Independent Research, UTA Positions & Research Assistants

In the philosophy department, students and faculty regularly work closely in both independent studies, in which a student conducts a self-directed study with a professor as a reference, and in research assistantships, in which a student helps a faculty member pursue a research subject. Below are samples of some recent research assistantships.

"Chinese Nature Philosophy and Environmental Ethics"
Spring 2006
Academic program: Philosophy
Academic advisors: Heather Keith
Student assistant: Tala Wunderler-Selby
Tala Wunderler-Selby '08 is currently working with Dr. Heather Keith on an article on applying Chinese ethics, such as classical Confucianism, to contemporary environmental problems.

Student Quality of Life and Vital Engagement
Fall 2005 to spring 06
Academic program: Philosophy/Psychology
Academic advisors: Heather Keith, Joan Mulligan, Bill Kelley
Student assistant: Millard Dekalb
Millard Dekalb '06 has assisted Heather Keith, Joan Mulligan, and Bill Kelley in gathering and working with data concerning issues of GMC student quality of life (such as satisfaction, happiness, and perceived well-being), reasons for attending GMC, interest in the college's mission, and engagement with campus activities.

"Liberty, Fraternity, Equality: Our Social-Political Culture War"
Fall 2004
Academic program: Philosophy
Academic advisors: Steven Fesmire
Student assistant: Alex Hunley
Alex Hunley '06 assisted Dr. Steven Fesmire with a Fall 2004 social and political philosophy course that focused intensely on the Presidential race. Among other themes, the course explored the cognitive scientist George Lakoff's hypothesis that Americans would not primarily be voting their self-interest; they would vote their identity and values. Alex gathered and critically assessed a vast amount of interview and media material generated by students in the course as they probed the contemporary political landscape to test Lakoff's hypothesis. Alex's own weblogs--he's a self-confessed information junkie--reveal the rich influence of this research assistantship, and he helped to provide students with a steady stream of up-to-the-minute reflections from this new dimension of the U.S. media.