Spring 2012 Course Offerings

 

Philosophy Courses

Introduction to Philosophy

Phil 101 #13970 3 credits

2:00 – 3:15 p.m.      T TH                Dr. Poochigian

This is an introductory survey of the discipline of philosophy.  Because of popular unfamiliarity with contemporary philosophy in the United States, special emphasis is on Twentieth and Twenty First Century developments.  Focus concerns the problems of reasoning (logic), of being (metaphysics), of knowledge (epistemology), of science (philosophy of science), and other fundamental questions as time allows.

Course Requirements: Three essay examinations.

Text: William James Earle, Introduction to Philosophy, 1992, ISBN 0-07-018783-5, McGraw Hill.

 

Introduction to Philosophy

"Loving Wisdom through an Examination of Sex and Love"

Phil 101 #13975 3 credits

10:00 - 10:50 a.m.     MWF       Dr. Rozelle-Stone

In this class, we will explore major philosophical questions and traditions through the topic of sex and love. We will give special attention to ancient and contemporary Western philosophical perspectives found in texts such as: Sappho's love poetry fragments, Plato's Symposium and Phaedrus, Simone de Beauvoir's Second Sex, Michel Foucault's History of Sexuality, and essays on religious love from Simone Weil's Waiting for God. Looking carefully at these writings on love, desire, and sex will provoke questions about human existence, the constitution of "reality," constructions of personal identity, beauty and aesthetics, free will and compulsion, tensions between reason and emotion, and conceptions of good, evil, and suffering.

 

Introduction To Ethics

Phil 120 #13971   3 credits

4:00 – 4:50 p.m.           MWF               Beltz

What is the purpose of life? This will be the central question for this course's investigation into ethics. This course will explore the purpose of life at both the individual level and the communal level. We will explore solutions to this problem from the fields of science, economics, politics, and ethics. Our investigation will include an examination of the major theoretical frameworks in ethics. It will examine how we should make ethical decisions, what factors should be considered, who (or what) should be included, and why ethical decisions matter. This course will also engage in applied ethics. We will conduct three in depth explorations into the controversial fields of animal rights, cyber-ethics, and educational ethics.

 

Introduction To Ethics

(Through Film)

Phil 120 #19494   3 credits

6:00 – 8:30 p.m.       T           Dr. Weinstein

Ethics may be the area of philosophy with the most obvious connections to everyday life. The ability to make "the right decision" must be cultivated and investigated, and many have asked whether there is such a thing as "the right decision" in the first place. This course investigates the nature of the Good life, moral principles, and the application of moral systems to contemporary debate with special attention to sexual ethics and popular culture. Through films, readings, papers, and journals, students will develop their own positions on moral issues, and provide a theoretical defense against criticism of their conclusions. Please note, this is a reading- and writing intensive class.

 

Ethics in Engineering and Science

Phil 250   #13969    3 credits

11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.       T TH        Beltz

This course provides an in depth investigation into the ethical concerns involved in engineering and scientific decision-making. Contemporary society places a significant amount of prestige in scientific and engineering experts. Professionals within these fields of expertise often lose sight of their role in protecting public safety and the public good. This course focuses on understanding the ethical responsibilities of professionals, the nature of moral decision making, and applying ethical frameworks to concrete situations.

Drawing on case studies, ethical dilemmas, and real-world scenarios, this course examines the significance of honesty, competence, safety, teamwork, whistleblowing, confidentiality, consent, integrity, and imaginations in the professional lives of engineers and scientists. This course seeks to understand and apply the professional codes relevant to contemporary engineering and scientific practices.

 

Ethics In Health Care

Phil 251    #13966      3 credits

2:00 – 2:50 p.m.      MWF               Beltz

At some point in our lives, we become involved in the health care system. Whether we are patients, nurses, doctors, or family members of patients, we must understand how the decisions we make about health care are ethical decisions. This course focuses on understanding the ethical responsibilities of professionals, the rights of patients, the nature of moral decision making, and applying ethical frameworks to concrete situations.

Drawing on case studies, ethical dilemmas, and real-world scenarios, this course examines the significance of

informed consent, abortion, euthanasia, organ transplant policy, professional standards, assisted suicide, drug screening, national health care policy and reform. The rights and responsibilities or professionals and patients will be examined through contemporary ethical theories and through the codes of professional ethics.

