wed) What Is This Course About? (Topic #1)
David E. Gray, Course Syllabus. 		 
1/24 (Fri) What Is This Course About?
No reading. 		 
1/26 (Sun)   ✅ Introductory survey due by 11:59PM (midnight).
✅ Honor agreement due by 11:59PM (midnight).
✏️ What is this course about? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
1/27 (Mon) What Is Philosophy? (Topic #2)
Plato, Apology. 		 
1/28 (Tue)   🗃 Professional photo due by 11:59PM (midnight).
1/29 (Wed) What Is Philosophy?
No reading. 		 
1/30 (Thu)   🧪 Civic action due by 11:59PM (midnight).
1/31 (Fri) Guest Speakers: Volunteering at UB
Hannah Giarrizzo, Assistant Director, Community Engagement, University at Buffalo.
Alivia Smeltzer-Darling, LEAD Coordinator, Community & Civic Engagement, University at Buffalo. 		 
2/1 (Sat)   Social Change Saturday from 9:00AM to 1:00PM (counts as 3 hours towards the volunteer activity).
2/2 (Sun)   ✏️ What is philosophy? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
2/3 (Mon) What Is an Argument? (Topic #3)
Nicole Dular, “Boy Bye: A Feminist Defense of Ghosting”. 		 
2/4 (Tue)   🗃 Digital challenge cards due by 11:59PM (midnight).
2/5 (Wed) What Is an Argument?
No reading. 		 
2/7 (Fri) Exploring Activity Ideas
No reading. 		 
2/9 (Sun)   ✏️ What is an argument? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
2/10 (Mon) How Do I Make an Argument? (Topic #4)
Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. 		 
2/11 (Tue)   🗃 Online profiles due by 11:59PM (midnight).
2/12 (Wed) How Do I Make an Argument?
No reading. 		 
2/14 (Fri) Writing Your Change Making Letter
No reading. 		Cause Connection from 4:00PM to 6:00PM (counts as 2 hours towards the volunteer activity).
2/16 (Sun)   ✏️ How do I make an argument? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
2/17 (Mon) Can I Trust My Senses? (Topic #5)
Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy. 		 
2/18 (Tue)   🗃 Making professional connections due by 11:59PM (midnight).
2/19 (Wed) Can I Trust My Senses?
No reading. 		 
2/20 (Thu)   🧪 Change making letter draft due by 11:59PM (midnight).
2/21 (Fri) Guest Speaker: Informational Interviews
Carl Remmes, Career Design Consultant, Career Design Center, University at Buffalo.
2/23 (Sun)   ✏️ Can I trust my senses? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
2/24 (Mon) Who Should I Trust Online? (Topic #6)
C. Thi Nguyen, “Escape the Echo Chamber”. 		 
2/26 (Wed) 🤒 Class Canceled 🤒  
2/27 (Thu)   🗃 Informational interview scheduled due by 11:59PM (midnight).
2/28 (Fri) Peer Review of Change Making Letters
No reading. 		🧪 Change making letter peer review due in class.
3/1 (Sat)   Social Change Saturday from 9:00AM to 1:00PM (counts as 3 hours towards the volunteer activity).
3/2 (Sun)   ✅ Midterm course review due by 11:59PM (midnight).
3/3 (Mon) Who Should I Trust Online?
No reading. 		 
3/4 (Tue)   ✏️ Who should I trust online? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
3/5 (Wed) Does Prejudice Influence Who I Trust? (Topic #7)
Rachel McKinnon, “Epistemic Injustice”. 		🧪 Change making letter due by 11:59PM (midnight).
3/7 (Fri) Mailing Your Change Making Letters
No reading. 		🧪 Change making letter mailed due in class.
3/9 (Sun)   ✏️ Does prejudice influence who I trust? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
3/10 (Mon) What Is Gaslighting? (Topic #8)
Kate Abramson, “Turning Up the Lights on Gaslighting”. 		 
3/11 (Tue)   🗃 Informational interview report due by 11:59PM (midnight).
