Bring the drama!

One of the fundamental challenges of teaching is bringing the subject matter to life for your student(s).  You have to build, or present, avenues for the learner to engage the material.  Teaching philosophy is no different.  With so much of philosophical education beginning with the reading of primary sources, helping students to understand the historical significance of what they're reading is one of the first struggles.

Students need to understand that while philosophy is the product of historical figures, those figures were not statues who did their work in a vacuum.  The people who created philosophy were, or are, living beings who were, or are still, affected by the world they inhabit(ed). This isn't as difficult to get across with more contemporary philosophers, but it can be an up hill struggle to see an ancient author as an actual person.  Classic works like Plato's Euthyphro or Voltaire's Candide use sarcasm to make their points. But, many students who are taking a philosophy class for the first time take the readings very seriously, which can lead to overlooking subtlety, sarcasm, or irony.

I thought that having students attending live productions of these works would be a fabulous way to remove the academic blindfold from the works.  The issue is that there aren't many great film versions of classic philosophy, and very few theaters in the area do the classics.

So, I came up with the idea that we should produce our own here at NVCC-AL.  So, I approached the head of our Drama Department to see what she thought of the idea. She seems to be very optimistic about the project. I recommended that the project could be an extra credit assignment for her students.  She concurred, and thought that it would work best with her 200-level students.

She ask me to find some free versions of the text for her to work from.  That I was able to do without difficulty. Plato is long dead, and wasn't fond of frivolous law suits.  We're going to meet again before the semester is over.

The project might be ago as early as next semester.  I'll keep you posted.

Chris

The Singer and some singer.

Brace yourself! Princeton professor and ethics rockstar Peter Singer is coming to George Washington University to give a talk.  He may also be hawking a book.  Singer/actress Mandy Moore will be there as well.  I'm still working on why.

I first studied Singer in grad school.  We read his Animal Liberation in an environmental ethics class.  Though we never met, he's on the editorial board for Ethics, Policy & Environment. 

When I was the managing editor, I had to send out an email invitation to everyone on the board for a little mixer we were throwing.  I was a giddy as a school girl when I saw his reply email in my inbox. He couldn't make it.

I also use a textbook that he edited along with Helga Kuhse in my biomedical ethics course at NVCC.  The students seem to enjoy it.  I think that he makes the material accessible.

So, I'm excited to see him speak.  My students don't seem as enamored, but I've offered extra-credit to anybody that makes it.

My girlfriend likewise lacks the proper interest.  Sadly, I lack to authority to grant her extra-credit.

Anyway, I'll post a summary after the the talk.

Best,

Chris

Eastern Thought Class

Thus far, I've only taught three different courses at Northern Virginia Community College (Nova): Introduction to Philosophy I, Introduction to Philosophy II, and Biomedical Ethics. I've taught each course multiple times, and I've loved it.  The old adage that teaching a subject is the best way to learn it is certainly true for me.  Nothing I had ever done in the past had honed my understanding of the classics of Western philosophy the way that teaching it has.  Never wanting to let your students down is a great motivator, and you need to be ready for any question they can come up with.  So, these courses are dear to me.  I hope that I never lose to opportunity to teach them.  

Having said that, I would relish the chance to broaden my horizons by expanding the variety of my courses taught. Nova offers other philosophy courses, but they're safely within the talons of other professors who have greater seniority than I.  So, I need to wait for them to move on. Alas, I'm not the patient type. I guess that I could kill one or two of them, but that's a bit Machiavellian for my taste. 

I needed a solution that was quicker than waiting for people to move or retire, and less ethically challenging than murder.  The idea of adding a new course to our course catalog seemed the best solution.  A new course isn't already in another professor's course rotation. Plus, I could create a class that I truly desire to teach.

So, I set about to learn how to add a course.  I quickly discovered that there are two ways to add a class to the Nova catalog.  The first is to create the course from scratch.  This requires getting it approved by the Virginia Board of Education.  The fine people who described this option to me assured me that this would be a massive waste of time.  The second option was to find a class that was already in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), and then getting it approved for Nova.  This is the easier path, because if it's in the VCSS course catalog it has already been approved by the Board of Education. 

Bounding with optimism, I peeped the VCCS course catalog. I quick discovered that the list was mostly of classes already offered by Nova. Then, it appeared as out of nowhere: PHI 260 Eastern Thought. My heart opened.

There was a time when Eastern philosophy was everything for my younger and more misanthropic mind.  The thought of being able to pass all that knowledge on to new misanthropic students is just what I was searching for.

So.... now it's all about the process of getting approval. I wrote a course description.  My assistant dean and department dean are on-board.  I'm still convincing some staff outside of our department.

I think that we'll get it.  I suspect that I'll be teaching it for the first time Fall 2016.

I'll keep you posted!

Best,


Chris

Romania?

This blog is new, and I hardly have any readers at all.  I'm OK with that, as I plan on building an audience over time.  That is IF I manage to build one. I'm not in a hurry to build up, and I'm not concerned too much with who is reading my stuff right now.

Having said all that, I do check my audience stats on Blogger.  My ego enjoys seeing where my audience comes from.  The last time I checked, Blogger informed me that I've had several page views from Romania.  This news doesn't disturb me, but I find it odd.  I don't think that I know anyone in Romania. Where is this readership come from?

