-----Original Message-----
From: krogers@UDel.Edu [mailto:krogers@UDel.Edu]
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 2:57 PM
To: Beth Morling
Subject: RE: PHIL465 as a DLE course.

Hi Beth,

My chair sent me the following which bolsters my argument from yesterday:


 "Experience" in philosophy CONSISTS OF working on philosophical problems. Conceived of in that way, 465 fits the DLE definition fine. Here is a quotation from the DLE FAQ page:

What is Discovery and Experiential Learning ?
While there are many definitions in the literature, in their most basic forms both discovery and experiential learning is [sic] learning that takes place when students use their knowledge and skills acquired through traditional classroom experiences to discover, for themselves, effective actions, alternatives and solutions to situations and/or problems that occur in “real-life” contexts; that is, contexts that are unpredictable, where problems and situations are complex and lack clear definitions. These contexts are primarily outside of the classroom, but may occur within a classroom experience, as long as the student learning goals of the DLE are achieved.

--Also--

It occurred to me that my Senior Seminar "Freedom and Science" for this spring fits the description above brilliantly. I am working on what free will means for philosophers, experimental psychologists (some of whom claim there isn't any free will!) and the "man on the street" (presumably at least the last of those three lives in the "real world"). We're looking especially at the (ridiculous!)claims to have shown experimentally that people don't have free will, a claim that has been making its way into the mass media (NYTimes, New Yorker...) and even into the court room ("My client is not guilty due to universal determinism.") So this is a really pressing "real world" question. (Most philosophical questions are, but in this case the application is extremely obvious). If you'd like to hear more about what we'll be doing, just as an example of the "using the skills you've developed in solving "real world" problems" aspect, I'd be happy to talk to you or the whole committee, about it.

Thanks again for your time.

Kate

P.S. I hope you'll be sending my e-mails to the whole committee. I can write an official letter if that's the more suitable form of response.