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Part 1: Introductions
- Introduction
- Welcome from the Director of the IAPC
- Directory
- MSU P4C Faculty and Staff
- Local friends of the IAPC
- Some well known International P4C
- MSU P4C Alumni
Part 2: Research
- P4C Journals and Internet sources
- Tips for writing papers
- MSU library resources
- A list of suggested readings
Part 3: Financial Aid
- Scholarships
- Graduate Assistantships
Part 4: Students
- International students
- Masters and Bridge students
- Doctoral Students
- Miscellaneous
Introductions
Congratulations on becoming a graduate at Montclair State University. Welcome to the Philosophy for Children Program. The Philosophy for Children program welcomes teachers, philosophers, authors, psychologists, visiting scholars, students who live locally as well as international students. The purpose of this handbook is to fill you in on some of the more specific things that you need to know as graduates in the Philosophy for Children program.
ADVISOR AND COORDINATOR OF P4C GRADUATE PROGRAMS
Megan Laverty is advisor and coordinator of graduate programs in Philosophy for Children so please approach her with questions and concerns. Her office number is 304B Chapin Hall and her telephone number is 973 655 4351.
IAPC
The Philosophy for Children program runs out of the Department of Educational Foundations, but you will spend a great deal of your time at the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (IAPC), housed at 14 Normal Avenue. The IAPC has
- A kitchen that you should feel free to use at all times: there is a fridge, a microwave, tea and coffee as well as a round table.
- Two computers designated for part-time student use: the computer in the reception area and the computer in the office on the third floor.
- A small lending library of Philosophy for Children and related texts (if you borrow a book please sign it).
PARKING
If you do drive to the IAPC and require parking please contact the MSU parking office. The parking office is located on 30 Normal Avenue. The telephone number 973 655 7581. Students with parking permits are able to park in lots identified as ‘student commuter lots’. The closest student commuter lot to Normal Avenue is Number 30 (a little further along from the police station). Parking permits can be purchased from the parking permit office. A parking permit costs fifty dollars and must be paid by check or money order (no credit cards). The permit will last from September 2003 until August 2004. If you lose the parking permit then you have to replace it and pay a full fee so no matter what you do DON”T LOSE IT. The parking office requires that you stick on the window of your car.
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Welcome from the Director of the IAPC
The Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (IAPC) has always benefited from the ideas, hard work and good will of graduate students. The IAPC usually has a number of masters and doctoral graduate assistants each year. These students receive financial assistance from the Graduate School and are assigned to work a certain number of hours per week for the Institute. Graduate assistants spend five or more hours per week working in the IAPC’s Philosophy in the Schools project, facilitating philosophical dialogue with students and coaching teachers to do so. Graduate assistants also spend five or more hours per week working on one of the IAPC’s current research projects and contributing to the IAPC Research Library. The remainder of their time is given to helping with other IAPC functions like grant writing, awareness sessions, teacher training, gifted and talented courses and editing the IAPC Newsletter and Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children.
Students who are not graduate assistants are nevertheless welcome to participate in any of these projects. In doing so you can gain valuable professional experience, learn about Philosophy for Children in ways that will enhance your academic studies, and have the opportunity to work closely with IAPC faculty and other graduate students.
All students in P4C degree programs are invited to join the IAPC Cabinet, which consists of everyone on campus interested in Philosophy for Children: MSU faculty & administrators, IAPC staff and graduate assistants, and graduate students in the P4C degree programs. The Cabinet meets once a month (around coffee and snacks) to announce new opportunities for research, writing, conferencing, work in schools, etc., to form committees to work on what we deem worthwhile, and to make collective decisions about the Institute.
Whether or not you are able to participate in many IAPC projects or Cabinet meetings, you should feel that you belong to the IAPC: relax here between classes, browse in our library, make a pot of coffee, chat with faculty and staff who have offices here. And if you ever need my help, need something from the IAPC, or have ideas for us, please call me, email me, or drop in to see me.
Maughn Gregory, Director
Being a Masters student in Philosophy for Children has really helped me to understand how important philosophy is for developing thinking. For the first time I see a purpose to philosophy for both children and adults. One thing I like about the program is how challenging it is has been for me, helping me to be more reflective. A very positive aspect of the program is meeting and working with people from all over the world. This has opened me up to a variety of cultures and ideas, really enriching the course. I have the opportunity to use philosophy in a local elementary school which I find rewarding for the children and for myself. It gives me the chance to put into practice what I am learning and helps me to develop as a facilitator. Overall the Philosophy for Children program is a great experience both personally and professionally.
Chloe Ogden
Masters of Education
2001, Scotland
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Directory
The strengths of the faculty are easy to identify. Their academic knowledge is a great resource and they are generous in sharing it with others. The faculty also gives a lot of individual attention to students and are responsive to students’ needs e.g. returning e-mails promptly, meeting with students to discuss work, helping to plan papers and revise papers.
Elizabeth Flanagan
Bridge student 2003
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MSU P4C Faculty and Staff
The following individuals comprise the faculty and staff that you will have the most contact with during your time as a graduate student with us.
Maughn Gregory
Dr. Maughn Gregory is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, where he teaches at the undergraduate, masters and doctoral levels. His courses include Critical Thinking and Learning, Sexism in American Education, Pragmatism and Education and Political Philosophy and Philosophy for Children. He is the Director of Project THISTLE: Thinking Skills in Teaching and Learning, as well as the Director of the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children.
Dr. Gregory holds the Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Iberoamerican University, Mexico City, the M.A. in Comparative East-West Philosophy from the University of Hawaii, Manoa, and the Juris Doctorate from the J. Reuben Clark Law School in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Gregory has published extensively in journals of philosophy and education, as well as given numerous workshops in critical thinking and Philosophy for Children. His research interests include epistemology, pragmatism and political philosophy.
