I am one of the newer members of the Elon Philosophy faculty, having joined the department in 2006. My research interests lie in two areas, and I am often working in the intersection of these two areas: First, I work in responsibility and the relationship between personal and political responsibility. My dissertation was on Hannah Arendt's understanding of responsibility, and I have published on Arendt and have been a participant in an NEH Seminar on her early work. These days, I am focused on issues of public forgiveness, often in the context of Truth and Reconciliation Commission work. I have two articles about Arendt's understanding on forgiveness coming out soon, as well as two c-edited volumes about forgiveness on their way. Second, I research teaching and learning, often in collaboration with other faculty and with students. I have presented widely, sometimes with other faculty (e.g., I presented with Betsy Decyk of Cal. State Long Beach at the most recent International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning meeting in Sydney, Australia), sometimes with students (e.g., I presented with 4 students and another faculty member at the NC State Assessment Symposium in April of last year), and sometimes alone (e.g., I presented at the 2006 and 2008 American Association of Philosophy Teacher's International Workshops. I am currently working on a project for which I have been named a 2008-2010 Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning Scholar, here at Elon, about philosophical evidence-mindedness and its development as part of a larger (and much longer) examination of the nature of philosophical expertise. I am a committed teacher. I regularly teach Ethical Practice, the department's 100 ethics class (see the syllabus below) and the Ancient Philosophy course for the department. I have also taught a course with 7 other co-leaders (faculty from Bennett College, Greensboro College, Guilford College, UNCGreensboro and NC A & T and a community activist affiliated with the Fund4Democratic Communities) which brings together students from all of these schools with Greensboro residents to discuss democracy in Greensboro, called Reclaiming Democracy: Dialogue, Decision-Making and Community Action (you can see much more about this class by going to reclaimingdemocracy.us). Some of us will be teaching the class again in the Fall of 2009. I am also, with Dianna Taylor, a co-organizer of the Hannah Arendt Circle, and I am the Chair of the Speakers and Awards Committee of the American Association of Philosophy Teachers. I have just gotten married to Jesse, and we have two dogs . We enjoy watching movies, listening to music, and eating out more than we should.
E-mail Professor Schulman Representative Syllabi Ethical Practice -- Spring 2008
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