 

Ethical Theory

"The Impersonal and the Interpersonal"

Phil 342   #13977      3 credits

1:00 - 1:50 p.m.       MWF         Dr. Rozelle-Stone

Is the ethical life one that is based on universal principles, impartiality, impersonality and adherence to transcendent ideals, or is it grounded on particular and unique interpersonal relations? This class is about how we approach and orient ourselves to others. Can we ever really know someone? If so, does that knowledge amount to objectifying the other? If not, how are we to treat them? Should/can we be hospitable to the stranger? Are we, in fact, strangers to ourselves? We will begin by reading and reflecting on Sophocles' famous play, Antigone, which highlights primary ethical tensions that we will later address through the impersonal ethics of Simone Weil and Alain Badiou, and the interpersonal ethics of Emmanuel Levinas and Luce Irigaray. We will also watch and analyze the film "Lost in Translation," in light of the theories about how we encounter strangeness.

 

Philosophic Themes:

Psychoanalysis and Continental Philosophy

Phil 399 #13982   3 credits

3:00 – 3:50 p.m.       MWF         Dr. Rozelle-Stone

This course will investigate ways in which key concepts and images in the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan have directly influenced recent Continental (European) philosophy. After reading and discussing primary texts of Freud and Lacan, we will examine works by thinkers who critically engage these psychoanalytic theories through their own philosophies. These thinkers include Slavoj Zizek, who considers pop culture's assimilation of psychoanalysis; Julia Kristeva, who addresses personal and political forms of revulsion, horror, defilement, and catharsis; and Luce Irigaray, who explores sexual difference, the erotic experience, and the articulation of feminine speech/writing.

 

Philosophy of Language

Phil 400  #13981     3 credits

2:00 – 2:50 p.m.           MWF         Dr. Poochigian

This is an examination of the nature of language concerning issues of meaning, reference, language use, linguistic structure, and difference from other symbol systems.

There will be two essay examinations and a research paper

Texts: William G. Lycan, Philosophy of Language

 

Philosophy, Economics and Politics

Phil 450  #13983     3 credits

11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.       T TH         Dr. Weinstein

Republicans and Democrats argue everyday about the market, government spending, welfare and social security, funding education, and the size of the federal government. They each claim their positions are necessary for freedom, democracy, opportunity, and peace. Why is this so, and what philosophers do they rely on to make these claims? In this course, we are going to examine the connection between justice, the free market, and government. We will look carefully at the connection between capitalism and democracy (if there is any), and ask about individual rights and agency, globalization and the cosmopolitan point of view, welfare and care, and the morality of self-interest.

 

Independent Study in Philosophy

Phil 494   Hours Arranged

Consent of Instructor Needed

This course is designed for students who want to follow a supervised course of reading and study on an individual basis with a particular professor. The student must have a topic of special interest that he/she wants to pursue. In every case, before enrolling for independent studies, students must visit with the instructor concerned and design a particular course of study and agree upon the number of credit hours (2-3).

 

Religion Courses

Introduction to Religious Inquiry

Rels 100     #13990      3 credits

3:00 – 5:30 p.m.     W           Dr. Miller

Religion is an important and powerful force in our world today. Regardless of whether or not we consider ourselves to be religious, we live in a global community where religion is taken very seriously by the vast majority of those who inhabit the planet. Moreover, religion is a very complex subject, since it incorporates a variety of different concepts and a plethora of diverse practices. In this class, students will be introduced to the discipline of religious studies and, thereby, gain an assortment of academic tools that will assist them in their exploration of religion and religions.

 

Religion in America

Rels 120   #14000    3 credits

9:30 – 10:45 a.m.     T TH    Dr. Baldwin

What role does religion in America actually play? What are the religions of America? What does the phrase "separation of church and state" mean? Did the writers of the Constitution intend America to be a "Christian Nation"? What are some of the new religious movements and trends in America today? Is religious ideology a factor in politics? If so, how? These and other questions will be addressed in this introductory course.  Understanding American religious discourse is central to one's formation as an American citizen and students of various interests will find value in this course regardless of their chosen major.