3/12 (Wed) What Is Gaslighting?
No reading. 		 
3/14 (Fri) Organizing an Activity Discussion
No reading. 		✏️ What is gaslighting? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
3/17–3/21 🌴 Spring Break 🌴  
3/24 (Mon) How Can I Make a Difference? (Topic #9)
Savannah Pearlman, “In Tension: Effective Altruism and Mutual Aid”. 		🧪 Charitable giving investigation (part 1) due in class.
3/26 (Wed) How Can I Make a Difference?
No reading. 		🧪 Charitable giving investigation (part 2) due in class.
3/28 (Fri) How Can I Make a Difference?
No reading. 		 
3/30 (Sun)   ✏️ How can I make a difference? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
3/31 (Mon) How Do We Address Structural Injustice? (Topic #10)
Iris Marion Young, “Structure As the Subject of Justice”. 		👋 Parable of the polygons due in class.
4/1 (Tue)   🗃 Initial resume due by 11:59PM (midnight).
4/2 (Wed) How Do We Address Structural Injustice?
No reading. 		 
4/4 (Fri) How Do We Address Structural Injustice?
No reading. 		 
4/6 (Sun)   ✏️ How do we address structural injustice? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
4/7 (Mon) Will I Recognize Myself in 10 Years? (Topic #11)
L. E. Paul, Transformative Experience. 		 
4/9 (Wed) Will I Recognize Myself in 10 Years?
No reading. 		 
4/11 (Fri) Guest Speaker: Designing Your Life
Carl Remmes, Career Design Consultant, Career Design Center, University at Buffalo. 		 
4/13 (Sun)   ✏️ Will I recognize myself in 10 years? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
4/14 (Mon) Volunteer Activity & Organizing an Activity Planning
No reading. 		 
4/15 (Tue)   🗃 Resume review due by 11:59PM (midnight).
4/16 (Wed) 😴 Mental Health Break: No Class 😴  
4/18 (Fri) 😴 Mental Health Break: No Class 😴 Cause Connection from 1:00PM to 3:00PM (counts as 2 hours towards the volunteer activity).
4/20 (Sun)   ✏️ Optional: What is love? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
4/21 (Mon) Are Grades BS? (Topic #13)
Harry G. Frankfurt, “On Bullshit”. 		 
4/23 (Wed) Are Grades BS?
Jesse Stommel, “How to Ungrade”. 		 
4/25 (Fri) Are Grades BS?
No reading. 		 
4/26 (Sat)   UB Pride & Service Day from 9:00AM to 1:00PM (counts as 3 hours towards the volunteer activity).
4/27 (Sun)   ✏️ Are grades BS? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
4/28 (Mon) What Is Philosophy, Again? (Topic #14)
Plato, “The Allegory of the Cave”. 		 
4/29 (Tue)   Buffalo SOUP & Social from 4:00PM to 8:00PM (counts as 4 hours towards the volunteer activity).
4/30 (Wed) What Is Philosophy, Again?
Jennifer M. Morton, “An Antidote to Injustice”. 		 
5/2 (Fri) Pitching Your Success
No reading. 		 
5/4 (Sun)   ✏️ What is philosophy, again? due by 11:59PM (midnight).
5/5 (Mon) Putting It All Together
No reading. 		🧪 Volunteer activity report (documentation, log of hours, and short reflection) due by 11:59PM (midnight).
5/7 (Wed)   🧪 Organize an activity report (log of hours, documentation, one-minute video, short reflection, and tips for future students) due by 11:59PM (midnight).
✅ Official UB course evaluations due by 11:59PM (midnight).
5/12 (Mon) Final Presentations from 8:00AM to 11:00AM (in Knox Hall 14) 💬 Final presentations due in class.
5/14 (Wed)   🧪 Letter to future students due by 11:59PM (midnight).

* All times are for Buffalo (Eastern Standard) Time. Also, do not forget that every class meeting will have some sort of group discussion activity. Professional development activities are marked in red, social annotations in purple, and experiments in philosophy in green.