Shortcut Links To Phil 1001 Course Webpages
On this page I will provide information on approved Extra Credit Opportunities for students. This is most important for students who have missed quizzes or have done poorly on quizzes, but it may be good for all.
29 Sept 2026:
Dear Phil 1001-123 students,
Here is another extra credit opportunity.To earn extra credit (dropping of a low quiz grade from final calculation) for this you must (i) attend the lecture; (ii) prepare a LEGIBLE handwritten sheet to hand in to me with one side with notes on the presentation of the speaker and the ideas expressed, and the other side with your own comments and thoughts on the presentation on oppression and humanity. (iii) Turn this in to me handwritten at class on Tuesday 6 Oct. at class. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Dr. Richard C. Taylor, Professor of Philosophy
Event:
Oppression and the Politics of the HumanFriday, October 2, 2026 @ 3pm Centennial Room (AMU 227)
Dr. Serene J. Khader – Jay Newman Chair in Philosophy of Culture at Brooklyn College Professor of Philosophy and Women’s and Gender Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center
When we speak of being human, we almost do so with great moral hope. We study the humanities in college partly in the hope that understanding our shared condition will help us build a more inclusive, empathetic, and kind world. The idea that being a human rather than a citizen or a compatriot gave people rights was in many ways revolutionary when it was introduced. The human rights regime—grounded in the notion that states had obligations to treat every human being as possessed of value—became widely accepted only in the twentieth century. The ascent of human as a moral category was deeply related to a collective realization during and after the two World Wars that the fates of human beings were intertwined. In that moment, the ideal of the human seemed to embody a recognition that in some deep sense we are all in it together. Yet, reception of the ideal of the human has not been altogether rosy.
Professor Serene J. Khader is a writer, philosopher and feminist theorist. Her new book, Faux Feminism: Why We Fall for White Feminism and How We Can Stop (Beacon 2024) won the North American Society for Social Philosophy’s 2025 book prize and has been called “a page-turner” by “Chandra Talpade Mohanty, “well-researched, compellingly written, and passionately argued,“ by Kirkus reviews, and “a marvelous and essential read” by Rafia Zakaria.
Professor Khader’s areas of research within philosophy include ethics and moral psychology, political philosophy, and feminist philosophy. She also works in the interdisciplinary fields of development ethics and global, decolonial and postcolonial feminisms. Some of the transnational practices she has analyzed include microcredit, household divisions of labor, and commercial gestational surrogacy.
7 Sept 2026:
Event:
Marquette University 2026 Constitution Day Lecture: State Constitutions and the Future of American Democracy
Eventbrite link to RSVP (by Sep 14): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/constitution-day-state-constitutions-and-the-future-of-american-democracy-tickets-1996103165301
Overview: The MU Political Science Department will host the 2026 Constitution Day Lecture by Prof. Miriam Seifter (UW Madison).
Date/Time: September 17, 12 PM
Location: Beaumier Suites, Raynor Library
Event Description:
Every state has a constitution, but these constitutions receive much less attention than the U.S. Constitution. State constitutions differ from the federal document in many ways, including what rights they protect and how they structure government institutions. State constitutions are distinctive documents—in the rights they confer, the governmental structures they establish, and the ways they change over time. Though often overlooked, these constitutions reflect a powerful commitment to democracy. In text, structure, and history alike, state constitutions privilege popular sovereignty, majority rule, and political equality. In this year’s Constitution Day lecture, Prof. Miriam Seifter will discuss why state constitutions matter and how they might shape the future of American democracy.
About the Speaker:
Miriam Seifter is the Richard E. Johnson Bascom Professor of Law, H.I. Romnes Fellow, and Co-Director of the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Her research addresses questions of state and federal public law, with a focus on challenges affecting democracy at the state level. She also teaches courses in Administrative Law, Property Law, and State and Local Government Law.
Professor Seifter is the co-author of State Constitutional Law: Cases and Principles, published by Foundation Press. Professor Seifter’s other recent publications appear in the Harvard Law Review, the Columbia Law Review, the Michigan Law Review, and the NYU Law Review, among others. In 2017 and 2022, UW Law students honored Professor Seifter with the Classroom Teacher of the Year Award, and in 2018, she received one of twelve Distinguished Teaching Awards from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For her article Gubernatorial Administration, Seifter was named the 2017 winner of the American Constitution Society’s Richard D. Cudahy Writing Competition on Regulatory and Administrative Law. Her article Understanding State Agency Independence won the ABA’s 2020 Award for Scholarship in Administrative Law. In 2024, Seifter received the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Scholar Award from the American Constitution Society. She also serves as a faculty member of the University of Wisconsin’s Athletic Board.
Professor Seifter received a B.A. magna cum laude from Yale University, an M.Sc. with distinction from Oxford University, and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was the Environmental Fellow and an Articles Editor on the Harvard Law Review. After law school, she served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Merrick Garland on the D.C. Circuit and for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court of the United States. Prior to joining the UW Law faculty, she was a Visiting Researcher and Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and worked in private practice at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in San Francisco.
About Constitution Day:
Constitution Day observes the formation of the U.S. Constitution and its signing on Sept. 17, 1787. Across the U.S., Constitution Day events celebrate the importance of the Constitution and encourage reflection on ongoing constitutional debates.
Eventbrite link to RSVP (by Sep 14): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/constitution-day-state-constitutions-and-the-future-of-american-democracy-tickets-1996103165301
To earn extra credit (dropping of a low quiz grade from final calculation) for this you must (i) attend the lecture; (ii) prepare a sheet with one side with notes on the presentation of the speaker and the ideas expressed, and the other side with your own comments and thoughts on the presentation and the importance of the Constitution. (iii) Turn this in to me handwritten on Tuesday 22 Sept. Late submissions will not be accepted.
8 Sept 2026
| Community GatheringAmerica the Borderland Opening ReceptionMonday, Sept. 21 | 4:30-5:30 pm | Raynor Library Beaumier Suites |
Join us for an opening reception of the America the Borderland exhibit at Marquette. The program will introduce the exhibit with speakers who were involved in creating it. Departmental sponsors will provide brief remarks and we will introduce two new Center for Peacemaking staff members to the Marquette community. Please register if you plan to attend.Light refreshments will be provided. |
To earn extra credit (dropping of a low quiz grade from final calculation) for this you must (i) attend the lecture; (ii) prepare a sheet with one side with notes on the presentation of the speaker and the ideas expressed, and the other side with your own comments and thoughts on the presentation and the importance of the Constitution. (iii) Turn this in to me handwritten on Thursday 24 Sept. Late submissions will not be accepted.