David Kennedy
David Kennedy is an Associate Professor of Education in the Department of Educational Foundations at MSU, and a staff member at the IAPC. He has published pretty extensively on the topics of Philosophy for Children and community of inquiry theory, and edits Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children. He has conducted workshops in P4C in the US, Iceland, Brazil, Mexico, China, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Ukraine and Colombia. His three primary research and scholarly interests are community of inquiry theory and practice, young children's thinking, and philosophy of childhood, which involves the inquiry into childhood (and therefore, necessarily, adulthood) as a culturally and historically mediated form of life. His deep conviction is that profound social change is directly linked to changes in the adult-child relationship, and that the latter is in turn directly linked with adults' capacity to engage children in dialogue, both at home and at school. He understands Philosophy for Children as the best program by which to achieve such dialogue.
Megan Laverty
Megan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Foundations and a Fellow of both the Philosophy Department at the University of Melbourne and Sophia, the Center for Critical Thinking and Philosophical Practice at Bergen Community College. She is also an affiliate of the Center for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE). Megan holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of NSW, a Masters in philosophy from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and anthropology also from the University of Melbourne. Before joining MSU in August 2000, Megan worked at the University of Melbourne teaching philosophy.
Her research interests are in moral philosophy and philosophy and literature, particularly as they relate to Philosophy for Children. She has published in Thinking and Critical and Creative Thinking. She has edited two collections of essays with Oxford University Press, What’s in an Issue?: Perspectives on Contemporary Australian Concerns (Melbourne: Oxford University Press 1997) and What’s at Issue Now?: More Perspectives on Contemporary Australian Concerns (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2000). She has been involved in the development of ethics curriculum materials in relation to design and technology and information technology. She has co-directed Philosophy for Children workshops and presented at numerous national and international conferences.
Megan is a member of the APA Committee for Pre-College Instruction and is Book Review Editor for Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines.
Matthew Lipman
Matthew Lipman created Philosophy for Children and in 1974 with Ann Margaret Sharp founded the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children. An active member of the IAPC, Matthew Lipman is Emeritus Professor and so rarely teaches in the graduate programs in Philosophy for Children. However he does welcome conversations with students and occasionally runs seminars for visiting scholars and interested students.
Before coming to Montclair State University in 1972 as a Professor of Philosophy Matthew Lipman was a professor at Columbia University and City College of New York. He did his undergraduate studies at Stanford and Columbia University and his graduate studies at Colombia University, the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Vienna in Austria.
Matthew Lipman has published extensively both within philosophy and education. He has contributed more than 100 articles to professional journals. He has published the following books: What Happens in Art (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1 967), Discovering Philosophy (1st edition, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts,1969; 2nd edition, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall, 1977), Contemporary Aesthetics (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1973). Philosophy Goes to School, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1988). Thinking in Education, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991), Thinking Children and Education, (Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1993), Natasha: Vygotskian Dialogues, (New York: Teachers College Press, 1996). He has also published the following Philosophy for Children novels: Harry Stottlemeier's Discovery (N.J.: IAPC, 1974), Lisa (N.J.: IAPC, 1976), 2nd edition, IAPC, 1983, Suki, (N.J.: IAPC, 1978), Mark, (N.J.: IAPC, 1980), Pixie, (N.J.: IAPC, 1981), Kio and Gus (N.J.: IAPC, 1982) 2nd edition 1986 Elfie, (N.J.: IAPC, 1987), Harry Prime, (N.J.: IAPC, 1987).
He co-authored the following accompanying manuals: Instructional Manual to Accompany Harry Stottlemeier's Discovery, (N.J.: IAPC, 1975). Ethical Inquiry, with Ann Margaret Sharp and Frederick S. Oscanyan (N.J.: IAPC, 1977) 2nd Edition, IAPC and UPA, 1985; Writing How and Why: Instructional Manual to Accompany Suki, with Ann Margaret Sharp (N.J.: IAPC, 1980). Social Inquiry: Instructional Manual to Accompany Mark, with Ann Margaret Sharp (N.J.: IAPC, 1980), Looking for Meaning: Instructional Manual to Accompany Pixie, with Ann Margaret Sharp (N.J.: IAPC, 1982) co-published with UPA, 1984. Wondering at the World: Instructional Manual to Accompany Kio and Gus, with Ann Margaret Sharp (N.J.: IAPC, 1984), Getting our Thoughts Together: Instructional Manual to Accompany Elfie, with Ann Gazzard (N.J.: IAPC, 1988).
He has together with others edited or authored the following texts: second edition of Philosophical Inquiry, with Ann Margaret Sharp and Frederick S. Oscanyan (N.J.: IAPC, 1979), co-published with University Press, 1984; Philosophy for Children edited with Terrell Ward Bynam (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1976); Philosophy in the Classroom, with Ann Margaret Sharp and Frederick S. Oscanyan (1st Edition, N.J.: IAPC, 1977). 2nd Edition, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1980); Growing Up With Philosophy, ed. with Ann Margaret Sharp ( Philadelphia Temple University Press, 1978).
He has given numerous national and international workshops in Philosophy for Children as well as addresses. Some of these include: April 1989 Inaugural Lecture, Joshua Weinstein Distinguished Lectureship, "Teaching Critical Thinking and Philosophy to Children: The Challenge and the Opportunity," University of Houston College of Education, Houston, Texas; July 1989 Keynote Address, OECD Conference, "Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn", Paris, France; June 1990 Keynote Address, International Conference on Philosophical Inquiry With Children, Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan; March 1997 Participation in conference of experts in Philosophy for Ciildren convened by UNESCO, Paris, March 26-28; June 1992 Conference with President of Iceland about Philosophy for Children, "White House", Reykjavik, Iceland; April 1994 Keynote Address, "Higher Order Thinking in Education", at First Annual Conference of National Assoc. for Advancement of Communities of Inquiry, Austin, Texas.
