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COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY

Professor Sally Scholz talks to students in the SAC courtyard.

Philosophy is the foundation of every field of study and trains its critical perspective on every aspect of human experience.

The Philosophy department offers interesting and diverse courses that help students better understand the world and their place in it. Philosophy courses teach students to analyze difficult texts, to write clearly and precisely, to defend their views with cogent arguments, and to take pleasure in the struggle with complex ideas and questions. Course offerings span the range of philosophical schools and approaches. Students gain a strong foundation in the history of western philosophy while having the freedom and flexibility to explore a wide array of philosophical perspectives.

Department of Philosophy
Villanova University, SAC 108
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085

John Carvalho, PhD, Chairperson
Alexandra Penkalskyj 610-519-4690 Senior Administrative Assistant
Julie Klein, PhD, Graduate Program Director
Terry DiMartino 610-519-8997 Graduate Program Coordinator

NEWS & EVENTS

WELCOME NEW FACULTY

The Philosophy Department welcomes Martina Ferrari, PhD, in fall 2022! Dr. Martina Ferrari draws on continental philosophy, particularly feminist, phenomenological, and decolonial traditions, to think about the norms and structures of sense and sense-making. She is especially curious about the “voices” of silence, i.e., the transformative and generative power of silence to open onto modalities of communication, political action, and healing often overlooked by Western legalism and Transitional Justice initiatives. Dr. Ferrari earned her doctorate in philosophy at the University of Oregon and her master’s at American University, where she taught prior to joining the faculty at Villanova. MORE...

Placements, Dissertations and Research Awards for PhD Program

With job announcements, dissertation defenses and a regional research communication competition (global pandemic notwithstanding), it was an eventful Fall 2020 for the PhD program in Philosophy. MORE...

EDUCATION WITH IMPACT

 

AN EDUCATION IN THE LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES promotes intellectual curiosity and rigor; instills the fundamentals of critical insight, mature judgment and independent thinking; and strengthens students’ sense of their moral responsibility for others and for the betterment of society.