My department at Colorado College lists the Philosophy of Language as an introductory course, but in my experience prior to this position, the philosophy of language is usually too technical to be a good introduction to philosophy. Rather than change the departmental curriculum, I decided to see if I could make this work: I reconsidered what could be taught as part of the Philosophy of Language, and how to make the concepts accessible to students from different backgrounds. As a bonus, I have sometimes been able to teach this course in the fine arts center near my campus. The syllabus reflects not only my efforts to find accessible topics and readings in the philosophy of language but also our heavy use of local visual and performing arts resources.
The schedule is also unusual because Colorado College uses a “block” calendar, rather than quarters or semesters. This might work for you as a summer class, or parts could be adapted to a more standard academic calendar.
I have several goals in mind for the students in this class:
- Explain some philosophical theories about language and apply them to new phenomena
- Improve your writing, reading, public speaking, and teamwork skills
- Find new questions and tools for thinking that excite you
- Improve your ability to understand philosophical questions through visual arts, and your ability to understand artworks through philosophical thinking
- Build a lively, supportive classroom community
The content changes each time I teach the course, but always includes a mix of classic works in analytic philosophy of language, related research in other disciplines, and recently published philosophy articles that exemplify the kinds of fascinating applications of theory that are possible in the philosophy of language. I think this mix helps to draw students with varying background experiences into the course content in different ways. For example, the inclusion of psychology and linguistics research, poetry, and game theory allows students with different levels of expertise in these areas to take a more prominent role in class discussions on different days.
The structure of the course remains relatively constant: My central emphasis is on group activities that help students learn and apply new ideas together. I don’t grade students as a group, and nearly all of the group work happens in class. So the students get the benefits of working together—learning from each other, participating more in class, and building relationships—without the drawback of unequal contributions to the group.
After the syllabus, I’ve also included a couple of the in-class games I’ve developed. In other instances of this course, I’ve used other games (including the outstanding Sign).
The Syllabus Showcase of the APA Blog is designed to share insights into the syllabi of philosophy educators. We include syllabi in their original, unedited format that showcase a wide variety of philosophy classes. We would love for you to be a part of this project. Please contact Series Editor, Cara S. Greene via cara.greene@coloradocollege.edu, or Editor of the Teaching Beat, Dr. Smrutipriya Pattnaik via smrutipriya23@gmail.com with potential submissions.
Helen Daly
Helen Daly is an associate professor of philosophy at Colorado College. Her research in the past has included a wide range of questions within the areas of metaphysics and the philosophy of language (the nature of sex and gender, the possibility of hell, insults, sexual violence). She is currently writing about personal identity.
