ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE FOR ADVISEMENT & REGISTRATION
As always, we urge you to see your advisor prior to registration. It is important that you receive appropriate advice and that we keep your records updated. Be sure to sign up! Please note that all Philosophy majors have an advising hold that must be lifted prior to registration. You must meet with your advisor to lift this hold. Registration for the Spring 2026 semester begins Tuesday, April 7, 2026, and runs through Friday, April 17, 2026. Please check your PAWS account to determine when you are eligible to register.
Your advisor should be listed in your PAWS account on the right side of your student center screen. If you can’t find your advisor on PAWS, please inquire with the program assistant at ordini@tcnj.edu.
Philosophy Department courses are listed under several different headings in PAWS. Philosophy courses can predictably be found under PHL. However, be aware that you will find Classical Studies Courses under CLS, Religion Courses under REL and some courses may be cross listed with other departments such as HON. Please see the Advising Policy for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at: Advising Resources for Students | School of Humanities and Social Sciences (tcnj.edu)
BE PREPARED FOR ADVISEMENT
Review the requirements for your program and create or revise your 4-year plan. Check the courses offered. Devise a tentative schedule for the Fall including back-up courses in case your preferred choices are filled. Put all desired courses in your PAWS shopping cart. Put in multiple sections if they are offered. Bring your 4-year plan to your advisement appointment. Show up for your appointment and show up on time! Your advisors make extra time in their very busy schedules to meet with you; once you have signed up, honor your commitment. In an emergency, contact your advisor to reschedule.
*Please note that the most up to date schedule can be found in PAWS. This information was accurate when posted but is subject to change.
| Class | Description | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Start Time | End Time | Faculty | Attributes |
| CLS 25001 | INTRODUCTION TO GREEK MYTHOLOGY | N | Y | N | N | Y | 09.30 | 10.50 | Dakin, Emyr | VPA |
| CLS 25002 | INTRODUCTION TO GREEK MYTHOLOGY | N | N | N | N | N | 09:00 | 09:20 | Pilney, Colin | VPA |
| CLS 25003 | INTRODUCTION TO GREEK MYTHOLOGY | N | N | N | N | N | 09:30 | 10:50 | Pilney, Colin | VPA |
| CLS 22001 | SPORTS AND SPECTACLES IN THE ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN WORLD | N | Y | N | N | Y | 11.00 | 12.20 | Dakin, Emyr | |
| CLS 27002 | TOPICS IN CLASSICAL STUDIES | N | N | Y | N | N | 17.30 | 20.20 | Rinaldi, Isabel | |
| PHL 10001 | INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY | Y | N | N | Y | N | 09.30 | 10.50 | Mcandrew, Matthew | Belief Systems |
| PHL 10002 | INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY | N | Y | N | N | Y | 09.30 | 10.50 | Mcandrew, Matthew | Belief Systems |
| PHL 10003 | INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY | N | Y | N | N | Y | 11.00 | 12.20 | Mcandrew, Matthew | Belief Systems |
| PHL 10004 | INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY | N | N | N | N | N | Async | Preti, Consuelo | Belief Systems | |
| PHL 12001 | INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC | N | Y | N | N | Y | 14.00 | 15.20 | Le Morvan, Pierre | Belief Systems, Mid-Level Writing Intensive |
| PHL 12002 | INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC | N | Y | N | N | Y | 15.30 | 16.50 | Le Morvan, Pierre | Belief Systems, Mid-Level Writing Intensive |
| PHL 12003 | INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC | N | Y | N | N | Y | 09.30 | 10.50 | Roberts, Melinda | Belief Systems, Mid-Level Writing Intensive |
| PHL 12004 | INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC | N | Y | N | N | Y | 11.00 | 12.20 | Roberts, Melinda | Belief Systems, Mid-Level Writing Intensive |
| PHL 12005 | INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC | N | Y | N | N | Y | 12.30 | 13.50 | Roberts, Melinda | Belief Systems, Mid-Level Writing Intensive |
