Assistant Director, The Rock Ethics Institute
Senior Lecturer of Philosophy
Penn State University

Biography

Michael Burroughs is Assistant Director of the Rock Ethics Institute and Senior Lecturer of Philosophy at Penn State University. Dr. Burroughs received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Memphis. His current research interests include philosophy of education (with a focus on experiential, moral, and the intersection of science and ethics education), philosophy of childhood, and ethics. Dr. Burroughs has published on implementing philosophy in pre-college education and engaging children as philosophers, with forthcoming papers on topics in the history of ethics and political philosophy. Dr. Burroughs is also co-authoring a comprehensive philosophy for children textbook that can be used by K-12 teachers to introduce philosophy to their students.

In addition to his theoretical interests, Dr. Burroughs has worked extensively in philosophy outreach. Prior to joining the Rock Ethics Institute, he developed philosophy programs at high schools in Salisbury, MD and Belize, Central America. He also led philosophy discussion groups for two years at Eastern Correctional Institution in Princess Anne, MD.

As a graduate student at the University of Memphis, Dr. Burroughs co-founded ‘Philosophical Horizons'(http://www.memphis.edu/philosophy/philhorizons.php), a community outreach program dedicated to introducing the history and practice of philosophy to children in Memphis City Schools, grades K-12. Dr.Burroughs also served as Outreach Coordinator for the Department of
Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Outreach).

Representative Publications

A Different Education: Philosophy and High School.² In Philosophy in Schools: An Introduction for Philosophers and Teachers. Eds. Sara Goering, Nicholas Shudak and Thomas Wartenberg. Routledge Press, 2012.

Doing Moral Philosophy with Youth in Urban Programs: Strategies from the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Model and the Philosophy for Children Movement.² Co-authored with Dr. Paul Wright and Dr. Deb Tollefsen. In Ethics in Youth Sport: Policy and Pedagogical Applications. Eds. Richard Light and Stephen Harvey. Routledge Press, 2012.

Reconsidering the Examined Life: Philosophy and Children.² Negotiating Childhoods. Eds. Lucy Hopkins, Mark MacLeod, Wendy C. Turgeon. Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2010.

Teaching Philosophy in K-12 Classrooms (Book in progress, Rowman Littlefield Publishers).