Ethics

PHI 107

Ethics is the branch of philosophy examining the nature of morality, good and evil, and right and wrong action. At bottom, ethics addresses the most practical question: “What ought I do?” As such, this is not some hypothetical concern, but something with which we all continually wrestle, as we go about our day-to-day lives. This suggests that ethics is an inherent and inescapable part of human existence. In this course, we will look at several influential approaches and attempts to answer that practical question of ethics. Throughout, we will discover how these divergent, and often conflicting, approaches frame present-day debates surrounding ghosting, religion, drone attacks, gaslighting, implicit bias, gender quotas for university admissions and job hiring, world poverty, eating factory-farmed meat, human rights, alcohol and sexual consent, course grades, and ethical leadership.

Integrating PPE

PHI 485

This is a project-based capstone course exploring advanced issues at the intersection of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). Each discipline explores complex social problems with its own toolkit, and with its own set of questions. The goal of this course will be to integrate these different approaches into a richer lens on how we can confront complex social issues.

Past Capstone Projects

Teaching Philosophy

PHI 604

In this course, we will work together in critically engaging with the scholarship on teaching and learning in order for you to (1) cultivate your background knowledge on current pedagogies; (2) identify and engage challenges associated with teaching philosophy, including concerns of inclusivity and diversity along with increasing general student interest in philosophy; and (3) develop a robust, empirically grounded, teaching philosophy. This course will discuss these and related topics in the context of assisting you in the design and teaching of your own philosophy courses. We will focus on syllabus design, reading selection, presentation/lecture styles, assignments and activities, assignment structures and design, online vs. traditional classrooms, use of classroom technology, and so on. This will provide you with experience designing courses and making (and justifying) pedagogical decisions, all while giving you opportunities to use and evaluate the theories and concepts discussed throughout the course.