Fall 2010
CONGRATULATIONS DR. JOHN DRAEGER who received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor of Philosophy. You can learn more about Dr. Draeger on his faculty page.
NEW STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP. The George T. Hole Scholarship Fund will provide one scholarship annually of at least $1,000.00 for a student majoring in philosophy at Buffalo State College. More information on this scholarship is available at our scholarship page.
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DR. GEORGE HOLE received a 2010 Buffalo State College Foundation Chair’s Recognition Award in recognition of his philanthropy and overall support of the college. We are grateful to Dr. Hole for his considerable generosity towards our Department and the College. Dr. Hole will enjoy a well-deserved fall sabbatical and will be back in the Department teaching full-time Spring 2011. You can learn more about Dr. Hole on his faculty page.
DR. LEIGH DUFFY, Adjunct Philosophy Instructor, gave birth in May to a healthy baby boy, Colin. Congratulations to her and her husband Tom! KUDOS to Dr. Duffy as well for successfully defending her dissertation titled “Modal Illusions: Making Sense of the Necessary A Posteriori” (SUNY Buffalo, 2010).
The annual MEET-N-GREEK WELCOME BACK PICNIC is Thur.,16 September 2010, 3-5 PM, outside Bishop Hall, on the western / Porter-side of Bishop; or rain location, Philosophy Lounge, Bishop Hall 242. Please stop by for FREE food and refreshments and to meet our faculty and other students in the program.
PUBLIC LECTURE, “Truth Versus Tradition in Job 3-5,” by John Walton-Burnight, Lecturer in Old Testament Theology at Lewis University and Research Project Professional at the University of Chicago, Thur., 23rd September 2010, 4:30 PM, Butler 210.
Walton-Burnight’s lecture is of interest to both the Philosophy program and the Religious Studies program, as well as the wider college community. The Book of Job deals with a variety of themes of both historical and contemporary interest. Among others, it explores the nature and existence of evil, and the reconciliation of evil’s existence with religious beliefs about god and goodness. Against the backdrop of recent and current human suffering from both natural disasters such as the earthquakes in Haiti and the continuing threat of war and terrorism at least nominally connected to religious belief, this lecture should appeal to a wide audience. Walton-Burnight’s lecture will draw on extensive research on the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and his expertise in Near-Eastern history, languages, and literature to offer a new interpretation of Job’s suffering and the relationship of suffering to religious belief in monotheistic religions.
For more information contact Dr. Jason Grinnell
GROUP ADVISING (for PHI majors and minors), Thur., 30th September 2010 12:15-1:30, Bacon Hall 115. Come by for FREE PIZZA, a sneak peak at Spring 2011 course offerings, early-bird sign-up for individual advising, general information on the program, and more.
MANDATORY ADVISEMENT for PHI majors (NOT PHI minors nor REL minors) requires students to get a new PIN each semester, which you can only receive from your advisor. Advisors post appointment sign-up sheets outside of their offices (Bishop Hall 234 and 227) at least several weeks or more before registration each semester. More information on advising is available in this handout.
Our 2009-2010 PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM REVIEW is complete. Our external reviewer, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Raymond Angelo Belliotti (SUNY Fredonia), issued glowing praise for our program, faculty, and students. Here a few select comments: “The BSC philosophy faculty is nothing short of exceptional… The philosophy faculty goes well beyond the call of duty. They have a vigorous faculty-student colloquia series, often organize picnics and graduate parties, are deeply committed to teaching, pursue a host of scholarly concerns in their research and scholarship, and nurture a profound collegiality. Especially noteworthy is their academic advising program, which in design and execution, is the best philosophy department advising initiative that I have ever seen…The students with whom I spoke lauded the department effusively… The students all spoke of the dedication of the faculty; their willingness to provide extra information and spend enormous amount of time outside the classroom with them; the benefits of student-faculty colloquia; the obvious skill and knowledge of the faculty; the willingness of the philosophy faculty to extend themselves to students in a host of ways; and the like… BSC philosophers provide a solid, academically rigorous selection of courses, animated by a core of excellent instructors…”
After TEAM BUFFALO STATE’S excellent performance in the 2009 Northeast Regional Ethics Bowl, we are putting together the next team. Please contact Dr. Julian Cole for more information.
Spring 2010
The department congratulates members of Team Buffalo State on their excellent performance in the 2009 Northeast Regional Ethics Bowl.
