Mia Wood
Adjunct Faculty
Education:
Ph.D. - Philosophy University of South Carolina
Brief Biography:
I have spent approximately 20 years working with undergraduates. More specifically, I have spent most of my time in the community college classroom, preparing students to transfer to four-year institutions. This work has been the greatest professional privilege of my life.
Area(s) of Expertise:
I wrote my dissertation on Kant, with a focus on the concept of critique as a metaphor for transcendental self consciousness. I also spend a considerable amount of time on Plato's Socrates. That said, I do not consider myself an expert on either.
Teaching Philosophy:
Teaching and learning are, for me, largely interchangeable. As I teach, I learn, and as I learn, I teach. What I mean by this is summed up in a two-word cycle: humility and aspiration. Teaching humbles me, learning makes me ambitious enough to teach, and when I teach, I am once again humbled. This process, crucial personal and professional growth, is what I attempt to share what that means with my students through philosophical study.
Encountering a philosophical thought invariably produces confusion. Socrates’s discussions with the likes of Euthyphro or Meno yield paradigms of the perplexities that often result from the demands of philosophy, particularly where clarifying concepts and following lines of reasoning are the objectives. Through continued philosophical study I’ve learned how to embrace and work through the discomfort of uncertainty. Philosophy is, after all, risky business. Developing that posture has allowed me to “worry” the text until I have satisfied myself with some understanding. I try to develop this process with class members, most commonly by sharing my own struggles to “do” philosophy.
More broadly, I am not shy about sharing my enthusiasm for the excitement of discovery, the appreciation for myriad intellectual guides, and the responsibility to develop the skills to think for oneself.
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