He has received honorary degrees from Quincy College, Quincy, Illinois and the University of Mons-Hainaut, Mons, Belgium.
Joanne Matkowski
Joanne is responsible for all business aspects of the IAPC. She is also the Fiscal Agent, Office Manager and Publisher for the IAPC. As Fiscal agent she is responsible for the preparation and maintenance of the IAPC budget. She takes care of all purchasing, prepares paperwork for consultants, prepares travel forms for faculty, sends quotes for teacher training requests and prepares budgets for grant proposals. As Office Manager she supervises the bookkeeper/secretary and all part-time or student positions (not including Graduate Students on Assistantships.) She oversees the maintenance of the office and equipment, prepares paperwork for personnel and makes arrangements for visiting scholars to the IAPC. Joanne also organizes the IAPC International Conferences, writes letters of invitation, prepares budgets, corresponds with participants, prepares rosters, secures accommodations and visits the conference site to meet with the participants as needed.
As Publisher Joanne is responsible for the maintenance of the IAPC Inventory. She makes decisions with the Director about the reprinting of the curriculum items. She publishes Thinking and works with the Editor and the typesetter during the preparation of the issues. She supervises the mailing of the issue as well. She maintains publishing agreements with International Centers and collects and distributes the royalties from these Centers. Joanne is also responsible for marketing and promoting the IAPC Philosophy for Children programs.
Ann Margaret Sharp
Dr. Ann Margaret Sharp of Montclair, New Jersey joined Montclair State University in l973 as a professor of education. In l974, with Dr. Matthew Lipman, she co-founded the internationally renowned Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children, which prepares educators to teach philosophy to children of all ages.
Prior to coming to Montclair State University, Dr. Sharp was an associate professor of history and humanities at Notre Dame College in Manchester, New Hampshire, Virginia Union University, Richmond, Virginia and Fayetteville State University, North Carolina. Dr. Sharp has authored six books and coauthored l4 books, many of which have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Three years ago she published a Philosophy for Children program for early childhood, (The Doll’s Hospital, Making Sense of My World) as well as a middle school program on social inquiry.(Geraldo/Making Our Voices Heard.) The latter is a philosophical program for elementary children focusing on problems of immigrant children faced with adjusting to a new language and culture. With Laurance J. Splitter, she published, Teaching for Better Thinking: The Classroom Community of Inquiry and with Ronald F. Reed, Studies in Philosophy for Children: Harry Stottlemeier’s Discovery and Studies in Philosophy for Children: Pixie. She edited Women, Feminism and Philosophy for Children, two special issues of Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children. She has just completed Hannah with its accompanying manual, Breaking the Vicious Circle, a program for middle school children focusing on philosophy of body, sexual ethics and child abuse and is presently working on a philosophy program for five year olds dealing with the same themes.
Dr. Sharp has appeared on numerous radio and television shows and has conducted workshops in over 30 nations for philosophers and educators wanting to be prepared in Philosophy for Children. She completed her undergraduate work at The College of New Rochelle in New York and her graduate work at Catholic University of America, Union Theological Seminary, University of New Hampshire and the University of Massachusetts. She holds a BA in history and philosophy, an MA in United States and Latin American Intellectual History and the Doctoral Degree in Educational Philosophy.
Mark Weinstein
Dr. Weinstein is the Chair and Professor in the Department of Educational Foundations at Montclair State University in New Jersey. He served as Associate Director of the Institute for Critical Thinking for more than a decade His areas of specialization are the Philosophy of Education, Critical Thinking, Argumentation Theory and Philosophy of Science. His publication list includes, among many other articles, "Social Justice, Epistemology and Educational Reform," "Rationalist Hopes and Utopian Visions," "Reason and Refutation," "Reason and Critical Thinking," "Towards a Research Agenda for Informal Logic and Critical Thinking," "Philosophy and the General Curriculum: the Map of Knowledge," "Critical Thinking and the Goals of Science Education," "Integrating Thinking Skills into the Schools," "Critical Thinking and Moral Education," "Critical Thinking and Education for Democracy," "Informal Logic and Applied Epistemology," and "Towards an Account of Argumentation in Science." He is author of the Fieldston Ethics Reader and an editor of numerous conference proceedings, including Critical Thinking: Focus on Science and Technology and Critical Thinking: Implications for Teaching and Teachers. Dr. Weinstein holds the Ph.D. in Philosophy from The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, M.A. from the City College, CUNY and B.A. from Brooklyn College, CUNY. As Director of the Reasoning Skills Project at Queens College, CUNY, he served as consultant and coordinator of thinking skills projects in over twenty school districts in New York and New Jersey. He has had extensive experience in faculty development at the college level and is an internationally known presenter in the field of informal logic and critical thinking. Dr. Weinstein is a Pasu-President of the Association for Informal Logic and Critical Thinking of the American Philosophical Association, a Fellow of the Philosophy of Education Society, and served as Research Coordinator of the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking Instruction.
Having looked at other graduate education programs that invariably stress a predictable course of study, I found the P4C program particularly attractive because of its emphasis on dialogue, community of inquiry, and critical thinking. Whether you're a beginning teacher or a veteran, P4C offers various creative suggestions for cultivating a sense of intellectual freedom and egalitarianism within the classroom. I highly recommend this program for instructors who are interested in encouraging their students to analyze beyond the text, and relate complex issues in philosophy to life experience.
John P. Cleary
EdD in Pedagogy
2001
North America
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Local friends of the IAPC
Alina Reznitskaya
Alina is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Foundations of MSU. Alina earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She then worked as a project director at Yale University overseeing the design and evaluation of a history curriculum for middle school students. Alina’s current interests include investigating the relationship between dialogical interactions among students and the development of their ability to think rationally and independently about complex matters. She is also interested in working on improving educational measurement and evaluation. Her email address is Reznitskayaa@mail.montclair.edu and her telephone extension is 4080.
