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Besides receiving the College of Arts & Sciences Superior Performing Department Award for 2008 and 2009, our program is also prominently featured in the UNT President's Report (2008)...

The Department of Philosophy & Religion Studies is proud to announce that our contributions to education and philosophy are prominently featured in the just-published UNT "President's Report 2008." The department as a whole is featured in BOTH the "Firsts" and the "Bests" lists. "World's first graduate program in environmental philosophy and world's first field station in environmental philosophy, science and policy at Cape Horn, Chile." Also, "Environmental philosophy program recognized as the best in the world by the International Association of Environmental Philosophy." Prof. Ricardo Rozzi is recognized for his dedicated efforts for the Chile Field Station as well as in "Solutions for Being Green" for his Sub-Anarctic Biocultural Conservation Program. Prof. Irene Klaver is featured in the narrative category, "Solutions for Arts and Culture," for her work on the Global Rivers film project.

  • 11/09 - 11/15 2009
    • Sara Goering speaking on “Genetics in Translation: Justice, Marginalized Populations, and Researcher Responsibility." The promise of biomedical genomic research depends, quite pragmatically, on the translation of basic scientific findings into therapeutic applications that improve health. Incentives designed to speed the movement of new knowledge gained through bench science to the bedside, into regular clinical practice, and ultimately to improve community health are currently well-funded. Yet while efficiency of translation is no doubt important, more fundamental questions remain: who benefits, and is justice served? In this paper, Goering explores some of the problems of justice along the genetic translational pathway, through the lens of "responsive justice" – a conception of justice that includes elements of distribution, recognition, and responsibility (11/09 @ 4pm in ENV 110).
    • Keith Wayne Brown will deliver his talk, "Being-Around the Limit Peering into Being: The Periechontology of Karl Jaspers." Rejecting conventional metaphysics, Jaspers suggests that any matrix for the pursuit of Being must embrace a shifting configuration of symbols which do not lend themselves to definitive interpretation or absolute codification.  Jaspers' describes the historic tension between active reason & possible Existenz as a finite transcendence in which any event, entity, or process can become a cipher of the very possibility of going beyond our situation. Yet such a getting-over is never a "beyond the world".  To become meaningful, ciphers must not only point to each other transcendentally but toward a disposition within the world.  The method for following these boundary situations toward finite transcendence Jaspers calls Periechontologie , getting at Being from around the edges (11/12 @ Noon in ENV 320A). Download Flyer.
  • 10/20 - 10/26 2009
    • The Speakers Series welcomed James B. Martin-Schramm to speak to UNT's students, faculty & staff: "Ethical and Religious Values Regarding Energy Policy"." Dr. Martin-Schramm identified the ethical resources Christian communities have developed to link social justice and environmental issues. He focused on the application of these ethics to U.S. energy policy options including the coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear power sectors as well as the potential for energy efficiency and renewable energy. Tuesday, October 20th @ 4pm in Biology 304.
  • 10/13 - 10/19 2009
    • The Speakers Series welcomed Keith Wayne Brown to speak to UNT's UNT's students, faculty & staff : "Philosophy in the Dog House: Contemporary Meditations on the Ancient Cynics," Thursday, Oct 15 @ 3:30 pm in EESAT 320A. Read more...
  • 10/05 - 10/12 2009
    • The Speakers Series welcomed Prof. Chigbo Ekwealo to speak to UNT's students, faculty & staff on the subject of "African Philosophy: Challenged by Western Monistic Metaphysics," Monday, Oct 05 @ 4pm in EESAT 110. Read more...
    • Prof. Emeritus Pete A. Y. Gunter spoke at the dedication of the Big Thicket National Preserve Visitors Center: "We Are & Will Be: The History and Future Perspectives for Big Thicket Conservation." (Oct 09)
    • Prof. Robert Figueroa gave two talks at Dalhousi University, Halifax, Canada:
      • For the MacKay Lecture Series, Sustainability -- Past, Present, and Future, he delivered his paper “Extending Environmental Justice over the Warming Planet: Climate Refugees, Cultural Sustainability, and Reconciliation." (10/08).
      • And for their Department of Philosophy Speaker’s Colloquium he spoke on “Environmental Identity, Restorative Justice, and Ethical Crisis." (10/09).
    • Prof. J. Britt Holbrook, Steven Hrotic, and Jonathan Parker presented on “Interdisciplinarity in the Peer Review of Grants” at the 31st Annual Association for Integrative Studies Conference, “Creativity and Play Across the Disciplines,” Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (10/08 - 10/11)
  • 9/21 - 9/27 2009
    • The Center for the Study of Interdisciplinarity will kick off its 2009-2010 speaker series on Interdisciplinarity with a talk by University of Pennsylvania's Prof. Bruce Kuklick: "Public Intellectuals and the Future of the University or Who Put the 'American' in American Philosophy?" (9/23 in ENV 125 at 4:00pm). read more...
