Fall 2025 Course Offerings

Instructor: Katy Shorey

Meeting time: Friday’s 11:45am – 1:25pm

Description: Intended for freshmen in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. Introduces freshmen to the liberal arts in general; familiarizes them with their major; helps them develop the academic skills necessary to succeed (analytical ability and critical thinking); provides grounding in the culture and values of the University community; and helps them develop interpersonal skills—in short, familiarizes students with all skills needed to become a successful university student.

Instructor: Ben Yelle

Meeting time: MWR 9:15am – 10:20am

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1, NUpath Societies/Institutions

Description: Introduces students to philosophy by acquainting them with the theories and arguments of classical and contemporary philosophers and by teaching skills of constructing and analyzing arguments. Emphasizes philosophical inquiry. Topics include the basis of morality, free will vs. determinism, the existence of God, the problem of suffering, and the nature of knowledge.

Instructor: Katy Shorey

Meeting time: Online

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1, NUpath Societies/Institutions

Description: Focuses on current controversial issues and moral debates. Specific topics vary but include subjects like abortion, euthanasia, global poverty, economic justice, affirmative action, gender relations, animal rights, the environment, the death penalty, war, cloning, and same-sex marriage. Offers an opportunity to learn to apply both the methods of philosophical analysis and various ethical and political theories to these controversies.

Instructor: Sarah Riccardi-Swartz

Meeting time: MR 11:45am – 1:25pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NU Core Comp Stdy of Cultures, NUpath Difference/Diversity, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1, NUpath Interpreting Culture

Description: Introduces and examines the theory that Near Eastern and European religions were originally goddess centered through analyses of image, text, and ritual in the ancient world. Explores scholarship about the patriarchalization of these primal religions. Includes a consideration of scripture such as the Hebrew Bible, Greek Testament, and Qu’ran, as well as noncanonical texts.

Instructor: Whitney Kelting

Meeting time: MW 2:50pm – 4:30pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NU Core Comp Stdy of Cultures, NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1

Description: Offers a historical and thematic overview of the most widely recognized religions in the world today: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Focuses on the formative periods and historical developments of the great religions, ritual practices, and the differing ways in which they answer the fundamental religious questions. Considers ways in which religious practitioners have attempted to understand the nature of the world, human society, and a person’s place within them.

Instructor: Katy Shorey

Meeting time: TF 1:35pm – 3:15pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1, NUpath Societies/Institutions

Description: Introduces students to the fundamentals of moral theory; ethical reasoning; social and political philosophy; as well as theories of social, political, and institutional change. Emphasizes in-depth ethical analysis and evaluation of the issues studied, their social and historical sources and context, as well as the way in which responses to them can and should lead to institutional and policy changes. Offers students an opportunity to be selected for an off-campus competitive debate experience. This course is modeled after the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl debates on current social and ethical issues.

Instructor: Branden Fitelson

Meeting time: TF 1:35pm – 3:15pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Analyzing/Using Data, NUpath Formal/Quant Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1

Description: Covers the fundamentals of (formal) deductive and inductive logic. Begins with a thorough treatment of Boolean (i.e., truth-functional or propositional) logic, which provides the foundation for both mathematical and statistical reasoning. Discusses various applications of Boolean logic, including the reconstruction and evaluation of (natural language) deductive arguments. Covers inductive-logical reasoning, such as the fundamentals of the probability calculus and its applications to inductive (ampliative) inference. Offers students an opportunity to understand both deductive (e.g., mathematical) and inductive (e.g., statistical) reasoning.

Instructor: Jung Lee (ju.lee@northeastern.edu)

Meeting time: Thursday 4:35pm – 7:55pm

NUpath Attribute(s):NU Core Comp Stdy of Cultures, NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1

Description: Focuses on how traditions imagine the moral life in cross-cultural contexts. Topics may include ideals of human flourishing, notions of virtue and vice, and conceptions of self and community. Offers students an opportunity to learn methods of philosophical analysis and argumentation in cross-cultural contexts.

