Department of Philosophy
Departmental History
Philosophy Department Timeline
| 1971 | Dr. Clay Tucker becomes acting Head of the new Philosophy Department. The next year he would become the first Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. |
| 1972 | Dr. Harold Parker becomes the first permanent Head of the Department. |
| 1992 | The Department of Philosophy having grown to five full time members initiates its on-going Applied Philosophy Lyceum which, in its twenty year history, has brought such distinguished speakers as Arthur Danto, Lewis Gordon, Joel Kovel, Helen Longino, and Bart Ehrman to MTSU. |
| 1995 | Dr. Ron Bombardi becomes the second permanent Chair of the Department. |
| 1996 | Professer John McDermott calls MTSU’s Philosophy Department “one of the best small philosophy departments in the country”; during the keynote address of the Tennessee Philosophical Association. |
| 2001 | The MTSU Philosophy Department hosts the Annual Southeastern Undergraduate Philosophy Conference. |
| 2009 | Professor John Lachs of Vanderbilt delivers a timely and spirited Lyceum lecture on the critical role played by academic departments of philosophy, particularly in troubled times. |
| 2011 | The Department of Philosophy grows to seven tenured faculty and five adjunct faculty. The program in philosophy, while continuing its central role in general education, also contributes to seventeen academic minors and currently serves almost two hundred students majoring or minoring in philosophy. |
| 2012 | The Department of Philosophy adds a tenure track position in Religious Studies. |
| 2017 | The Department of Philosophy is renamed to the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. |
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Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies
P.O. Box 73
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, TN 37132-0073
Phone: (615) 898-2907