If you asked students at most community colleges throughout the country what majors were the most popular, philosophy probably wouldn’t be on the top of many lists.
However, at LaGuardia Community College (LaG), educators and students alike, say that the philosophy major at the Long Island City school certainly defies that logic.
“The idea that philosophy has taken root and has flourished is remarkable,” said Dr. John Chaffee, a professor at LaG, who was very instrumental in getting the philosophy major at the school.
Currently, the philosophy and critical thinking program at LaG offers 130 sections of courses annually to more than 3,000 students with more than 100 of those students majoring in philosophy.
“We really built a program organically,” Chafee said. “We offered courses that were designed to engage students and to really help them understands things they were really concerned about.”
Chaffee, who is the author of two philosophy text books used at LaG and other schools throughout the country, believes that LaG’s philosophy program is larger and more robust than any other community college program in the country.
“The students enjoy the courses and find them to be valuable and tell others about the courses and that really fuels the growth of it,” Chaffee said.
The school recently hired three new full-time faculty members, bringing the number of full-timers to seven, and it also employees 25 part-time faculty. Chaffee also credited the administration for supporting the program and the quality teachers that have helped the program increase in popularity.
“A crucial ingredient in the development of the program has been the excellence of the teaching,” Chaffee said. “They really inspire students and really bring them into an understanding of everything philosophy has to offer.”
E.J. Lee, 21, started out as a business major at LaG until she took her first ethics class.
“I think it’s [LaG] a very, very strong program and it’s really great,” Lee said. “It was really great preparation for Brooklyn College.”
