'Populism' is defined, debated, and contested at multiple levels. Without entering the complexities involved in trying to define the term, this chapter takes as its point of departure the ideational approach staked by Muddle and Kultwasser in Populism: A Very Short Introduction. According to them populism is a "discourse, ideology or worldview". It is a 'thin-centered ideology' which conveniently fuses with 'thick-centered' ideologies such as socialism and/or nationalism and "considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogenous and antagonistic camps, (...) 'the pure people' versus 'the corrupt elite'". But while Mudde and Kultwasser do an excellent job of laying down some of the critical terms underwriting the concept, namely, the people versus the elite, 'general will' as separate from the 'will of all', and the cult of the charismatic strongman leader, their treatment lacks an interdisciplinary approach to the concept. But this is expected since, as John Abromeit correctly notes, academic scholarship on populism is commonly dominated by political scientists with few, if rare, contributions from sociologists, media scholars, and historians resulting in a general dearth of interdisciplinary and theoretical explorations of populism: "Insights into the socio-economic roots and social-psychological mechanisms that underlie populist movements" remain absent in current studies. The attempt here will be to establish a partial corrective for this blind spot by introducing Freudian-Lacanian psychoanalytic theory for understanding some of the core concepts of Populism, but most specifically, by underlining the importance of addressing the issue from the perspective of the desiring rather than the discursive subject. (shrink)

Many undergraduate courses in Classical or Ancient Greek Philosophy are like mine in that they consciously sacrifice historical breadth in favor of a more detailed treatment of major figures. In my own fifteen-week class, I devote roughly three weeks to the Presocratics, six weeks to Plato, and six weeks to Aristotle. Even having given up later schools and figures, I find that the relative brevity of time allotted to Aristotle presents significant challenges in getting students to appreciate the general shape (...) of his philosophical views, never mind the nuanced detail. In this paper I discuss a pedagogical strategy I recently tested as a means to address this problem. The strategy involves the implementation of a certain visual aid—an image of children dancing around a maypole, projected onto the classroom’s screen—that is treated as a heuristic throughout the six-week segment of the course. The way in which the image is employed is reminiscent of Socrates’ maieutic, or "midwife," method insofar as it presumes that students already possess a bit of knowledge or a skill of which they are unaware. The knowledge in question for my purposes is self-knowledge concerning learning styles and habits, and the skill is a variety of what scholars working in educational theory call "metacognition," which involves both the awareness and regulation of one’s own cognitive processes.1. (shrink)

Although the Oxford University Socratic Club is most often identified with its first faculty advisor and president, C. S. Lewis, the club itself grew out of the philosophical and theological curiosities that were felt, in large part, by the undergraduate class of the early 1940s. In a 1985 audio interview [AI] the club’s founder, Chaplain Stella Aldwinckle, would recall that the inception for the Socratic Club began at a ‘fresher’s tea’ at the rectory of St. Aldate’s toward the end of (...) Michaelmas term of 1941. It was then that a young Somervillean woman by the name of Monica Shorten told the newly arrived Aldwinckle that she was “very disappointed in the sermons that the different clergy are preaching,” in that they were taking “God’s existence and Christ’s divinity for granted“. When Aldwinckle inquired if any of her friends shared her concerns, Shorten’s response was an enthusiastic “Oh yes,” adding that along with her Christian friends there were “Plenty, plenty, of agnostics and atheists” who were just as interested as she was in discussing religious and philosophical issues. Inspired by her conversations with Shorten and her friends, Aldwinckle would post an announcement on the Somerville College Junior Common Room bulletin board inviting all parties, including “Atheists, Agnostics come to the discussion,” on what she would later refer to in the second Socratic Digest [SD] as a “philosophical approach to religion”. (shrink)

Since its inception in the Middle Ages, the university classroom can be characterized by students gathered around a sage who imparts his or her knowledge. However, the effective classroom of today looks vastly different: First-year engineering students not only learn basic engineering principles, but are also guided to consider their own inner values and motivations as they design and build adaptive devices for people with disabilities; students in a large chemistry lecture work animatedly together in small groups on inquiry-based activities (...) while an instructor and teaching assistants circulate and guide their learning; students learning differential equations practice explicit metacognitive skills while problem-solving in class. Even though educational research, especially research that is targeted at STEM disciplines, demonstrates what most effectively engages students and supports their learning, many of today's classrooms look much like they did a century ago, with a professor delivering a primarily one-way lecture and students passively sitting in seats bolted to the floor. At this juncture in history, colleges and universities face a public call to engage a more diverse representation of students in effective learning, persistence, and degree attainment, and to do so economically and efficiently. It is essential that institutions draw upon methods demonstrated to effectively increase student learning and success. Educational researchers have thoroughly explored the "basic" science in this area, and a body of literature documents effective evidence-based instructional practices, hereafter referred to as EBIPs. (shrink)

