1
2
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION NEWS
From the Department Head’s Desk
A Passion for the Subject
Students
in
our
department
complete what would be considered
a liberal arts education. They
develop a broad set of skills and
capacities and a diverse knowledge
base through the WKU general
education program. They also
specialize in one of our majors—
Asian Religions and Cultures, Philosophy, or Religious Studies. But
these majors are relatively small in credit hours, so students also
complete a minor or a second major (often in another department, but
sometimes in our department too). This broad education with areas of
specialization is the classic liberal arts model. As opposed to
professional or vocational training, the liberal arts education prepares
students for a wide range of careers.
A recent report by the Association for American Colleges & Universities
shows that liberal arts graduates fare very well as compared to
graduates in professional or vocational programs in terms of earnings
and career success. The report is good news for our students and their
parents. But in a recent survey of our alumni, we found very few
graduates who said that they pursued a degree with us because they
wanted to make a lot of money or have a successful career. They
pursued a degree with us because they loved what they were studying.
They had a passion for the subject matter. In other words, they valued
their major not because of the dollars it could earn them but because of
the intrinsic value that learning had for them. Our subjects touched
their souls and enriched their lives in ways that no future income
needed to justify. They valued their education as an end-in-itself, not as
a means to other (financial) ends. As educators, we could not ask for
anything more!
Volume 7, Issue no. 2
JAN/FEB 2013
In this issue . . .
Dr. Paul Fischer helped to lead a study abroad
program in China during the Winter term.
Read all about this amazing trip on page 2.
Dr. Michael Seidler has returned from a
semester of research and writing in
Germany. Read about his work on page 3.
Congratulations December 2013 Graduates!
The joy of the holiday season is heightened by the
graduation of many of our students. We certainly
think we have some of the best students on campus,
and we’re proud of their accomplishments. Of course,
our joy is tempered by the thought that they also will
no longer be in our classrooms and visiting our offices
(but they always can come visit!). Congratulations to
all of the following students.
Asian Religions and Cultures major: Kevin Worthy.
Philosophy major: James Ingram and Grant Johnson.
Philosophy minor: Andrew Dudley
Religious Studies major:
Charpentier, and Ryan Cole.
Scott
Burch,
Emma
Religious Studies minor: Christopher Butz, Eva Hall,
and Grant Johnson.
P
hi
R
d
L
Religious Studies JUMP!
New Program Allows Advanced Students to Get 5-Year BA and Masters degrees
The Department of Philosophy and Religion has
proposed a new program that will allow some students
to complete their BA degree and MA degree in Religious
Studies in just five years. The new Joint UndergraduateMasters Program (JUMP) is designed for students with a
minimum grade point average of 3.25. Eligible students
will begin taking graduate courses the fall of their senior
year. Those admitted to the program will be able to take
graduate level courses that will count both towards the
BA degree as well as the MA degree. The program is
still pending final approval. The department will
announce through various means when the program is
approved, at which time applications can be picked up
in Cherry Hall, Room 300. Students in any major may
apply. Interested students should contact Dr. Eric BainSelbo, Department Head of Philosophy and Religion, at
[email protected] to learn more about the
program.
Sample Program for Last Two Years
for BA/MA Degrees
Fall (Senior Year)
Spring (Senior
Year)
Fall (MA Year)
Spring (MA Year)
RELS 500 (4 hours)
RELS grad course (3 hours)
Other BA reqs. (5-7 hours)
RELS 601 (4 hours)
RELS grad course (3 hours)
RELS 602 (1 hour)
Other BA reqs. (4-6 hours)
RELS 599 (3 hours)
RELS 601 (4 hours)
RELS grad course (3 hours)
RELS 599 (3 hours)
RELS grad course (3 hours)
RELS grad course (3 hours)
RELS 603 (1 hour)
Dr. Fischer Leads Study Abroad in China
Dr. Paul Fischer and Flagship Academic Director He
Jianjun took 19 WKU students on a 2014 Winter
Term Study Abroad to China.
After a few days in Beijing, where they visited the
Forbidden City and the Great Wall and lunched on
BBQ scorpions in the Wangfujin food alley, they took
the overnight train to the ancient capital of Xi’an.
They stayed for two weeks at the Xi’an campus of
Northwestern University, which is situated about
100 yards from the medieval city wall, atop which
visitors may rent a bicycle and ride the perimeter.
Morning classes included taiji, calligraphy, Chinese
language, and primers on Confucianism, Daoism,
and Buddhism. The afternoons were dedicated to historical sites: the Terracotta Warriors, Imperial tombs
from the Tang dynasty, a mosque that was originally built in 742 (only a century after the death of
Muhammad), and the massive drum and bell towers that were used to notify citizens of the opening and
closing of the city gates. One weekend they took the bullet train to Luoyang to visit some of the 100,000 meritmaking Longmen Buddhist statues carved into the limestone cliffs beside the Yi River. The largest two are of
Shakyamuni, the historical buddha, and Vairochana, the mysterious buddha of emptiness. The following day
they visited Shaolin temple, which witnessed the birth of both Zen and kung fu.
