Welcome to the Department of Philosophy

The mission of the Department pf Philosophy at
the University of Rhode Island is:

(1) to provide undergraduate majors with a superb education in Philosophy that will provide a solid basis for post-graduate study or professional life;
(2) to make a significant contribution to the university's General Education program;
(3) to foster interdepartmental and intercollegiate collaboration by engaging in interdisciplinary teaching and research projects; and
(4) to encourage outreach by faculty to the extramural community as public intellectuals.

our chair, Cheryl Foster
Cheryl Foster, Chair

Meet Our Students...

Winner: Michael Metcalf Memorial Award

Emma Kilbane

Emma Kilbane: winner of the
Michael P. Metcalf Memorial Award for travel, enrichment, and public service from
the Rhode Island Foundation for her volunteer work in South Africa

In 1989, the Michael P. Metcalf Memorial Fund was established at The Rhode Island Foundation to honor the memory of Michael P. Metcalf, publisher of the Providence Journal. The fund provides grants to college students to subsidize experiences intended to broaden their perspective and enhance personal growth. They may include travel in this country and abroad and a variety of internship and public service programs

Book Prize Winners

Mike Hartley '11
2011 winner, Donald J. Zeyl Book Award
for excellence in study of the ancient world

Shayan Gates '11 and Aseef Ahmad '11
2011 winners, Lynn Pasquerella Book for excellence in ethics

MJ 1

Marjorie Johnson '10: Winner of the Jensen Fellowship from Phi Beta Kappa

(click below to read the press release)
http://www.uri.edu/news/releases/?id=5835

MJ2 Scullin

Marjorie Johnson '10 and Ryan Scullin '12: Winners of the Demers Fellowship

(click below to read the press release)
http://www.uri.edu/news/releases/?id=5797

John Wichelns '12
2012 Beaupre Family Scholarship

Marjorie Johnson '10
2011 University Academic Excellence Award in Philosophy

Emma Kilbane '13
2012 Sky Pardee Scholarship

Brian Stack '12
2010 Undergraduate Excellence Award, URI Diversity Awards

Faculty
The faculty includes 2 winners of the URI Foundation Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (including Cheryl Foster '97, and Galen Johnson '06) and 1 winner of the College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Award (William Krieger '11). Check out faculty webpages here.

Courses
The URI Philosophy Department offers a range of courses in several subject areas including: History of Philosophy, Epistemology, Ethics, Existentialism, Philosophy of Science, Logic). In addition, the department offers four 100-level courses in Religious Studies. It does not offer a Religious Studies Major.

The Philosophy Major
Majoring in philosophy is a challenging and enriching endeavor. Nationally, philosophy majors (as a group) score the highest mean scores on the GRE Verbal sections. And philosophy majors are the only group to average five percent or more above the mean on the LSAT (law), GMAT (graduate management), GRE Verbal and GRE Quantitative examinations. This suggests that philosophy provides an excellent foundation for critical thinking skills to help students succeed in a range of career options.

Minoring in Philosophy
Minoring in philosophy is a way for students to benefit from taking a variety of courses in philosophy while pursuing a degree in another discipline.

Faculty Projects
Members of the Department are involved in a variety of projects. Check back regularly to see what we are up to

Links
Links of special interest to philosophy faculty and students.

Announcements

the PHI in
PHI Beta Kappa

PhiBetaKappa
We are pleased to Congratulate five philosophy majors who were recently inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

URI has one of only two Phi Beta Kappa chapters in the state of Rhode Island and is rigorous in its selection of candidates.

Our new Phi Beta Kappas are
(from Left to Right):

Michael Hartley '11
Ryan Scullin '12
Brian Stack '12
Ryan Cobb Marcotte '11
Shayan Gates '11

CONGRATULATIONS

We are thrilled to announce the promotion and tenure of Associate Professor
Zahra Meghani

Philonymous

Interested in doing some philosophy in your spare time? Philonymous wants YOU. Click HERE for more information on our (in)famous student group.

URI Philosopher in the news

Professor Galen Johnson is featured in URI's Research and Innovation Magazine, 2010-2011. Click HERE to link to his page (and his article).

Department of Philosophy: The University of Rhode Island