Phillip Barron

My role in the classroom is two-fold: to create an inclusive environment and provoke students to think critically about some of the world’s

Academic Credentials

PhD 2022 in philosophy, University of Connecticut 
MFA 2016 in poetry, San Francisco State University
MA 2003 in philosophy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
BA 2000 University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Teaching

Spring 2023 Courses:

PHIL 103: Ethics
TTH 1:50pm-3:20pm

Fundamental issues in moral philosophy and their application to contemporary life.

Prerequisites: None.

PHIL 217: Environmental Ethics
TTH 9:40am-11:10

In this course we will gain an understanding of a variety of moral concerns that arise in the study of the natural environment, climate crisis, and environmental destruction. In particular, this class focuses on whether, as individuals, we can live meaningful and responsible lives during the anthropocene*. To help us understand the issues and give us some support as to their possible resolutions, we will read, discuss, and evaluate various ethical theories. We may not, and probably will not, be able to resolve many issues, but we should at least gain a greater understanding of the issues, which should serve as beginnings to possible resolutions.

*The anthropocene epoch is an unofficial unit of geologic time, used to describe the most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems.

Prerequisites: None.

Research

Book

What Comes from a Thing: poems. Fourteen Hills Press, 2015. Winner of the 2019 Nicolás Guillén Outstanding Book Award for philosophical literature and the 2015 Michael Rubin Book Award.

Articles

• “Who Has Not Wak’d”: Mary Robinson and Cartesian Poetry. Philosophy and Literature 41 (2): 392-399. 2017.
• The Descent of Winter: William Carlos Williams Under the Influence of Paris. S.Ph. Essays and Explorations 1 (2). 2016.
• Gender Discrimination in the U.S. Death Penalty System. Radical Philosophy Review 3 (1): 89-96. 2000.

Professional Experience

Previously, I have taught philosophy courses at the University of Connecticut, California State University at Sacramento, Woodland Community College, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I also worked in the digital humanities at the National Humanities Center, an institute for advanced study in North Carolina, and taught digital humanities courses at the University of California, Davis.