Jonathan Beever

Beever logo
Department of Philosophy
University of Central Florida
Orlando, Florida
 
   
   
 
a thinker
Beever has been involved in a diverse range of teaching, including at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has designed courses, taught widely, and been involved in a range of assessment and pedagogy experiences. For more detail and his perspective on teaching, you can download his teaching philosophy here.

Beever has taught and lectured widely in philosophy on ethical theory, environmental ethics, bioethics, and Eastern philosophy. He has also developed courses across disciplines in engineering and bioethics as well as led discussions and workshops for nonacademic audiences. He especially enjoys leading discussions about the real-world objectives of ethics.

At Penn State, he designed and teach an interdisciplinary graduate seminar titled "RISE UP (Research Integrity in Science and Engineering at University Park)" in the Bioethics program. That course introduces a broader concept of research ethics that involves the wider impacts of ethics as embedded in and through scientific practice. Participants in this course develop a robust understanding of ethical responsibility in their professional work as well as pedagogical training to support their becoming research integrity mentors in their home disciplines (http://rockethics.psu.edu/education/rise-up/rise-up/597b).

At Purdue, he organized, facilitated, and made sustainable a University-level lecture series that is ongoing: the Purdue Lectures in Ethics, Policy, and Science. That program draws together internationally-recognized speakers on contemporary ethical issues and a diverse range of University stakeholders from numerous disciplines and across multiple levels. That lecture series is still graduate student organized and run (http://www.purdue.edu/bioethics).

In his current position, Beever teaches a range of ethics-related courses at both graduate and undergraduate levels, including Ethical Issues in the 21st Century, Ethical Theory, Environmental Ethics, and Digital Ethics, as well as special topic seminars including "Sound, Silence, and Environments", and "Nature, Information, and the Rise of the Anthropocene." He works with undergraduate and graduate students to engage the campus community in discussion of ethical issues through their research and coursework, and serves on committees for several Ph.D. students. He also directs UCF's Theoretical and Applied Ethics Certificate program.