LSU Philosophy & Religious Studies

RESEARCH NOTES::

Francois Raffoul co-edited Rethinking Facticity (SUNY Press, 2008), a volume which explores the resources of the concept of facticity for contemporary phenomenology and European Thought. He also co-edited French Interpretations of Heidegger (SUNY Press, 2008), a volume which investigates the impact of Heidegger's thought on contemporary French Philosophy.

Routledge has recently published Philosophy Through Video Games by Jon Cogburn and Mark Silcox. In the book, Cogburn and Silcox discuss a variety of philosophical issues that arise from reflection on video games. In some of the book they use facts about video games as evidence for non-trivial philosophical theses. For example, they argue that the surprising success of the Nintendo Wii supports a philosophical theory of perception known as enactivism. And in some of the book they use philosophical disputes to suggest new paradigms for video game design. For example, they argue that recent attempts to model moral dilemmas in video games such as Fable would work much better if informed by the philosophical debate between utilitarianism and deontology.

Paula Arai has received an ATLAS grant to finish writing her book Healing Zen: Japanese Buddhist Women’s Rituals of Transformation. This ethnographic study uncovers a “Domestic Zen” that thrives in the home and centers on healing. A Zen paradigm of healing focusses on “home made” rituals that facilitate experiencing one’s interrelatedness to all the universe and accepting the present moment with gratitude and as an opportunity to be compassionate.

CURRENT NEWS ::

The Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies welcomes the following new faculty: Oliver James Rocha (Ph.D., UCLA 2007), whose current research focuses on the concepts of autonomy, coercion, and bigotry; Michael Pasquier (Ph.D. Florida State), who specializes in American religion and is on leave in 2008-09 at Harvard Divinity School; Stephen Finley (ABD, Rice), who specializes in African American religions and is a joint appointment with African and African American Studies; and Michael Gueno (ABD Florida State), who specializes in native American religion and is replacing Michael Pasquier while he is on leave.

Congratulations to Francois Raffoul and Husain Sarkar, who were among the 100 faculty 2008 recipients of the "LSU Rainmakers" distinction, an honor that singles out the top 100 faculty at LSU. “In the university context, Rainmakers are those who are nationally and internationally recognized for innovative research and creative scholarship, who compete for external funding at the highest levels and who attract and mentor exceptional graduate students".

Questions about meaning and value form the core of higher education in general and the humanities in particular. Philosophy and religion have been the principal disciplines through which such questions have been raised, examined, and evaluated through the centuries.

Courses in philosophical and religious inquiry have been taught at LSU since the founding of the university. The Department of Philosophy was organized as a separate academic unit in the 1930s, and a separate Religious Studies Program was added in 1980. The department took its present name in 1997.

The department currently offers:

An undergraduate major in Philosophy
An undergraduate major in Philosophy with a concentration in Religious Studies
Undergraduate minors in both Philosophy and Religious Studies
The Master of Arts in Philosophy

Information about these programs can be obtained by clicking onto the appropriate link below. Note that at the present time the department does not offer a graduate degree in Religious Studies. Students interested in pursuing graduate studies in Religious Studies may wish to the consider the interdisciplinary program in Liberal Arts (Master of Arts in Liberal Arts) offered through the College of Arts and Sciences.

Philosophy

Religious Studies

Chair: Mary Sirridge
Univ. Administrative Specialist: Jen O'Connor
Located in 106 Coates Hall