Column by John Muenzberg, Lecturer of philosophy This semester I have been teaching Murray State students in Regensburg, Germany. As part of the program, we visited the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. Dachau was used to imprison political, social and ethic enemies of the Nazi government. Like many such camps, the prisoners were slaves, forced to work to Read More
Column by John Muenzberg, Lecturer of philosophy On June 17, 2015, nine people were killed in an Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The suspect in the case allegedly told police he committed the act to try and ignite a race war. Angry about race relations, he went into a church with a Read More
Column by John Muenzberg, Lecturer of philosophy It’s become a movie cliche for a character, during a heated debate, to declare that they don’t want to “just debate semantics.” The implication is that debates about the meanings of words are trivial and unnecessary. After all, it seems to be assumed, we all agree about the meanings of Read More
Column by John Muenzberg, Lecturer of philosophy This summer Kim Davis, the county clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky, has attracted national attention for her refusal to issue marriage licenses. While she refused to issue licenses to any couple, she stated that her refusal was due to a religious objection to same-sex marriage. Yet having a religious objection Read More
Column by John Muenzberg, Lecturer of philosophy Critical thinking is a major goal of education. In an article titled “What are the Odds?” Laura Miller contemplated the definition of critical thinking. As an English major, Miller considered critical thinking to consist of skepticism about words, and the “hidden and sometimes manipulative meanings in language.” Over time she Read More
Column by John Muenzberg, Lecturer of humanities and fine arts One benefit of a Murray State education is that graduates will have completed the University Studies Program, unfortunately known to many students as “some stupid courses I have to take.” It can be frustrating to fit your class schedule to a seemingly arbitrary list of classes, but I Read More