My
main interest in philosophy have always been ethics and social and
political philosophy. As an undergraduate the first philosophy class
I took was on Friedrich Nietzsche. I loved Nietzsche because he
made me think, the challenged all the most fundamental ideas of
our culture, and he was very funny. After one week in this class
I changed my major to philosophy and have never regretted that.
I regard philosophy as essential for helping me live a meaningful
life and crucial for defining and achieving social just ice in our
world. Although ethics is the class that I most frequently teach,
the philosophers from whom I have learned the most are precisely
those philosophers who, like Nietzsche, Marx, and Simone de Beauvoir,
have challenged the main Western traditions in ethics. Recently
I have become very interested in beginning to educate myself about
non-Western philosophy and in environmental ethics, but I remain
a beginner in these areas.
I received
my Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
My dissertation was on Marx's critique of traditional ethics and
morality. While I was a student at the University of Illinois I
was active in the anti-war movement and in helpi ng to establish
the women's studies program at the university. Since that time I
have taught philosophy at a number of institutions including the
University of Pittsb urgh and Loyola University here in Chicago.
I have been at Oakton for the last four years where I have taught
classes on introductory philosophy, logic, ethics, medical ethics,
business ethics, women's studies, and Western culture. I have also
co-taught a faculty seminar on ethics and higher education for Oakton
faculty members. I have particularly enjoyed my experience of teaching
a tandem every spring semester with Richard Stacewicz. In this tandem
my ethics class and his global society class are combined.
I am
now chair of the Oakton's Philosophy Department. In this capacity
I do jobs such as plan the schedule of classes, hire adjunct faculty,
and deal with student complaints.
In addition
to te aching philosophy, I enjoy reading fiction, listening to music,
going to plays, and, above all, camping in national parks - Yellowstone
in particular. I live in Chicago (Rogers Park) with my husband and
three children who are all teenagers now.
If you
go to my
web page, you can view current and old syllabi for most of my
classes.
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