Teaching Philosophy

Volume 20, Issue 3, September 1997

The One Page Philosopher
Short Writing Assignments for Introductory Classes

In this paper, the author reflects on an unsuccessful strategy for teaching an introductory philosophy class and charts her transition to a different, successful strategy which strives for intellectual integrity while coming to terms with the “impressive decrease in the level of the average student’s academic preparation.” The author first recalls her attempts to teach an introductory philosophy course with the traditional structure of texts read in chronological order, a midterm and final exam, and two several-page papers throughout the term. This strategy produced panic and incomprehension on the part of both students and professor. Instead, the author recommends a course organized by philosophical theme with stylistically and chronologically mixed readings. Evaluation for this course is based on a series of one-page assignments throughout the term, the topics of which are not strictly academic (e.g. “Explore Marx’ notion of alienation in your own work life”) but which embed course material in a context that is more relevant and comprehensible to students. The author concludes by considering drawbacks to this course structure and arguing that they are outweighed by its benefits.