Teaching

Philosophy Inside and Outside the Classroom

Read an interview in which I explain how and why I do philosophy outside of the classroom (and how that relates to my teaching and research).

My Teaching Philosophy

Building Thinking Skills

I believe doing philosophy provides us with valuable skills, including the ability to have productive discussions about contentious issues, the ability to carefully and rigorously analyze and evaluate arguments, the ability to speak and think clearly and precisely, and the ability to ask useful and perceptive questions.   My classes are aimed at helping you build these skills (not just memorizing and regurgitating terminology or what so-and-so has said).  

Building Academic Skills and Habits

Part of college is learning how to learn: learning the basic academic skills and habits that will enable you to succeed in future schooling and work (not to mention life!).  To achieve our goals and make a positive impact on ourselves and others,  we need to be able to push through frustration and challenges, meet deadlines, organize our schedules, ask for help when we need it, and work collaboratively with others.  I design my classes so that they help you develop these skills and habits, because I want to set you up to succeed even after you leave my class.  

Activities and Practice

We develop skills through deliberate practice: by setting ourselves a task, trying to achieve it, and responding to feedback about how we've done.  Since a major goal of my classes is to help you develop skills (such as reasoning skills), you'll do a lot of practice both in class and in assignments.  And, since you don't learn skills just by hearing someone talk about how to do something, I don't do a lot of lecturing.   (When I taught my daughter to ride a bike, there's a good reason I didn't just tell her to read a book about it!)  Instead, I'll often give you a brief demonstration or explanation of a concept or skill, and then you'll do various activities or exercises (debates, small group discussions, role-playing activities, practice problems, etc.) to practice your skills, test your comprehension, or apply what you've learned.  

Free Expression and Inclusion Policy (with exercises)

This is the policy I use in my classes to promote both academic freedom and inclusive learning.  I developed it by adapting some language and ideas from Carleton College's policy and the PEN center.  Some language is borrowed from the Saint Paul College Free Expression and Inclusion Policy, which I helped develop.  I'm very grateful to Wendy Roberson for helpful feedback and consultation.  Following the policy there is an exercise we do on the first day of class to clarify our expectations of each other and brainstorm strategies for productive discussions.  Others should feel free to use or adapt the policy and exercises for their own courses.

The Policy

Free Expression and Inclusion Policy: 

As your instructor, I am committed to two core values in all class discussions and activities: 

(1) Free Expression: a class environment should be places where ideas relevant to course goals can be freely and productively explored and critically examined, even if those ideas are unpopular, controversial, uncomfortable, or offensive.  This is important because getting at the truth about complex subjects requires the freedom to explore controversial views, and participating in democratic civil society requires the ability to engage productively with those with whom we (sometimes passionately) disagree.  

(2) Inclusion: a class environment should be a place where all students are welcomed as equal participants and in which those who have been historically marginalized (unjustly excluded) are actively supported and engaged, regardless of (among other things) their race, nationality, gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, political views, (dis)ability, class, and religious tradition (or lack thereof). This is important because all students have a right to an equal opportunity to learn, and by working to understand and engage with diverse perspectives, especially those that are often unjustly excluded or ignored, we will develop as learners and as people.

I will work to conduct all class activities and discussions in ways that help promote these goals and, because I cannot succeed alone, I will expect you, as students, to actively promote them as well.  

This means you CAN expect that:

However, you CANNOT expect 

Exercise

Discussion Exercise: when directed, each group will focus on one of the case studies below.  Read the case study and questions out loud together, then discuss the questions.  Finally, work together to write down at least one rule or guideline for good class discussions that would address the challenges in the case study.  (If you finish, you can take a look at the other cases, too.)

A:  The class is having a discussion about the morality of same-sex relationships.  While examining an argument about the issue made in one of the readings, a student explains why they think the argument is a good one.  Another student, Connor, rolls his eyes and makes a scoffing noise.  Connor consistently does this during the class when people make comments he disagrees with.  When asked by the teacher if he has thoughts to share, Connor very confidently explains why he thinks the other students’ views are “clearly wrong.”  How might Connor’s behavior impact the class discussion?  Is there advice you’d give Connor about how to make his contributions to the discussion more productive?  In what ways is Connor’s attitude getting in the way of his learning?  What role should the instructor have in addressing this situation?

