Happy New Year! The passing holiday season brought us a time for parties, cards, and gifts. In the Department office we received a particularly nice card from our building custodians, Theo and Li, who wished "Love, Peace, Kindness, Generosity, Justice, and Forgiveness to all." On reading the articles in this newsletter and reflecting on the many things that we do in our lives as students and teachers, it does not seem too far of a stretch to say that the study of philosophy is centrally… Read more
Nora Burnes transferred to the University of Washington this year and is a double major in Philosophy and Public Health with a minor in Bioethics and Humanities. Nora served for eight years in the Army as a medic and still serves in the Army Reserves. She is also a volunteer firefighter/EMT for South Bay in Thurston County. Additionally, she is the mother of four-year-old Aislinn and newborn Garrett. She took time out of her extremely busy schedule (which includes commuting to UW from Tacoma)… Read more
Professor Carole Lee had been researching the problem of bias in academic peer review for several years when the National Institutes for Health (NIH) announced a competition on that very topic. Through an unusual collaboration, she crafted a proposal with statistician Elena Erosheva, earning first place in the creativity category of the competition.
Peer review, for the uninitiated, is the process by which research grants are awarded. Colleagues from across the country rate proposals on… Read more
Professor Lynn Hankinson Nelson is featured in the Provost series Leading Change in Public Higher Education: Innovators Among Us: Using Technology to Engage Students. Lynn was a Teaching with Technology Fellow in Summer 2013 and created a hybrid online course and used the Active Learning Classrooms in the Odegaard Library, pictured below. Read More at:… Read more
Professor Michael Blake talks with Marcie Sillman and Hannah Burn on the KUOW - NPR show The Record about partyism (when someone discriminates based on political views) and when it is and isn't ok to discriminate based on partyism. A recent study by Stanford University has found that people are currently more likely to discriminate based on politics than on race. Michael Blake… Read more
FACULTY
Michael Blake's book Debating Brain Drain: May Countries Restrict Emigration? with Gillian Brock will be published in early 2015.
Lauren Hartzell Nichols has three recent publications: "An interdisciplinary assessment of climate engineering strategies" Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, "Adaptation as precaution" Environmental Values, and "From 'the' precautionary principle to Precautionary Principles" Ethics, Policy & Environment.
Carole Lee won… Read more
FRIENDS OF PHILOSOPHY Thank you for your support! Gifts to the Department are crucial to our success in enhancing educational opportunities for our students. Undergraduate student awards, scholarships, and resources for graduate fellowships would not be possible without the support of our donors. We also depend upon donated funds to develop and promote programs, such as philosophy of science, philosophy of the environment, professional ethics, the Ethics Bowl team, and introducing philosophy to… Read more
Center's Philosophers in the Schools programcontinues to grow, and this fall faculty, graduate students, undergraduates, and volunteers are leading regular philosophy sessions in about 50 public elementary, middle and high school classrooms around Seattle, including several middle schools new to the Center. The Center's … Read more
The Advisory Board advises the chair, supports the Department's community and public relations activities, and assists in implementing the Department's fund development and outreach efforts. Advisory Board members are: Greg Albert, David Byrne, Marcia Evans, Dan Gerler, Jana Mohr Lone, Ann Owens, Jack Sabin, Eric Schmidt and Jasmin Weaver. The board meets four times a year and is involved in a variety of policy, outreach and development initiatives. If you are interested in joining the… Read more
Purchase your own legendary department "PHILOSOPHY I'm in it for the Money" t-shirt!
The t-shirts with the department logo and slogan come in blue, olive or gray, and hats in white, taupe and gold cost $12. We also have t-shrts with only the department logo in citrus green, white, gold and oatmeal, plus short-sleeved t-shirts cut for women in yellow or white. The hoodies are vanilla (with logo and slogan) and heather grey (with and without slogan) which are $25.
Payment can be made in cash, by… Read more