TED VAGGALIS
Interdisciplinary Studies Center
Drury University
900 North Benton Avenue
Springfield , MO. 65802
(417) 873 - 7379 (work)
(417) 890 - 6670 (home)
tvaggali@lib.drury.edu
Areas of Specialization
Contemporary Continental Philosophy, Political Philosophy, and Ethics.
Areas of Competence
History of Philosophy, Western Civilization, History of Ideas, History of Ethics, Business Ethics, Philosophy of History, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, American Heritage
Education
Ph.D. University of Kansas Philosophy
M.A. University of Kansas Philosophy
B.A. Brigham Young University Political Science
Dissertation
Hermeneutics and the Horizon of Political Philosophy . (Director: Richard T. DeGeorge)
Publications
Instructor's Resource Manual for Business Ethics by Richard T. DeGeorge. Upper Saddle River , NJ : Prentice Hall, INC., 1995.
Review of H .- G. Gadamer's Truth and Method , Auslegung vol. 19, no. 1, 1993.
"The Justification of Justice as Fairness: A Two Stage Process," Auslegung vol. 17, no. 2, 1991.
Review of Dialogue and Dialectic: The Gadamer - Derrida Encounter , Auslegung vol. 16, no. 2, 1990.
Review of H .- G. Gadamer's Philosophical Apprenticeships, Auslegung vol. 12, no. 1, 1985.
Teaching and Related Experience
At Drury University :
Alpha Seminar , Fall 1995-Present. Alpha Seminar is the gateway to the Global Perspectives 21 program. This year long course is an interdisciplinary course designed to introduce first year students to college and help them develop the talents and skills necessary for success. The course begins with the question: What does it mean to live in a diverse and multicultural democracy? The content of the course is informed by all of the disciplines of the college, including the humanities, the arts, the social and behavioral sciences, the natural sciences and mathematics. It is a writing intensive course designed to help students develop skills in critical thinking and oral communication.
Values Analysis , Fall 1996-Present. Values Analysis is one of the core courses in the Global Perspectives 21 program here at Drury University . Students take this course in their sophomore year. It is an interdisciplinary course designed to cultivate in students the reasoning and analytical skills that are needed when applying ethical principles to concrete human situations. The course begins as an ethics course, but then brings in a variety of perspectives from other disciplines in the Liberal Arts and Sciences. The course is structured differently each semester, but topics normally covered include the nature of ethical and political theories, the notion of the good (and goodness), the standard of right and wrong, the point of morality, theories of justice, political obligation, rights.
Global Awareness , Summer 1999-Present. Global Awareness is one of the core courses in the Global Perspectives 21 curriculum. The focus of this course is to introduce students to the study of other cultures, particularly non-Western cultures. One of the most important goals of the course is to provide students with a way of systematically studying other cultures. To this end we will develop a vocabulary of technical terms and concepts, along with methods and strategies for employing these terms. The class also focuses on gaining a broad understanding of the way that the culture functions, how it determines values and practices, as well as how it relates its people to the world around it. Another important goal of the class is to use the insight that we gain from the study of other cultures to look at how we live in order to provide an appreciation for the strengths and weaknesses of our culture.
Global Futures , Summer 1998-Present. The Global Futures course is the capstone of the GP 21 core course sequence. This course ties together the knowledge that students gain throughout the courses that they take here. In the course we examine theories about the meaning of history that speculate about the future. Then we apply these theories to current events, to see whether these events show us any meaning or direction to history. We also examine economic, environmental, scientific and technological issues. The course concludes with the students developing various scenarios that attempt to explain how they see the future and how the knowledge that they are gaining here at Drury University prepares them to meet their future.
Introduction to Ethics, Fall 1995, Summer 1996. The course is structured differently each semester, but topics normally covered include the nature of ethical and political theories, the notion of the good (and goodness), the standard of right and wrong, the point of morality, theories of justice, political obligation, rights. Texts from the history of ethical and political philosophy are employed in these courses.
Introduction to Philosophy , Spring 1996, Fall 1997. The course is structured differently each semester, but topics normally covered include topics in metaphysics and theory of knowledge, topics in ethics and political philosophy, philosophy of religion and aesthetics. Texts from the history of philosophy are employed in these courses.
Studies in American Life , Fall 1999-Present. This course was designed to introduce transfer students to academic life here at Drury University and to get them acclimated to the Global Perspectives 21 curriculum . Students taking this class discuss themes in the American Experience, as well as work on critical thinking, writing, and oral communication skills. The content of the course is informed by all of the disciplines of the college, including the humanities, the arts, the social and behavioral sciences, the natural sciences and mathematics.
Theories of Justice: Rawls and Political Liberalism , Spring 1996. The course is designed to provide students with an understanding of Rawls' recent and controversial revision of his theory of justice, Political Liberalism (Columbia Press, 1993). Topics covered in the course are: the fundamental moral conceptions of a democratic society, the basic structure of society, political constructivism, the distinction between a political and a moral conception of justice, and the idea of public reason as the basis for adopting a conception of justice.
Ethical Issues in Medicine , Summer 1996, Fall 1996, Spring 1997, Summer 1997. This is a course that starts with an examination of basic theories of ethics and then applies them to a variety of topics in the field of medicine. Some of the topics covered include abortion, euthanasia, infanticide, the Human Genome project, Aids treatment, human and animal experimentation, and the distribution of health care. Students learn to look at these issues from the perspectives of science, medicine, philosophy, politics, religion, and sociology.
Contemporary European Philosophy , Spring 1999, Spring 2003. This course examines the principal philosophers that have shaped thinking in Europe over the past century. The course begins with an overview of the history of philosophy that attempts to set the context for contemporary European philosophy. The course then considers the thought of Martin Heidegger, the most influential thinker in this tradition. After Heidegger, the course examines his influence on such other thinkers as Gadamer, Derrida, Foucault, Levinas, Irigaray, and Habermas, and their reactions to his work. The course concludes with an assessment of this tradition and its place within an interdisciplinary curriculum.
Administrative Experience
1997-2001 Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at Drury University .
1986-1989 Assistant Director in the Western Civilization Program at the University of Kansas , James Woelfel, Director.
The Western Civilization Program at the University of Kansas is an interdisciplinary great books reading program required of all aspirants for the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of General Studies degrees in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. It enrolls approximately 2000 students per semester. Duties included primary supervision of staff of 34 Graduate Teaching Assistants; serving as program scheduling officer; supervision of the editing of the course's Student's Manual and Collected Readings; coordination of volunteer faculty program; responsibility for the oversight of the program budget; coordination of training sessions for new Graduate Teaching Assistants; organization of program-sponsored review sessions each semester; supervision of the preparation of common final examination for program.
1985-1986 Chair of Graduate Association of Students in Philosophy.
Served as student representative to the departmental faculty meetings; organized GASP Lecture Series; served on the Aid and Awards Committee and the Academic Program Committee.
1984-1986 Book Review editor and paper referee for Auslegung .
1981-1982 Assistant Director to the American Heritage Program at Brigham Young University , J. Scott Dunaway , Director.
The American Heritage Program is an interdisciplinary program required of all aspirants for the Bachelor of Arts degree at BYU. It enrolls approximately 1800 students per semester. Duties included primary supervision of 20 Graduate Teaching Assistants; serving as program scheduling officer; supervision of the preparation of the common mid-term and final examinations; supervision of the selection of course texts.