2018-2019 Academic Catalog 
    
    Mar 29, 2024  
2018-2019 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Philosophy Minor


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Philosophy Overview


Undergraduate Program


The Philosophy Department offers an undergraduate major in philosophy, a concentration in ethics and public policy, two minors in philosophy and a variety of elective courses, which nonmajors may take to broaden their education and fulfill Program of Liberal Studies requirements. The department also offers core or elective courses for concentrations in public health, law and society, ethics and public policy, and environmental science and policy.  For more information, please visit the Philosophy Department’s website.

Directed Readings, Individual Research, Tutorials


For significant independent research, the department offers individual Directed Research, Directed Readings, and Advanced Independent Study in Philosophical Topics, all falling under the course heading PHIL 299.  Some recent topics have been: environmental ethics; privacy in law and ethics; and statistical stylometry and ancient philosophy. Students interested in these possibilities should consult with individual members of the philosophy faculty.

 

Internships, Research Apprenticeships


Philosophy faculty sponsor research apprenticeships and internships with a diverse group of public and private organizations. Interested students should contact the department chair, or the university LEEP center.

 

Departmental Publications


All of the department’s faculty are active scholars who publish original research in books and professional journals. The international philosophy journal, Idealistic Studies, was founded at Clark University.

 

Department Prizes and Awards, and Student and Honor Societies


Each year the department inducts its best junior and senior philosophy majors into Phi Sigma Tau, the national philosophy honor society. The department has the Massachusetts Alpha Chapter of Phi Sigma Tau.  At the spring honors convocation, the department awards one or more prizes to exemplary graduating seniors including the David Saltman Prize for excellence in philosophy. In the Spring, the department confers a prize for the best work in logic.

The Philosophy Club, a student organization, sponsors lectures, colloquia and informal educational and social activities for all interested Clark students.

Minor Requirements


Students pursuing a minor in philosophy at Clark can choose one of two tracks. Each track requires six courses in philosophy and is designed to develop students’ intellectual skills and to familiarize them with the fundamental methods of philosophical inquiry. Each track begins with a foundation in critical thinking and practical ethics.

The Great Issues-minor track emphasizes a grounding in the history of philosophy. This track engages the student in the fundamental philosophical questions with which human beings have been perennially concerned: for example, Does God exist? How ought I to live? What is knowledge? Do human beings have free will? Can political authority be legitimated? Is there life after death?

The Enriched-minor track emphasizes advanced work in courses related to students’ majors. This track engages students in the fundamental philosophical questions, which their own major fields raise but do not answer: for example, What is a mind? What is a person? What is the nature of a profession? What is science? What is justice?

Philosophy Faculty


Program Faculty


Davis Baird, Ph.D. - Provost
Paul Broderick, Ph.D.
Patrick Derr, Ph.D.
Wiebke Deimling, Ph.D.
C. Wesley DeMarco, Ph.D.
Scott Hendricks, Ph.D. - Department Chair
Ravi Sharma, Ph.D.

 

Emeriti Faculty


Gary Overvold, Ph.D.
Walter Wright, Ph.D.
Judith DeCew, Ph.D.

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