The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will celebrate 50 years of providing an outstanding undergraduate Environmental Ethics program. The Department of Philosophy was the first in the country to offer a course in Environmental Ethics and has one of the longest-running environmental ethics majors in the world.
The event is open to the public, free of charge.
American philosopher J. Baird Callicott, who taught the original course at UWSP, will present the keynote, “Thinking like a Planet: The Land Ethics and the Earth Ethic,” discussion reflections on Aldo Leopold’s thought in the past, present and future. From UW-Stevens Point, he went on to be a national voice and proponent of Aldo Leopold’s land ethic and its response to global climate change.
Callicott’s talk will be followed by a panel discussion on the history of environmental ethics courses and programs at UW-Stevens Point, and will include:
- Jason Zinser, assistant professor of philosophy at UWSP
- Chris Diehm, professor of philosophy at UWSP
- Michael Nelson, professor of environmental ethics and philosophy at Oregon State University
- Brenda Lackey, associate dean for Academic Affairs at UWSP
- Bob Ramlow, UWSP alumnus and founding member of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association
Callicott is a retired University Distinguished Research Professor and Regents Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Texas.
He is co-editor-in-chief of the “Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy” and author and editor of many books and journal articles about environmental ethics and philosophy. He has served as president of the International Society for Environmental Ethics, as Bioethicist-in-Residence at Yale University and as chair of the UNT Department of Philosophy.