Peter Dlugos
I am an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bergen Community College, and currently chairing the College’s Middle States reaccreditation effort, and co-directing the Center for the Study of Intercultural Understanding. My other current interests and activities include: using dialogue as a tool for community-building; philosophical counseling; Café-Philos, Socratic Dialogue (in the Nelsonian tradition); using P4C methods in P4B (philosophy for/with beginners, in particular, community college students in introductory-level courses); a broad approach to critical thinking (ala Paul & Elder), including affective development. I also dabble in Eastern thought. I am best reached by email: pdlugos@aol.com, or at home: (973) 691-8834
Paul Ekstein
Paul K. Eckstein is Lecturer, full-time, in the Program in Philosophy and Religion at Bergen Community College, where he teaches Introduction to Philosophy, Contemporary Moral Issues, Introduction to Ethical Theory, Basic Logic, Introduction to Religion and other courses. He also teaches part-time for the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Montclair State University and the Department of Philosophy at William Paterson University. His interests include the teaching of critical thinking skills as part of citizenship training for all in a democratic society. He can be reached via e-mail at pecorn@yahoo.com or through the Bergen Community College philosophy program at 201-447-7167.
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Some well known International P4C
Here is a list of some of the better known people in Philosophy for Children from around the world with some information about their interested in Philosophy for Children. Their contact details can be found on our list of affiliated centers and individuals.
• Philip Cam Cam (Philosophy and Cognitive psychology)
• Christina Slade (Philosophy of Language)
• Walter Kohan (P4C and Post Modernism)
• Teresa de la Garza (P4C and Contemporary European Philosophy)
• Nina Yulina (American Philosophy and P4C)
• Felix Garcia (Experimental studies done in P4C around the World.)
• Hreinn Palsson (The Classroom Community of Inquiry)
• Zosimo Lee (The Ethical Dimension of P4C)
• Marie France Daniel (The Construction of New Curricula in P4C)
• Gary Matthews (Children's Literature and P4C)
• Peter Yang (The Construction of New Curricula in P4C)
• Wendy Turgeon (The Aesthetic Dimension of P4C)
• Jana Mohr Lane (Children's Rights and P4C)
• Christine Gehrett (Philosophical Counseling and P4C)
• Ji Aeh Lee (Charles Peirce and P4C)
• Jen Glaser (P4C and conceptions of reasonableness)
• Timothy Sprod (Curriculum development and P4C across the disciplines)
• Eugenio Echeverria (Philosophy for Children and teacher training)
One of the highlights of the Bridge program is participating at the Mendham conference. Mendham offers the student a place free of distractions, which enables the individual and group to focus solely on participation in the community of inquiry. Being thrown into deep philosophical discussion full of words you’re not even sure you can spell can be confusing and challenging at times, but I found it rewarding to be able to discover and identify strengths I never knew I had before. I also loved the opportunity to meet students from other countries.
Elizabeth Flanagan
Bridge student 2003
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MSU P4C Alumni
Chris Phillips (Graduated MED P4C – 1997)
Author of the books Socrates Café and Six Questions of Socrates Chris Phillips is a roving philosopher who has established with his wife, Cecile (also a graduate from the MED in P4C), The Society for Philosophical Inquiry. The website is: http://www.philosopher.org/
Reflection: The intensive year I spent at MSU in the Philosophy for Children program was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. It confirmed to me that scholarship can be blended with activism and outreach to resuscitate philosophical inquiry within the hallowed halls of our institutions of learning, and inspired me in my efforts to come up with innovative ways of bringing philosophical inquiry to people of all ages and walks of life around the globe, many of whom may never have a chance to set foot in a school, but nonetheless have unique experiences and perspectives which can benefit us all, if we'd only take the time to learn from them. Most of all, P4C demonstrates that philosophical inquiry at its best enables us all to be teachers and students at the same time, learning from one another as we further discover and articulate and sculpt our moral code and worldview. As we share our experiences and expertise through cogent and compelling reasoning, all P4C inquirers are inspired to become more autonomous thinkers and to develop a more acute social and intellectual conscience.
Joseph Frame (Graduated MAT P4C- 2003)
Current position: as a full-time philosophy instructor at Union County College.
Reflection: In 1999, returning to academia after a brief (!) nearly thirty-year absence as a 48-year-old Master of Arts in Teaching candidate, I was very apprehensive. What would it be like to be in class with people younger than most of my children? More significantly, what would it be like to spend two weeks at a residential seminar with these people? Would I be accepted as valued member of a community of inquiry? Would I be able to “keep up”? Would this be time (and money) well spent? Would I ever be able to complete all the requirements for the program? Would the professors be supportive? Taking as my motto Samuel Johnson’s optimistic sentence, “Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome”, I dove in – feet first! During the next four years, the answers to all the above questions became apparent. I received my M.A.T. in August of 2003.
Maria Pacillo (Graduated MAT P4C - 2001)
Current Position: Doctoral student.
Reflection: "The MAT in P4C has shown me what philosophy should look like and strive to be: a collaborative, inter-disciplinary, thought-provoking and dialogical activity. It gives you a new perspective of yourself, both as teacher and person, in relation to the world around you and it has proved to be one of
Kelly Nash (graduated in MAT in P4C - 2001; graduated with a MED in Reading - 2003)
Current Position: Teaching 2nd grade in Paramus.
Reflection: I loved the Philosophy for Children program, and found it helped me secure employment in one of the premier school districts in New Jersey. My principal stressed that P4C made my resume stand out from others she reviewed, and my work in P4C will allow me to offer the school a powerful and unique way of engaging the children in critical thinking.
