Exercises and Activities are tasks instructors can assign to their students to help them understand a concept or apply what they’ve learned. Activity pages provide a description of an activity and its aims, a list of texts instructors may wish to assign in connection with the activity, activity instructions for students, discussion questions to follow the activity, and connections between the activity’s topic and other topics where relevant.
Exercise: Applying Philosophical Theories of Race
Introduction This activity helps students apply various theories in the philosophy of race to popular race “memes” that students may ...
Exercise: Listening to Non-Ideal Theory
Introduction This activity is a way to facilitate discussion about Charles Mills’ The Racial Contract by drawing out the implications ...
Exercise: Ethics of Funerals Group Discussion
Introduction This activity supports a discussion of the different views of the early Confucians and Zhuangzi on the ethics of ...
Exercise: Epistemic Dependence
Introduction This series of activities helps students think about epistemic dependence in their own lives. Background Information Motivation Many students ...
Exercise: Epistemic Injustice Homework
Introduction Students write about an instance of epistemic injustice in their own lives. Background Information Motivation This homework exercise will ...
Exercise: Social Obligations in the Bhagavad Gita
Introduction In the first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is asking an important philosophical question: what obligations do I ...
Exercise: Teaching Brahman
Introduction This activity helps students think more deeply about the important Upanishadic claim "Atman is Brahman." Background Information Motivation "Atman ...
Exercise: Infinite Reincarnation
Introduction This series of activities helps students come to grips with the concept of samsara in Buddhism and Hinduism. Background ...
Exercise: Perfect Rituals
Introduction The activity helps motivate the Confucian focus on the relationship between ritual activity (li) and ethics. Background Information Motivation ...
Exercise: Self in the Katha Upanishad
Introduction The Katha Upanishad describes the Self in many different ways: this activity draws students attention to these descriptions. Background ...
Exercise: Individuality (Confucian Philosophy)
Introduction This activity helps students question widespread beliefs (in western cultures) about individuality and independence. It helps illustrate the Confucian ...
Exercise: Buddhism and Bad Desires
Introduction This activity helps students provide their own evidence for Buddha's argument against desire. Motivation The Buddha's argument against desiring ...
Exercise: Ancient Psychologists
Introduction In this activity, students will put the psychological theories of the Bhagavad Gita and / or the Republic to ...
Exercise: Find a Political Philosoph-her
Introduction This assignment instructs students to look at the website, Philosopher (originally Political Philosop-her), created and maintained by Meena Krishnamurthy ...
Exercise: Why I am not a Buddhist
Introduction This activity asks students to evaluate the argument against Buddhism's stance on desire presented in a poem by Molly ...
Exercise: Freedom From Fear
Introduction This essay assignment asks students to connect ideas they've learned from studying the Dhammapada to Aung San Suu Kyi's ...