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.
