Welcome

The Department of Philosophy is part of the UCF College of Arts and Humanities and houses majors, minors, and graduate certificates in Philosophy, Humanities & Cultural Studies, Religion & Cultural Studies, and Cognitive Sciences. Our diverse faculty teaches, researches, and publishes in a wide variety of areas including history of philosophy, the philosophy of embodiment, philosophy of mind, philosophy of space, place and time, feminist theories and feminist ethics, ethics in technology, biological, environmental and animal ethics, cultural philosophy (African, African American, Native American Philosophy), phenomenology, hermeneutics, folklore, art, religion, team cognition, and contemporary cultural theory.

The courses students will take concentrate on analyzing arguments, finding and constructing the meaning of philosophical and literary texts, works of art and other cultural products, and understanding the unique human achievements that are the very essence of what it is to study the humanities. With its mission statement, the department is committed to enabling students and faculty to engage in and advance knowledge in our disciplines. Degrees in philosophy, humanities, cognitive sciences, and religious studies are suited to a variety of professional and academic goals including careers in teaching, law, publishing, non-profit management, information and other technologies, and a broad range of knowledge in diverse fields.

Announcements

UCF Philosophy Newsletter
Spring 2018

Check out the latest department newsletter

• Susan Rozelle, '94 UCF Philosophy Graduate, receives Professional Achievement Award
• Why Philosophy is a Great Major
• What Can I Do With A Humanities Degree?

Job Openings

We are currently accepting applications for the following positions:

Humanities and Cultural Studies B.A.

New Humanities and Cultural Studies B.A.

As of Fall 2014, UCF undergraduate students can pursue a B.A in Humanities and Cultural Studies. The new degree is a substantial revision from the previously existing versions of a Humanities B.A. reflecting developments in contemporary scholarship, research areas of UCF faculty, and what is needed to understand and effectively engage the complex world we live in. The revisions have streamlined the Humanities program while maintaining the commitment to an interdisciplinary and critical study of the Humanities. The revised degree’s foundational courses continue to include courses with historical focus, but the degree now includes more theory and methods courses and has clarified the connection among the applications courses. Students will be able to see more clearly how courses are related to each other, how the skills and competencies learned build on each other, and will more readily recognize the relevance and application of a critical study of culture and meaning to their life and world. Students who are already pursuing HUM degrees under older catalog years will continue to do so, but students interested in switching to the new degree can do so. All new students will follow the new degree requirements.

Recent Faculty Publications

Nicholas Shrubsole, Ph.D.

Forthcoming Shrubsole, N. What Has no Place Remains: The Challenges for Indigenous Religious Freedom in Canada Today. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. (Forthcoming)

Michael Strawser, Ph.D.

Kierkegaard's God and the Good Life. Co-edited with J. Aaron Simmons and Stephen Minister. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2017.

Nancy A. Stanlick, Ph.D.

Stanlick, Nancy A., ed. The Essential Leviathan. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2016.

Jonathan Beever, Ph.D.

Beever, Jonathan and Vernon W. Cisney (eds). 2016. The Way of Nature and the Way of Grace: Philosophical Footholds on Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life. Northwestern University Press.

View more publications.

Events

Embodying the Mahdi: Islamic Messianism and the Body in Modern Senegal with Dr. Jeffry Halverson

Thursday, May 10, 2018; 2:00pm - 3:30pm

View all events.

Highlights

Philosophy student presents research at nation’s only undergrad ethics conference

Discussions on ethics are happening in our society at all times, whether we are aware of them or not. Christopher Larson, a UCF student majoring in Philosophy, understands this idea that moral principles create the basis of almost everything, from politics to interpersonal relationships. [Read More]

UCF Student Uses Math, Philosophy Skills to Score Summer Project at Harvard

A UCF math major is headed to Harvard University this summer to study forest ecology through an interdisciplinary research project that combines philosophy, math algorithms and principles of ecology. Evan Waldmann credits working with Assistant Professor of Philosophy Jonathan Beever and his team for helping him land a Research Experience for Undergraduates grant from the National Science Foundation. [Read More]

Religion & Cultural Studies B.A. Online

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