The Art of Teaching Philosophy

Brynn Welch is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. She received the Excellence in Teaching Award from Emory & Henry in 2016, the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at UAB in 2021, and the UAB Disability Support Services Outstanding Faculty Award in 2022.

Introduction, Brynn F. Welch

Part I. The Philosophy Course
1. De-Centering the Professor (Not by Design), Karen Adkins (Regis University, USA)
2. Freedom Anchoring: Teaching Philosophy as a Dialogic Endeavor, Corey Reed (Butler University, USA)
3. Syllabus Design and World-Making, Rima Basu (Claremont McKenna College, USA)
4. Deadlines, Learner-Centeredness, and Non Ideal Pedagogy, Christopher Blake-Turner (Oklahoma State University, USA)
5. Philosophy Through Spectacle, Meg Wallace (University of Kentucky, USA)
6. Ethics for Everyday Life: Designing a Core Philosophy Class, K. Lindsey Chambers (University of Kentucky, USA)
7. Less is More: How and Why to Avoid a Content-Driven Course, Heather Anne Phillips (Georgia State University, USA)
8. The (Un)Political Classroom: How Content and Positionality Intersect to Encourage Students to be Agents of Change, John R. Torrey (SUNY Buffalo State, USA)
9. A Student’s Reflections, Zyaire Hadrian Agee (University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA)

Part II. The Philosophy Classroom
10. Save the 1001 Cats! Lecture as a Performance Art, Jimmy Goodrich (University of
Wisconsin, USA)
11. Flatten that Hierarchy: Everyone Wins When We All Teach (and Learn) Together, W. John Koolage (Eastern Michigan University, USA)
12. Trust in the Classroom, Barrett Emerick (St. Mary’s College of Maryland, USA)
13. What to Do When Students Don’t Do Course Readings, Alida Liberman (Southern Methodist University, USA)
14. When Conversation Goes Wrong: Managing Student Errors, Russell Marcus and Alessandro Moscarítolo Palacio (Hamilton College, USA)
15. Gender Dynamics in the Philosophy Classroom, Harry Brighouse (University of Wisconsin, USA)
16. Cultivating Playfulness for Unlearning in the Philosophy Classroom, Rebecca Scott (Harper College, USA)
17. When Crito and Plato Came to Class: Gameful Learning in the Philosophy Classroom, Greta LaFore (Gonzaga University, USA)
18. Not Just for the Kids: Using Children’s Literature and P4C Methods in the College Classroom, Karen S. Emmerman (University of Washington, USA)
19. Participation as Gratitude Practice, Stephen Bloch-Schulman (Elon University, USA)
20. In Conclusion, I Don’t Know: Humility as the Beginning and End of Every Class, Brynn F. Welch (University of Alabama at Birmingham)
21. A Student’s Reflections, Anna Ulrey (UAB Heersink School of Medicine, USA)

Part III. Exercises and Assessments
22. A Primer for Discussing Dispositional Growth, David W. Concepción (Ball State University, USA)
23. Dialogue, Virtue, and Assessment: Teaching for More than Technical Proficiency, Kristopher G. Phillips (Eastern Michigan University, USA)
24. Student Transformation through Civic Engagement Projects, Monica “Mo” Janzen and Ramona Ilea (Anoka-Ramsey Community College and Pacific University Oregon, USA)
25. Discussion, Self-Assessment, and the Discussion Moves Framework, Christopher Blake-Turner (Oklahoma State University, USA)
26. Argument Diagramming as a Teaching Tool for Philosophy, Maralee Harrell (University of California, San Diego, USA).
27. A Jigsaw Lesson for Symbolic Logic, Russell Marcus (Hamilton College, USA)
28. Teaching with Puzzles, David O’Brien (Tulane University, USA)
29. Students Make Pudding, Stephen Bloch-Schulman (Elon University, USA)
30. Prisoner’s Dilemma and Delight: A Simple Activity that Helps Students Understand the Complexity of Others, Joshua DiPaolo (California State University, Fullerton, USA)
31. Will the Gendered Division of Labor Be An Issue in Your Generation? An Exercise, Harry Brighouse (University of Wisconsin, USA)
32. Feminist Critiques of the Original Position, Susan Kennedy (Santa Clara University, USA)
33. The Clear and Concise AF Assignment, Dustin Locke (Claremont McKenna College, USA)
34. Emile and Sophie on Tinder: Using Social Media as an Assessment for Philosophy, Claire Katz (Texas A&M University, USA)
35. On Writing Fun, Joyful, Open-Ended Exams, C. Thi Nguyen (University of Utah, USA)
36. It’s Not “Stephen’s Final” Project, Stephen Bloch-Schulman (Elon University, USA)
37. A Student’s Reflections, Micah Williams (University of Rochester, USA)

Part IV. What Comes Next
38. The Why and How of Mentoring in Undergraduate Philosophy Teaching, Emma Prendergast (Utah Tech University, USA)
39. Making Teaching Count, Britta Clark and Gina Schouten (Harvard University, USA)

Index