    • The Speakers Committee, working in close association with the Undergraduate Philosophers Forum, begins its 2009-2010 speakers series with a talk by one of our Graduate Program alums who will also receive an Alumni Appreciation Award. Paul Haught will talk with undergrad and grad students about the academic job search process at 3pm (Location TBA) and then deliver a talk at 4pm in EESAT 110: "Environmental Virtues and Environmental Justice." (9/25)
  • 8/31 - 9/05 2009
    • The Department of Philosophy & Religion Studies receives, for the second year in a row, the Superior Performing Department Award from the UNT College of Arts & Sciences. Congratualtions to our excellent Faculty, dedicated Students, and hardworking Staff!
    • The Department of Philosophy & Religion Studies is proud to announce that our contributions to education and philosophy are prominently featured in the just-published UNT "President's Report 2008." The department as a whole is featured in BOTH the "Firsts" and the "Bests" lists. "World's first graduate program in environmental philosophy and world's first field station in environmental philosophy, science and policy at Cape Horn, Chile." Also, "Environmental philosophy program recognized as the best in the world by the International Association of Environmental Philosophy." Prof. Ricardo Rozzi is recognized for his dedicated efforts for the Chile Field Station as well as in "Solutions for Being Green" for his Sub-Anarctic Biocultural Conservation Program. Prof. Irene Klaver is featured in the narrative category, "Solutions for Arts and Culture," for her work on the Global Rivers film project.
    • Professors J. Baird Callicott, Sarah Fredericks, George James, and Martin Yaffe presenedt a program directed toward the average UNT student who is not a specialist either in religion or the environment.  We are hoping to introduce students to the interaction that is at play between environmental problems/questions and various religious outlooks, beliefs, and practices (9/03/09 at 8pm in McConnell Hall Mac Cafe). Take a look at the flyer here.
    • The Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Research and Conservation Program (formerly known as the "UNT Chile Program") welcomes Dr. Christopher Anderson as its new director to consolidate one of UNT's premiere international and interdisciplinary initiatives.  In partnership with the Universidad de Magallanes (UMAG) and the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Chile, the program is forming an "Alliance" of institutions working on the integration of the humanities and the sciences to promote a biocultural conservation approach in the subantarctic ecoregion.  This fall, the program is inaugurating its first international video conference seminar, as part of a National Science Foundation International Research Experience for Students grant that will allow undergraduate and graduate students from various U.S. institutions, including UNT, Swathmore College, U. of Georgia, U. of Connecticut, Texas A&M and in association with the Ecological Society of America's SEEDS program and masters students at UMAG. The course is being co-taught by Dr. Anderson at UNT, with UNT professors Dr. Ricardo Rozzi and Dr. James Kennedy video-conferencing from Punta Arenas, Chile.  Graduate Students Alexandria Poole (UNT) and Cristobal Pizarro (UMAG) are helping to support the interdisciplinary course as teaching assistants. International seminars are being recorded and will be streamed live. If you are interesting in watching the seminars, please visit the course webpage: http://www.osara.org/darwin_2009/darwin_2009.htm. This course will help prepare the IRES students for their research in Chile, but also this year's wintermester "Tracing Darwin's Path" field course in southern Chile, which has run since 2006.  For more information regarding the field course, please contact the program assistant, Kelli Moses at osara@unt.edu.
  • 7/19 - 7/25 2009
    • Phd Student Bidisha Kumar gave a talk on the Yamuna river in India and our own local Trinity River: "River, Ecology and Avifauna" . Ms. Kumar considered how a river can be both sacred yet desecrated. 7/25/2009 in Dallas, TX.
  • 7/05 - 7/11 2009
  • 6/14 - 6/20 2009
    • Dr. Dale Wilkerson, Principal Lecturer, will join the Institute for the History of Philosophy at Emory University for the summer faculty workshop, "Heidegger and Nietzsche: the Issue of History" (6/16 - 6/25). The seminar organizers are Andrew J. Mitchell (Emory) and Peter Trawny (Bergische Universität Wuppertal).
  • 6/01 - 6/07 2009
    • Mr. Nathan Bell (MA student) will be presenting his paper "Eco-philosophy and the Reality of Nature Literature" at the 2009 conference of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment at the University of Victoria in Victoria, BC, Canada (6/03 - 6/06). Dr. David Taylor, UNT English faculty member and long time associate of the Center for Environmental Philosophy, will be presenting his paper "Crossing the Line: Environmental Narrative as Ethical Comment" on the same panel at that conference.
  • 5/18 - 5/24 2009
  • 5/11 - 5/17 2009
  • 5/04 - 5/10 2009
    • The Department of Philosophy & Religion Studies is proud to announce the graduation of our very first PhD candidate. We congratulate Dr. Jason Boaz Simus on his accomplishment. Throughout his study, Dr. Simus has been a shining example of dedicated scholarship to his classmates as well as a respected teacher for his students. We wish him all the best.