As of Fall 2009, the department is phasing out the Humanities major. If current Humanities majors have any questions, they are encouraged to contact department chair, Dr. Blessing, or Dr. Draeger, Assistant Professor of Philosophy.
The department is proud to announce a new minor in philosophy as of Fall 2009. Students with 18 PHI credit hours will be eligible for this minor. More details will be forthcoming soon. In the meantime, students who are interested in this minor should contact either the department secretary, Lynn Bennett, or the department chair, Dr. Blessing, for further information.
In March, the department sponsored a talk by Dr. Eric Reitan on whether God is a delusion. This talk can now be viewed online. The first four minutes provide an introduction by Dr. Blessing. Dr. Reitan then talks for 42 minutes. His talk is followed by a question and answer session.
More information on this event can be found on our Special Events page.
Fall 2009
Lynn Bennett is a welcome addition to the Department as our full-time secretary. Ms. Bennett came to us in Fall 2008 from the Exceptional Education Department here at BSC. She has extensive experience working in the Registrar’s Office at SUNY Buffalo and in various offices withinin the Grand Island Central School District. She is newly located in BI 231.
The Philosophy and Humanities Department office has moved to Bishop Hall 231.
As of Fall 2009, the department is phasing out the Humanities major. If current Humanities majors have any questions, they are encouraged to contact department chair, Dr. Blessing, or Dr. Draeger, Assistant Professor of Philosophy.
Starting Fall 2009, students with 18 PHI credit hours will be eligible for a new minor in philosophy. More details concerning this exciting development will be made available soon. In the meantime, students who are interested should contact either Lynn Bennett or Dr. Blessing for further information.
New exciting course offerings include Dr. Cole’s PHI 107 Introduction to Mathematical Logic (Spring 2010) which will help students satisfy a general education mathematics requirement, and his Ethics Bowl (Fall 2009) will count for oral communication as well as offer students the opportunity to compete in regional and national debate competitions. Dr. Grinnell’s PHI 347 Homer to Alexander (Spring 2010) will allow non-majors to study Ancient Philosophy, leaving our majors to fill his PHI 317. We’ve also retired some old courses in Critical Thinking, Philosophy of Human Nature, American Philosophy, Moral Issues, Friendship, and Business Ethics.
Congratulations to Dr. Draeger who, on August 1, 2009, became the co-ordinator for the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning’s (CASTL) Campus Program.
Dr. Hole, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, will be chair of two departments, Fine Arts and Design, beginning Fall 2009.
Dr. Ferguson will be enjoying a well-deserved sabbatical Spring 2010.
Spring 2009
Keep an eye out spring ’09 for Dr. Jason Grinnell’s senior seminar on Philosophy of Race: Biology and Policy, Wednesdays 2:00-4:30. Dr. Grinnell, who is in his second year at Buffalo State, came to us from Adrian College in Michigan. Dr. Grinnell obtained his Ph.D. in philosophy from Bowling Green State University (2006). He teaches courses in Classical and Hellenistic Philosophy, with research interests in Philosophy of Biology and Philosophy of Race.
Congratulations to Dr. Hole, who gave the Honor's convocation address Spring 2009. His excellent presentation is available here.
BLESSING’S BACKYARD BASH is scheduled for Study Day, Friday, 8th May 2009. No mixed messages there!
Fall 2008
Beginning Fall 2008, Dr. Blessing succeeded Dr. Hole as chair of the Department of Philosophy and Humanities. All members of the department are very grateful to Dr. Hole for over 25 years of service as department chair, and we hope he will enjoy spending more of his time in the classroom and less in meetings.
We are pleased to welcome Dr. Julian Cole to our department. Dr. Cole is coming to us from the University of Texas - Pan American, with a Ph.D. in Philosophy (Ohio State University, 2005) and a second Ph.D. in Mathematics (University of St. Andrews, 1999). Among other things, Dr. Cole will be teaching our logic courses, including Symbolic Logic, as well as courses in Metaphysics, Epistemology and Philosophy of Mathematics. Please stop by Bishop 235 to welcome him to Buffalo.
Congratulations to Dr. Cole for having your "Creativity, Freedom and Authority: A New Perspective on the Metaphysics of Mathematics" accepted for publication in the Australasian Journal of Philosophy.
Congratulations to Dr. Ferguson for having your "Use of Student Feedback on Reflection Papers to Assess Critical Thinking" accepted for publication in MountainRise.