Philosophy Commons^™

Rethinking The Role Of Cultural Empowerment In African Identity, Madina Tall

Theses and Dissertations

Narratives pertaining to the cultural inferiority of Africans have plagued the mindsets and consequently, the actions of millions around the world. The undermining beliefs of societies globally towards the African continent and its people has historically created opportunities for colonialism, imperialism and various other forms of exploitation. Various educational, political and socio-cultural gaps have manifested themselves in disguise of fundamentally/intrinsically poor African management. Examples range from more educational and socio-cultural issues such as cultural rejection/dissociation to everyday manifestations of identity displacement which can be understood as western cultural mimicry. Throughout this thesis, I shall argue that the core of the …

Nadezhda Krupskaya And The Reinvention Of Culture In Revolutionary Russia: Populism, Women, And Education In The New Socialist Society, Michael Anthony Iasilli

Theses and Dissertations

Most historiography of the Russian Revolution underestimates the impact of the populists of the nineteenth century in shaping political decision-making that led to early Soviet national development as well as the women brought up within the movement. Populism and the legacy of the narodniki is often a separate body of research, or explained within a distinct political category of its own. Likewise, most scholars see the socialist movement at the turn of the century as a divergence away from the populists. However, through the writings and legacy of Nadezhda Krupskaya, Lenin's wife, she demonstrates a political and cultural transcendence of …

A New Direction For Public Understanding Of Science: Toward A Participant-Centered Model Of Science Engagement., Christopher Rickels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Engaging the public with science is not an easy task. When presented, scientific findings, public health recommendations, and other scientific information filter through the personal values, beliefs, and biases of members of the public. Science communicators must contend with these differences in order to be effective in cultivating a public understanding of science. Given the importance of scientific understanding for living well in a complex world, increasing science understanding through science engagement is imperative. The field of public engagement with science is dichotomized by a public information deficit approach and a contextualist approach. The deficit approach prizes the factual content …

Furthering Philosophy For The Future: An Exploration Of The Benefits Of High School Philosophy Education And The Barriers It Faces, Alexander Spencer '22

Honor Scholar Theses

In this paper, I will present a picture of how philosophy education should be integrated into American high schools, I will build a case for the benefits of this integration, and I will respond to some challenges to the process of bringing philosophy into the classroom. I hope to show that expanding philosophy education and encouraging critical thinking is important. American high schools are in need of new methods of instruction in this era of misinformation and fruitless political discourse. I hope to show that philosophy education is one tool in the project of improving education, and thus society in …

Transcendentalism, Art, And Social Change: An Overview For A New Generation, Nidra Kilmer

Theses - ALL

The purpose of this study is to investigate the philosophy, art, methods, and outcomes of the Transcendentalist movement in 19th century America, with the aim of identifying strategies for creative practice that may inspire artists and educators in the 21st century. In the introductory section, the need for such an inquiry is established. Correlations are drawn between transcendental art from China, India, and America, in order to enrich the conversation by examining how ideas of transcendentalism, art, and social change are approached from different cultural perspectives. The historical context and philosophical roots of the American Transcendentalists is summarized, followed by …

Optimizing The Use Of Digitization Technologies In Museums, Emma Gunst

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Digital technologies are used mostly for artifact preservation, but they can also be used for educating people about those artifacts in a museum context. This paper investigates the way various age groups react differently to distinct kinds of digitization technology. By using different technologies with certain age groups, adolescents can learn more from the artifacts or objects they are interacting with. This project aims to explore which technologies work with what age group in order to optimize adolescent education and artifact accessibility in museums. Accessibility for this study is defined as a museum making their collections available to a variety …

Intellectual Access And Spirituality: The Twin Urgencies Of Responsible American Education, Matthew Schmitz

Educational Studies Honors Papers

America is increasingly, and perhaps overwhelmingly, becoming a society characterized by political divisiveness. At its most extreme form, Hannah Arendt argues such a division can make us vulnerable to a loneliness that destroys our confidence and leaves us dependent on ideologies. A renewed sense of spirituality and intellect are prime candidates for helping us develop a healthy relationship with ourselves that can help counteract this loneliness. Not only that, but fully accessing our intellectual and spiritual sides can give us the confidence to tackle democratic republican citizenship the way Thomas Jefferson envisioned it. Here, Jacques Rancière helps us to construct …

Instructing Normalcy, Anna R. Derosa

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Multidisciplinary Studies of Bard College.

