Tag Archives: college of charleston

Tomo Cook Scholarship 23-24 Recipients

Reflections with Vero Salib (they/them) and Annika Wible (she/her)

The Tomo Cook Scholarship Fund was created in memory of Tomo Cook, class of 2007. Tomo was a senior philosophy major at the College of Charleston when he passed away. He was an avid enthusiast of all things that engaged and challenged the human spirit. This scholarship is awarded annually to philosophy majors who embody the same enthusiasm and curiosity as Tomo.

Photo credit Priscilla Thomas.

The Department of Philosophy awarded Vero Salib ‘24 and Annika Wible ‘24 the Tomo Cook Scholarship for the 23-24 school year.

Talking about what it means to be a Tomo Cook Scholar, Salib says, “To me, it’s being a dedicated student of philosophy who works hard to expand their learning to benefit themselves and the world around them.” As the department’s HSS Ambassador for the 23-24 school year, Salib’s excitement about discussing philosophy with peers exemplifies this viewpoint.

When asked what areas of philosophical inquiry their favorite is, Salib said, “Political philosophy and aesthetics are the two areas that I find the most engaging. I am incredibly interested in the relationship between art, emotion, and politics.” They explored this unique intersection of topics in their bachelor’s essay, “Arts Necessity in Political Deliberation.” Salib did a deep dive into such questions as: Does art have a place in political deliberation? Or should we strive to keep deliberation in democracies strictly discursive? In their bachelor’s essay presentation, Salib argued that art and aesthetic expression can play an essential role in facilitating the inclusion of marginalized voices in the political sphere.

Salib also acknowledges the influence of philosophy outside academia. “Philosophy courses have had a tremendous impact on me. They have taught me how to effectively articulate my opinions and theories and argue for their legitimacy. Every CofC student should take a philosophy course before graduating because it facilitates a fuller understanding of oneself and the world around us.” Cultivating critical thinking and debate skills will serve them well in their future endeavors. Salib plans to take a gap year to prep for the LSAT before heading off to law school so they can one day serve as a criminal defense attorney.

Wible’s dedication to expanding peers’ knowledge and experiences with philosophy began with her helping to relaunch the Philosophy Club at the college. Get-togethers are more than eating pizza; they create a casual space for philosophical engagement. From the ethics of Santa Claus to Barbie’s thematic twist on feminist theory, these low-key game and movie nights have served as the catalysts for intriguing discussions.

Regarding her studies, Wible’s favorite areas are aesthetics and political philosophy. Of these, she says, “I have a particular passion for the philosophy of aesthetics due to my involvement in art, but I am particularly interested in the way the fields of aesthetics and political philosophy can come together.” In her bachelor’s essay, “Empathy and Emotions in Legal Interpretation, ” Wible explores this inconspicuous convergence, “There is a common ideal in jurisprudence to separate legal interpretation from emotion, attempting to achieve a neutral and unbiased understanding of the law. But can a perfectly unbiased interpretation exist? Even if it could, might it blunt the nuances of particular cases before the law and result in unjust outcomes?” She examines Martha Nussbaum’s account of the literary imagination to address these questions. Wible argues, “It could be usefully expanded by considering the concept of ‘immoralism’ developed in recent writings on Ethics and Aesthetics.”

Wible attributes successfully parsing these philosophical complexities to developing and refining analytical skills nurtured in the philosophy program: “When I explain philosophy to people, I always go to that critical thinking aspect. You are learning how other people think and explain things, yes, but more importantly, you are learning whether you agree with it and how to explain and lay out your thoughts. Any involvement with philosophy, I think, allows students to become more well-rounded and better arguers.”

Being a better arguer will be useful for Wible as she begins her studies at The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University this fall. As a future lawyer, she plans to pursue her passion for civil rights and environmental protection.

No matter where the study of philosophy takes a student, at the heart of the pursuit is applying a discerning eye while maintaining a curiosity for life, just like Tomo Cook did.

Student Opportunities Fund Launch

As you can see from Verina’s, Curtis’s, Javi’s and Kat’s incredibly diverse philosophical stories, students at the collegiate level are experiencing formative years that will influence important decisions about their future careers and personal endeavors. It is crucial that students have access to opportunities that can help guide their scholarly and professional focus as well as expand their horizons on what is possible for their future. Experiential learning opportunities (ELOs) are one of those tools. This can include participation in research, an internship, a study abroad program, or a community-based project.

