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| The "Bhagavad Gita" - major philosophical work from India |
...we ask those who sincerely believe that it does make sense to organize our discipline entirely around European and American figures and texts to pursue this agenda with honesty and openness. We therefore suggest that any department that regularly offers courses only on Western philosophy should rename itself “Department of European and American Philosophy.” This simple change would make the domain and mission of these departments clear, and would signal their true intellectual commitments to students and colleagues.Full article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/opinion/if-philosophy-wont-diversify-lets-call-it-what-it-really-is.html?
On a side note, ready to be fully satisfied and impressed, I looked up the course offerings of my alma mater, UMaine. I was not disappointed. The first philosophy course in the catalog was "The Philosophy of Mahatma Ghandi" subsequent listing labeled Western philosophy as such or "Continental" and there was a diverse of diversity in philosophy. I remember one of my favorite courses PH105, Religious Philosophy with Doug Allen (a national treasure!). We covered everything from Martin Luther King, to issues on religious freedom for Naitve Americans to take peyote, to--what was for me an earth-shatteringly liberating essay--Margaret Maxey's "Beyond Eve and Mary." So I had high hopes. They were fulfilled. Good job, Philosophical Black Bears.