I am excited to announce that the Philosophy as a Way of Life website is now live at https://philife.nd.edu/. There is information there about the Mellon-funded PWOL project hosted at Notre Dame, and also a blog and library of resources, both of which are sure to grow over time. Check it out!
Category Archives: Pedagogy
Call for Papers: Philosophy as a Way of Life
The journal Metaphilosophy invites papers from scholars to produce a special issue of the journal on Philosophy as a Way of Life with special guest editors James M. Ambury (jamesambury@kings.edu), Tushar Irani (tirani@wesleyan.edu), and Kathleen Wallace (kathleen.wallace@hofstra.edu).
Mellon Philosophy as a Way of Life Project
We are delighted to announce the Mellon Philosophy as a Way of Life Project, a new initiative to help scholars effectively teach philosophy as a way of life. If you teach philosophy at a post-secondary institution and are interested, please check out our website: philife.nd.edu and consider submitting a letter of intent. The deadline for applying for the first cohort is Jan 15, 2019.
CFP: Notre Dame / Mellon Philosophy as a Way of Life Project
Many traditions in philosophy have aimed at helping individuals think more deeply and rigorously about the good life. Notre Dame and the Andrew Mellon Foundation are partnering with universities across the country to imagine new and higher impact ways to introduce students to these traditions. Please see https://philife.nd.edu/ for information about applying to take part in this new project. (As part of the project, there will soon be a robust website, including blog and resources; stay tuned here for more information.)
Using _Neo-Confucianism: A Philosophical Introduction_ in class
I used Neo-Confucianism: A Philosophical Introduction as the main textbook in a course on Neo-Confucianism this past semester. Student comments on the book (submitted anonymously as part of the teaching evaluation process) are available here. If any readers have used the book, Justin and I would love any further feedback! (I’d also be happy to share similar information about other course books, for other authors out there.)
Using “Reacting to the Past” to teach Neo-Confucian politics
I have made another post over at Neo-Confucianism.com, this time describing how I used the role-playing pedagogy “Reacting to the Past” in my recent course on Neo-Confucianism. It was great fun, and I encourage you to check it out!
Teaching The Yi Jing (I Ching) in a Course on Neo-Confucianism
Over at Neo-Confucianism.com, which is the companion website for Justin Tiwald and my book Neo-Confucianism: A Philosophical Introduction, I have posted some reflections on how I taught the Yi Jing (Book of Changes) in the context of my recent course on Neo-Confucianism. We even performed a divination! Take a look, and comments/questions either there or here are most welcome.
Confucianism and “Reacting to the Past”
I have recently learned of the “Reacting to the Past” pedagogy (see here), which seems fascinating, and in fact they have two modules directly related to Confucianism:
- Confucianism and the Succession Crisis of the Wanli Emperor
- Korea at the Crossroads of Civilizations: Confucianism, Westernization, and the 1894 Kabo Reforms
If anyone has experience with either of these, or with Reacting to the Past in general, please share your thoughts in the comments (or email me directly if you prefer). I gather that these “games” are mainly aimed at history classes, but I wonder how they would work in a philosophy class?
Deadline approaching for NEH summer applications
The March 1 deadline for application to NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes is starting to loom, and I wanted to remind everyone about two options in particular:
- A 3-week Seminar called “Bhagavad Gita: Ancient Poem, Modern Readers,” directed by Richard Davis; more info here.
- A 2-week Institute called “Reviving Philosophy as a Way of Life,” co-directed by Meghan Sullivan, Stephen Grimm, and myself; more info here.
In each case, all selected participants receive stipends to defray costs associated with attendance.
D’Ambrosio and Connolly on Teaching Chinese Philosophy
If you or a colleague are wondering about how to teach Chinese philosophy within the framework of a “traditional” Western philosophy class — or if you’re interested in debates about the aptness of this approach — this article should be very interesting: Paul D’Ambrosio and Timothy Connolly, “Using Familiar Themes to Introduce Chinese Philosophy in Traditional Courses (for the Non-Specialist),” Teaching Philosophy 40:3 (Sept 2017).
