Dear Friends and Alums,
I've spent a good portion of my summer becoming familiar with my faculty colleagues. This is, by any measure, a very remarkable group of committed individuals, and while numbers are not to to be mistaken for quality, they illustrate some features of the faculty as a whole.
This is a very experienced faculty. The collective years of philosophy faculty experience at Oregon State University are 180. That provides a rich storehouse of wisdom for our students and new faculty.
This is a very distinguished and recognized faculty. Philosophy faculty have received numerous awards (nearly 30 as a collective group) in every aspect of education important to the university: teaching, advising, scholarship, service, and all-around excellence.
This is a faculty whose commitment to excellence in teaching is recognized by students. The department is home to 80 undergraduate majors, 48 minors, and 22 ethics certificate students. Our graduate program continues to expand, with 37 students, 16 of whom have philosophy as their major field. With the assistance of very capable adjunct faculty, the department taught 14,181 student credit hours during the past academic year, and enrolled 3,931 students in its classes. The assessment of faculty instruction by students averaged 3.55 on a 0-4 point scale. These each establish new standards of student interest in and satisfaction with philosophy instruction.
This is a productive faculty. Peter List, the department chair for a good portion of its history, comments that the current faculty scholarship "is impressive and is more significant than fifteen years ago by a large margin." How impressive? In the past year, members of the faculty published two books and 35 essays, book chapters, and reviews; presented 18 papers or commentaries at conferences; and delivered 104 lectures, evenly split between off-campus and on-campus organizations.
This brief profile reveals some reasons why university and college administrators frequently speak of the philosophy department as a model for the institution. I hope you will take an opportunity to talk with the people behind the numbers, correspond with them about your own successes, and make suggestions about how we can enhance our efforts.
Courtney s. Campbell, Chair
We cannot claim it was entirely by design, but the 3rd week of April exhibited a philosophical flourishing the likes of which is probably unprecedented at OSU. Led by James Blumenthal, and sponsored by the Hundere Endowment, the department partnered with Linn-Benton Community College in organizing a presentation by eleven Buddhist monks on "The Mystical Arts of Tibet." The culminating event was an evening of traditional chants and ritual dance, which drew over 1,100 people to the OSU campus.
The Spring Creek Project, directed by Kathleen Dean Moore, added to the flourishing by hosting David Orr, environmental studies chair at Oberlin College. He spoke on the role of education in a damaged world: "The ecological crisis represents a failure of education...Education must have a different agenda, one designed to heal, connect, liberate, empower, create, and celebrate." Orr's visit also provided the occasion for the launching of "confluence communities" - people who come together, in reading or study groups, to share common concerns, stimulate creative thought, and propose constructive action related to the environment. Three communities - Language of Rivers, Consumers Anonymous, The Dragonfly House - have been strong, self-sustaining, and productive, remarkable examples of continuing education outside the classroom.
Our self-proclaimed philosophy week ended with a look at the beginning of western philosophy. Bill Uzgalis organized a symposium on "Scoratic Wisdom and Socratic Ignorance," which included speakers from Lewis and Clark College and Chemeketa College. The symposium was well received, with one attendee later writing to Bill that the program was the most educational philosophy forum he had ever attended.
Members of the department provided vibrant educational forums for students and the community who were seeking to place the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in some kind of context, and to understand the scope of the subsequent U.S. "war on terrorism." The response of was immediate. Kathleen Dean Moore had an essay, "Ode to Evil," published on September 12 in The Oregonian. Courtney S. Campbell drew on his expertise in just war theory, revolution, and comparative religions, to provide a special fall term course in the University Honors College entitled "Just War, Holy War, and Terrorism." Because the course was developed immediately in the wake of September 11, it was a unique offering and consequently, received substantial regional and national attention. Lani Robers, Joseph Orosco, and James Blumenthal were participants and organizers of educational events sponsored by the OSU Faculty for Peace and Justice. Campbell and Roberts later pooled their teacing expertise for a winter term special course on "Just War and Jihad," and Campbell was also invited to teach a semester-long course on terrorism at Washington State University-Vancouver.
As the sun set behind a spreading oak tree on Aldo Leopold's Sauk County farm, Kathleen Dean Moore spoke to an amiable, Deet-slathered audience, on the subject, "What It Means to Love a Place." The invited lecture was part of the Aldo Leopold Summer Lecture Series, and the audience included Aldo Leopold's daughter, Nina (pictured above with Kathy), and great-grandson, Jed.