An Understanding Of Prisons, Race, And Class In The United States, Seth Ketchum

Honors Projects

After a summer of protests sparked by police brutality, the United States remains divided on this most important issue. This paper will seek to contextualize this country’s situation to explain that these protests stem from a history of inequality, in order to argue against claims that the protests are unjustified. With a multidisciplinary approach, we can begin to observe just how unequal this country is and understand what drives so many people to protest during the middle of a global pandemic.

Karl G. Maeser: The Mormon Pestalozzian, Renae Myers

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Karl G. Maeser, the founder of Brigham Young Academy (now Brigham Young University), was able to bring progressive education to a pioneer society largely due to his educational and spiritual preparation. He was trained in the pedagogical methods of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi who believed that children learned best inductively, mainly through observation. Pestalozzi also believed that children were worthy of love and respect. Maeser was able to emulate Pestalozzi’s methods in an unprecedented way not only because the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ aligned so well with Pestalozzi’s methods, but because Maeser strove to have the Spirit of …

Education In Liberal Political Theories, Amy Cain

Honors Theses

This paper examines two sources of conflict within the literature on education in liberal political theories: the proper justifications for a state-mandated education and the necessary standard for education in a liberal state. After arguing that a liberal state must offer a child-centered justification for the universal mandate and uphold an equality standard of education, this paper proceeds to examine two common objections to such a system of compulsory education in a liberal state. This paper concludes that the perennial objections based upon concerns for familial rights and pluralism do not present a significant obstacle for incorporating a system of …

Virtue And Modern Society, Grant Matthew Gombert

Honors Projects and Presentations: Undergraduate

Virtue is a word not often used in the modern America. Even if it were used, it would be so misused that it would not be worth using the word. If asked, the average person on the street might tell you that virtue is an old-fashioned way of saying that someone is a good person or a good citizen – the sort of person who picks up litter in the park or volunteers for a charity. This understanding, however, is miles from the real richness of the word.

Expertise And Expression In Second Language Acquisition: An Embodied Perspective, Mia Burnett

Senior Theses

In directing our attention to mundane aspects of the human experience, we can discover new ways of interacting with and understanding the world. One such formative experience, regularly seen as mundane in much of the world, is learning a second language. It is no exaggeration to say that second language acquisition is one of the processes which most influences and drives our globalized world, and yet we understand and study this process relatively little.

Continuing the trends of naturalizing phenomenological inquiry, this project attempts to evaluate phenomenological approaches to skill acquisition alongside second language acquisition theory and research through an …

A Critical Review Of Current Approaches And Practices In Computing Ethics Education, Sophia Farquhar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Recent scandals caused by the results of negligent, malicious, or shortsighted software development practices highlight the need for software developers to consider the ethical implications of their work. Computing ethics has historically been a marginalized area within computing disciplines, so educators in these disciplines do not have a common background for teaching the topic. Computing ethics education, although often a required part of coursework, can vary widely in the method of implementation from university to university.

In this report I summarize the insights I gained from interviewing four educators from three different institutions on their pedagogical approaches to computing ethics. …

Two Concepts Of Education, Vikramaditya H. Joshi

Senior Projects Spring 2018

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

The foundation of the current discourse on education is grounded in the funding and distribution of a ‘good’ called education. The Common Core State Standards, as a set of shared goals stipulated by the federal government, considers education to be a “stepping stone” towards joining the workforce in a competitive global marketplace. The lexicon of economic commodities instrumentalizes education due to its tacit assumption that education is a means to an occupational end. It treats education as an individual possession deposited by a school, via its teachers, into …

