Teaching
CategorySummer (2019) Programs in Philosophy for Undergraduates
There are a number of universities and organizations that host summer programs in philosophy for undergraduates. (more…)
A Way Professors Make a “Real World” Difference
Amidst all the talk about public philosophy, let’s not forget a more traditional way philosophers have an impact on the world: by teaching well, encouraging inquiry and achievement, and helping students develop intellectual virtues. (more…)
How Is Your Teaching Evaluated?
It seems that every few months a new study is published demonstrating some kind of problem with student evaluations of teaching. Recently I’ve seen one going around that confirms that students who had access to free chocolate cookies while being taught evaluated their teachers “significantly better” than the control group. (more…)
What Should Philosophers Teach in Quantitative Reasoning Courses? (guest post by Landon D.C. Elkind)
The following is a guest post* by Landon D.C. Elkind (University of Iowa) about the content of philosophy courses that satisfy general education requirements in quantitative or formal reasoning. It originally appeared on his blog. (more…)
Teaching Gen Ed Students the Value of Philosophy (guest post by Andrew P. Mills)
Earlier this year, Andrew P. Mills , professor of philosophy and director of the Integrative Studies Program at Otterbein University, and president of the American Association of Philosophy Teachers,  conducted a survey about teaching non-philosophy majors and getting them to see the value of philosophy. (more…)
Teaching Philosophy as the Search for Complication
Most students in philosophy classrooms in the United States are taking their first and only philosophy course. Why is it their only one? (more…)
New and Unusual Philosophy Courses
I’ve been hearing about some unusual and interesting philosophy courses that are currently being taught or developed. (more…)
A Philosopher’s Experiment Teaching Math and the Arts (guest post by Yann Benétreau-Dupin)
The following is a guest post* from Yann Benétreau-Dupin, a lecturer in philosophy at San Francisco State University, about an interesting and innovative response to the California State University system’s change to its general education requirements: a course on math and the arts, taught in the philosophy department. (more…)
Why To Discourage Laptops in Class (with slides you can show your students)
You may have seen various articles about how computers and phones in the classroom affect student performance. (more…)
Course Websites
If you haven’t yet seen the course website for “God and the Good Life,” an introductory undergraduate philosophy course taught by Meghan Sullivan at the University of Notre Dame, take a few minutes to check it out. (more…)
How to Teach (Philosophy): Readings Sought
What readings about teaching would you assign to philosophy graduate students? (more…)
The Guardian’s Undergraduate Philosophy Rankings
The Guardian has published its 2019 “University Guide,” a set of rankings of schools aimed primarily at undergraduate students. The guide includes discipline-specific rankings, including for philosophy. (more…)
The Evidence Supporting Pre-College Instruction in Philosophy
“A growing body of controlled and randomized research suggests that philosophical instruction in primary and secondary education positively impacts students’ subsequent cognitive development, sometimes for years after that instruction ceases.” (more…)
How Is This Course Intro To Philosophy? (guest post by Shen-yi Liao)
The following is a guest post by Shen-yi Liao, assistant professor of philosophy at University of Puget Sound. A version of it first appeared at Medium.
Laptops in Classrooms Revisited
Nearly two years ago, prompted by a Columbia professor’s decision to ban laptops in his classes, we discussed classroom computer and phone policies. The subject has been gaining more traction recently, owing to recent studies and an op-ed last week in The New York Times by University of Michigan education, public policy, and economics professor Susan Dynarski. (more..
Philosophy of Science Undergrad Summer Program
The Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh will be hosting a summer program in philosophy of science for undergraduate students from underrepresented groups this coming summer. (more…)
Encouraging Your Promising Students To Take Another Philosophy Course
This is a good idea:
Every semester, about this time, I identify students in my intro classes who are doing reasonably well, seem interested in philosophy (based on class participation, conversations in office hours, or written work), and are not graduating in the near future. I email all of them individually (although of course the letters are somewhat repetitiv..
Why Women Choose To Continue Studying Philosophy — Or Not
Two attitudes help explain why some women choose to not continue studying philosophy, according to research recently published in Analysis.
Converting One-Time Philosophy Students Into Repeat Enrollees
A philosophy professor writes:
Our department is thinking about ways we can convert students who take one class for accidental reasons (it fulfills a requirement or it fits a time slot) into students who take a few more classes. We’ve talked about a few strategies here, and I’ve looked around online a tiny bit for resources, but I thought this might be the sort o..
A Philosophy Course Based On Consensus, Not Conflict
In introductory college courses in the sciences and social sciences, and even some humanities disciplines like history, the material taught largely consists of basic claims, findings, and ideas that most of those in the discipline agree upon. Could there be such a course in philosophy? (more…)
How To Use Recitation/Discussion Sections
Many college course have meetings of recitation or discussion sections in addition to the course lectures which are sometimes run by the professor, sometimes by teaching assistants. What goes on in the recitation is usually supposed to be different than the kind of thing that happens in the lecture; the small size of each recitation group, relative to the course’s w..
Custom Student Evaluations Of Teaching
Maybe, just maybe, if more of the comments on our student evaluations looked like the following, they’d be worth it: (more…)
White Supremacists, Charlottesville, and the Philosophy Classroom
Racist violence has been a defining feature of the United States since its creation. One risk of focusing on highly visible instances of racist violence, such as the “Unite the Right” rally by white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia this past weekend, is to make it seem more exceptional and more recognizable—and more alien to ordinary America..
How Will You Try To Improve Your Teaching?
Hello, fellow academics, it’s August 1st, the date that indicates the summer is, sadly, soon over. Amidst the scramble to meet deadlines and knock items off of that to-do list, it’s also time to make sure you’re prepared for your teaching. (more…)
Should Philosophers Teach the Meaning of Life (and other Possibly Depressing Subjects)?
If there’s a question that comes to mind when people see the word “philosophy” it’s this: “what’s the meaning of life?” (more…)
Skepticism About Philosophy’s Capacity To Improve Thinking
Philosophy departments often include in their pitch to undergraduates the claim that studying philosophy can improve one’s thinking skills. But does it? (more…)
How To Structure A Philosophy Major
What should the curriculum of a philosophy major look like?
Specific answers will vary across different types of schools, but perhaps at some level they will have enough in common such that it would be useful to discuss the question in general. (more…)
Teaching Controversial Topics In High School Philosophy
Last summer, Landon Hedrick, a PhD student at the University of Nebraska who, while working on his dissertation, teaches philosophy at the Vanguard Classical School in Chicago, wrote in with questions about teaching logic and critical thinking to high school students. He now has some questions about teaching more controversial topics in a high school philosophy clas..