UCF Department of Philosophy Alums

Opportunity: The DART Center (Direct Action & Research Training) will be on the UCF campus on Wednesday, November 4 at 5:30 PM in Ferrell Commons Room 185 to discuss careers in the field of community organizing, and to schedule interviews with students interested in empowering their communities and working for social c...hange.
Please RSVP if you are interested by contacting Melissa Pluss at melissa@thedartcenter.org or calling 785.841.2680 with your name, phone # and email address. http://www.thedartcenter.org/Read More

The Department of Philosophy and Center for Humanities and Digital Research invite you to attend:

“Paper is Complete—Author TBD: The Death of the Author in Contemporary Biomedical Research”


Dr. Rebecca Kukla,
Professor of Philosophy and Obstetrics & Gynecology,
University of South Florida

Friday, October 9th 3:30-5:00 p.m....
PSY 226


Dr. Kukla, Professor of Philosophy and of Obstetrics and Gynecology, is also a core faculty member in USF’s graduate program in Medical Humanities and Bio-ethics. Prior to joining the USF faculty, she taught at Carlton University, held a Greenwall Postdoctoral Fellowship in Bioethics and Health Policy at Johns Hopkins University, and received her Sommelier Certification at Algonquin college.

She is author of Mass Hysteria: Medicine, Culture, and Mothers’ Bodies (Rowman and Littlefield 2005), the editor of Aesthetics and Cognition in Kant’s Critical Philosophy (Cambridge 2006) and, with Mark Lance, the co-author of ‘Yo!’ and ‘Lo!’: The Pragmatic Topography of the Space of Reasons (Harvard University Press 2008). She is co-coordinator of the Feminist Approaches to Bioethics Network, a scholarly society with members in 30 countries.

She holds a $100,000 research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for a project entitled “Autonomy and the Negotiation of Information in Reproductive Health Care.” Her research interests include philosophical and cultural studies of medicine, epistemology, eighteenth century philosophy, and feminist philosophy.


For further information on this presentation, please call 407-823-2273 or contact Dr. Shelley Park at spark@mail.ucf.edu.

For further information on the Philosophy Department’s Colloquium series, contact Dr. Nancy Stanlick at stanlick@mail.ucf.eduRead More

From: Mike Buendia (Mike Smith), Philosophy Department alum:

I am an alumnus of the UCF philosophy department, graduated spring 2008, and I am volunteering through AmeriCorps. After graduating, I was not interested in going to grad school right away, so I looked at my options and decided to join AmeriCorps. If you aren’...t familiar with AmeriCorps, it is somewhat of a federal umbrella organization which offers contracts to non-profit organizations around the nation to have full-time volunteers for a year of service. Through AmeriCorps, I now work for a refugee resettlement agency in Erie, PA called International institute of Erie (http://www.interinsterie.org). IIE provides houses for incoming former refugees (around 40 new people arrive each month), offers ESL (English as a second language) classes for adults and tutoring for children, and we have case workers to assist in the acquisition of jobs, social services, and general acclimation to American life. Many of the refugees who are sent here by the UN have nothing but the clothes on their back (pardon the cliché but this is literally the case), so IIE exists to help them begin their new life, and get them the things and services they need. My responsibilities are to recruit volunteers for the Institute, raise awareness of the refugee resettlement process in the community, and create and facilitate projects for the refugees to get involved in. An example of the latter would be a computer class for adults that will cover basic computer skills so they are able to apply for jobs online, create a resume, look up any information they may need, etc. So, life after UCF has been meaningful for me so far.Read More

Discoveries in neuroscience and in particular neurotechnology have provided a unique window through which we can glance into the intricate workings of the human brain. Technologies such as brain scanning using positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging have enabled us to now monitor and unde...rstand the detailed geographical representation of human emotions, feelings, and thoughts within the brain. Yet, as these technologies have evolved, they have also highlighted the fundamental limitations that currently exist in our understanding of the human mind; namely, what is the nature of the relationship between the brain and the mind? What is it that makes us human and provides us with the qualities that distinguish us from all other beings? And how do the myriad of electrical and chemical processes we know of within the brain lead to an individual with unique feelings, thoughts, and emotions?

In this third and final conference, the participants will discuss the phenomenological and spiritual characteristics of human subjective experience, the neurophysiological and psychological basis of these domains, as well as the roles they play in the process of practical reasoning and moral decision making. The emphasis will be upon elucidating how and why an understanding of the integrative neuroscience of the brain-mind not only compels but sustains an appreciation for reverence and virtue—in the sense of cognitive intention and expressed actions—while providing a natural foundation for the emergence of a system of common morality. In addressing the empirical record for the moral and spiritual dimension of human experience, participants will discuss the viability of neurocentric justification for reverence and virtue, neuro-phenomenological explanations for intellectual and moral virtues, and the concept of morality and ethics as a core human ecology.
http://www.mindbodysymposium.com/Technology-Neuroscience-and-the-Nature-of-Being/Toward-A-Common-Morality.htmlRead More

http://thegreatfaithdebate.com/

Does religion hold the keys to creating a better world or would modern society be better off without it? What does religion mean for us today? These are some of the questions Christopher Hitchens, atheist author, and Dinesh D’Souza, renowned apologist, will bring to the table Thursday eve...ning, Sept. 17, 2009.

The event, to be held at 7pm at the University of Central Florida Arena, promises to be both enlightening and entertaining as the speakers debate the value of religion, the existence of God, and the effects of religion on society.

Christopher Hitchens, an atheist and anti-theist, is well-known for his critique of religion, which he says is “immoral”, “mythical”, and “man-made”. He is well known for his work as a journalist and for his authorship of the controversial book “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything”.

Dinesh D’Souza is the author of several bestsellers, including “What’s So Great About Christianity” and “The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11”. He uses intellectual reasoning to promote conservative values and defends traditional religious culture from a social and historical standpoint.

Both speakers are well-versed in current cultural events, and are extremely adept at addressing the challenging issues that face today’s society. Hitchens is witty, humorous, and a little daring. D’Souza is animated, polite, and occasionally mischievous.

Come expecting some surprising twists in the conversation as the two tackle the topic of religion and atheism from scientific, historical, and social perspectives.






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