    • Prof. Eugene Hargrove travelled to China to speak at the Beijing University of Chemical Technology. He will be giving three invited talks: "Chemistry & Environmetnal Ethics," "New Directions in Environmental Ethics." and "Preserving the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies in the Solar System" (5/04 - 5/13). He will also be attending a conference in Dali, Yunnan Province, organized by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
    • The forthcoming issue of the journal Contemporary Pragmatism will contain an article by Dr. Carl Sachs: "Natural Agents: A Transcendental Argument for Pragmatic Naturalism."
  • 4/27 - 5/03 2009
  • 4/20 - 4/26 2009
  • 4/13 - 4/19 2009
  • 4/05 - 4/12 2009
    • The Philosophy Club at UNT-Denton welcomes Prof. Martin Yaffe to deliver an invited talk: “Tool, Image and Grave as Evolutionary Superfluities:  Hans Jonas on What is Beyond the Animal in Man," Tuesday, April 07 @ 4:00 pm in ENV 320A.
  • 3/30 - 4/04 2009
    • Prof. J. Baird Callicott participates on a panel of scholars discussing the Land Ethic and its future at the Aldo Leopold Graduation Centennial held at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (4/03). The title for the panel is "Leopoldian Philosophy and Ethics: In the Academy and, More Important, Beyond."
    • The Center for the Study of Interdisciplinarity (CSID) will hold its Second Monthly Seminar Friday, April 03, from 1:30 - 3:00 PM in the Board Room (# 204) of the Hurley Administration Building. The discussion will focus on an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, "A Grand Unified Theory of Interdisciplinarity," by Lennard Davis. Click here for more information.
    • PhD candidate Jason Boaz Simus, who will defend his dissertation later this semester, has been invited to give the keynote address for the 12th Annual Philosophy Symposium at Texas State University-San Marcos (4/03). The title of his address is "Ecological Citizenship and Environmental Art."
    • The Philosophy Club at UNT-Denton welcomes Prof. Marshall Armintor (UNT/English) to deliver an invited talk on the work of Jacques Derrida, Tuesday, March 31 @ 4:00 pm in ENV 320A.
  • 3/23 - 3/29 2009
  • 3/16 - 3/22 2009
  • 3/09 - 3/15 2009
    • Keith Brown delivered his talk "Visible Spirit, Invisible Body: Mushi-shi and a Preliminary Phenomenology of Anime's Flesh" to the Undergraduate Philosophy Club (3/10).
    • Prof. Martin Yaffe was invited to give the 26th annual Neustadt Lecture at Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City, OK. The title of his talk was "Judaism and Today's Environmental Crisis" (3/12). This lecture series was established by Mr. Walter Neustadt, of Ardmore, OK, in 1983, for the purpose of strengthening understanding of the great contributions of the Judaic religious tradition to Western civilization and thought.
  • 3/02 - 3/08 2009
    • Dr. Robert Figueroa hosts UNT's first annual conference on environmental justice issues: Varieties of Environmental Justice: Local, Regional, & Global, March 06 - 07.
    • The Department of Philosophy & Religion Studies welcomes our distinguished alum Chaone Mallory (Villanova University) to deliver her paper, "Intersectional Analysis and Environmental Justice: The Need for an Ecofeminist Perspective", as part of our first annual conference on environmental justice (3/07).
    • Prof. Martin Yaffe read a paper, "The Moral Repercussions of Creation in Contemporary Jewish Bioethics: Biblical Forebears as Heuristic Case-Histories," at the American Academy of Religion Southwest Regional Conference in Irving, TX (3/08).
    • Prof. Robert Frodeman attended the workshop ‘Bringing the Climate Home’ in Portland, OR. This gathering was devoted to finding ways to better communicate the seriousness of the danger of climate disruption (3/05 - 3/08).
  • 2/23 - 3/01 2009
  • 2/16 - 2/22 2009
  • 2/09 - 2/15 2009
    • Prof. J. Baird Callicott delivered a talk at the College of Charleston, SC: "From the Land Ethic to the Earth Ethic: Aldo Leopold in a Time of Climate Change" (2/12).
    • Dr. Alison Ormsby of Eckert College delivered a talk co-sponsored by the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Philosohpy & Religion Studies: "Studying Sacred Forests in Ghana & India," (02/09).
    • Chris Lauriello, a Philosophy and Religion Studies major, has had an article accepted for publication in Interpretation, the leading journal of political philosophy. The article is called "Diodotus and Thucydides" and is an interpretation of Thucydides' Peloponnesian War. The article was originally written as a term paper in a Political Science course with Dr. Richard Ruderman. Chris is the first recipient of the Richard M. Owsley Scholarship for outstanding writing by an undergraduate. For the past three years, he has been a McNair Scholar under the supervision of Prof. Martin Yaffe. He graduates this spring and will enter a graduate program in political science next fall.
  • 2/02 - 2/08 2009
  • 1/26 - 2/01 2009
  • 1/19 - 1/25 2009
    • Dr. Adam Briggle (PhD, Colorado) accepts a position with the Dept of Philosophy for Fall 2009.

 

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