In this thirty-seventh episode of the Philosophy Bakes Bread radio show and podcast, Eric Weber and Anthony Cashio interview Nick Caltagiarone, who’s been teaching history for 16 years at the West Chicago Community High School, and has taught philosophy there as well for 13 of those years. We spoke with Nick about “Philosophy in High School,” asking why and how to teach philosophy in high school, as well as about Nick’s experience.
Weber met Caltagiarone at the 2017 meeting of the Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization (P.L.A.T.O.), which was held in June at the University of Chicago. Caltagiarone has charted his own course, given that there are not many resources designed for helping people to teach philosophy at that level. His story is inspired and inspiring, and can offer guidance for other high school teachers interested in trying their hands at teaching philosophy to high schoolers.
Listen for our “You Tell Me!” questions and for some jokes in one of our concluding segments, called “Philosophunnies.” Reach out to us on Facebook @PhilosophyBakesBread and on Twitter @PhilosophyBB; email us at philosophybakesbread@gmail.com; or call and record a voicemail that we play on the show, at 859.257.1849. Philosophy Bakes Bread is a production of the Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA). Check us out online at PhilosophyBakesBread.comand check out SOPHIA at PhilosophersInAmerica.com.
(1 hr)
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Notes
- Jostein Gaarder, Sophie’s World (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2007).
- Jacob Graham, “Presocratics,” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (ISSN 2161-0002).
- Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit & Three Other Plays (New York: Vintage Press, 1989).
- David Konstan, “Epicurus,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2014.
- Brad Inwood and Alexander Jones, “Hellenistic Thought,” Encyclopedia.com, 2005.
You Tell Me!
For our future “You Tell Me!” segments, Nick proposed the following question in this episode, for which we invite your feedback:
“If you could go back and be 17 again, what would you like to have been taught in a high school philosophy course? What would you want to learn about?”
Let us know what you think matters! Twitter, Facebook, Email, or by commenting here below.
According to the press release from Grand Valley State University:
“Lake was nominated for the award by Jessica Jennrich, director of the Gayle R. Davis Center for Women & Gender Equity, who said Lake has ‘an uncanny skill to link civic projects to tangible outcomes for both students and the community.’
“Lake has designed and taught Community Based Learning courses on food security issues and wicked problems, and hosted learning communities on engagement for faculty members. She is a research team leader for the Grand Rapids Engaged Department Initiative (GREDI), a collaborative effort among Grand Valley, Grand Rapids Community College and Aquinas College to connect classrooms with community.”