Our fall semester at Stetson is well underway, with midterms rapidly approaching. I’m reading through a stack of papers right now, which tackle everything from Nietzsche and Heidegger to utopianism and conservatism. I’m encouraged by the seriousness with which my students undertook their projects and their desire to produce meaningful writing.

In my Bio-Medical Ethics course, we recently had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Bill Peace (Syracuse) as a Skype visitor, and we just started a unit on emerging technologies (including cloning, genetic engineering, and genetic selection). In Continental Philosophy, we are about to engage critical theory (starting with Marx and Freud and ending with Adorno and Horkheimer). My Honors first-year students, meanwhile, are studying utopian thinking and sustainability.

On September 15, Stetson University held its annual Values Day, a holiday from classes during which students are encouraged to attend faculty and student-led panels on issues that matter most to them. I was proud to present with a current student on the topic of intersex and the complexity and social construction of sex (as opposed to gender).