This study abroad trip was a great experience for cultural immersion and an appreciation of religious
diversity. Department faculty regularly lead study away or study abroad excursions. Be sure to check our
Facebook page regularly to learn about future opportunities.
Dr. Seidler on Pufendorf
Student and alumni news
!""#$% &'($)*!" #$%$" &'()*+*,'-" ./012034!" '0+" +30/341" 0+" 0"
1454)*,4/" 061" (6+3/273*/" 03" 8/0(6*,*)(+!" 06" 412703(*60)"
Dr. Michael Seidler’s edition of Samuel Pufendorf: 7*9,234/" .094" 7*9,06-" (6" :4;0+<" =>34/" ./01203(6." >/*9"
Introduction to the Principal Kingdoms and States of Europe ?@A!"B11(4"302.'3"B6.)(+'"(6"@*/40">*/"+4546"9*63'+"C4>*/4"
'401(6."3*"D*23'4/6"E43'*1(+3"A6(54/+(3-"F'4/4"'4"/474(541"
(1682, original in German), based on Pufendorf’s lectures
0"E0+34/+"*>"G634/073(54":47'6*)*.-"14./44")0+3"-40/<"
New Pufendorf Edition, Research in Germany
in Heidelberg and Lund, was published in September
2013 (check it out in the display case in the hallway). The
edition includes a long introduction by Dr. Seidler, some
seven hundred footnotes, and four detailed appendices
that sketch a complete publication history of Pufendorf’s
work and its transformations (in six languages) until the
late eighteenth century.
Also during the Fall 2013 semester, Dr. Seidler was in
Berlin, Germany – courtesy of a research grant from the
DAAD (tr. German Faculty Exchange Service) – to work
on an edition of Samuel Pufendorf’s Dissertationes
academicae selectiores, a set of sixteen Latin essays (varying
from fifteen to sixty pages) on moral, political, historical,
and theological topics. This book will be published by
the Akademie Verlag (Walter de Gruyter) as Volume 8 in
Pufendorf’s Gesammelte Werke. Dr. Seidler’s philological
and philosophical work of annotating, clarifying,
interpreting, and historically situating these essays took
place mostly in the Philological Library of the Freie
Universität Berlin (where he was hosted by the Institut
für Philosophie), and in the rare book room of the
restored Berlin State Library (Staatsbibliothek Berlin, or
SBB) in the city center. As a result of his work during the
fall term, Dr. Seidler expects to submit his manuscript to
the press later this year.
+*,-$.% /'0-1$)!" &'()*+*,'-" 90H*/" IE0-" #$%J" ./012034K!" '0+"
C446" 0774,341" (63*" 3'4" :407'" >*/" =94/(70" ,/*./09<" =+')4-"
F())"C4"3407'(6."'(.'"+7'**)"B6.)(+'"(6"(664/L7(3-"G61(060,*)(+<"
234$*% 56()34!" #$%M" &'()*+*,'-" ./012034!" '0+" 0774,341" 0"
,*+(3(*6" 0+" 0" +*>3F0/4" 1454)*,4/" 03" N2+3(7(" D*>3F0/4!" 0"
:4664++44" 7*9,06-" 3'03" F*/O+" F(3'" 4L)40/6(6." +30610/1+"
F*/)1"F(14<"
7$)).% 8,'$439$)% 061" :#--% 8#4;*'6!" #$%M" ./012034+" *>" 3'4"
E=" ,/*./09" (6" N4)(.(*2+" D321(4+!" '054" H2+3" ,2C)(+'41"
PN45(+(3(6."D07/41"E430,'*/+Q"="N4)(.(*2+"D321(4+"&410.*.(70)"
N4+,*6+4"3*"3'4"N(+4"*>"3'4"R*64+<"(6"3'4"S*2/60)"*>"N4)(.(*6"
061" D*7(43-" I'33,QTT9*+4+<7/4(.'3*6<412TH/+TK<% :4//-" (+"
3407'(6." (6" 3'4"?@A"U*6*/+"V*))4.4"061" 7*63(62(6."3*" F*/O"
03"3'4"G6+3(3234">*/"V(3(W46+'(,"061"D*7(0)"N4+,*6+(C()(3-!"F'()4"
?())"(+"3407'(6.",0/3L3(94"03"G61(060"A6(54/+(3-"D*23'40+3<"
=$#"#% 73.-')!" &'()*+*,'-" 90H*/!" /474(541" 06" '*6*/0C)4"
9463(*6" (6" 3'(+" -40/X+" D0/0C0614" 8**O+" +321463" ,*43/-"
7*9,43(3(*6<"
81$>$6% ?#4@-$)!" #$$Y" &'()*+*,'-" ./012034!" ./0120341" )0+3"
-40/" >/*9" 3'4" A6(54/+(3-" *>" @46327O-" V*))4.4" *>" Z0F<" U4"
C4.06" F*/O(6." (6" =2.2+3" 0+" 0" D30>>" =33*/64-TZ0F" V)4/O" (6"
8*F)(6."[/446"03"3'4"?0//46"V*263-"S2+3(74"V4634/">*/"S21.4"
V03'4/(64" U*)14/>(4)1<" "U4" F0+" +F*/6L(6" 0+" 0" 949C4/" *>" 3'4"
@46327O-"C0/"(6"\73*C4/<""
Please send any student or alumni news to
[email protected].
