Spring 2027 Courses in Philosophy & Ethics
Course Offerings
No prerequisites. Most courses fulfill essential studies requirements.
PHIL 101: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
#27400 (3 credits)
T/R 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Prof. Domzal
The goal of this course is to provide students with an introduction to the discipline of philosophy. Rather than attempting to go through the entire history of Western philosophy, my intention is to select texts and questions that will get students interested in what it means to think philosophically. From there they can pursue this skill in different directions. Students will read about the ways in which different philosophers have theorized the construction of our societies and realities and how they have attempted to encourage us to reckon with them. Specifically, we will cover issues related to freedom and choice. By the end of this course, students will leave not only with a grasp of some of the key concepts and arguments around freedom and choice, but with a fuller understanding of what it means to choose in their own lives.
Essential Studies: Humanities
PHIL 120: INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
#24606 (3 credits)
T 4 – 6:30 p.m.
Prof. Weinstein
Do you know what the right thing to do is in every situation? Are you sure that your morals will stand up to the rigors of adult life? Are you always giving advice to others but have trouble acting the way you should? Do you feel like your beliefs are the right ones and everyone else should just follow your lead? These are all common experiences of questioning our ethics, particularly when we act on instinct or what we’ve been taught by our parents and communities. But our ethics are not always correct, and our habits are often way off base. Introduction to Ethics is an opportunity to examine your moral beliefs and see if they stand up to scrutiny. It’s also an opportunity to just think about ethics in a way you never have before. It is a fun, discussion-oriented class with minimal homework. It is also technology-heavy, focusing on peer-to-peer interaction that minimizes lecture time.
Essential Studies: Humanities
PHIL 120: INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
#36483 (3 credits)
M/W/F 11:15 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.
Prof. Harper
This course provides a broad survey of topics in philosophical ethics. In the first part of the course, we will ask questions such as what is a good life, or what makes actions morally right or wrong. Then, we will consider ethical theories that intend to answer these questions and provide guidance for how to live. In the second part of the course, we will switch perspectives to build from the kinds of ethical concerns encountered in everyday life. In doing so, we will put these issues in conversation with ethical theories and contemporary philosophical work. By the end of the course, students should be able to analyze ethical issues from different philosophical perspectives, while developing their ability to engage in ethical reasoning.
Essential Studies: Humanities
PHIL 245: DEATH & DYING
#28908 (3 credits)
Asynchronous Online
Prof. Mann
This course explores death from multiple angles—philosophical, cultural, existential, and political—asking what death means, whether it’s always bad, and how different societies confront it. Through philosophy, film, literature, and case studies, we build a deeper understanding of what it means to die and, as a result, what it means to live.
Essential Studies: Humanities and Diversity of Human Experience
PHIL 250: ETHICS IN ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE
#27401 (3 credits)
T/R 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Prof. Beltz
This course explores the ethical challenges facing contemporary STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Although STEM professionals hold considerable prestige in contemporary society, their work carries significant ethical responsibilities, including protecting public safety, promoting justice, and serving the public good. This course examines these responsibilities, the nature of moral decision-making, and the application of ethical frameworks to real-world situations. Through case studies and practical scenarios, students will explore the importance of honesty, competence, teamwork, whistleblowing, confidentiality, and integrity in professional practice. The course also examines professional codes of ethics and their application to contemporary scientific and engineering practices.
Essential Studies: Humanities
PHIL 251: ETHICS IN HEALTH CARE
Section 01 – #24609 (3 credits)
M/W/F 10:10 – 11 a.m.
Section 02 – #36539 (3 credits)
M/W/F 12:20 – 1:10 p.m.
Prof. 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, futile care, professional standards, human research, vaccine mandates, drug screening, national health care policy and reform. The rights and responsibilities of professionals and patients will be examined through contemporary ethical theories and through codes of professional ethics.
Essential Studies: Humanities
PHIL 252: APPLIED BUSINESS ETHICS
#29893 (3 credits)
T/R 2 – 3:15 p.m.
Prof. Beltz
In a world where citizens seem to be at odds with corporations, how can we reconcile ethics and business? Is it possible to be good at business and still be a good person? This course will examine the relationship between business practices and applied ethics. Through case study analysis and real-world scenarios, this course will explore two related issues. We will explore the ways that ethics and business can be understood to work towards oppositional goals and the ways that they might augment each other. We will explore the relationships between these seemingly different public practices. We will also examine what it means to be ethical in a business setting. This will involve exploring topics such as: confidentiality, teamwork, honesty, record keeping, employee rights, globalization, advertising, and personal advancement.
PHIL 253: ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
#28904 (3 credits)
M/W 2 – 3:15 p.m.
Prof. Mann
Explore how environmental crises challenge our ideas of identity, responsibility, and humanity’s place in the world. This course draws on ethical, philosophical, and cultural perspectives—through readings, films, and case studies—to examine tensions between what humans want to do and what our changing planet can bear. Ultimately, we ask: is it possible to be environmentally ethical in contemporary times? And if so, how?
