Philosophy and the City Public Blog

Blog has moved

2011-06-09T13:41:00.002-04:00

Rather than continue this blog, I have moved my posts to the Public Philosophy Network (PPN), a group that I co-founded with Ellen Feder (American University) and now co-chair with Noelle McAfee (Emory University). Joining the network is free, and the site provides more options for group discussion and collaboration than a blog alone can do. Please join, and then sign-up for the affinity group, "Philosophy and the City."

If you have ideas or suggestions to my website, http://www.philosophyandthecity.org/, you can contact me via the network.

thanks,

Sharon

Adopting Philosophy and the City for Intro to Philosophy Courses

2009-01-06T20:21:00.001-05:00

Any quick recommendations on how I might tie in an introductory philosophy course in philosophy with a class trip to Manhattan? Please advise.I think that philosophy and the city can definitely work for a intro philosophy course--you can cover, obviously, political philosophy, but also the role/task of the philosopher (the Socrates' reading, but also Dewey, Conlon, and others), ethics (with a focus on issues on urban questions/problems--like why U.S. policy usually demands that urban public transit systems be self-funding, when we don't do that for cars/roads), and aesthetics (in terms of urban architecture and planning). Since the first part of the book is organized in chronological order, the text also gives students a great sense of the history of philosophy--but in a way that connects that history to issues relevant today. I take my students on a number of city trips. You might consider letting big onion tours (http://www.bigonion.com/) to help you organize a walking tour for your students in a way that addresses social justice and political issues, or aesthetic issues. Information on walking and virtual tours is available on the public part of my website at: http://philosophyandthecity.org/coursematerials/walkingtours.htmlFor NYC, I highly recommend the film The Cruise. That film will give you a number of ideas of how to do a walking tour/field trip to NYC. Listening to my podcasts might also give you some ideas.

Reviews of Philosophy and the City

2009-01-06T20:16:00.002-05:00

I've been delighted to see that the book has found its way to Canada and Europe as well as Mexico and Greece! I've had feedback from people all over, and I'm happy to say that it has been quite positive. To see some of the reviews of my text, see: http://philosophyandthecity.org/home/reviews.html

PHILOSOPHYANDTHECITY.ORG UPDATES

2009-01-06T20:10:00.002-05:00

I've recently updated a few things on the main site, mostly on the instructor's only pages, where I've just announced a new instructors' only network that I built out on ning.com. If you are an instructor who is teaching (or planning to teach) using PHILOSOPHY AND THE CITY, then I invite you to go to: http://philosophyandthecity.org/forinstructorsonly/instructorregistration.html to register. Once I confirm your instructor status, I'll then e-mail you an invitation to join the instructors' network. It is my hope to build a community of instructors who can share teaching ideas and assignments.

As for other main page updates: I'm teaching Philosophy and the City this spring (and probably then a mini-version of the course for the school of architecture at Iberoamericana University in Puebla in June). So I'll be adding some additional materials for those few authors anthologized who do not have additional readings or exercises on the main page. Wishing you all a happy New Year! Sharon

Recent website updates

2008-04-07T16:50:00.003-04:00

I keep adding and updating http://philosophyandthecity.org. Starting today, I'll post the updates on my blog so that subscribers will know immediately when something new has been added.
a) see more debates on tall buildings. Go to http://www.philosophyandthecity.org/princeofwales.html
I've been reading Don Mitchell's The Right to the City (New York: Guilford P, 2003), and he makes reference to an essay by Kuntsler and Salangaros, "The End of Tall Buildings." He has that essay and some responses to it on his people's geography website, and I've added the link.
b) conference announcement for Beyond the Academy conference. Go to: http:://www.philosophyandthecity.org/publicphilosophy.html or directly to the conference website: http://beyondtheacademy.wordpress.com/

Welcome

2008-03-17T18:13:00.000-04:00

Welcome to this public blog, where visitors to my website philosophyandthecity.org are welcome to post questions or comments about either the site or the text, Philosophy and the City: Classic to Contemporary Writings, ed. Sharon M. Meagher (Albany, NY: SUNY P, 2008).