Philosophy
2024-2025 Program Review

Philosophy is the critical, rational examination of fundamental issues such as: the scope and limits of human knowledge, the nature of the ultimate constituents of reality, and the source of our normative values and obligations. Most importantly, Philosophy involves the study and utilisation of logic and correct reasoning. Philosophy aims to clarify problems, and to refine the methods by which we solve these problems and investigate the world more broadly. Our courses aim to develop students’ critical and logical reasoning, often through reading and studying philosophers who have engaged with these fundamental issues, encouraging open debate and independent thought, and providing opportunity for students to apply the insights they gain to contemporary life.

The following students are identified as being disproportionately impacted in one or more of our course offerings:

• African American
• Hispanic/Latino
• No Disability
• Below Poverty Level
• Female
• White

Since 2022, the department's full-time faculty member has taken the following steps towards eliminating Disproportionate Impact in our programme, whilst inviting our part-time faculty to consider adopting similar strategies in their own teaching:

• Diversifying the curriculum in our flagship courses, with the aim of developing a more culturally relevant curriculum for our students. This has primarily been done through the discussion of various philosophical perspectives historically marginalised by the tradition, and by exploring views critical of various elements of the tradition's history.
• Fostering a transparent, open, and proactive relationship with students, utilising tools adopted and developed through equity-focused professional development and a self-reflective process of evaluating the discipline's role in our students' lives.
• Offering flexibility, understanding, and additional assistance to students who struggle to maintain their coursework in the face of various challenges and obstacles imposed upon them in their lives.

The full-time faculty member has also been drafting new course outlines for future adoption with the aim of furthering the diversity and cultural relevance of our course offerings (these courses include Introduction to the Philosophy of Race, Gender, and Sexuality, Introduction to Asian Philosophy, and Introduction to Africana Philosophy).

In this year's Annual Unit Plan, Philosophy has introduced the following objectives to eliminate DI:

• Teach culturally relevant curriculum:
• The department aims to continue broadening our curriculum through the presentation and discussion of philosophers and perspectives that may be culturally more salient for our disproportionately impacted students. The department will implement the following: 1) full-time faculty will discuss the design of their individual syllabi, working together with the aim to incorporate more culturally diverse material; 2) full-time faculty will continue to design and work on introducing new courses to the course catalogue focused on teaching philosophical literature historically marginalised by the discipline; 3) the department will motivate part-time faculty to diverse their own curriculums with cultural relevance in mind.
• Provide students with personalised, proactive support:
• The department aims to build relationships with all students in order to foster a supportive and engaging community, ensuring that disproportionately impacted students have access to the resources and support required to succeed in Philosophy courses. The department will implement the following: 1) full-time faculty will discuss and adopt strategies for engaging and communicating with their students in a frequent and consistent manner in all classroom modalities; 2) part-time faculty will be encouraged to hold frequent office hours and answer emails promptly so that they remain available for students outside of the classroom; 3) all faculty will be asked to reach out to students who show early warning signs (such as: failure to submit assignments, declining attendance or participation, lowered grades, etc.) as soon as possible in order to proactively provide them with support and guidance; 4) all faculty will encourage their students to attend office hours more frequently—all faculty will be encouraged to incentivise and motivate such attendance (e.g. extra credit activities).
• Connect students to people, programmes, and services as an integrated educational experience:
• The department aims to educate and remind their students of the various services and opportunities the campus offers in order to assist students who are below the poverty level and have been disproportionately impacted in multiple Philosophy courses. The department will implement the following: 1) full-time faculty will design and adopt a unified model for presenting and communicating the college's services for students in Philosophy classes; 2) full-time faculty will discuss and enact strategies for directly engaging with and assisting students in utilising the available services (e.g. walking students to campus services, going with students to the food bank, working with students to apply for scholarships, etc.); 3) part-time faculty will be encouraged to share the same information in their classes.
• Promote a culture of innovation:
• The department aims to continue evaluating our DI data and students success data to The department will implement the following: 1) faculty will discuss and attempt to identify the possible causes for the following groups of students being disproportionately impacted in Philosophy classes: African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Below Poverty Level, Female, White, and No Disability—these will be discussed both in terms of broader causes (in regard to Philosophy as a whole) and specific causes (isolated to specific courses and instructors); 2) faculty will brainstorm and discuss solutions to these identified causes, utilising the best evidence-based approaches available to us; 3) the department will connect with and utilise the various support systems, tools, and professional development opportunities the campus and district provides that will assist it in meeting its goal of eliminating such disproportionate impact.

As noted in our Annual Unit Plan, Philosophy would benefit from the following in meeting some of our objectives:

• Non-instructional FTE for development
• Financial support to engage with pedagogical communities in the discipline of Philosophy (such as the APA and AAPT).

The ongoing effects of the closure of Davies Hall should again be noted. These effects include but are not limited to:

• The loss of community, both between faculty members in the department but also between departments
• The loss of a centralised and shared classroom that provides students and faculty with a sense of belonging and scholarly community
• The detrimental consequences of now having to teach in classrooms that are not ideal for utilising the pedagogical strategies central to a philosophical education