Matthew Schertz (graduated from the Ed.D in 2004)
Current Position: Visiting Professor at Colgate University, NY.
Reflection: “The professors in Ed. Foundations have made my educational experience a enriching one. They have helped to minimize the perennial red tape, have openly shared their scholarly knowledge and have helped guide me through the dissertation process in a nurturing fashion.”
Brynhildur Sigurdardottir (discontinued Ed.D student)
Treasurer of the International Council of Philosophical Inquiry with Children (ICPIC)
Current Position: Teaching full time at Gardaskoli, a grade 7-10 school in Gardabaer a suburb of Reykjavik, Iceland. In the upcoming school year she will teach science and philosophy. The topic her dissertation is to explore ways to implement philosophical inquiry in the science classroom, so Gardaskoli will be the setting of her research. She will facilitate a philosophical reading group among the teachers at Gardaskoli this upcoming year, and conduct workshops for students and teachers interested in Philosophy for Children.
Reflection: I have gone through both masters and doctoral level courses in the Philosophy for Children specialization at Montclair State University. A majority of the courses are structured as communities of inquiry, in which students bring in their ideas, share them with others, and jointly aim at developing deeper understanding of the topics and questions dealt with. This structure gives students a unique insight into in the pedagogy that the program advocates, as well as extensive experience with it. While this way of working makes for very rich learning experiences, it is also very challenging. It demands of the student that they are very clear about what they want to bring to the community, and what they want to focus on in their individual, written work. The community of inquiry also requires every participant to take on responsibility for the development of the class, both in terms of classroom atmosphere as well as in structuring the syllabus and reading agenda. Since most of us are brought up in schools where we have little power over what to read and write, and how to structure class sessions, this new learning environment takes time and effort to adjust to. But this is the work through which you break away from your own experience of schooling, and become a radically different kind of educator.
P4C Journals and Internet sources
Thinking: the Philosophy for Children Journal
A highly respected academic periodical, published quarterly by the IAPC. David Kennedy is the editor. Since 1979, Thinking has been prime reading material for those philosophers and educators wanting to know more about the latest developments in theory and research around the world in the theory of Philosophy for Children. All issues are illustrated, and each issue contains 50 pages. We recommend that you consider a subscribing.
Analytic Teaching: the Community of Inquiry Journal
Published in the USA by Viterbo University in cooperation with NAACI (North American Association for Community of Inquiry). Mort Morehouse edits it. Subscription forms can be found on the Internet and mailed to Analytic Teaching, Viterbo College, 815 South 9th Street, La Crosse, WI 54601, USA.
Critical and Creative Thinking: the Australasian Journal of Philosophy for Children
Published in Australia by FAPCA (the Federation of Australian Philosophy for Children Associations). Clive Lindop edits it. For subscriptions: email the editor or mail to Clive Lindop, Editor, Critical and Creative Thinking, Deakin University-Warrnambool, Warrnambool, Vic 3280, Australia.
P4C List
The P4C list is an email discussion group that links members of the international Philosophy for Children community. If you would like to learn more about the P4C list group please visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/p4c_list
Teaching Philosophy Online Database: www.bibliofil.rg3.net
This online database is available in four languages (English, French, Portuguese and Spanish), and includes bibliographical references of both philosophical essays and empirical studies, mostly about P4C.
ICIPC Home Page: http://www.simnet.is/heimspekiskolinn/icpic.html The International Council of Philosophical Inquiry with Children (ICPIC) was created in 1985 by philosophers and teachers interested in engaging children in philosophical inquiry.
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Tips for writing papers
- Start with a real question: a philosophical question that is alive for you; something you are curious about, care about. It should also be a troubling question for you: something about which you haven’t quite made up your mind, so that in order to decide your own opinion about it you will have to do some philosophical work. Your paper should reflect a lot of thinking and wrestling with ideas.
- Clarity is a virtue, and being clear takes work. Re-write a paragraph several times until it says exactly what you want it to say.
- Reasoning is the most important component. Push yourself to explore the reasons behind your opinions. Keep asking yourself, “Why do I think that?”
- Creativity is also very important. Come up with new alternatives. Extend and develop somebody else’s good idea. If other people’s theories don’t quite explain or justify your own experiences, make some new theory.
- Personal stories are fine in philosophy papers, as long as they make or illustrate some philosophical point. But don’t take too much time telling them: tell them very quickly and get to the philosophical point you’re trying to make.
- If you have bad writing habits, there’s free help at MSU’s Writing Workshop (655-7442). There’s no shame in getting this help; professionals do it. And it’s FREE! You should at least spell-check and proof-read your papers; and it’s always good to ask a friend to proofread for you-for mechanics and for content.
- We encourage you to read each other’s papers and give each other help, so that your writing is a community process, and you have the benefit of all the expertise in the community.
Struggling to make a good piece of writing is one of the joys of academic work-for professors as well as for students. It’s difficult and painful and sometimes embarrassing, but very rewarding; and it gets easier with practice. We look forward to struggling with you!
The following web sites provide more useful advice on how to write a philosophical paper:
http://www.philosophy.unimelb.edu.au/essaygu.html
http://www.princeton.edu/~jimpryor/general/writing.html
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MSU library resources
The MSU Library has developed a virtual tour of the Library. It a good online introduction to the Library and some of its departments and services.
The tour can be found at:
http://library.montclair.edu/reference/SpragueTour2.htm
Sprague Library has started a new service for graduate students: the Graduate Student Research Assistance service. It allows a graduate student to request a one-on-one meeting with a reference librarian where the reference librarian can work with the graduate student to identify the most appropriate resources and services for the research project and discuss research strategies to find information on a topic. The path to get to the form from the main library page is:
- Click the "Services" link or icon
- In the "Services" page, choose the "Students" link
- In the list of services for students, click the "Graduate Student Research Assistance Form" link
http://fmweb.montclair.edu/lib/gradresearch.html
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A list of suggested readings
What follows is very much a work in progress. It is a list of philosophy readings that past students and current faculty have recommended as important and useful background for students of our graduate programs. We look forward to updating it in the future and appreciate any recommendations that you might want to make over the course of your studies.
