Mission
Our mission is to contribute to the betterment of life by bringing to the El Paso region the highest quality philosophical research and teaching and to make it available to the community through committed pedagogy, scholarly collaboration, and community outreach.
We aim to provide our students with an excellent, comprehensive, and balanced education in philosophy that provides them with the knowledge and critical skills to think expansively and carefully about, not only the perennial philosophical topics, but also the major personal and social questions of our time. In addition, as a department located on the U.S.-Mexico border, we have a specific purpose to promote more diversity within the profession of philosophy. The underrepresentation of Latinos and Latinas in philosophy is a serious problem, and our department has had tremendous success in addressing the imbalance.
Our faculty have mentored undergraduate students who have won scholarly awards, presented their research at professional conferences and are succeeding in a variety of careers. Many of our graduate students have gone on to excel in top PhD programs throughout the country or in diverse careers and areas of expertise.
Moreover, by developing collaborative relations across campus with various disciplines, we aim to provide our colleagues with thoughtful and informed consultation and collaboration on philosophical topics relevant to their research interests. By its nature, philosophy is interdisciplinary in scope, often helping to tie disparate lines of thought together or to provide a broader theoretical context within which to conceptualize various scientific, social, ethical or artistic problems.
With specializations in areas such as science and ethics, we offer the El Paso community access to the Department’s expertise. A selection of online courses are available to promote the professional development of non-traditional students. Whether in the form of educational outreach or public commentary, the Department takes seriously the ideal of the public intellectual whose obligations run deeper than his or her own research agenda or institutional commitments.
We hope to hear from you about how our faculty can help you meet your educational goals.
Â鶹¹ÙÍø Department of Philosophy