Instructors and Meeting times: 

• John Basl – TF 9:50am – 11:30am
• Sina Fazepour – TF 1:35pm – 3:15pm
• Brian Hanley – T 11:45am – 1:25pm, R 2:50pm – 4:30pm
• Justin Caouette – MR 11:45am – 1:25pm
• Meica Magnani – TF 1:35pm – 3:15pm
• Kay Mathiesen – MWR 9:15am – 10:20am
• Vance Ricks – TF 8am – 9:40am
• TBA – MW 2:50pm – 4:30pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1, NUpath Societies/Institutions

Description: Studies philosophy of technology, as well as ethics and modern technology. Considers the relationship between technology and humanity, the social dimensions of technology, and ethical issues raised by emerging technologies. Discusses emerging technologies such as biotechnology, information technology, nanotechnology, and virtual reality.

Instructor: Lisa McLeod

Meeting time: MWR 1:35pm – 2:40pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1, NUpath Societies/Institutions

Description: Explores questions of economic justice from a philosophical perspective. Examines capitalism, what it is and what its ethical virtues and limitations are; if there are changes or alternatives to capitalism that would make our economic system more just; how much economic inequality we should consider morally acceptable; and in what ways racism and gender discrimination impact the fairness of our economy. Considers these questions by reading works in the history of philosophy while also engaging with contemporary philosophers writing about current challenges to economic justice, such as racism, gender discrimination, and economic inequality.

Instructors and Meeting times: 

• Lisa McLeod – T 11:45am – 1:25pm, R 2:50pm – 4:30pm
• Katy Shorey – TF 3:25pm – 5:05pm
• Yafeng Wang – MR 11:45am – 1:25pm
• Yafeng Wang – MW 2:50pm – 4:30pm
•  Mark Wells – TF 8am – 9:40am
• Mark Wells – TF 9:50am – 11:30am

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1, NUpath Societies/Institutions

Description: Introduces ethical theories and moral principles, and then uses these theories and principles to analyze the moral problems that arise in the medical context. Topics include euthanasia, medical paternalism, informed consent, patient confidentiality, the right to die, the ethics of medical research, abortion, the right to healthcare, distribution of scarce medical resources, and the ethical implications of health maintenance organizations.

Instructor: Patricia Illingworth

Meeting time: MR 11:45am – 1:25pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1, NUpath Societies/Institutions

Description: Examines the moral, social, and human rights implications of business for individuals and communities, both globally and domestically. Topics include corporate social responsibility, stakeholder theory, advertising, and gun violence, diversity and racism, CEO activism, affirmative action in the tech sector, the gig economy and employee rights, as well as human rights violations by multinational companies, including sweatshops and environmental harms. Examines the contributions of both big and small businesses to making the world a better place and considers policy that can work to that end.

Instructor: Anncy Thresher

Meeting time: TF 9:50am – 11:30am

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1, NUpath Societies/Institutions

Description: Focuses on a current ecological crisis and addresses the values that underlie our concern over this crisis, whether the values at issue are anthropocentric or biocentric. Explores the ethical implications these ecological concerns have for our individual lifestyles, and for our role as members of communities.

Instructor: Justin Caouette

Meeting time: Online

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1, NUpath Societies/Institutions

Description: Addresses how to engage in scientific, medical, and technological research in an ethically responsible manner. Research is crucial to understanding social, environmental, and health problems, as well as to developing effective responses to them. If the paradigm of responsible research is too restrictive, the benefits of scientific progress and technological innovation can be delayed or unrealized. At the same time, researchers have a responsibility to protect research subjects, to appropriately engage with members of the community, and to avoid behaving in ways that undermine scientific research in the long run. Explores the many ethical dimensions of research, and introduces students to the ethical foundations and controversies that are central to developing appropriate ethical frameworks for engaging in research.

