富兰克林 & 马歇尔 professor Lee 富兰克林, 哲学 offers students a chance to get comfortable voicing their opinions and discussing complicated topics, giving them a sense that their ideas matter. 这是至关重要的 而不仅仅是F&M. 

富兰克林, who is also the interim director of the 教师中心, teaches the internship-for-credit course Philosophy at McCaskey. F&招收M名学生 in the class visit nearby McCaskey High School throughout the semester to lead discussions 在哲学. 

The discussions cover a variety of subjects and aim to apply 哲学 to everyday 场景. “We always try to pick issues that are accessible for high school students,” 富兰克林说.

Recent topics have included player safety in the NFL, the ethics of privatized adoption agencies, and ghosting—suddenly cutting off communication with another person, with 没有任何解释.

“That’s something that surely they’ve experienced, maybe they’ve done it. 但 really is an ethical question there,” 富兰克林说. “When is it okay to ghost someone? Under what circumstances do you have an obligation to communicate with people?”

Taking 哲学 into high school classes gives F&M students a new way of engaging with the material they’re studying. 

“Most of their experience with 哲学 is in the classroom, in the presence of a professor who is speaking authoritatively to them,” 富兰克林说. 

Philosophy at McCaskey shifts that dynamic and puts F&M students in charge of planning 教训. To do so effectively, they need to deeply engage with the material and understand how to make it accessible to others. 

It also reminds students of the practical applications of what they’re studying. 

“I wanted to give our students the opportunity to see how 哲学 could be applied meaningfully in the community and outside of an academic context,” 富兰克林说.

For McCaskey students, the program offers a chance to explore 哲学, a subject not typically taught in high schools. 富兰克林 also hopes it encourages them to take a more active role in their education, whatever subject they’re studying.

“We give students a chance to formulate their own ideas, articulate them, listen to each other, and reconsider their ideas once they hear another person’s perspective,” 富兰克林说. 

F&M students visit the same McCaskey classrooms throughout the year, and 富兰克林 说 one of the most rewarding parts of the program is seeing students grow more confident. 

“At the beginning of the year, the students are quite skeptical and closed,” 富兰克林 说. “They don’t know who we are or why we’re there. 我们遇到许多学生 are quite reluctant to speak because they’re afraid of saying the wrong thing.”

Gradually, students become more willing to take that risk and explore complicated questions that don’t have obvious answers. The discussion-based format of the class encourages students to contribute original ideas, rather than waiting for someone 告诉他们正确的答案.

“That sort of thing is really important for people—to develop the sense that they have ideas that matter,” 富兰克林说. “Whatever your perspective is, it’s worth 听力. 这是值得深思的.”

Professor of 哲学 Lee 富兰克林 says discussing complicated philosophical questions encourages students to develop their own ideas. 

F&招收M名学生 in 富兰克林's course work with teachers at McCaskey High School to lead discussions that apply 哲学 to real-life 场景. 

«前下一个”