Learning To Live And Love Virtuously, Henry Deruff

CMC Senior Theses

John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant authored two of the most famous pieces of work in ethical theory (Utilitarianism and Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, respectively), yet both fail for various reasons to give us direction by way of living good lives. This thesis begins by outlining those shortcomings, before offering Aristotelian virtue ethics as the solution. Virtue ethics, as conceived by Aristotle, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Julia Annas, delineates a process – grounded in our real lives – by which we may improve as people and therefore flourish, or live good, moral lives: the habituation of the …

Education As Democratic Persuasion: Addressing Systemic Inequalities In Brettschneider's Value Democracy, Kyla L. Eastling

CMC Senior Theses

In Corey Brettschneider’s book, Democratic Rights: The Substance of Self- Government, he builds the value theory of democracy wherein procedural and substantive rights are both grounded in the core values of democracy. In his second book, When the State Speaks, What Should It Say? How Democracies Can Protect Expression and Promote Equality, Brettschneider elaborates on his theory to provide an account of how a liberal democracy can address hateful and discriminatory views. In response to both theories, critics have charged that the ideal value democracy does not sufficiently account for systemic inequalities that women and black citizens face. In this …

Liminal Surfaces, Georgina E. Grenier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The poet Ben Okri wrote: “Stories are the secret reservoir of values: change the stories individuals and nations live by and tell themselves, and you change the individuals and nations.” (Stibbe)

In the early 21st Century we are facing numerous environmental problems that are being caused by human activity. This era is termed the Anthropocene , a time when accumulated pollutants are causing detrimental ecological change. Ocean creatures are threatened by increasing seawater temperature, acidifying pH levels and melting ice. On land we are experiencing droughts, alteration of biomes, extinctions and an atmosphere that contains less oxygen per breath than …

The Color Factor: How Paulo Freire’S Philosophy Of Education Highlights That Race Affects Human Growth And Development Of United States Citizens, Alyse Krevh

Masters Essays

No abstract provided.

Tempered Experience: The Educational Foundation Of Democratic Ideology, Nicholas J. Schwarm

Philosophy Undergraduate

Democracy is a political ideology, one that requires a person to believe in that ideology for it to exist. The contemporary political landscape is dominated by democracies, and for this reason we need to understand how to build and sustain Them. There needs to be a well educated populace of citizens, who are able to engage in democratic actions, and aid the community. What they need is tempered experience, experience that is understood though the knowledge that a citizen already has.

Refreshment For The Soul: A Phenomenological Study Of The Student Experience Of Beauty In School, Paul Reiff

Dissertations

Prompted by the ratio-scientific emphasis in the curriculum, I conducted this study to explore the lifeworlds of students to understand their lived experience of beauty in school. This investigation entailed a phenomenological study, the method of which included in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with four high school students. This study aimed to examine the essence of beauty in the lived experience of students in school, to explore the perceptions of students regarding school as a place to appreciate beauty, and to understand the needs of students as a place that develops their aesthetic sensibilities. The findings include the description …

A Pedagogy For Justice: Kant, Hegel, Marcuse And Freire On Education And The Good Society, Michelle J. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

Rousseau’s educational treatise Emile is a well-known pedagogical work often noted for its progressive educational insights. Although Kant’s Lectures on Pedagogy is much less well known, Kant suggests a solution to an educational problem Rousseau is unable to solve: the problem of whether or not education can work for the good of humanity. Rousseau is concerned that society, and the schools in society, inflames people’s passions and leads to inequality and enslavement. Rousseau sketches an educational program that ideally develops students’ autonomous moral reasoning untainted by inflamed passion, an education which enables students to be moral and just citizens, working …

The History Of Inequality In Education And The Question Of Equality Versus Adequacy, Diana Carol Dominguez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Although the U.S. Constitution espouses equality, it clearly is not practiced in all aspects of life with education being a significant outlier. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote about inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These two theories are related to education through educational adequacy and equality. Sufficientarianism, or educational adequacy, says that what is important is that everyone has “good enough” educational opportunities, but not the same ones. Egalitarianism, or educational equality, says that there is an intrinsic value in having the same educational opportunities and only having good enough opportunities misses something …