ELOs should not be limited to individuals with disposable funds who are able to pay for expenses related to such pursuits. Scholarship funding can create a way for less financially secure students to access previously unattainable endeavors. This is why the Department of Philosophy has launched a new scholarship resource, the Philosophy Student Opportunities Fund (PSOF), to assist its majors and minors in pursuing ELOs. The department is actively fundraising to endow the PSOF. Any gift to the fund will contribute to students’ promising futures.

SURF Grant Recipient: Katherine Highfill

With a rising ocean, and changes in rainfall on the horizon, what will best protect communities from natural disasters? Built infrastructure like seawalls, or living features like oyster reefs, or some combination of the two? Furthermore, how do diverse communities go about deciding this question?

Last year, Biology major, Katherine Highfill, in mentorship with Philosophy professor and environmental ethicist Ewan Kingston, pursued these questions with funding from a SURF grant. This richly interdisciplinary research demonstrates the reach and relevance of contemporary philosophy.

Their joint project, “Seawalls or Salt Marshes?: The Political Epistemology of Nature-Based Solutions,” examined local expert perspectives on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) proposals to build a seawall around part of the Charleston Peninsula, and researched the extent of debates about green vs gray infrastructure for climate adaptation have made their way into U.S. courts.

The idea for this project came about from the debate between green and grey infrastructure that also happened to be playing out within the City of Charleston as the city was in process of creating climate change adaptation plans. Katherine elaborates on the personal significance of this, “This topic is important to me because it doesn’t only impact the people of Charleston, but also people all around the world. It has changed the way I look at resiliency and how I approach environmental/social issues.” This intrigue paired with a mentorship with Prof. Kingston led to the creation of their research project.

Highfill interviewed 9 experts and began initial coding of the data using thematic analysis. In addition, they conducted document analysis, primarily on the USACE Feasibility Study of April 2022. For researching the extent of these arguments in the U.S. courts, they analyzed 57 of the most relevant cases about climate change adaptation in the Sabin Center Climate Change Case Chart and found that none contained explicit disputes about green vs gray infrastructure.

Though the project is ongoing, it has already helped cultivate new contacts for the pair for potential future research, or the aesthetic assessment tools of the USACE since this project provided them with significant insight into USACE’s planning and to green infrastructure in particular. USACE is a major player in environmental and resilience policy and exploring a case study of this depth gave them a better appreciation for the internal structure of this organization. Thanks to this project, Highfill now has firsthand experience in qualitative research. They learned about different approaches to coding, and the potential dynamic interaction between document analysis, quantitative survey data, and in-depth interviews. Reflecting on how far this project has come, Highfill notes, “I hope people look at our project and realize the sheer amount of planning and coordination that goes into climate adaptation projects. There are so many different considerations that range from policy constraints, public input, environmental concerns, etc. Climate adaptation requires an interdisciplinary approach that stretches across multiple organizations and levels of government. There will be agreement and disagreement, but I hope that people can see past that and recognize how Charleston has created a great network of individuals to grow with the project.”

Highfill and Prof. Kingston’s research was presented in a poster at CofC’s Expo 23 on the 13th of April. Following that, they plan to co-author a case study for a climate or environmental policy journal that looks at USACE Seawall proposals in three cities: Norfolk, Charleston, and Miami. Each city has taken a different approach, informed by its particular politics and biogeography. The case study will then zoom in and discuss in depth the case of Charleston, with a focus on how the green vs gray infrastructure debate has played out here. Previously, they presented the negative findings about green and gray infrastructure in climate change adaptation litigation in a brainstorming session for the workshop “The Political and Legal Philosophy of Climate Change Litigation” held as an online workshop hosted by the University of Louvain.

Scholarships like the SURF grant are crucial to student research endeavors. Highfill points out that, “Having scholarship money has allowed me to focus my time and effort on researching sea level rise and climate adaptation. Without the constraints of semester deadlines and off-campus work schedules, I gained the confidence to explore new questions and utilize my own creativity in ways I could not have imagined.”

For students considering pursuing a SURF grant for their research in the future, Katherine advises, “For anyone looking to do research with a philosophy faculty member, the biggest thing I recommend is going to office hours. Having a one-on-one conversation about topics you’re interested in and asking questions about their research will help immensely. Looking at their past research projects and publications is a great way to spark conversation and talk about potential research questions. Don’t be afraid to directly email a faculty member or speak to them in person about your interest in research.”