In return for delivering the lecture, Kathy and her husband, Frank, were invited to spend the night in the "Shack," where Leopold wrote his famous Sand County Almanac. It was a lively night, with spectacular stars, a wine-drinking mouse, careening bats, a bed with snow-fence springs, a coforter stuffed with feathers from geese Aldo Leopold shot - and in the morning, sandhill crane song.
A highlight of our annual spring picnic is the recognition received by students and faculty for exemplifying the best of philosophy in writing, study, and in service. This past May, Kyla Frick received the Franklin J. Matchette award for Oustanding Undergraduate Essay entitled, "Should Hospice Support Physician-Assisted Suicide?" Kyla is now in Colorado working and preparing for graduate school. Jared Taylor received the Franklin J. Matchette award for "excellence in the study of philosophy." Jared is on his way to law school (this award has been renamed the Peter C. List award in recognition of our recently retired department chair). James Howe, president of the Philosophy Club, and James Blumenthal, faculty advisor, received service awards for their work in organizing student activities and campus learning forums. James Howe is following his mentor's path, and is on a study-abroad program in Nepal. Lois Summers, our department office manager, also received a service award for her numerous contributions in keeping the department running smoothly.
In addition, the department's Program for Ethics, Science and the Environment recognized three members of the OSU community with its annual Ethical Integrity Awards.Michelle Bothwell and Joseph McGuire, faculty in chemical engineering, were acknowledged for their work to develop a specialized and integrated program of ethics in engineering. Rubin Landau, physics professor, was a voice of moral clarity and conscience when OSU administrators and faculty leaders had disputes over budget shorfalls.
How can we express gratitude to a faculty member who has been at OSU since 1967, has been department chair for 17 years, and whose influence and reputation are wide-spread across the university? While words always fall short, over sixty people, including former students, faculty colleagues, associates, and friends, attended the retirement party for Peter List.
A delightful spring evening provided a splendid setting for a catered dinner hosted at the home and vineyard of Steve Radosevich, a long-time colleague of Peter's from the Department of Forestry. Peter received some special gifts, including wine from the Amity Vineyards, a signed copy of Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac, and a drawing of Hovland Hall. Kathy Moore organized a truly fitting celebration of Peter's career, assisted by Lani Roberts and Joseph Orosco, Vikki Wetle with Amity Vineyards, as well as Leonora Rianda and Lois Summers. A memorable highlight of the evening was witnessing Peter drive a John Deere tractor across the vineyard to come to the rescue of a disabled vehicle!
Peter joined the OSU faculty in 1967, and served his first term as chair in 1975. He has truly "seen it all" in the history of the OSU philosophy department. He received departmental and college awards for service, a university award for faculty achievement, and a professional award for teaching excellence. He created and taught over fifteen new courses, many of them innovative because of their interdisciplinary emphasis. His commitment to the university is reflected in his service on over fifty faculty and institutional committees.
Just so it is clear, Peter has let it be known that he "is not really retiring." He continues his service on two university committees, will teach his course on sustainable forestry this coming year, and will be applying for national research grants on sustainability.
June Huang, and international graduate student in Psychology and Philosophy, was an intern this summer at "The Sunflower House," a community outreach organization. Its programs include Alcohol & Drug Treatment, a Recovery Program, a Men & Women's Shelter, Homeless Emergency Services, an Emergency Family Shelter and a Family in Transition program. June's internship began the week the Sunflower House was moving to a new facility so "I did more moving and packing than anything else." However, June's participation in the Crisis Line training at the Center impressed her. She learned that a) It is not enought to listen unless you understand what you have heard; b)It is of little use to understand unless the other person can use the information.
Out of her experience with the training, she wrote an essay entitled "Empathy as Therapeutic Listening Through Appreciative Articulation." She concluded that "Empathy, thus, is therapeutic listening in a fully present encounter as in 'If you understand, that is my salvation!'"
After finishing her intership, June flew back home to Taiwan to spend time with her family and to have her wisdom teeth removed before returning to OSU for the Fall term...good luck, June!
We would like to thank our benefactors for supporting the Philosophy Department and assisting us to do the kind of teaching and research that is indispensable to the university, our students, and our community:
James Howe and Tristin Klappauf, two of our current philosophy majors are studying abroad this year in Kathmandu, Nepal. Via emails to Jim Blumenthal, the undergraduate advisor in philosophy, all of us in the department are keeping tabs on these intrepid students.