The Art Of Well-Regulated Freedom: Rousseau And Cortázar, Braden M. Goveia

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the most influential philosophers of eighteenth-century Europe. In 1762 Rousseau published his treatise on education titled Emile. In Emile, Rousseau argues that people require an education that returns them to themselves. He demonstrates how he could take on an ordinary boy (Emile) as his pupil and experiment with the possibility of raising him into an autonomous adult, both morally and intellectually. In 1963, Julio Cortázar published Hopscotch in its original Spanish title Rayuela. Cortázar wrote Hopscotch in a way that allows the reader to decide what role, if any, the last ninety-eight …

An Esoteric Doctrine: Nietzsche's Politics And Way Of Life, Andrew Evans

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Two current perspectives within Anglo-American Nietzsche studies are Nietzsche as radical aristocrat who supports the exploitation of the masses, and Nietzsche as thinker who revives the ancient understanding of philosophy as a way of life. A Hellenized Nietzschean way of life, however, shares the liberal concern for the suffering individual that the aristocratic Nietzsche condemns for contributing to modern decadence. This thesis reconciles the two interpretations by examining the way Nietzsche’s way of life is the condition of his politics. Before a new aristocratic order dedicated to the promotion of greatness can arise, there must be philosophers of the future …

A Consensus On The Definition And Knowledge Base For Computer Graphics, Michael Alden Roller

Open Access Dissertations

Despite several decades of historical innovation, measurable impacts, and multiple specializations the existing knowledge base for Computer Graphics (CG) lacks consensus, and numerous definitions for it have been published based on distinct contexts. Disagreement among post-secondary academics has divided CG programs into three contextual areas that emphasize different topics. This division has resulted in the decontextualization of CG education, and CG programs now face several challenges in meeting the needs of industry. Employing the Delphi Method, this investigation explored the perceptions among post-secondary educators and industry professionals about the definition of CG and how it is identified in terms of …

Radical Reflection: Toward The Transformation Of Everyday Teaching And Learning In English Composition, Royal Brevvaxling

Theses and Dissertations

Education is a necessary component in the emancipatory transformation of current capitalist society, with its exploitative social relationships, to one which is based on promoting and supporting human growth and potential. A libertarian education, as Paulo Freire writes of it, "must begin with the solution of the teacher-student contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously teachers and students" (Pedagogy of the Oppressed 59).

An additional impediment to developing education useful for this transformation is the separation of thought from action in educational theory and practice. The field of composition studies similarly operates according to …

Seeking Vita Contemplativa: A Search For Contemplation In A Secular World, Rosette Marie Cirillo

Senior Projects Spring 2014

Senior Project submitted to The Divisions of Languages and Literature and Social Studies of Bard College

Enhancing The Virtues Of Students, Gavin Gearhart Enck

Doctoral Dissertations

Discussions about the permissibility of students using enhancements in education are often framed by the question, “Is a student who uses cognitive-enhancing drugs cheating?” Some argue that students who use these cognitive-enhancing drugs are cheating because these drugs provide an unfair advantage that violates rules of fair competition in education. Others argue that students who use cognitive-enhancing drugs are not cheating because these drugs are merely another progressive educational tool, such as a calculator or computer. While the question of cheating is interesting, it is but only one question concerning the permissibility of enhancement in education. Another interesting question is, …

Integration Of Nutrition Education Classes Into English As Second Language Classes For Refugees, Sarah Gunnell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Each year approximately 73,000 refugees are resettled into the United States because it is unsafe for them to return to their country of origin. Resettlement agencies help refugees learn about their new environment and provide assistance with housing, food, English classes, and job skills training. The goal of resettlement programs is to help refugees become self-sufficient as quickly as possible.

Recently resettled refugees face many challenges that make it difficult to eat healthy food. Transportation, English skills, and conflicting work hours are some of the barriers to receiving nutrition education. This research evaluated the integration of nutrition lessons into English …