Alumni Spotlight: Dr. Javier Gomez-Lavin

Photo Credit: Priscilla Thomas

Alumni Spotlight

Dr. Javier Gomez-Lavin

It was as a philosophy major at CofC that I began to foster and develop an interdisciplinary set of skills: from a careful attention to the structure of the arguments that frame pressing issues in today’s world, to learning how to bring cutting-edge neuroscientific research to bear on thorny puzzles at the heart of our understanding of our own minds.

Philosophy is a discipline that encourages and teaches students to think well, broadly, and creatively, helping students forge new paths when tackling the kinds of problems posed by our changing technological and social landscapes. It’s a focus on those skills and questions that we’ve brought into the ground floor as we’ve developed our inaugural BA in AI program, housed within the Philosophy Department here at Purdue where I am now an Assistant Professor.

We hope to prepare students to solve the unique challenges posed by the proliferation of artificial intelligence in our day to day lives by equipping students with the critical thinking skills central to a good philosophical education and allowing them to develop a mastery of these technologies by featuring them across all of our courses, such as our Introduction to Philosophy through Videogames course that I launched this past Fall semester.

Vanished Voices

New Lecture Series Launch by the Department

The Department of Philosophy has launched an exciting new lecture series this academic year: Vanished Voices. The inspiration for this new series is described by Dr. Deborah Boyle, a trailblazer in the field of women and philosophy, “I want students to know that if you look beyond the traditional philosophical genres and include novels, plays and poetry, you’ll see that there were many more people doing philosophy than the men that are usually taught about. And many of them were innovative women who were making history in philosophy in their time.”

Dr. Boyle’s professional work has sought to illuminate the marginalized voices in the field of philosophy. From her 2018 book The Well-Ordered Universe: The Philosophy of Margaret Cavendish to her recently released Mary Shepherd: A Guide, Dr. Boyle has been recontextualizing philosophical history that has often silenced important thinkers.

This academic year, the Vanished Voices Lecture Series held two talks. The first took place in the fall, entitled “‘The Complicate Being Self’: Mary Shepherd and the Difference Between Self and Mind,” and was presented by the department’s visiting assistant professor, Dr. Manuel Fasko, . Reflecting on his guest lecture and the importance of this series, he says, “It was a pleasure and honor to open the ‘Vanished Voices Lecture Series’ at College of Charleston, which was well attended by faculty and students alike. It is great to see that College of Charleston is participating and promoting the effort to right this wrong. Female thinkers have been part of philosophy since its inception. Their contributions were systematically neglected and ignored from the 19th century onwards, when philosophy became the university subject it is today. It has only been relatively recently that scholars have started to recover these vanished voices and incorporate them in their research and teaching. This is an effort that is ongoing. Thus, it is an excellent initiative by the College of Charleston to support and engage in this cutting-edge endeavor of correcting how we look at the past – and, in doing so, ultimately contribute to a more equitable future.”

The second guest lecture, “Demons, Doubts, and the Struggles of Knowing,” was presented by Dr. Christia Mercer, Gustave M. Berne Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University. Professor Mercer suggested that, while the contributions of early modern women philosophers to the development of modern thought is now widely acknowledged, late medieval women’s influence has yet to be reckoned with. In a wide ranging, and art-filled (!) talk, Professor Mercer showed how Teresa of Ávila’s arguments about achieving clear and distinct ideas influence Descartes and how philosophers need to be more sensitive to a variety of ways philosophy has been done throughout history.

Planning has already begun on the next Vanished Voices Lecture that will be held in Fall 2023 at the college. The focus will be on the African philosopher Anton Wilhelm Amo who was active in northern Europe in the 18th Century. Amo taught at the University of Halle, then at the University of Jena before an increasinlgly racist culture forced him to leave. In that time he wrote two philosophical books whose significance has only recently been re-recognized. Berlin initiated a decolonization campaign and in 2020 renamed the street, Mohrenstraße, to Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Straße in Amo’s honor. This guest lecture will be a collaborative event with the Department of German at the College.

In addition to the lecture series, Dr. Boyle crafted a special topics course with visiting professor, Dr. Manuel Fasko, this spring – Recovering Vanished Voices: Women Philosophers of the 17th-19th Centuries. The course confronts the established androcentric narrative of the history of philosophy and draws from works by women philosophers such as Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673), Anne Conway (1631-1679), Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648–95), Mary Astell (1666–1731), Emilie du Châtelet (1706–1749), Mary Shepherd (1777–1847), Sojourner Truth (c.1797–1883), or Constance Naden (1858-1889). Studying these thinkers will lead to discussions on their contributions to well-known philosophical problems such as the mind-body-problem or raise new questions, such as the role of women in philosophy or society more generally. The course aims for students to become a part of the effort to let these previously vanished voices be heard, thereby changing the way we look at the past, and, in doing so, ultimately shaping the future.