James writes, "The last two days have already made me realize how much we take for granted, and how little we as society see...Yesterday I went to Baktapor...This is a classic Hindu community rich in architecture and religion. By our standards this community is impoverished and poor, and I would go as far as agreeing, but they maintain traditions that have been passed down for thousands of years...Since I am still more or less a glorified tourist, it is almost possible for me to ignore these people's living conditions. Even so, amongst the poverty I viewed rich skills in hand crafts from wood carving, weaving to blacksmithing. It is truly amazing, the beauty that is being created here...We are oft times arrogant in our assumption that our wealth makes us rich people, but the spiritual dedication I saw at the Stupa in Boudhas makes me wonder if rich in possessions is enough?...I sat there having tea staring at this magnificent stupa and I was moved. I have lived my life in the USA and have learned many things, but what those things are I couldn't tell you. But I have learned one thing now...it is impossible to know your own world until you step outside of it."
Tristan's take on her experience is more extroverted than James, but no less impressive. She writes, "Things are great here, I love it. Thank you so much for telling me about the program...Yesterday we walked to the city and that was a blast; life is so different here. I made some friends and saw a parade with a range of ages, small children to people my age...Haven't bought anything yet, I am waiting till I hone my bargaining skills. I can't tell you how much I love it here; things move slower and people relax and talk a lot, not that I can understand much...I am sure I will have days when things are not so good but for now I feel great, it is not too hot, the food is excellent (my day is centered around it). The only thing is I washed some clothes the other day and it is so damp (still the monsoon season), and they still have not dried, so I took my hair dryer to them."
Peter List took a research leave winter term, and enjoyed the beaches of southwest Florida, the pool at his rental house, and visiting relatives. Somehow, he found time to do research, a considerable amount. He assisted an interdisciplinary team of colleagues in completing a manuscript on "Advocacy and Credibility of Ecological Scientists in Resource Decision-Making," which has subsequently been accepted in the journal of Bioscience. Peter presented a paper on "Why Public Environmental Scientists Should be Environmental Advocates" at the 3rd annual meeting of the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum, and also encouraged SEAC officers to consider OSU a possible meeting site in the future. And, addressing a timely topic, Peter prepared remarks on a new book by David Strohmaier, "The Season of Fire: Reflections on Fire in the West," which he presented at a author-meets-critic session of the International Society for Environmental Ethics. All in all, Peter made a compelling case for doing philosophy at the beach.
CAP@OSU 2002 ("Computers and Philosophy")was an amazing success! The program began with a day concerned with the work of Douglas Engelbart. Engelbart, an OSU engineering alum, has received many awards for inventions that include the mouse, hypertext, and a variety of other innovative ways of using computers in the interest of augmenting human intelligence. The Governor proclaimed January 24, 2002 Douglas Engelbart Day, and the conference began with State Senator Cliff Trow flanked by various OSU officials presenting Engelbart with the proclamation. It continued with a variety of notables, including Robert Horn from Stanford and Luciano Floridi from Oxford lauding various aspects of Engelbart's work. Over the three days of the conference, Engelbart spoke three times. The succeeding days included papers on Artificial Intelligence, Computing Ethics, Information Technology in Education, Electronic Publication, Philosophy of Information, Artificial Morality, and Robotics. The talks from the conference were webcast at the time and were viewed interactively by people as far away as New York. The talks have been archived and can be viewed on-line at http://www.orst.edu/groups/cap/videios.html. The next CAP@OSU will be held in August 2003.
The department's 10th IDEAS MATTER lecture series was devoted to a topic of great institutional and public relevance, agricultural biotechnology. Entitled, "Biotechonology: Philosophical Perplexities, Ethical Enigmas," the year-long series addressed a variety of questions, as we enter what will inevitably be a biotech century. These issues included:
It was a delight ot have community members, students, and faculty engage with some of the brightest minds and practitioners in the country on these issues; the 22 lectures attracted over 1,000 attendees. The backgrounds and perspectives of the presenters - civic education, industry, law, philosophy, populist advocacy, religion, research, science - made for a university microcosm.
An exciting and innovative IDEAS MATTER program is planned for Fall 2002 under the leadership of Kathleen Dean Moore. On the fortieth anniversary of the publication of the landmark book, Silent Spring, the program will focus on the legacy and challenge of Rachel Carson. The schedule of events includes lectures by prominent Carson scholars, readings by poets, essayists, and cancer survivors, and a nationally acclaimed play on Carson's life.