| PHL 13501 | CONTEMPORARY MORAL ISSUES | Y | N | N | Y | N | 09.30 | 10.50 | Taylor, James | Belief Systems |
| PHL 13502 | CONTEMPORARY MORAL ISSUES | Y | N | N | Y | N | 11.00 | 12.20 | Taylor, James | Belief Systems |
| PHL 17001 | TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY | Y | N | N | Y | N | 12.30 | 13.50 | Richardson, Susan | |
| PHL 20101 | HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY | Y | N | N | Y | N | 11.00 | 12.20 | Mcandrew, Matthew | Belief Systems |
| PHL 27001 | TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY | Y | N | N | Y | N | 12.30 | 13.50 | Preti, Consuelo | |
| PHL 42001 | METAPHYSICS | Y | N | N | Y | N | 12.30 | 13.50 | Preti, Consuelo | Belief Systems |
| REL 10001 | BASIC ISSUES IN RELIGION | N | N | N | N | N | Async | Rech, David | Belief Systems | |
| REL 10002 | BASIC ISSUES IN RELIGION | N | N | N | N | N | Async | Rech, David | Belief Systems | |
| REL 11001 | WORLD RELIGIONS | Y | N | N | Y | N | 15.30 | 16.50 | Richardson, Susan | Belief Systems |
| REL 11301 | ISLAM AND ISLAMIC THOUGHT | N | N | N | N | N | Async | Hamdeh, Emad | Belief Systems, Global Perspectives | |
| REL 11302 | ISLAM AND ISLAMIC THOUGHT | N | N | N | N | N | Async | Hamdeh, Emad | Belief Systems, Global Perspectives | |
| REL 12101 | MODERN JUDAISM | Y | N | N | Y | N | 11.00 | 12.20 | Greenbaum, Akiva | Belief Systems |
| REL 12102 | MODERN JUDAISM | Y | N | N | Y | N | 12.30 | 13.50 | Greenbaum, Akiva | Belief Systems |
| REL 17001 | TOPICS IN RELIGION | Y | N | N | Y | N | 12.30 | 13.50 | Richardson, Susan | |
| REL 37301 | WOMEN & SPIRITUALITY:FEMININE | N | N | N | Y | N | 17.30 | 20.20 | Addison-Britto, Saundra |
Course Descriptions Include:
PHL Course Descriptions
PHL 100 – INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
A course that examines the fundamentals of philosophical argument, analysis and reasoning, as applied to a series of issues in logic, epistemology, metaphysics and ethics. Topics covered may include: logical validity, theories of knowledge and belief, the nature of mind, the nature of reality, arguments for the existence of God, and theories of the nature of right and wrong.
PHL 120 – INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC
A course on the basic principles and techniques of correct reasoning in ordinary life and the sciences. Study of the formal systems of sentence logic and predicate logic. Translation of natural language statements and arguments and analysis and evaluation of deductive arguments through the construction of proofs. Focus particularly on the power and precision of the natural language with the aim of helping students increase their ability to think and write with creativity, precision and rigor.
PHL 135 – CONTEMPORARY MORAL ISSUES
A course that aims to familiarize students with basic concepts and theories in ethics, and with how they may be applied to a range of contemporary moral issues. Topics addressed may include racism, sexism, abortion, euthanasia, cloning, capital punishment, our obligations to the disadvantaged, the treatment of non-human animals, just war, and the like. Students will be encouraged to learn from great thinkers of the past and of the present, to examine their own moral values and beliefs, and to take reasoned and informed stands on the issues treated.
PHL 170- TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY- SUCCESS IN YOUR FUTURE WORK
Ethics in Your Future Job: “Succeed without Selling Your Soul” is a course for all students who would like to think more deeply about their own values and choices around ethics, meaning, or purpose, and for those who want to be prepared to engage with ethical challenges in their specific fields as they interview for jobs, internships, and graduate programs. Based in historical ethical resources in secular and religious traditions, the course is shaped around five key questions. These will be applied to the real ethical dilemmas faced in the workplace, and will draw on real-time news stories. Students can expect to investigate tools that they can easily use in everyday life, and to help them more intentionally choose the kind of life they want to live.
