"Currently I am living in Jamaica.  Under the auspices of a US Fulbright grant, I am conducting interviews with local farmers to gather information on the phenomenon of raising chickens and livestock on city streets in the very urban capital of Kingston.  Every day, I use the skills I developed while studying philosophy.  I think back to the importance my professors placed on reading challenging articles from around the world, learning to listen close enough to an argument to really understand it from that person’s point of view, and learning to present one’s ideas confidently and articulately, both inside the classroom and publicly.  These are skills I use whether I am analyzing data, reading studies by regional scholars, or relying on confidence and public speaking skills to meet with strangers and ask them to share their lives with me."

 Alison Helmuth ('07), Fulbright Scholar in Jamaica after Witt, now Ph.D. student in sociology at The George Washington University, living in Washington D.C.

“My study of philosophy at Wittenberg University informs nearly every aspect of my work at Highland School.  Perhaps most obviously, the subject matter of philosophy permeates my teaching.  Yes, we begin with texts like the Ramayana, Things Fall Apart, and Julius Caesar, but from there we move outward, seeking to engage with important questions.  Why is there something instead of nothing?  What are the implications of adopting a stance of cultural pluralism?  Is there ever a time when violence might be necessary?  I teach young minds, and they want to know.  However, in order for them to know, I have to teach them to read carefully, interrogate critically, and communicate clearly, all habits that philosophy demands.  Beyond the classroom, however, it is my job as an administrator to lead and support students and faculty on a more programmatic level.  Again, the philosophic mindset and skill set enables me to effectively perform my job.  Among other things, I have to be able to adopt a compassionate imagination while seeking to understand another’s struggles or successes, clearly communicate with colleagues, students, and parents, and, most dauntingly for me, organize my duties into a (mostly) manageable workload.  Every day, I am reminded of how invaluable my study of philosophy has been to my life after school.  I am also reminded of how lucky I was to be part of such an outstanding department with faculty who are so clearly invested in not just the subject matter that they teach, but also the students who they teach.”

 Ronnie Ross ('09), Instructor of English after Witt in the Upper School at Highland School, Warrenton, Virginia, where after two years he became Freshman Dean and is now also Director of Character and Leadership

"Given my interest in pursuing graduate studies in philosophy, the philosophy department at Wittenberg prepared me for the intensive program that is to be expected at the graduate level.  The rigorous standards set by the faculty enabled me to easily transition into professional studies."

 Rich Wilson ('06), M.A. in Philosophy at Virginia Tech after Witt, now an officer in the U.S. Navy, living in San Diego

"The philosophy department paid particular attention the ability to create a plan and a timeline for ourselves as we began our senior theses.  I'm capable of staying on track with nearly any project now.  My experience with research has also helped me be employable.  Writing bibliographies for children's literature is easy compared to the massive excavation of obscure academic literature that I completed for my senior thesis.  And now as I prepare for graduate school several years later, I'm still finding that the professors in the philosophy department are willing to offer their support and guidance."

 Emily Ann Guhde ('05), Teach for America after Witt, now a children’s librarian, living in Yellow Springs, Ohio

"A philosophy major from Witt is a planter full of the richest soil. Being able to pick up a book and within a couple hours to articulate its fundamental argument and integrity within a particular field clearly indicates effective undergrad preparation. Then a couple hours later admitting that you got it all wrong because you missed a major premise that redistributes your whole thinking on the book, this sort of criticism—of the self alongside ideas—signals a commitment to learning that only the truest education can instill. I took this class at Wittenberg named African American Philosophy. Now I’m at Yale Divinity School taking classes called Ministry to the Disinherited, and Christian Ethics and Social Problems, and MLK and the Civil Rights Movement. I can trace a line directly from my undergrad transcript through my masters transcript that will surely keep on going. My time at Witt didn't just prepare me for further study; it made me a philosopher and a theologian. A Wittenberg philosophy major is an education, an immersion, an induction into love of learning, and not learning for learning’s sake but learning for the sake of social justice, and moral literacy, and knowledgeable debate, and reconciliation, and the imagining and making of a better world—both its people and ideas. That's what I'm striving for now with my philosophy major."

 Daniel Jacob ('10), finishing an M.Div. at Yale Divinity School, living in New Haven Connecticut 

"I often hear people complain about reading and discussing philosophy: it is too abstract, they say, too far from the concrete and irrelevant to the problems we confront daily on a local and global scale.  This may be true in some philosophy classrooms, but I never found this to be the case at Wittenberg.  Underlying every class discussion was the assumption that the material we were studying was not only relevant, but essential to understanding the problems we face as a world.  Our conversations were something like experimentation; we explored how different ideas or theories result from particular circumstances, and how they affect perceptions of education, the body, and human rights.  If you simply browse the list of courses, you will see how practically-oriented the department is: 'Gender, Science, and Medicine,' 'Knowledge and Social Change,' 'Philosophy of Revolution in Latin America,' 'Ethics and Psychology."' My time spent studying under the philosophy professors at Wittenberg prompted me to think differently, read and write differently, buy differently, eat differently, and vote differently.  These aren't habits that you discard after graduation, but ones that you carry with you for the rest of your life."

 Alison Davis ('06), taught English in Slovakia after Witt, now a Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago, living in Chicago

Brandon Nesiba

Karlos Marshall

Emilia Cirrincione

Briana Leary

Joe Rosen

Adam Schueler