As well as this following recommended readings we advise that you purchase a reputable dictionary of philosophy. For example: Honderich, Ted, The Oxford Companion to Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995). These are very expensive but you will find it a worthwhile investment, particularly if you are accepted into the EdD.
You might begin your readings in philosophy by either:
- Identifying a philosopher that you are interested in and would like to read in depth
- Identifying a sub-discipline of philosophy that you would like to explore.
- Reading an introductory text.
We recommend that you visit a library or bookshop and browse.
Philosophers:
Texts by such philosophers as:
Arendt, Aristotle, Augustine, Berkeley, Descartes, Dewey, Freud, Hegel, Heidegger, Hume, Husserl, Jung, Kant, Kierkegaard, Locke, Nietzsche, Marx, Montaigne, Pierce, Plato, Plotinus, Sartre, Schopenhauer, Spinoza, Wittgenstein.
Sub-disciplines:
The sub-disciplines include:
Aesthetics
John Dewey, Art as Experience
Mary Mothersill, Beauty Restored
Richard Shusterman, Pragmatist Aesthetics: Living Beauty, Rethinking Art
Epistemology
Renee Descartes: Discourse on Method
John Dewey, The Quest for Certainty
Catherine Elgin, Considered Judgment (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996)
Richard Rorty, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature
Ethics Abrams, The Spell of the Sensuous (Albany: SUNY, l993)
Sissela Bok, Common Values (University of Missouri Press, l995)
Martin Buber, I and Thou (New York: Scribner, l958)
Robert Coles, The Moral Intelligence of Children, (New York: Random House, l997)
Philippa Foot, Virtues and Vices and other Essays in Moral Philosophy (Oxford: Blackwell, l978)
Mark Johnson, Moral Imagination
Walter Kaufmann, Beyond Guilt and Justice, (New York: Wiley, l973)
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors we Live by (Chicago, l980)
Alisdair MacIntyre, After Virtue 2nd Edition (Notre Dame, l984)
Alisdair MacIntyre, Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry (South Bend: Notre Dame Press, l990)
John Mackie, Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong, (New York: Penguin, l990)
Thomas Merton, Love and Living, (New York: Farrr Straus and giroux, l965).
Mary Midgley, Wickedness: a Philosophical Essay (London: Routledge, l984)
Martha Nussbaum, The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge Un Press, l986)
Martha Nussbaum, Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of the Emotions (New York: Cambridge University Press, 200l)
Amelie Rorty, Explaining Emotions, (University of Cal Press, Berkeley, l980).
Peter Singer, The Expanding Circle: Ethics and Sociobiology, (New York: Farrar, Sraus and Giroux, l98l).
Peter Singer, How are We to Live: Ethics in an Age of Self Interest (Amerherst New York: Prometheus Books, l995).
Singer (edited), Peter, Ethics, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994)
Robert Solomon, The Passions, (New York: doubleday, l979).
Paul Tillich, The Courage to Be, (New Haven: Yale University Press, l970)
Simone Weil. Gravity and Grace (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, l987)
Bernard Willaims, Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy (Cambridge, Harvard Un Press, l985).
Feminism
Edited by Miranda Fricker and Jennifer Hornsby Feminism in Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000)
Jean Grimshaw, Feminist Philosophers: Women’s Perspectives on Philosophical Traditions (Brighton: Wheatsheaf Books, 1986)
Edited by Cecile T.Tougas and Sara Ebenreck Presenting Women Philosophers (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000)
Tong, Rosemarie, Feminist Thought: a comprehensive Introduction(New York: Routledge, 1989).
Philosophy of Education
John Dewey, Democracy and Education
David T. Hansen Exploring the Moral Heart of Teaching (New York and London: Teachers College Press, 1998)
Political Philosophy
Campbell, James. The Community Reconstructs: The Meaning of Pragmatic Social Thought (University of Illinois Press, 1992) ISBN: 0252062078
Introductory texts:
Blackburn, Simon, Think: A compelling introduction to philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999)
Gaarder, Jostein, Sophie’s World, (London: Phoenix House, 1994).
Russell, Bertrand, The History of Western Philosophy (Touchstone books)
Solomon, Robert, The Big Questions: A Short Introducuion to Philosophy, 5th ed. (Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1998)
Tarnas, Richard, The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the ideas that have shaped our world view (Balantine Books, 1993)
Taylor, Charles, Sources of the Self: the making of modern identity (Cambridge: Mass, Harvard University Press, 1992).
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Scholarships
The Albert Wang Dissertation Award
Montclair State University, Graduate School.
The Saul and Adelaide Goldfarb Scholarship
www.montclair.edu/graduate/ssoscholarships.shtml.
With awards ranging from $1,500 to $7000, this scholarship is available to both full and part-time graduate students at MSU. Questions can be directed to the Graduate School at 973-655-5147, or graduate.school@mail.montclair.edu.
American Association of University Women Education Foundation
www.aauw.org
www.fulbright.org
www.soros.org
www.rotary.org
NAFSA/Association of International Educators
1307 New York Ave., NW, Eighth Floor
Washington, DC 20005-4701
Tel: 202/737-699
Fax: 202/737-3657
E-mail: inbox@nafsa.org
http://www.nafsa.org/
World of Knowledge Foundation
4037 Metric Drive, Suite 120
Winter Park, Florida 32792
USA
Toll-free: 1-888-953-7737
Fax: (407) 384-4252
Email: knowledgetoall@aol.com
http://www.worldofknowledge.org/
http://www.gradasst.com/scholarships/
Provides a database of scholarships for graduate students and postdocs.