We look forward to sharing this valuable and ongoing work in the history of philosophy!

Experiential Learning in Philosophy

Meet Vero Salib & Curtis Teegardin

The Department of Philosophy has several students who participate in experiential learning ventures. This includes but is not limited to unpaid internships as editorial assistants for philosophical scholarly publications or clerks at law firms, traveling to present research findings at an academic conference, pursuing community activism projects, or learning about the foundations of philosophy while studying abroad.

These types of ventures enrich their knowledge, build their vocational and academic experience, and help them reach their potential. In the previous six years, the Department of Philosophy has had twenty-four students participate in these experiential learning endeavors, which is approximately ten percent of students who majored or minored in Philosophy during those years.

Current Philosophy major, Vero Salib, reflects on their internship as an editorial assistant for The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (JAAC), “Being the JAAC book review assistant has given me the opportunity to explore a variety of different philosophical books related to aesthetics and delve into all my favorite things about art! The mechanics of JAAC has helped me learn a lot about how to be patient and effective in my research, as well as how to best manage my time.”

Another student, Philosophy major, Curtis Teegardin, is interning as a copy editor for the Journal of the History of Philosophy as well as for JAAC. He highlights the importance of gaining vocational experience with this internship, “I’m most excited to refine my copy-editing skills in addition to reading philosophical works from numerous publications. This internship will aid me in both my post-graduation endeavors and ending my college career on a high note. I am so beyond grateful to Dr. Neufeld and Dr. Boyle for giving me the opportunity to get exposure in publishing since it is a notoriously hard industry to get into.”

Students at the collegiate level are experiencing formative years that will influence important decisions about their future careers and personal endeavors. It is crucial that students have access to opportunities that can help guide their scholarly and professional focus as well as expand their horizons on what is possible for their future. Experiential learning opportunities are one of those tools, and it is a goal of the department to expand these opportunities and make them more accessible to current and future majors and minors.

Remembering Marty Perlmutter

Photo Credit: College of Charleston/Provided

Remembering Marty Perlmutter

Dr. Larry Krasnoff

Martin Perlmutter, former professor of philosophy and director of Jewish Studies at the College of Charleston, died January 16, 2023, a few months short of his eightieth birthday. Marty was a widely known and much-loved figure on campus and in the Charleston community. He had been ill with leukemia for ten years, but with the help of advanced medical treatments, had been living an active life until the last few months.

Marty came to the College in 1979, from the University of Texas at Austin. Born and raised in New York City, he earned his B.A. from the City University of New York and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. His main philosophical interests were in bioethics and philosophy of religion.

He served as chair of the department from 1983 to 1991, significantly raising the profile of the department within the institution and the profession. Under his initiative, the department started a program and a major in religious studies, which eventually became an independent department. He also helped start a program in Jewish Studies, and became its director in 1991. He eventually gave up his appointment in Philosophy, but continued to teach philosophy courses until his retirement in 2019.

It was in Jewish Studies that Marty achieved the remarkable institutional successes that built his legacy. He sponsored public events that attracted wide community audiences, such as Sunday brunch lectures, panel discussions with the local rabbis from the three main branches of Judaism, and the Hanukkah celebration in Marion Square – all of which continue today. With community support, he raised a significant endowment for Jewish Studies. He created a non-profit corporation to purchase the site of what was once a dry cleaning shop, and built what is now the Jewish Studies Center. He recruited significantly larger numbers of Jewish students to the College and sponsored a thriving Hillel chapter. Under his supervision, Jewish Studies grew into an independent academic unit with its own faculty lines, a major, and a minor. The kosher/vegan dining facility in the Jewish Center is now the Dr. Martin Perlmutter Dining Hall. But everyone knows it as “Marty’s Place.”

Marty devoted his life to serving the academic and the Jewish communities, and to building institutions that made those communities stronger and richer. Everyone in those communities seemed to know Marty, his wife Jeri, his four children, and eventually his eleven grandchildren. He made everyone part of his family, and he never stopped enjoying making his family bigger. The force of his personality and the institutions he built will long endure in the memories and the lives of everyone who came to know him, and they will enrich generations of students and faculty who have not even yet arrived on our campus.