Essential Studies: Humanities and Analyzing Worldviews
PHIL 342: ADVANCED ETHICS
THE ETHICS OF DISASTER RELIEF
#29896 (3 credits)
M/W 3:30 – 4:45 p.m.
Prof. Mann
Why are some communities left behind when crisis strikes? This course examines the ethics and politics of vulnerability by focusing on how communities prepare for and respond to disasters. Investigating four case studies—a shipwreck, a building fire, a pandemic, and a hurricane—we will explore how vulnerability is socially produced and ethically confronted. We will analyze, too, how communities organize in the wake of crises.
Essential Studies: Humanities
PHIL 360: FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY
#27402 (3 credits)
M/W 2 – 3:15 p.m.
Prof. Rozelle-Stone
What does it mean to live a feminist life? Why are feminists often portrayed as “willful” or “killjoys”? What kinds of societal and political issues does feminist philosophy address and how? In this course, we will not only discuss these broad questions, but we also will explore individual, relational, sexual, and familial obstacles and revolutions through a feminist philosophical lens. Themes will include: the meaning of oppression; gendered expectations; bodily norms; “outlaw emotions;” happiness scripts; relationship paradigms; intersectional feminism; feminist resistance, survival, and fatigue; and more. We will read and engage with works by notable contemporary feminist philosophers such as Sara Ahmed and Iris Marion Young.
Essential Studies: Humanities and Analyzing Worldviews
PHIL 385: GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY
#29894 (3 credits)
T/R 2 – 3:15 p.m.
Prof. Domzal
This course in global philosophy will focus particularly on the philosophy and thought of what Paul Gilroy and others will define as the Black Atlantic: populations of African descent in Africa, the Americas (Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, Central and Latin America), and Europe. We will think about the ways in which these populations shaped and were shaped by global economies and other philosophies as well as their own philosophical and political thought regarding these global forces. We will engage with questions like: what is Blackness? What is “African Philosophy?” How has the African diaspora shaped our current world? These are only a few of the questions we will engage with in this survey course.
Essential Studies: Humanities and Analyzing Worldviews
PHIL 451: CURRENT TOPICS IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: PHILOSOPHY OF PUNK, SKA, AND THE UNDERGROUND
#29897 (3 credits)
T/R 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Prof. Weinstein
In the last quarter of the 20th century, young people all over the world established a chaotic community of nonconformists, social misfits, and malcontents to harness music, art, and fashion, not to change society, but to poke it in the eye. Hidden behind electric guitars and bondage gear, they cultivated an underground sensibility that baffled and enraged the powers that be. What was going on philosophically? How did aesthetics inspire such political disruption? And if it was so emotionally powerful, why was such a potent movement so susceptible to commercial takeover? In this course, we’re going to investigate Punk and its sister genre Ska to explore how specific styles of music became identities rather than entertainment. We’ll ask about the relationship between art and artist, how subcultures and “scenes” define their own values, and how do-it-yourself zines, clothing, and home-recording unified a pre-internet underground by glorifying unarticulated rage. This is a special one-time course open to everyone and does not require you to have taken other philosophy courses. It does, however, expect a willingness to immerse yourself in the subject matter with an open mind, and to commit the time needed to enter a (possibly) long-gone perspective. It will be a reading and writing intensive class. To put it bluntly: we’re going to do a lot of philosophy, listen to a lot of music, and watch a whole bunch of movies.
Essential Studies: Humanities
PHIL 475: DATA SCIENCE ETHICS
#28906 (3 credits)
Asynchronous Online
Prof. Butler
Data Science Ethics is a philosophical exploration of the moral problems data scientists encounter in their daily lives. It is intended for both professionals who seek a data-science career and for the curious, who enjoy investigating modern ethical problems. In this course, we discuss compliance, the misuse of data throughout the history of science, the impact of largescale data interpretation on democracy and the justice system, and ethical considerations for diversity, privacy, research, and artificial intelligence.
Essential Studies: Humanities and Digital Information Literacy
PHIL 480: PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY
#29895 (3 credits)
T/R 9:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Prof. Weinstein
Did you ever want to write philosophy for a blog, magazine, X, or Reddit, or make a philosophical observation on a Twitch stream? Do you want to make philosophy content for social networks like Instagram and TikTok? If so, this course is what you are looking for. It provides you with the opportunity to take philosophy out of the classroom and into the world around you. Public Philosophy is a writing course that will help you refine your composition skills to better communicate ideas and “translate” them into more accessible media, including video for those who want it. Best of all, YOU get to choose what you write about, not the professor. No subject is off limits. This is the Philosophy & Ethics Department’s capstone course but is open to all students with at least 75 credit hours. It fulfills ES capstone requirements for many majors beside Philosophy. It also fulfills the A (Advanced Writing) Essential Studies Requirement. Pre-Law students are encouraged to enroll.
Essential Studies: Capstone and Advanced Communication