In this course students first read about the experience of disabled people and the history of the disability rights movement in the US, and how the approach to disability has evolved through time. Then, students devote some time thinking about the nature of disability; two families of approaches to disability are discussed (naturalism and social constructionism) with particular attention to philosophical accounts. The course transitions toward more applied questions, such as: What is the relation between disability and well-being? Is disability intrinsically bad?

This course examines the ethical, political, and philosophical questions raised by some of the new forms of human enhancement made available by breakthroughs in science and technology, from fields like neuroscience and genetic engineering. For example: Should parents be allowed to use genetic screening or modification to create "designer children," either for the purpose of avoiding diseases and other ailments or to select desired traits such as their child's intelligence, athletic ability, or good looks? Should humans pursue immortality or, failing that, radically extended lifespans?

This course introduces students to influential philosophical questions in early Chinese thought. And it exposes students to central philosophical texts such as Lunyu, Daodejing, Mozi, Zhuangzi, Mengzi, Xunzi, and Han Feizi. It is both a course in history of philosophy and a course in comparative philosophy. Hence, students are expected to both develop skills for making historically-informed interpretations of these thinkers' responses to the influential philosophical questions, and to consider their ideas' relevance to practical and philosophical discourses today.

Philosophy introduces historical and contemporary philosophical work, stressing breadth of outlook, rigorous argument, imagination, consistency, systematicity, and the dialectical interplay of minds.