B:  The class is discussing the morality of abortion: when, if ever, is it morally permissible to have an abortion?  The focus is on evaluating common arguments (both pro-choice and anti-abortion) arguments to examine why public discussions are so unproductive.  To get the class started, Jason explains each of the arguments so that everyone understands them before they divide up and start evaluating them (seeing if they’re any good or not).  After explaining one argument, Jason asks if anyone has any questions about the argument, which is a common one that is often raised in public discussions of abortion.  In response, one student, very confidently and with scorn in his voice, says, “I get the argument, but it’s ridiculous and I don’t see why we’re wasting our time with it.”  How might the student’s contribution impact the class discussion?  Is there any advice you’d give the student about how to make his contributions to the discussion more productive?  In what way is the student’s attitude getting in the way of his learning?  What role should the instructor have in addressing this situation?

C:  Student A is anxious about the prospect of discussing controversial issues such as racism and immigration, because, as a Muslim, a person of color, and a child of immigrants, she has had to endure a lot of hostility due to the political climate in the United States.  People have yelled hateful things at her from their cars and told her and her friends to “speak English” at restaurants.  In public discussions of immigration policy, especially on TV and in political discussions, people repeatedly throw around claims that immigrants are likely to be criminals despite the fact that these claims are demonstrably false (Ousey and Kubrin 2009; Charen 2017; Ewing et al. 2015; Nowrasteh 2015).  She feels angry when the discussion is dominated by White people who have no idea what it’s like to face such scorn for being themselves or for expressing their views.  She is worried that she’ll have to listen to similar things in class discussions.  What could other students do to help ensure that Student A feels like a valued contributor to discussions?  What are some productive ways that Student A could advocate for herself in the class?  What role should the instructor have in addressing this situation?

D:  Student B identifies as heterosexual and is about to enter the class to discuss moral arguments related to sexual orientation and gender identity.  The class is going to focus specifically on arguments about (1) same-sex relationships and (2) using a persons’ preferred gender pronouns.  Student B feels confident about her views on these topics, because she has discussed them extensively with her friends (who are also heterosexual).  In fact, being a wife to her husband and a mother to her children is very important to her and she sees it as a central part of her identity.  She feels a bit unsure how she should participate in the discussion in class given that she has strong feelings and, in past discussions with family, people have sometimes been offended when she expressed her views even though she tried to be respectful.  What advice would you give Student B about how she could participate productively in the discussion?  What can other students do to help make sure Student B feels able to share her perspective?  What role should the instructor have in addressing this situation?

E:  The class is discussing the claim, defended by some feminists, that there is gender oppression in the United States: that women are unjustly subordinated on the basis of their gender.  The class is doing small group discussion activities in which they are first working to understand an argument about the topic and then starting to test the argument by looking at objections that might be raised to it.  One student suggests to his small group that, “I’ve heard arguments like this before, and they’re no good.  It’s not going to change my mind.  Let’s just skip to looking at objections to the argument, because it won’t be hard to find some good objections.”  The group goes along with the suggestion and they skip the activities intended to help them make sure they understand the argument before evaluating it.  How might the student’s suggestion impact the group’s learning?  Is there any advice you’d give the students about how to change their attitudes or contributions in the discussion?  What role should the instructor have in addressing this situation?

F:  The class is discussing the morality of physician-assisted suicide.  Student A makes a passionate critique of an argument the class is discussing, and they state that they think the argument is “obviously” flawed.  The student is very passionate in stating their position, and it becomes clear they haven’t really understood opposing views other students have offered.  In response, student B says, “I can see you’ve got strong feelings about this, but I think you’re just scared to admit you might be wrong.”  What advice might you give to either student about how they could more productively contribute to the discussion?  What role should the instructor have in addressing this situation?


References:Mona Charen, “Good, Bad, and Emotional Arguments about Immigration,” The National Review Online.  March 22, 2017.                     http://www.nationalreview.com/article/446016/immigration-maryland-high-school-rape-case-emotion-makes-bad-policyWalter Ewing, Daniel Martinez, Ruben Rumbaut, “The Criminalization of Immigration in the United States,” American Immigration Council, July                    13, 2015.  https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/criminalization-immigration-united-statesGraham C. Ousey and Charis E. Kubrin, “Exploring the Connection between Immigration and Violent Crime Rates in U.S. cities, 1980-2000).  New                    Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, “Refugee Myths,” accessed Feb 1, 2017.                     http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/omh/refugee/myths.htmAlex Nowrasteh, “Immigration and Crime – What the Research Says,” The Cato Institute, July 14, 2015.                     https://www.cato.org/blog/immigration-crime-what-research-says

Descriptions of Courses Taught (for students)

These are just meant to give a very basic overview of what each course is about and why it is important.  Formal course descriptions and course learning outcomes can be found on the Saint Paul College website.  Click here!