Instructor: Sheila Winborne

Meeting time: Online, Wednesday 4:35pm – 7:55pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NU Core Comp Stdy of Cultures, NUpath Difference/Diversity, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1, NUpath Interpreting Culture

Description: Begins with an investigation of biblical texts that give rise to apocalypticism, definitions of apocalypticism, and an introductory exploration of the various ways in which apocalypticism has manifested itself in Western culture. Examines the diverse and changing presentation of apocalypticism in film and includes titles such as ‘The Book of Eli,’ ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still,’ ‘Independence Day,’ ‘The Seventh Seal,’ and ‘Blade Runner.’

Instructors and Meeting times:

• Kathleen Creel – MWR 1:35pm – 2:40pm
• Brian Hanley – TF 3:25pm – 5:05pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NUpath Societies/Institutions

Description: Examines the impact that information technologies (such as the internet, search engines, blogs, wikis, and smartphones); information processing techniques (such as big data analysis, machine learning, crowdsourcing, and cryptography); and information policies (such as privacy norms and speech restrictions) have on what we know and how much we know, as individuals and as a society. The digital world can enhance our ability to acquire knowledge by providing us with fast and cheap access to huge amounts of information. However, it can also undermine our cognitive abilities and provide us with inaccurate or misleading information. Studies normative frameworks from epistemology and ethics (such as epistemic value theory, the extended mind hypothesis, and moral rights) to evaluate these technologies and policies.

Instructor: Sheila Winborne

Meeting time: Monday 4:35pm – 7:55pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1

Description: Seeks to answer the question, “What is evil?” Uses a variety of film genres to examine the definitions of evil in relation to concepts such as power, sin, hate, greed, envy, murder, neglect, fear, terror, tragedy, and “the Other.” Studies the problem of evil from the perspectives of religious studies and philosophy. Examines the various explanations for evil from a variety of Western religious traditions and explores the presentation of ethical dilemmas and moral theory to assess the content of a variety of films. Studies film titles such as The Dark Knight, The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs, Frankenstein, Life Is Beautiful, Rear Window, Dr. Strangelove, Phone Booth, Crash, Star Wars, and The Wizard of Oz.

Instructor: Ben Yelle

Meeting time: MW 2:50pm – 4:30pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NU Core Experiential Learning, NUpath Creative Express/Innov

Description: Explores big questions in philosophy—how should one conduct oneself, what does it mean to know something, are there object values in an aesthetic domain such as art? Offers students an opportunity to learn methodologies and tools of philosophical inquiry and apply them to works of children’s literature in order to be able to facilitate philosophical discussions in the elementary school classroom. Emphasizes creating a community of inquiry and learning how to devise and communicate different answers to philosophical questions at the elementary level. Students develop lesson plans to help engage young children in philosophical discussion and reflection.

Instructor: Candice Delmas

Meeting time: MW 2:50pm – 4:30pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NU Core Humanities Lvl 1, NUpath Societies/Institutions

Description: Focuses on basic questions about the nature of the state and the relationship of individuals to the state. What basis is there for individuals to obey the laws of the state? What conditions must a government meet to be legitimate? What justification can be given for democratic forms of government? Also examines what sorts of controls the state should exert over citizens, and what benefits citizens have a right to expect from the state. Includes readings from both classical and contemporary sources. Not open to freshmen students.

Instructors and Meeting times: 

• Colin Connors, MWR 4:35pm – 5:40pm
• Daniel Mendez, MWR 1:35pm – 2:40pm
• Matt Smith, MWR 10:30am – 11:35am
• Jacob Stump, TF 3:25pm – 5:05pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NU Core Experiential Learning, NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NUpath Interpreting Culture, NU Core Writing Intsv in Majr, NUpath Writing Intensive

Description: Examines the philosophers of classical Greece, primarily Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. These philosophers examined the nature of the material world, of the city, and of the person. The course takes up both the moral and political writings as well as the metaphysical writings. Devotes considerable attention to major works such as Platos Republic. Some time is given to early Greek philosophers, to the Sophists, and to later developments. Requires written analysis of philosophical texts. PHIL 2325 and POLS 2325 are cross-listed.