KPA Meeting Coming to WKU
This spring, WKU's Department of Philosophy and Religion will host the Kentucky Philosophical Association
(KPA) Annual Conference. The meeting will take place on Saturday, April 5, in Cherry Hall. Papers on a
variety of philosophical topics will be presented and discussed. In addition, the results of the 2013-2014
student essay prize will be announced and the winner will present his or her paper.
This year's keynote speaker will be Dr. Valerie G. Hardcastle of the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Hardcastle
specializes in philosophy of neuroscience, philosophy of biology, philosophy of cognitive science, philosophy
of psychology, and philosophical implications of psychiatry.
Information about the Call for Papers for the meeting can be found on the department’s Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/pages/WKU-Philosophy-Religion/102142836550158. Registration is free to
students and $20 for all other participants. Any additional inquiries can be made to Dr. Audrey Anton at
[email protected].
1
2
Other Faculty News
Dr. Audrey Anton, assistant professor of philosophy, was busy
last fall presenting papers at conferences. She presented “Agent
Causation, Randomness, and Acting for Reasons” at the Tennessee
Value and Agency Conference, UT Knoxville, November 15-17,
2013; “Ignorance and Moral Vice According to Aristotle, or Why
Stupid Jerks Are the Worst” at the Society for Ancient Greek
Philosophy annual meeting, Bronx, NY, October 11-13, 2013; and
“Aristotle’s Theory of Moral Motivation in Nicomachean Ethics X,
or Why the Carrot Still Needs the Stick for Backup” at The Last
Chapter, Lehigh University Conference, Bethlehem, PA, October 34, 2013. Finally, Dr. Anton was honored by the WKU Office of
Sponsored Programs. She received special recognition for her work
in securing a grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities for developing a new course on why bad people are
bad. The course will be offered for the first time this coming fall.
conference's keynote speaker, Margaret Urban Walker.
Dr. Bella Mukonyora, associate professor of religion, recently
published an entry on African Religions in the “Worldmark
Encyclopedia of Religion” by Thomas Riggs & Company, and a
book review of “Hustlers, Schism and Prophecy: Apostolic
Reformation in Botswana” (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 2011, 268). This review was published by the American
Journal of Anthropology. In early January she attended the
American Association of Church History annual meeting in
Washington, DC. She contributed to a discussion of the book
“Summoned from the Margin,” a biography of Lamin Sanneh, a
scholar of religion at Yale Divinity School. Just before the Spring
semester began, Dr. Mukonyora attended another Church
history meeting, this time to take part in a workshop called
“Beyond Consent and Dissent: Women, Religion and Politics in
Dr. Eric Bain-Selbo, department head of philosophy and religion, Modern Africa.”
participated twice in the most recent annual meeting of the
Association of American Colleges and Universities. First, he gave a Dr. Michael Seidler, professor of philosophy, attended two
presentation entitled “Education as an End-in-Itself: Retrieving that scholarly conferences in the old university town of Halle during
Crazy Idea.” Second, he helped to facilitate a seminar-style his fall semester in Germany. One was on the thought of
discussion on the topic “The ‘Big’ Questions Are Moral Questions.” Christian Thomasius, another central figure in the early German
Enlightenment (e.g., he opposed heresy accusations and witchThe meeting took place in Washington, DC, January 23-25.
burnings, emphasized the historicity of ideas, and proposed
Dr. Grace Hunt, assistant professor of philosophy, attended the eclecticism as a philosophical method superior to orthodox or
Society of Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (SPEP) absolutist approaches). The other was a meeting of “The
conference at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. She Network European Natural Law 1625-1850,” an ongoing panpresented on a panel titled "Can Resentment Be Healthy?". She also European project focusing on the pedagogical influence of
was awarded Honorable Mention for Best Submission by a Junior natural law thinking in ethics and politics during the period.
Scholar by the SPEP executive committee. In November she Attendees at this international event came from UK, Australia,
attended the Pacific Society for Women in Philosophy (PSWIP) Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Italy,
conference and presented on a panel about the work of the Germany, and the USA. Dr. Seidler chaired the opening sessions
As you consider your contribution to the New Century of Spirit campaign for Western Kentucky
University, please remember that you can designate your gift to the Philosophy and Religion Department.
Your contributions are critical to the life of the department and its students.
Philosophy and Religion News
Department of Philosophy and Religion
Western Kentucky University
1906 College Heights Blvd.
Bowling Green, KY 42101