Phil 1710: Logic

I teach it: usually every semester

How can you tell when someone’s arguments or reasoning are good or flawed?  Logic teaches you how, while also fulfilling your Math transfer requirement!  


What's this course about?

How can you tell when someone’s arguments or reasoning are good or flawed?  Logic teaches you how, while also fulfilling your Math transfer requirement! 

Logic is the study of arguments.  A person makes an argument when they make an inference from some claims to another: “Addie ate the cake, because she has crumbs on her face and the cake is gone.”  We all make and hear arguments on both trivial and highly important issues every day.  But, what makes arguments and inferences good or bad?  When should you be convinced by an argument and when shouldn’t you?  Logic provides answers to these questions.  In this class we’ll learn concepts and procedures for evaluating arguments and inferences.  

Much of the course will be focused on symbolic logic.  To understand what that is, compare math.  Math uses a symbolic language to represent statements about numbers: we symbolize "one plus one equals 2" with 1+1=2.  We can do procedures on the symbols to determine if the statements are true (or to figure out what equals what). Symbolic logic uses a symbolic language to represent arguments that people make in natural languages (such as English or Swahili).  It then provides procedures we can use to see if those arguments make good inferences.  In class, we learn how to use one symbolic language and a few procedures to evaluate the logic of statements and arguments.  

Why is this course important?  

Being a good citizen requires being a good thinker, and doing Logic helps you develop the skills of a good thinker.  The skills and concepts we’ll learn in this class will help you examine your own and others’ arguments so you can make your own well-reasoned decisions about what to think.  In some cases, you’ll be able to directly apply the concepts and skills we learn to help you with real-life arguments.  In other cases, the procedures we’ll learn are more indirectly valuable.  Just as people lift weights so that they can build muscles that help them do other valuable things, doing Logic can help you build intellectual habits and skills that will be valuable even if you don’t ever have to do Logic again.

Phil 1720: Ethics

I teach it: usually every semester

Learn skills for making your own well-reasoned decisions about moral questions and apply them together in collaborative discussions and debates about a variety of issues.  You’ll find out that productive discussion about these issues is possible – and fun! 


What is this course about?

Every day we’re confronted with moral questions: questions about what’s right, wrong, good, bad, or how we ought to live.  What’s right or wrong, and how can you know?  Should we all be vegans?  Does the U.S. owe reparations for racial injustice?  Is it wrong to blow up oil pipelines to protest climate change?  Is it wrong to enjoy the work of immoral artists?  What makes something racist or sexist?  What makes discrimination wrongful?  When, if ever, is abortion morally permissible?  What makes a good person or a good human life?  Ethics, or Moral Philosophy, aims to find well-reasoned answers to these questions.  In the class, you’ll explore some prominent arguments about important moral issues and, more importantly, you’ll learn reasoning skills you can use to make your own well-reasoned decisions about these and other moral issues you care about.  

Why is this course important?  

All of us face daily questions about how we should live and conduct ourselves.  As citizens, we need to decide when, how, and why we ought to use our voices and our votes.  And, coming to a well-reasoned decision about what to do is challenging.  If we’re going to get at the truth and make a truly well-reasoned decision, we need to carefully examine a variety of different perspectives.  Doing this takes practice, which we don’t often get (sometimes because we avoid or ignore views we don’t currently agree with).  Moral philosophy provides the tools to make better decisions, and this class introduces you to those tools and gives you guided practice using them.

Phil 1722: Health Care Ethics

I teach it: usually every semester


Learn skills for making your own well-reasoned decisions about moral questions that arise in health care practice and research, and apply them together in collaborative discussions about a variety of issues.  You’ll find out that productive discussion about these issues is possible – and fun! 


What is this course about and why does it matter?

Ethics, or Moral Philosophy, is the search for well-reasoned answers to moral questions: questions about what’s right, wrong, good, bad, or how we ought to conduct ourselves.  Responsible and competent health care practitioners (such as nurses, doctors, phlebotomists, laboratory techs, etc.) must be prepared to address many such questions.  What obligations do you have to patients from a different culture or religion?  When, if ever, is euthanasia or assisted suicide morally permissible?  What about abortion or genetic manipulation?  When is justifiable to kill or harm animals for medical research?  What’s the appropriate attitude towards disabilities and people who have them?  What are moral restrictions on research on human subjects?  Do health care practitioners have obligations to perform or assist with some procedures that go against their personal convictions?  

