Robert C. Miner
Professor, Philosophy
Ph.D., University of Notre Dame
What are your thoughts on teaching?
Teaching is invigorating and challenging. It’s one of my favorite things to do! Though teachers cannot help conveying information, the primary aim of teaching is not “content delivery.” It is to awaken latent powers of the mind. These powers get actualized as students learn to read more closely, to ask deeper questions, to listen for answers, and to perceive connections between disciplines. Those who learn in this way will inevitably acquire habits of thinking, listening, and communicating that cut across conventional boundaries. “Let him be made to show what he has just learned in a hundred aspects, and apply it to as many different subjects, to see if he has properly grasped it and made it his own” (Montaigne, “Of the Education of Children”—as relevant today as it was in 1580!)
Tell us about your field of expertise.
Medieval philosophy and theology (especially Thomas Aquinas), early modern philosophy, Nietzsche
What hobbies/interests do you enjoy outside of academia?
Drums, tennis, and collecting (and playing) vinyl records