Instructors and Meeting times: 

• Getty Lustilla, TF 9:50am – 11:30am
• Meica Magnani, TF 3:25pm – 5:05pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Interpreting Culture, NUpath Societies/Institutions, NU Core Writing Intsv in Majr, NUpath Writing Intensive

Description: Focuses on philosophical works written during the 17th and 18th centuries and considers their historical, social, and political contexts. Tackles fundamental questions about the nature of reality, self-knowledge, injustice, and the good life through the work of figures like René Descartes, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, Margaret Cavendish, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Mary Wollstonecraft, and others. Considers the contributions of women and other underrepesented figures and philosophical developments in the Americas. Requires prior completion of one philosophy course.

Instructor: Sarah Riccardi-Swartz

Meeting time: MWR 10:30am – 11:35am

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Interpreting Culture

Description: Examines radical religious innovation in the United States from historical, legal, and cultural analytic perspectives. Focuses on minoritized groups such as the Shakers, Peoples Temple, the Nation of Islam, and the Church of Scientology. Offers students an opportunity to acquire critical investigative tools with which to better understand the complexities of lived religion.

Instructor: Adam Hosein

Meeting time: M 4:35pm – 7:55pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Integration Experience, NUpath Writing Intensive

Description: Offers students an opportunity to learn to think, research, and write in an interdisciplinary way and bring together the core methods of the three disciplines constituting the PPE major: philosophy, political science, and economics. Examines issues such as housing, environmental justice, and immigration, among others, through an interdisciplinary lens. Students analyze how systemic racism, gender, and other power structures have created asymmetrical distribution of resources, power, and political opportunities and shaped institutions, policies, and outcomes. Includes a service-learning requirement that takes place across the semester. PPE majors should plan to take this course when the majority of the major core courses are complete.

Instructor: Mark Wells

Meeting time: TF 1:35pm – 3:15pm

Description: Explores the ethical issues that arise in the application of emerging applications of AI and Big Data in health and healthcare, especially the ways in which those applications challenge and force us to rethink traditional bioethical frameworks and norms.

Instructor: Jung Lee

Meeting time: Tuesday, 4:35pm – 7:55pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NU Core Comp Stdy of Cultures, NU Core Experiential Learning, NUpath Integration Experience, NUpath Interpreting Culture, NUpath Societies/Institutions

Description: Examines the nature of religion and religious life in Boston, emphasizing the lived experience of the sacred in an urban setting. Offers students an opportunity to develop research methods based in ethnography, the analysis of texts, and the interpretation of material culture. Readings include works in the method and theory of religious studies, the practice of ethnography, and case studies of lived religion, especially those that focus on urban religion. Expects students to engage in fieldwork in Boston, examining the implicit religious dimensions of everyday life and particular religious communities. Assignments include field reports, analysis of the religious landscape of Boston, and a research paper on a designated religious community.

Instructor: Ronald Sandler

Meeting time: TF 9:50am – 11:30am

Description: Explores two basic questions: What sorts of things are good or bad? What actions are right or wrong? Covers major philosophical theories about the nature of morality-whether it is relative or absolute, whether it accords or conflicts with self-interest. Such classic theories as utilitarianism and Kant are examined as well as contemporary developments and debates. Requires prior completion of two philosophy courses.

Instructor: Ben Yelle

Meeting Time: MR 11:45am – 1:25pm

Description: Provides the student the opportunity to learn to recognize, appreciate, and criticize philosophical themes in literature. Includes readings from acknowledged classics by philosophical authors. Requires prior completion of two philosophy courses.