GradSchools.Com Financial Aid Information
http://www.gradschools.com/info/financial.html
Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Dissertation Fellowships
http://www.hfg.org/html.pages/dissert.htm
10 or more dissertation fellowships are awarded each year to individuals who will complete the writing of their dissertation within the award year. The fellowships, which include a stipend of $10,000 and are only awarded for the final year of Ph.D. work, are designed to contribute to the support of the doctoral candidaue so that s/he completes his/her thesis in a timely manner. Visit the foundation Web site for eligibility requirements and application information. Contact: The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, 527 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022; Tel: (212) 644-4907; Fax: (212) 644-5110.
New York University Grants in Graduate Studies
http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/fininfo/gigs.html
Covers U.S. government, international, corporate and private funding agency funding opportunities. You can search by keyword or according to various categories such as Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences, Women, International Studies, Students with Disabilities, Under Represented Groups of Students, and Postgraduate and Post Doctoral.
Scholarships, Fellowships & Postdoctoral Awards for College, Graduate School & Postdoctoral Study
http://scholarships.kachinatech.com/scholarships/
An outstanding resource on the internet created and maintained by Francisco Alberto Tomei Torres, Ph.D. Choose preselected categories such as "Nationally Coveted", "Science and Engineering", "Human Health", "Women", "Minorities", "Hodgepodge", and "Multiple Sources" or use the search engine provided.
Spencer Foundation Awarding fellowships to "support individuals whose dissertations show potential for bringing fresh and constructive perspectives to the history, theory, or practice of formal or informal education anywhere in the world." Interested students should go to http://www.spencer.org/programs/index.htm and click "fellowships."
GrantSelect
GrantSelect is the online version of the GRANTS Database, produced by The Oryx Press, containing over 10,000 funding opportunities provided by over 3,400 sponsoring organizations. Michigan State university faculty, staff, and students can identify additional funding opportunities related to graduate education by searching this database.
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Graduate Assistantships
Interested incoming students apply to the GRADUATE SCHOOL for graduate assistantships. Students generally apply for a graduate assistantship when they apply to enter the program. Incoming students are eligible for an assistantship anywhere in the University. Generally the IAPC hires ONE graduate assistantship and the Department of Educational Foundations hires ONE.
It is very important that you be aware that the number of credits that the assistantship covers in an academic year is restricted. Please consult the terms and condition of your appointment
A graduate assistantship appointment is for one year only. A student may have an assistantship for a maximum of two years, but the second year is not automatic. Because graduate assistantships are reviewed each year, if you did miss out in your first year it is worthwhile applying each year that you are a graduate student at Montclair State University.
Things graduate assistant should know are:
- You should be working with and developing a mentoring relationship with one supervisor so make sure you know who that is as early on in your assistantship as possible.
- You should receive a job description that outlines your duties and assignments.
- Masters Graduate assistants are required to work fifteen hours a week (on average) and EdD graduate assistants are required to work twenty hours a week (on average).
- The amount of clerical work that you are asked to do should be minimal.
- A student occupying a graduate assistantship during the entire previous spring term is eligible for a remission up to six (6) credits of tuition and fees for courses taken during the subsequent summer session which fulfill the requirements of the work program. Courses taken during the summer prior to becoming a graduate assistantship will not be covered. The courses in the summer (6 credits) will only be covered if the student was a graduate assistant in the prior spring semester
Graduate assistantships are limited. It is imperative that you demonstrate the highest quality of academic writing and assistantship work in order to maintain your assistantship.
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International Students
A special welcome because we know you have come many miles to be with us and have left family and friends. We have and have had in the past many international students; students from Portugal, Israel, Nigeria, Bulgaria, Korea, Australia, Scotland, Iceland, Taiwan to name a few. So please feel very welcome. Introduce yourself to faculty and to students.
As well as the IAPC you will have a lot to do with the Global Education Center, a few doors down from the IAPC on Normal Avenue. You should contact Jacqueline Leighton on your arrival so that she can verify with you the many requirements associated with your visa and being an international student in North America more generally (insurance, social security numbers, travel etc.). She is at the Global Education Center. Her phone number is 973 655 4253. Her email address is Leightonj@mail.montclair.edu. You should make yourself known to The Global Education Center anyway because they have lots of activities for International students that our students in the passed have enjoyed.
You need to be aware that International students can apply for a partial tuition waiver that takes off the out-of-state portion so that you only pay what New Jersey residents pay. Only a certain number of these waivers are awarded, so you have to apply. You can download the tuition waiver application at: http://www.montclair.edu/international then go to forms and documents.
For many of you English is not your first language and the transition to studying and working English will be difficult but rewarding. There are a couple of things you should know:
- There is Graduate Council policy that requires all newly admitted students who earned undergraduate and/or graduate degrees in a country where English is not the official language are required to take the MSU ESL test before being allowed to register.
- There is a Writing Center on campus for all university students. It offers one-on-one tutorial sessions to provide students with immediate help on particular writing assignments and long-term support and feedback. The services are FREE. It is located in Dickson Hall (DI) 285 or you can call for an appointment on 973 655 7442.
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Masters and Bridge students
Bridge and Master’s students share many of their Philosophy for Children classes. Some of you have not studied philosophy before and some of you are returning to study after many years. Keep in mind that there is a Writing Center on campus for all university students. It offers one-on-one tutorial sessions to provide students with immediate help on particular writing assignments and long-term support and feedback. The services are FREE. It is located in Dickson Hall (DI) 285 or you can call for an appointment on 973-655-7442.