Introduction to Philosophy approaches an introductory philosophy course focusing on traditional questions such as: Can we prove God’s existence? What is morality? Can we know the external world? What is reality? Historically significant responses to these questions are presented in the writings of celebrated philosophers ranging from antiquity and the enlightenment to the present day. Introduction to Philosophy provides readers with a solid foundation concerning the nature and method of philosophical reasoning.

Analyses the multiple causes of the decline of values in America throughout the 20th century and makes a recommendation, by way of an ethical discussion, as to how the decline in values can be rectified.

Enhancing Communication & Collaboration in Interdisciplinary Research, edited by Michael O'Rourke, Stephen Crowley, Sanford D. Eigenbrode, and J. D. Wulfhorst, is a volume of previously unpublished, state-of-the-art chapters on interdisciplinary communication and collaboration written by leading figures and promising junior scholars in the world of interdisciplinary research, education, and administration. Designed to inform both teaching and research, this innovative book covers the spectrum of interdisciplinary activity, offering a timely emphasis on collaborative interdisciplinary work. The book’s four main parts focus on (...) theoretical perspectives, case studies, communication tools, and institutional perspectives, while a final chapter ties together the various strands that emerge in the book and defines trend-lines and future research questions for those conducting work on interdisciplinary communication. (shrink)

Given the importance of cross-disciplinary research, facilitating CDR effectiveness is a priority for many institutions and funding agencies. There are a number of CDR types, however, and the effectiveness of facilitation efforts will require sensitivity to that diversity. This article presents a method characterizing a spectrum of CDR designed to inform facilitation efforts that relies on bibliometric techniques and citation data. We illustrate its use by the Toolbox Project, an ongoing effort to enhance cross-disciplinary communication in CDR teams through structured, (...) philosophical dialogue about research assumptions in a workshop setting. Toolbox Project workshops have been conducted with more than 85 research teams, but the project's extensibility to an objectively characterized range of CDR collaborations has not been examined. To guide wider application of the Toolbox Project, we have developed a method that uses multivariate statistical analyses of transformed citation proportions from published manuscripts to identify candidate areas of CDR, and then overlays information from previous Toolbox participant groups on these areas to determine candidate areas for future application. The approach supplies 3 results of general interest: A way to employ small data sets and familiar statistical techniques to characterize CDR spectra as a guide to scholarship on CDR patterns and trends. A model for using bibliometric techniques to guide broadly applicable interventions similar to the Toolbox. A method for identifying the location of collaborative CDR teams on a map of scientific activity, of use to research administrators, research teams, and other efforts to enhance CDR projects. (shrink)

Meeting regularly from January of 1942 to November of 1969, the Oxford University Socratic Club was one of the most significant academic organizations to affect mid-twentieth century Anglophilic letters. Although the Socratic Club is most often identified with its first faculty advisor and president, literary critic and novelist C. S. Lewis, most of the papers presented, and argued over at club meetings, were delivered by such notable philosophers as G.E.M. Anscombe, A. J. Ayer, John Austin, Antony Flew, Gilbert Ryle, Philippa (...) Foot, Peter Geach, John Lucas, Basil Mitchell, and many others. The Boise State University Socratic Club Collection is a small start on the preservation of rare publications and pertinent documents that speak to the club’s historical significance. The collection features three original Socratic Digests gifted by Oxonian moral philosopher Mary Midgley, who, along with her husband analytical philosopher Geoffrey Midgley, were active participants in club activities. Complementing the three original publications are five bound photo-copies of the Socratic Digests published between 1943—1952), obtained by the Albertsons Library staff. This lecture was given at Albertsons Library in the Special Collections and Archives unit. (shrink)

Cross-disciplinary research (CDR) is an increasingly important part of the contemporary research 'landscape'. Despite its growing importance there remain a large number of barriers to successful CDR and many of these barriers are poorly understood. In particular there are challenges at the conceptual and communicative levels that have received relatively little attention. In this paper it is argued that these challenges are appropriate topics of analysis for philosophers. Appropriate methodologies for such an inquiry are considered and the case is made (...) that agent based models (ABM’s) are an appropriate and under utilized resource. Current research using an ABM approach to philosophical issues in CDR is then described. (shrink)