Welcome to the Department of Philosophy at the University of Nevada, Reno! And welcome as well to our new web site.

Like our original site, the new one contains detailed information about our programs, courses and activities. In addition, we have added some features that we think you will find informative and stimulating. I hope you will enjoy spending some time exploring the new site and I hope it provides you with information and a feel for the department. Please let us know any suggestions you may have for additions or changes to the site in the future.

I am also happy to announce that, beginning Fall 2011, our department will introduce new philosophy degree programs in Ethics, Law, and Politics (ELP): on the undergraduate level, an ELP major and minor; on the graduate level, an ELP graduate certificate and an M.A. degree. The ELP programs are Philosophy programs, with special emphasis on ethical theory, philosophy of law, and political philosophy. The new programs complement our general philosophy degree programs: on the undergraduate level, a general philosophy major and minor; on the graduate level, a general philosophy M.A. degree.

Our department is an active and friendly one with a broad range of classes and a full series of events including colloquia, lectures, symposia, conferences and even an occasional film showing or concert. Colloquia feature our own faculty speaking about their work. The lectures, symposia and conferences feature leading philosophers and others speaking on important contemporary and historical philosophical topics. We call the non-colloquium events the Leonard Lecture Series which is short for the Guy L. Leonard Memorial Lecture Series in Philosophy. The series is named in memory of a former student in the department. For information, please visit Leonard Lecture Series.

To complement our new Ethics, Law, and Politics programs, we have initiated the Paul and Gwen Leonard Ethics and Politics Lecture, an annual lecture that showcases a major philosopher speaking on contemporary or historical issues in ethics or politics. Our first speaker was renowned philosopher, Kwame Anthony Appiah of Princeton University, speaking on cosmopolitanism and on the role of honor in moral reform. Please visit Annual Ethics & Politics Lecture to learn about Professor Appiah’s lecture and more generally about the annual lecture itself. The name of the lecture expresses our gratitude to the original donors of our lecture series, Paul and Gwen Leonard, and our recognition of their deep concern about, and involvement in, political and social issues.

Our department is an active and friendly one, combining philosophical rigor with an open and receptive relationship to students. We have high expectations of our students but we also provide extensive course and program advisement that helps them reach the expectations we set. Department members spend substantial amounts of time on ongoing research projects on the wide variety of topics in which they specialize, but we are constantly engaged as well in intense discussion with students about philosophical ideas. Students frequently tell us that our advisement is among the best at the university, and we like to think--and hope you will agree--that our department is the friendliest little department on campus.

Once again, welcome to the Department of Philosophy! We hope to see you in class or at one of our events soon.

Deborah Achtenberg, Ph.D.
Department Chair