The UAB Philosophy program has a distinguished history — its founding chair was later named president of Wake Forest University (Thomas K. Hearn) while its second chair authored one of the most used texts in ethics courses across America (James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy).
The department is especially strong in a number of areas:
- Applied Ethics, including Bioethics
- Philosophy of Science and Epistemology
- Pre-Law
All undergraduate philosophy classes at UAB are taught by instructors with higher degrees and not student teaching assistants. Our faculty consist of highly qualified experts in their fields, who have received their degrees from prestigious PhD programs. Many are young scholars recently out of graduate school, and are doing work at the cutting edge of philosophical research. Senior faculty are established scholars with a reputation for their scholarship and professional service. Our faculty publish in top-tier journals, and their books are in the catalogs of prestigious presses. They also engage in public scholarship by writing op-eds that reach a general audience.
Philosophy professors at UAB combine their research with their teaching to offer philosophy students training in core areas of philosophy, grounded in understanding of fundamental concepts, and based on historical as well as current ideas debated in philosophical circles. We aim to offer a diverse range of classes that speak to the experience of students from all backgrounds, preparing them for citizenship in a global community and equipping them to face the challenges of the 21st century.
