Welcome to the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies

We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with all members of our community, regardless of race, gender, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, disability, or country of origin. We strongly condemn the acts of hate and bigotry that have happened here and around the country in the time leading up to and after the Presidential election. Actions, including words and statements, that are based in hate and that deny human beings full membership in the moral community on the basis of arbitrary characteristics are intolerable. We stand opposed to violence in language or in action, and see recent events as a threat to the mission of UNF as a public research university that is committed to intellectual and cultural growth and civic awareness. We pledge to stand with and for those who are most vulnerable—members of our community who are persons of color, LBGTQ persons, Muslims and other religious minorities, immigrants and undocumented persons, the differently abled, and women—and to make sure that our students and fellow employees not only feel safe but are safe. We affirm UNF’s unreserved commitment to student success within a diverse, supportive campus culture, and we seek to embody the ideals of a free and democratic society.

Faculty of the UNF Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies

Andrew Buchwalter
Paul Carelli
Brandi Denison
David Fenner
Erinn Gilson
Mitch Haney
Julie Ingersoll
Hans-Herbert Koegler
Jonathan Matheson
Sarah Mattice

The Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies offers a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Philosophy. The undergraduate program (Major/Minor) allows students a wide range of courses based on a commitment to pluralism in philosophical analysis, including Anglo-American, European-Continental as well as Comparative Perspectives. In fact, the department has the second largest number of faculty with research expertise in Global and Comparative Philosophy in the U.S.

The Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies at UNF is associated with the Florida Blue Center for Ethics. The Center promotes deepening an understanding of ethical dimensions in the public sphere through sponsorship of unique educational and research programs for students, faculty, members of professional communities, as well as the general public in Northeast Florida.

The Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies also offers a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Religious Studies. Dedicated to the comparative study of religion in a humanities and social science framework, Religious Studies offers courses that explore commonalities and differences across the world's traditions today and in the past, as well as introducing current theoretical and methodological tools from the field for investigation and interpretation of complex religious beliefs and practices.

Department Faculty consists of teacher/scholars with national and international reputations. They contribute to a growing public institution in the metropolitan area of Jacksonville in Northeast Florida. Housed in the largest college on campus, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department entertains productive connections to many programs and centers.