Some points to remember:
- All Master’s students are required to pass a comprehensive examination in order to graduate. The comprehensive examination requires that you submit a thesis on American Philosophy and Philosophy for Children and that you answer a selection of questions that will be made available to you at the commencement of your studies. You MUST be made in writing to the Graduate School by March 1st of the year in which the examination is to be taken.
- Courses undertaken by MED students not in Educational Foundations fill early and quickly so please be sure to register for these as soon as registration for the semester in which you are scheduled to take these subjects opens.
- Bridge students are required to take one Philosophy course over the summer. You register for this course as an independent study. Please come and collect the form from me at the end of Spring.
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Doctoral Students
Students in the Ed.D in Pedagogy with a specialization in Philosophy for Children should familiarize themselves with the Handbook produced by the Center of Pedagogy available from the bottom floor of Chapin Hall. It has all of the information that you require and is regularly updated to accommodate changes to the program.
What follows are some tips and reminders.
Help
Cindy Onore directs the Doctoral Program and Brendan Sheehan administers it. Brenda’s email address is shehhanbrAmail.montclair.edu. Her telephone extension is 7332. Please contact her with concerns related scheduling, procedures etc.
Academic
You will notice that the core subjects accord with the four categories for which you must write your integrative essay for the portfolio. I recommend that whilst you are studying these core subjects that you keep a notebook for what you might possibly want to include with respect to this subject in your integrative essay.
Rules you should be aware of
- The only subjects that permit independent study are the electives. Of course if for some reason or another we are unable to offer a required course then you may be permitted to do it as an independent study.
- You cannot take less credits than what is represented on your work program but you can take more credits.
Doctoral Advisers
You are assigned an adviser on your entry to the program. This person takes responsibility for you until you nominate a Dissertation Chair and Committee. You should consult this person with inquiries, concerns, problems any thing at all. Until that time you should meet with this person each semester before you register. Please be aware that your doctoral adviser fills in a progress report form for you each year which you must sign.
Leave of absence
Leave of absence can be taken from the degree whilst you are doing course work.
- Apply for extensions for all incompletes that you may have (there is a form for this)
- Write a letter to Carla Narrett, Dean of the Graduate School, requesting leave and giving your reasons for requesting leave. She will notify you as to whether it has been approved or not.
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Miscellaneous
Supermarkets
There are a number of supermarkets in the area that you will soon discover if you have not discovered them already. On Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair there is the Wholefoods store which sells organic produce and is a little more expensive than the other supermarkets as a result. Bloomfield Avenue also has Pathmark which is one of the cheaper supermarkets. On Valley Rd in Upper Montclair you will also find Kings Supermarket and A&P.
Irrespective of whatever supermarket you decide to shop at make sure you ask for a bonus card.
Housing
Newspapers
Star Ledger and Montclair Times.
Localities
That's an easy one: Most parts of Montclair are very good, but they are also very expensive. The next best place to be is Bloomfield, because it is very well connected with MSU by direct bus service every day and night and also because it has many apartment buildings. Clifton (in the area of Clifton Avenue and Main) is also a good place to live, but be aware that bus service doesn't operate on Sundays. Little Falls is also good. Other close by towns are: Totowa, Verona, West Orange, Bellville and Nutley.
Realtors
Realtors charge you not only a fixed fee just for giving you the information they have, but also they charge the equivalent of one month rent, which makes the whole thing very expensive.
Restaurants
Diners
Diners are a cheap and reasonably good option, especially because portions are usually large. There is one right on campus, and the two other closest ones are Six Brothers (on Route 46 and Clove Road), and Montclair Charboil Restaurant (on Valley Road, in Upper Montclair--I don't remember the exact address but I'm sure it'll be easy to find out). Six Brothers gives MSU people (both students and faculty) a 10% off which is another reason for going there.
International Restaurants
There are many international restaurants in Montclair and Bloomfield. There is Thai, Japanese, Italian and Indian to name a few. Please feel free to recommend your favorites.
Bar-restaurants
Charlie Brown of Upper Montclair (50 Upper Montclair Plaza, behind Bellvue Theatre), which offers a 20% discount for MSU students on food (not including beverages). The Office, a noisy bar-restaurant in lower Montclair (at 605 Bloomfield Ave.) offers a generous 25% discount for all food purchases. For these and other discounts, international students are advised to get a free "SGA Discount Card" issued by the Student Government Association (at x4202). The card is to be presented with a current MSU ID.
Cafes
There is a Starbucks in the Student Center on campus. As well as on Valley Rd in Upper Montclair and on Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair itself.
There is also The Eclectic Café in Bloomfield Avenue.
Don’t forget that New York is only a twenty to thirty minute bus ride away and the bus leaves from right here on campus. New York offers you cafes, museums, public lectures, libraries etc.
Furniture
The best advice is to go to a second hand furniture store, such as any of the Salvation Army stores (the closest ones are in Newark and in Passaic). There's also a used furniture store in Montclair, on Glenridge Road, one block West from the Montclair Post Office. IKEA (in Elizabeth, on the NJ Turnpike, very close to Newark airport) has some not too expensive things. And last but not least, it's always a good idea to learn which is the day in the week when bulky waste is picked up from the streets--the previous night you can find a few pieces of furniture in very good condition, which are absolutely free (although you will need to get someone with a car to transport the found treasures!)
Bookshops
- There is an independent bookshop, Montclair Book Center, in Montclair on Glenridge Rd that sells both new and second handbooks. They are very user friendly and have a philosophy section.
- There is an independent bookshop in Watchung Plaza, Watchung Booksellers. They are small but very friendly. They have a monthly newsletter and many book clubs.
- There are also the book chains: there is a Barnes and Noble book store on route three, route forty six and on route seventeen; there is a Borders at Willowbrook and at Garden State Plaza.
- There is a wonderful academic bookstore in NY City called Labyrinth. It is up near Columbia University.
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