USD Department of Philosophy

08/07/2025

Congratulations to Darby Vickers and Jennifer Tillman from our department!

Three University of San Diego faculty members from the College of Arts and Sciences have been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant to support their research in applying artificial intelligence as a practical tool for individuals with disabilities. Assistant Professors of Philo...

04/24/2025

Tonight!

The Medieval Woman Writer in Modern England
Stacie Vos, PhD | English
Thursday, April 24, at 4 p.m.
Humanities Center, Saints Tekakwitha and Serra Hall, Room 200

This talk will begin with the year 1501, when the first woman playwright and first English autobiographer were published in Germany and in England, before moving to the afterlives of these women and the worlds they inhabited. Abbess Hroswitha of Gandersheim and pilgrim Margery Kempe were extraordinary figures representing women wisdom–lettered (literate and recorded in writing) and unlettered (illiterate and less recordable).

In the first half of the 20th century, pioneering [amateur] women scholars, actresses and activists organized under the names of these two women, suggesting that the medieval woman writer remained a poignant figure in shaping modern forms of female independence across the spheres of education, politics and the arts.

Sponsored by the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program.

USD English Dept USD Department of Philosophy University of San Diego: College of Arts and Sciences

04/03/2025

Come join us in a film screening tonight! There will be pizza! 🍕

04/03/2025

Tonight!

Oaths, Vows, and Christian Liberty in Milton’s De Doctrina Christiana
Jason Kerr, PhD | English Department, Brigham Young University
Thursday, April 3, at 5:30 p.m.
Humanities Center, Saints Tekakwitha and Serra Hall, Room 200

Mid-17th-century England was a minefield of competing oaths and vows, interweaving religion and politics in ways that entangled many consciences. In his De Doctrina Christiana, John Milton attempted to extricate oaths from questions of conscience by focusing instead on the liberty of those swearing oaths and potential abuses of power by those imposing them. For Milton, however, liberty is a human capacity, and popular support for a return to monarchy is the mark of a people unable and unwilling to be free. Milton’s framework raises urgent questions about disability and the foundations of human communities, political and religious.

Sponsored by the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program.

University of San Diego: College of Arts and Sciences

03/24/2025

From toothpaste to telephone service, most of the goods and services we depend on are produced and delivered by the market economy. But is there a moral limit to how far markets should go? Should people be allowed to sell their blood plasma? Their kidneys? Their vote?

05/08/2024

A great milestone to be at this year!

The College of Arts and Sciences, along with the University of San Diego, is celebrating a significant milestone in 2024—its 75th anniversary. It traces its ...

04/08/2024

In response to the growing ethical complexities accompanying the rapid advancement of technology, the Department of Philosophy at the University of San Diego...

03/02/2024

Friday afternoon at the university

10/06/2023

Well done, Prof. Kelly (along with Profs. Black and Robinson from the English Department).

Thank you for coming to "The Forest in Thought and Literature"! Next week Tuesday we will be exploring "The Architectural Forest".

Pictured:
Malachi Black, PhD | English
Michael Kelly, PhD | Philosophy
Fred Robinson, PhD | English