In this class, you’ll explore some prominent arguments about these and other moral questions in healthcare.  Perhaps more importantly, you’ll learn reasoning skills you can use to make your own well-reasoned decisions about these and other moral issues relevant to careers in health care.  These moral reasoning skills are essential for being a responsible health care practitioner and citizen.  

Phil 1724: Environmental Ethics

I teach it: every Spring semester


Learn skills for making your own well-reasoned decisions about what obligations we have to nature, other animals, and the environment, and apply them together in collaborative discussions about a variety of issues.  You’ll find out that productive discussion about these issues is possible – and fun! 

What is this course about, and why is it important?

Today humans face many pressing questions about the value of nature and how we ought to respond to threats to the natural world.  What obligations do we have to nature and other animals?  Who should bear the biggest burdens of combatting climate change?  What obligations do we have to climate refugees?  What is environmental racism?  Is it justifiable to blow up oil pipelines to protest climate change?  Do animals, plants, and ecosystems matter for their own sake, or do we have an obligation to treat them well only if it benefits humankind?  What duties do we have to future generations or the impoverished?  How should we respond to impending species extinctions?  Environmental Ethics, which is a branch of Moral Philosophy, aims to find well-reasoned answers to questions like these.  In the class, you’ll explore some prominent arguments about important moral issues about the environment.  More importantly, you’ll learn reasoning skills you can use to make your own well-reasoned decisions about these and other moral issues you care about. 

As individuals and as a society, we have good reason to care about finding well-reasoned answers to the questions above. Doing this is challenging and takes practice, which we don’t often get (sometimes because we avoid or ignore views we don’t currently agree with).  Moral philosophy provides the tools to make better decisions, and this class introduces you to those tools and gives you guided practice using them.

Phil 1770: Feminist Philosophy

I teach it: Fall semester

What is this course about, and why is it important?

Click here to read about what one former student took from the course.

Historically, women have been oppressed – unjustly subordinated – in a variety of ways.  In many places and for a long time, women were legally barred from owning property.  Women in the United States were denied the right to vote until 1920.  Sexual harassment was not recognized until feminist introduced it in the 1970s.  Marital rape was not a crime in all 50 states until 1993.  The list goes on.    

While some may think we have now, through changes in the law, eliminated gender oppression, Feminists contend that women are still oppressed in virtue of their sex. Women are much better off now than in the past, but there is still work to be done. They are subjected to physical violence, systematically excluded from important aspects of work and social life, denied the recognition, status, and opportunities men receive, and socially conditioned to look at themselves as inferior.  Sometimes, this oppression is subtle and complicated by other factors, such as race, class, sexual orientation, and so on.  Feminists aim to eliminate these types of oppression in order to bring about a more just society. 

Still, feminists disagree about central questions: what constitutes gender oppression, and what we ought to do about it?  Feminist philosophers aim to identify well-reasoned answers to these questions.  They explore questions like:  What is gender, and how is it related (or not related) to a person’s sex and gender identity?  Is gender socially constructed, and what does that even mean?  Is being nonbinary a good way to fight gender oppression?  What is misogyny?  Should we legalize sex work?  How can we support cultural diversity while resisting gender oppression?  How do race, ability, and other identities interact with gender?  How should feminists respond to offensive speech?  

In this class, you will work to understand and evaluate prominent feminist answers to these questions, along with non-feminist critiques of feminist views.  We will examine a variety of feminist views about the nature of gender oppression and what we ought to do about it, and learn skills you can use to think about and discuss these issues productively.  The emphasis will be on helping you develop your own well-reasoned views on the issues.  Doing so will be valuable because it enables you to be more thoughtful and engaged citizen and to refine and examine your views about what you can do to make our world more just and fair.  Everyone is welcome, regardless of your gender and whether you identify as a feminist or not.  

Phil 1710: Intro to Philosophy

I teach it: intermittently

The purpose of this course is to engage the student in a number of central topics in philosophy through the examination and analysis of the writings of contemporary and major Western philosophers as well as through the close study of several fundamental issues which have arisen in the course of the development of the Western philosophical tradition. Topics of study will include areas such as the nature of human knowledge, perception and illusion, the nature of consciousness, personal identity, minds, brains and machines, freedom and determinism, philosophy of religion, and the meaning of life. 

The goals of the course are to: