Future Semesters
NEW ONLINE COURSES SUMMER 2012
PHL 353 Peace and Justice Studies
PHL 353 is an introduction to the philosophical issues in the area of "Peace and Justice Studies," which investigates what forms and effects violence takes in modern society and asks how such forms may be challenged and eliminated. Some of the questions that will be considered include whether there is a biological basis for violence in human beings, whether harmful, large-scale social phenomena such as poverty, racism, or homophobia constitute forms of violence, and what the ethical implications are of politically powerful forms of nonviolent action. The course is fully online and involves reading and writing assignments, along with a strong component of online collaboration. Student groups will meet online or in person to record conversations about course issues, which will then be posted as podcasts for the rest of the members. There will also be discussion on a course blog, as well as online assignments done simultaneously with the readings.
For further information contact balawen1@msu.edu
PHL 358 Philosophy, Gender, and Global Development
In this course we will explore a variety of topics concerning gender, the politics of difference, multiculturalism, and international development in the context of globalization. We will approach these topics from a feminist and philosophical perspective and will pay close attention to both conceptual and normative issues. We will read about and discuss issues such as gender, oppression and cultural relativism; diversity, the politics of difference, and women’s identity; power, subjectivity, and agency; multiculturalism, postcolonialism and transculturalism; sisterhood, coalition, and solidarity; feminism, international development, and global justice.
For further information contact daiyuanf@msu.edu
Other online courses include:
PHL 130 -890 Logic and reasoning
PHL 342 Environmental ethics
Humanity's often destructive relationship to nature raises a wide array of pressing ethical questions. Is it morally wrong to cause the extinction of species? To pollute or destroy ecosystems? To alter global climate? To deprive future generations of the opportunity to appreciate natural beauty or the use of some natural resource? If so, what are the grounds for saying so? Do some natural objects have value beyond their usefulness to human beings? If not, what could be the point of preserving parts of nature useless to us? Does appreciation of natural beauty, for instance, have a special role to play in human well-being? This course will engage these questions through readings by Aldo Leopold, Paul Taylor, J. Baird Callicott, and others. We will also consider the meaning and significance of ideas like sustainability and how access to environmental goods can be justly distributed among human beings.
For further information contact lakedan2@msu.edu
PHL 452 Ethics and development
This is a course about the ethical questions and issues that arise concerning development; it is about the ethics of the process and discourse of development that more industrialized as well as developing countries have helped, and continue to help, to shape. It is about stepping back and analyzing this process of development, the discourse of development, and development work -- identifying assumptions in the thinking, analyzing the concepts at issue, and evaluating arguments that are given, with the goals of improving our thinking about this. The course will utilize both philosophical and interdisciplinary content in an effort to engage students with important global issues such as poverty, hunger and aid.
For further information contact malavisi@msu.edu
Spring 2013 - IAH 206 - 231B
Spring 2013 - PHL 130 -850
Fall 2013 - IAH 206 - 231B
Fall 2013 - - PHL 130 - 870