Here are the best answers that I can come up with thus far.

1) I have a celebrity status in the Transylvanian Alps which has up till now escaped my notice.
2) Someone randomly found my post on Twitter or Facebook.
3) One of my American friends hopped online whilst passing through Romania.
4) There's a darknet server in Romania that one of my more paranoid friends is hiding through.

Anyway, I'm curious.  If you think that you're the reason that I have Romania on my audience map, please let me know.

Vă doresc o zi plăcută!

Chris

OLLI

In the past, I've had the pleasure to lecture on topics of my choosing at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).  OLLI is a organization that provides educational and developmental opportunities to retirement-aged people. They're a nationwide gang, but most members regularly attend a local set.  The Fairfax click meets just off the George Mason University campus.  Not surprisingly, this group is well educated and well traveled. 

When I was working on my Master's, OLLI allowed us to have a presentation series where each week a different student would share his or her philosophical knowledge.  I presented three times over two series, because I had to fill in for a student who couldn't make her date.  My past presentations were on the topics of Cultural Obligation vs. Assimilation, Mountaintop Removal Mining, and  The Affordable Care Act.

Wanting to rekindle old connections, I reached out to one of the Program Associates at OLLI to discuss the possibility of my presenting there in the near future.  I was thrilled to get a prompt response welcoming a return on my part, and directions on submitting for upcoming schedules.  They still have openings for the Spring, and Summer 2016 is wide open.

The topic in the forefront of my mind is youth development.  I don't mean the standard child-rearing or pedagogical approaches.  My thoughts are closer to an almost Aristotelian idea of character/ virtue development through career shifting with age.  The details are still in the embryonic stage, but the core has to do with "youth careers" forging the necessary characteristic(s) for "advanced careers".  For example, a young person serving in the military as a youth career before having an advanced career as a educator.  Similarly, someone working as a firefighter before becoming an entrepreneur. Some jobs are simply easier with a youthful body.  Likewise, other jobs require life experience.  I desire to look into a new American way of doing this.

I'll keep you up to date on the planning of the lecture, as well as the time and place.

Please, let me know your thoughts or ideas on the topic.

Best,

Chris

P.S. I was in no mood for proofreading.  So, deal with it.

And, I'm back!

Hello.

Thus far, my good intentions for this blog haven't amounted to much.  I'm happy to report that the lack of productivity has everything to do with a busy work schedule, and nothing to do with my own powerful laziness.  This news shocks no one more than I.

As it turns out, a professor at NVCC needed to give up a class for some personal reasons.  The Assistant Dean was kind enough to give it to me.  I appreciated this fortune and generosity, but it was a lot to take on three days before the semester started. With the new class added, I'm working full-time, teaching two classes, and taking two classes. And, let us not forget the girlfriend and the cat. 

Needless to say, my spare reading time has dwindled.  This is why there haven't been any updates on my reading commentary.

But, I haven't been idle on the philosophy front.  I've reached out to the community to discuss a couple of projects.  These proposals have been well received.  I'll be writing post to discuss them individually.  Fear not.  My schedule is now under control, and I've allotted myself time to write them.  So, there will be a least two post coming out this week.

Until then, be mindful.

The Readings: Contingency, irony, and solidarity... the helloing

The first text that I'm going to attempt to explore on this blog is Richard Rorty's Contingency, irony, and solidarity.

Rorty was an American Pragmatist who past away in 2007.  He had the reputation of being a disgustingly likeable fellow. Nevertheless, he managed to piss off most of the philosophical universe on a regular basis.

I was first introduced to Rorty's work while I was doing my undergraduate work at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2005-2006.  We had a Fulbright Professor visiting from Hungary named Alexander Kremer.  Kremer, I believe, is currently back in Hungary at the University of Szeged.  After a week and a half of frustration, I came to realize that he was a good teacher that I could learn a great deal from.  The early frustration was mostly due to an accent barrier between his Hungarian mouth and my American ears.   In his early lectures, he kept harping on about some uber-important concept called "bird-view".  I couldn't get the concept to match what he was describing.  Eventually, I figured out that he was saying "world-view", and not "bird-view".  Amazingly, everything started to click after that.

The book starts with an Introduction, and then is broken down into three parts.  The parts are labeled as Contigency, Ironism and Theory, and Cruelty and Solidarity.

My plan is to come back here tomorrow with my take on the Introduction.

As alluded to above, I've read this work before.  However, my understanding of philosophy has grown tremendously in the last decade.  I'm hope that I'll see everything in a new and better light.

Feel free to crack open your own copy of Contingency, irony, and solidarity.  Maybe Rorty and I can expand your bird-view.

Howdy!

Howdy!

I've decided to start tracking my philosophical endeavors.  Actually, I'm hoping that the tracking and public expression of such endeavors will focus me towards a more engaged philosophy.

In this blog, I hope to:

• discuss any projects that I'm planning or organizing
• capture conversations that I have with various friends, philosophers, and/or cohorts  
• analyse philosophical texts that I'm reading
• etc...

And, that's it.  This is a very vague notion which I hope will nudge me towards a more focused philosophy.

I apologize in advance for all spelling and grammatical errors.

I hope that this vague message finds you well.

Best,

Chris