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Russell Marcus

Professor of Philosophy Russell Marcus recently co-presented a workshop at the Eastern Divisional Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (Eastern APA) in New York City.

“Whose Argument is it Anyway: Integrating Improv Games into the Philosophy Classroom” was part of a session on “Building Classroom and Online Community.” It was based on work completed in his introductory course Philosophy of Education with course mentor Nathalie Martinez ’23. That work was inspired by a course taught by Marcus’ co-presenter Ashley Pryor, of the University of Toledo, during the 2022 Hamilton College Summer Program in Philosophy (HCSPiP).

The presentation included five activities:

  • “Names and Gestures and Zombie Name Game” to start building classroom community.
  • “Yes-and... ” and “No-but... ” to help students to understand philosophical methods and different modes of interaction.
  • “Dr. Know-It-All” to foster listening skills and collaboration.
  • “Objections!” to foster philosophical conversation in a fun and non-traditional mode.

An article co-authored by Marcus, Pryor, and Martinez on this material is forthcoming.

Marcus also presented “Free Speech and the Philosophy Classroom” as a member of a panel on “Issues in Faculty Speech: What Can Philosophy Contribute?” He argued that free speech is typically not a pressing question in philosophy classrooms. He said “instead, we need to focus on building trust and community in order to foster authentic critical attitudes in students,” and described an under-recognized tension between modeling that authenticity through candid expression of our honest views and building trusting relationships.

In addition, Marcus hosted a HCSPiP reunion lunch that included nine participants from each of the five years of the program.

Also at the meeting, philosophy majors Tinashe Manguwa, Ashley Scheichet, Christina Stoll, Olivia Strigh, Jaden Valencia, and Tilly Zwirn-Givnish presented their independent senior project work.

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