Fred Sturm, a UNM philosophy professor, has been appointed to serve as president of the Society of Philosophers in America by its board of directors.
The society is devoted to persuading university philosophy departments to understand and incorporate numerous philosophical origins into the classroom. One of its missions is to incorporate east and south Asian philosophy into the European standards that dominate philosophy curriculums in the United States today.
During his tenure, Sturm says he will act to formalize new efforts to expand pluralism in the study of philosophy.
"We'd like to seed faculty in regions of the country, and their job will be to educate in these areas," Sturm said. He plans to establish summer schools to educate selected college and high school faculty across the nation while including American Indian philosophies.
Additional philosophy standards pursued by the group include Latin America, African and the indigenous traditions of the Pueblo American Indians.
Currently, the American Philosophic Association has turned down several grants for expansion of the South and East Asian traditions, but Sturm said he hopes to convince the Society to push for the expansion of studies of the Asian traditions.
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"I'd like to see conferences at UNM as a means to foster dialogue in different traditions," he said.
Sturm plans to pursue his agenda of broadening students' horizons through the five classes he will teach this fall semester.
"I'm good for what I'm committed to," Sturm said. "I've had Marxists and existentialists in my classes, and we agree to disagree."
The importance of Sturm's presidency to UNM's 115 undergraduate and 26 graduate philosophy students is that it will help achieve recognition for the already diverse UNM philosophy program.
"UNM is unusual in the respect that there has been an ongoing presence of non-European philosophies for 20 to 30 years," UNM philosophy professor John Bussanich said. "We don't cover everything, but almost half the faculty has substantial teaching and research in Non-European thought."
The Philosophy Department's diverse curriculum, coupled with Sturm's push for national recognition of world philosophical traditions, will help ensure UNM students a strong educational experience.
