Document Type
Book
Publication Date
12-1-2024
Abstract
Even a cursory internet search of syllabi for philosophy courses shows that the tradition of assigning papers—five-page papers, ten-page papers, fifteen-page papers—is still thriving. Yet the schedule of topics, often listed on those same syllabi, very seldom reveals any course time devoted to teaching students how to write. Perhaps the assignments themselves reveal the process of writing papers, rubrics reveal the expectations, and feedback nudges students to improve their writing. But that kind of information is not transparent in many syllabi. Even if we suppose that philosophy faculty support the idea of Writing Across the Curriculum, in practice faculty across the board strongly prefer that English faculty with training in composition take on that challenge.
Even if instructors are convinced about the importance of teaching writing, if they are not trained in pedagogy, then they may be overwhelmed in their attempts to find the sources and community they need to improve their pedagogy. This volume seeks to provide instructors with a single resource to refer to as they think about writing in the philosophy classroom. The volume is grounded in a belief that expanding our view of what counts as legitimate academic writing in the classroom and understanding why philosophy instructors should roll up their sleeves and teach students how to write, is not only good pedagogy, but is also crucial to the goals of an inclusive classroom.
The essays in this volume offer a variety of approaches for integrating writing into learning philosophy that diverge from the typical writing assignment—the argumentative essay—while others describe approaches that break down traditional philosophical writing into discrete writing activities to help students focus on writing skills that are essential for doing philosophy and for writing longer philosophical essays. We divided the essays thematically into four sections: Creative Alternatives to Traditional Papers; Inclusive Practices; Shortening the Essay; and Technology and Writing.
The annotated bibliography provides a comprehensive review of the literature on writing and writing in philosophy. While most of the articles are written by philosophers for philosophers, we also include a literature review of articles and books that transcend academic discipline and focus on the science of teaching and learning. The annotated bibliography is arranged so that it can be quickly scanned, by category, for sources. But our overall goal is to provide a range of sources that underscores what the variety of essays in this volume demonstrates—a singleminded view of writing in the philosophy classroom leads to a similarly homogenous and non-inclusive view of what counts as clear thinking and writing. Instead, philosophy instructors can adopt a variety of writing activities and assignments into their classes to promote both philosophical skills and inclusive pedagogy.
This book was published Open Access through the CCU Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund. It was first published as a peer reviewed annual, American Association of Philosophy Teachers Studies in Pedagogy by the Philosophy Documentation Center.
Recommended Citation
Donovan, Sarah K., and Renée Smith, eds. Writing in Philosophy: Pedagogy and Practice. American Association of Philosophy Teachers Studies in Pedagogy, Volume 9. Charlottesville, VA: Philosophy Documentation Center, 2024. Available at https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/philosophy-religious-studies/58/
Comments
American Association of Philosophy Teachers Studies in Pedagogy is a peer-reviewed annual dedicated to publishing thematically focused volumes of original works on teaching and learning in philosophy, and is the Journal of the American Association of Philosophy Teachers. ISSN: 2380-4076.