Christian Scripture/New Testament

Rels 231  #13985 3 credits

3:30 – 4:45 p.m.       T TH        Dr. Miller

The purpose of this course is to introduce the beginning student to the academic study of the New Testament, as well as to the most important resources available for understanding and interpreting this literature. During the semester, in addition to the writings themselves, we will focus on the literary, social, and historical background that provides the context for these writings. We will also examine the fundamental interpretive approaches employed by scholars in their attempts to explain the meanings of these texts. In this way we hope to gain a critical perspective by which we may more responsibly read the NT itself and better understand the various interpretations generated by other readers.

 

Death and Dying

Rels 245    #13986 3 credits

3:00 – 5:30 p.m.       M         Dr. Troftgruben

This course is a comprehensive study of a topic that nearly everyone either denies or flees: death. The course surveys various approaches to death (religious, philosophical), the realms of society that interact with and are impacted by death (health care, research, legal policies), and the ways in which individual human beings deal with the reality of death (grief, mourning, funerary rites). A number of guest speakers appear in class to share from their own representative areas of expertise (hospice, grief work, morticians, etc.). The course offers an atmosphere of inquiry for students to be able to explore the meaning of death for their world, for their society, for their religious or philosophical outlook, and for themselves.

 

Mysticism

Rels 305    #13998      3 credits

9:00 – 9:50 a.m.         MWF         Dr. Stone

In this course students will study four mystical traditions: Zen Buddhism, Jewish Kabbalah, Islamic mysticism (Sufism, with particular emphasis on the mystical poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi), and Christian mysticism (through a close reading of the work of contemporary mystic-philosopher-activist Simone Weil). Special attention will be given to an examination of apophasis (speaking away)—a mode of discourse common to many mystics acknowledging the limits of language in conveying religious experience.

 

Religious Ethics

Rels 342   #14001  3 credits

12:30 – 1:45 p.m.     T TH     Dr. Baldwin

This course introduces students to the variety of ways religious positions are rooted in social constructs that lead to moral conclusions on various ethical issues.  Students learn how to evaluate ethical positions from a variety of religious traditions, appreciate and analyze the impact of narrative on these traditions, as well as critically assess their own ethical assumptions and the influence of religious and societal indoctrination on ethical conclusions.  Topics include: "Various approaches to religious ethics," "Creative Problem Solving in Religious Ethics," "Why Religions Disagree," "From sacred text to ethical conclusions," as well as deal specifically with current social issues such as economics, sexuality, war, torture and life and death decisions.

 

Selected Topics:

Hip Hop and Religion

Rels 399     #14002    3 credits

2:00 – 3:15 p.m.       T TH         Dr. Baldwin

This course examines the original political and spiritual beginnings of hip hop and rap as a counter-cultural reaction to the economic and racial disparities manifested in Queens and the Bronx during the 1960's. As is often the case, the original intention of this self-expression was appropriated commercially.  However, there have been competing contemporary discussions on what hip hop really is. Included in these discussions are attempts to make hip hop a religion in and of itself as well as incorporate the music as a method of Christian evangelization. We will listen to and read a variety of discussions, both academic and popular in our pursuit to understand hip hop as religion;.

No prerequisite religion courses required.  Students will be asked to bring their own experiences and music in for discussion.

Readings include:

KRS-One, The Gospel of Hip Hop"; Jay-Z's Decoded, 50 Cent's The 50th Law, along with the Hip Hop Studies Reader, various editors, and The "Hip Hop Church," by Efrem Smith and others.

 

Selected Topics:

Shi'ism

Rels 399     #13999    3 credits

11:00 – 11:50 a.m.       MWF         Dr. Stone

After the death of the Prophet Muhammad (632 CE), the question of who his successor as leader of the Islamic community ought to be resulted in a major theological, political, cultural, and historical division. Today nearly fifteen percent of the worldwide Muslim population identify as Shi'a Muslims (making up significant populations in places such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Bahrain). In this course, students will examine the historical foundations and subsequent developments of Shi'i Islam, which will include studying the variant theological, philosophical, and social-political doctrines, as well as the resulting religious practices and commemorations particular to Shi'ism.

 

Independent Study in Religion

Rels 494    Hours Arranged

Consent of Instructor Needed

This course is designed for students who want to follow a supervised course of reading and study on an individual basis with a particular professor. The student must have a topic of special interest that he/she wants to pursue. In every case, before enrolling for independent studies, Students must visit with the instructor concerned and design a particular course of study and agree upon the number of credit hours (2-3)