PHL 201 – HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
A course tracing the development of philosophy in the West from its beginnings in 6th century B.C. Greece through the thought of Plato and Aristotle, especially focusing on questions concerning reality, knowledge, human nature, and the good life. Attention is also given to the influence of the Greek philosophers on the Western tradition to the present day.
PHL 270 Topics in Philosophy/PHL 420 Metaphysics: This is your brain on AI
This course explores fundamental questions about the nature of reality, consciousness, and ethics through contemporary issues that arise in digital technology. We examine traditional metaphysical problems alongside emerging questions about artificial minds, virtual worlds, and digital existence. Topics include the ontology of digital objects, the metaphysics of virtual reality, consciousness in biological versus artificial systems, and the ethical dimensions of virtual or digitally-mediated existence.
REL Course Descriptions
REL 100 – BASIC ISSUES IN RELIGION
Course examining religious phenomena and their relationship to human understanding of oneself and society providing an opportunity to examine religion sympathetically but critically.
REL 110- WORLD RELIGIONS
Course comparing several of the world’s major religious traditions. Students will examine and compare the essential teachings, and the historical and cultural context, of most or all of the following: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and one or more additional non-Western tradition(s).
REL 113 – ISLAM AND ISLAMIC THOUGHT
Course examining Islam and some of the intellectual traditions that have flourished in conjunction with it. Students will study the historical origins and essential teachings of this religion and explore some of the literary and philosophical traditions that developed from or in close connection with Islam.
REL 120– EARLY JUDIASM
Course examining the fundamentals, history and development of the Jewish faith and way of life. Students will study the Jewish historical experience and the evolving theological responses to that experience from the beginnings of Judaism until the French Revolution.
REL 170- TOPICS IN RELIGION- SUCCESS IN YOUR FUTURE WORK
Ethics in Your Future Job: “Succeed without Selling Your Soul” is a course for all students who would like to think more deeply about their own values and choices around ethics, meaning, or purpose, and for those who want to be prepared to engage with ethical challenges in their specific fields as they interview for jobs, internships, and graduate programs. Based in historical ethical resources in secular and religious traditions, the course is shaped around five key questions. These will be applied to the real ethical dilemmas faced in the workplace, and will draw on real-time news stories. Students can expect to investigate tools that they can easily use in everyday life, and to help them more intentionally choose the kind of life they want to live.
CLS Course Descriptions
CLS 220- SPORTS AND SPECTACLES IN THE ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN WORLD
Athletics and sports were as popular and significant in the ancient Greek and Roman world as they are today, and so offer a good introduction to many aspects of ancient culture over the centuries. Illustrated lectures, reinforced and amplified by readings from ancient and modern writers, as well as by discussion in class, will introduce you to such
topics as: the development of Greek and Roman sports, sites where they were held, the nature of individual events, and social implications. Wider cultural aspects to be explored include the religious, political, and social contexts of sports; how their ideology found expression in literature and the visual arts; issues of class, gender, nationalism, and ethnicity; and, of course, whether the modern Olympic Games are anything like the ancient ones. You will encounter the primary data drawn from archaeology, art, and literature, and read modern studies of this ancient evidence.
CLS 250 – INTRODUCTION TO GREEK MYTHOLOGY
An introduction to ancient Greek mythology through primary texts in English translation such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, Sophocles’ Ajax, etc. Focuses on the Trojan War cycle of myths and its greatest heroes in order to understand how the ancient Greeks explored important aspects of their society through literature that ostensibly presents mythological events and characters. Attention is also given to visual representations of myth in sculpture and on vases and to differentiating the ancient Greek concept of “myth” from our own.
CLS 270-02 – TOPICS IN CLASSICAL STUDIES- Dangerous Books of the Ancient World
What makes a book dangerous? Who gets to decide what books are dangerous and which ones are not? In this Topics Course, we will seek to answer these questions and many others while reading a selection of texts from the ancient world. Censorship is not something new, but the old process of banning books was very different than it is today. Therefore, we will look beyond the idea of banning and search for why certain texts were labeled as “dangerous.” Each text we read will grant a new perspective on the word, and reveal that perhaps none of the books were dangerous at all.