Helen Lang, Chair and Professor of the department first offered an experimental lab in the spring of '94, jointly for her Medieval and Ancient philosophy classes. She was able to offer the lab because of the Trinity Grant for Innovative Teaching, which subsidized her research in the area. After the great success of this primary lab the students great enjoyment, her fellow professor's interest propelled Professor Lang to approach Trinity in order to find money to support her venture. The department was interested, and collectively felt like the labs would contribute to the educational experience of the students. So for the '94-'95 academic year, the department prepared the labs.

Trinity sponsored a grant for the department to follow through on its initiative. Lang and Miller Brown, Professor in the department, became the co-directors of a grant called "Math, Science, and Philosophy: The Role of Laboratories." This grant, of over $150,000, allowed the department to cover the costs of hiring a new assistant to make up for the lost class time of the participating professors, summer research costs, and freeing up professors from other departments to team-teach some sections.

Not all sections will be offered in conjunction with the labs, but those that will cover a broad spectrum of fields- from Medieval Philosophers to Medical Ethics, and Philosophy of Art. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of these labs is the conjunction between technology and classical thought in practice. This year 6 classes are offered with labs. For example, in one lab simulation programs such as Mac Retina and Turing's World will be used to explore the significance of physics and cryptology. Andrew Beedle, Visiting Assistant Professor is leading this computer-driven lab with Miller Brown and Associate Professor Dan Lloyd. The lab will conjoin the classes Minds and Brains and Cognitive Science, both offered this spring. Beedle said that he sees the labs as directly relating to class material. "They will definitely compliment the material," he added.

In today's society, where now more than ever we are tech-based, it is of the utmost importance that students and citizens alike understand the intrinsic importance of philosophy's contributions. In a manner of speaking, philosophy can be said to contain a part of each major field of study. In the modern world there are the examples of cognitive science, psychology, artificial intelligence, most new math theory, and physics, to name a few. The labs will be a valuable tool in discussion about how philosophy interacts, effects, and even creates new disciplines. Students are generally excited. "The labs make the abstract philosophical concepts [that are studied in class] seem more tangible," stated Alicyn Campbell, '97.

Professor Miller Brown feels that the labs will "enhance discussion of philosophical issues" in today's world. It is possible that the labs may signify a "return to a unitary concept of knowledge," that has been lost in today's highly 'sealed' disciplines. While he sees this as a return to the classical mode of education, binding practice with theory, it is also a departure, a step forward. "We are a scientific society," Brown states, "and our citizens are ignorant as to the basis of the development of their culture." These labs will bring awareness of the technologies and philosophy in practice to the forefront. They will capture the abstract and link it to the practical.

The labs, Helen Lang hopes, will effect the general amount and intensity of classroom participation. Limitations on the teachers and students have been carefully considered. Time factors, the problem of student commitment, and the fears of students' willingness to register for an extra class in conjunction with an already three hour scheduled classroom course all factored into the departments considerations.

Professor Lang feels that the labs will "greatly improve the level of discourse" in the classroom. She also said that the lab raises the quality of work for the course, improving "the whole package:" work, class discussion and lab activities. In her own research, she studied the history of physics for the labs.

"Luckily," according to Lang, "Trinity is well enough off to support labs." She has been contacted by other organizations, and has attended an National Endowment for the Humanities convention in Washington, D.C., where she was approached by "people who expressed interest" in the program. Whether or not this becomes a national trend, Trinity is prepared to be the guinea pig for the future of education. Only time will tell if the labs are a success, but with the preparation given by the philosophy department there is no doubt in my mind that they will be a complete success.

© Trincoll Journal, 1995.