Instructors: Lisa McLeod

Meeting time: MW 2:50pm – 4:30pm

Attribute(s): NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Societies/Institutions

Description: Considers how philosophical tools can help us to understand the issues of race and racism. Controversies about these issues continue to play a crucial role in the public domain. Explores questions such as what is meant by the term race as a biological category; how has the meaning of “race” shifted with time and culture; what is racism (as well as racial injustice and racial discrimination and how should we understand its persistence in areas such as housing and policing); and what steps should be taken to end racism. Examines related phenomena, including xenophobia, ethnocentrism, and imperialism, as well as intersecting forms of oppression, such as sexism. Readings draw on both historical and contemporary sources. Requires two prior courses in philosophy or department permission to register.

Instructor: Sina Fazelpour

Meeting time: TF 9:50am – 11:30am

NUpath Attribute(s): NU Core Math/Anly Think

Description: Examines the societal impact of artificial intelligence technologies and prominent strategies for aligning these impacts with social and ethical values. Offers multidisciplinary readings to provide conceptual lenses for understanding these technologies in their contexts of use.

Instructor: Ann Thresher

Meeting time: TF 1:35pm – 3:15pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NU Core Capstone , NUpath Capstone Experience , NU Core Writing Intsv in Majr , NUpath Writing Intensive

Description: Focuses on the nature of scientific method, scientific theories, and scientific explanations. Examines the central question of why science is thought to provide the most reliable account of the nature of reality. Requires prior completion of three philosophy courses (PHIL 1115 or PHIL 1215 recommended) or permission of instructor.

Instructor: Branden Fitelson

Meeting Time: Tuesday/Friday 3:25-5:05pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NU Core Math/Anly Think Lvl 2

Description: Examines central results of formal deductive logic with a focus on first-order (predicate) logic. Topics include proof systems, decidability, computability, and metatheory.

Prerequisite(s): PHIL 1115 with a minimum grade of D-

Instructor: Jorge Morales

Meeting time: MW 2:50pm – 4:30pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NU Core Capstone NUpath Capstone, Experience, NU Core Writing Intsv in Majr , NUpath Writing Intensive

Description: Seeks to show what puzzles and problems result from an honest attempt to answer these questions in a reasonable way: What is the relation between mind and body? Is the mental merely a function of bodily process and behavior, or does it somehow exist over and above the material? How are self-knowledge and knowledge of other minds achieved, and what is the relation between words and thoughts? Examines classical sources, such as Descartes and Locke, and contemporary sources, such as Wittgenstein and Putnam. Also seeks to arrive at some answers-however tentative or provisional-to these questions. Constantly challenges students to think and write well about these difficult subjects. Requires prior completion of three philosophy courses or permission of instructor.

Instructor: Adam Hosein

Sequence: MR 11:45am – 1:25pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NU Core Capstone, NUpath Capstone Experience, NU Core Experiential Learning, NU Core Writing Intsv in Majr, NUpath Writing Intensive

Description: Focuses on one specific problem or issue in philosophy. Topics vary, and students may register for the course more than once. Requires prior completion of three philosophy courses. May be repeated without limit.

Instructor: Matthew Smith

Meeting time: MR 11:45am – 1:25pm

NUpath Attribute(s): NUpath Capstone Experience

Description: Offers students from multiple disciplines an opportunity to obtain training in basic methodology in analytic ethics and political philosophy. Focuses on the intersection of ethical analysis and policy evaluation. Organized around different policy areas, such as energy production and distribution, urban planning, healthcare provision, criminal justice, and artificial intelligence. Engages broad issues involving the relationship between ethics and public policy, as well as the scope and limits of legitimate government authority. Looks at specific policies and policy domains and offers students multiple theoretical frameworks for approaching ethical questions embedded in those policy areas.

Instructor: Vance Ricks

Meeting time: Online, TF 9:50am – 11:30am

Description: Covers the design, development, and deployment of artificial intelligence and how it interacts with a wide range of values including fairness, privacy, transparency, autonomy, and well-being. Offers students an opportunity to develop an understanding of the robust legal, regulatory, and ethical landscape of AI applications across domains and sectors to realize the promise of AI while promoting and protecting values, as well as instruction in the tools necessary to responsibly engage with AI.