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Department of English and Philosophy
Course Catalog
73 Courses


COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN100 2020-1 FOUNDATIONAL WRITING 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This foundational course will provide cadets with the basic critical reading and writing skills necessary to enter EN101. EN100 aims to develop an awareness of substance, organization, style, and correctness through close, critical reading and by focusing on sentence- and paragraph- level composition. Through daily writing, exercises, and one-on-one conferences, cadets will develop the clear, logical, and grammatically correct writing that will enable them to succeed in EN101.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN101 2019-2 COMPOSITION 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course aims to develop clear, logical, and grammatically correct expression in written discourse. Augmented by one-on-one writing conferences, daily writing and revision reinforce instruction in the writing process. Organization, substance, style, and correctness in written communication are major concerns of the course, but the course improves other modes of discourse through a process-oriented approach to composition.
2024 2
2025 1
2025 2
2026 1
2026 2
2027 1
2027 2
2027 9
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN102 2019-2 LITERATURE 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE As an introduction to the study of literature, EN102 provides Cadets the opportunity to refine the skills of oral and written communication practiced in EN101 and to develop certain foundational capacities essential to undergraduate learning and to professional development: critical thinking, close reading, empathy, intellectual agility, emotional intelligence, and creativity. By studying the most challenging and complex employment of language in its most difficult forms, Cadets confront ambiguity and hone their interpretive skills through the judicious interpretation of evidence. Rigorous immersion in literature enables Cadets to increase their command of the English language and to deepen their appreciation for the power and beauty of literary expression. By engaging with major literary genres Cadets cultivate awareness of the central importance of literature to their own culture and to the cultures of various regions and nations across the globe. In their encounter with diverse perspectives Cadets acquire insight into the human condition and begin to grapple with the ethical issues that are the focus of study in PY201.
2024 2
2024 5
2025 2
2025 5
2026 2
2026 4
2026 5
2027 2
2027 5
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN151 2020-1 ADVANCED COMPOSITION 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This advanced course, into which the Department of English and Philosophy places select cadets, further develops the skills of accomplished writers. This course demands a rigorous and disciplined approach to writing through intensive study and research. It also demands attention to the nuances and persuasiveness of language itself. The course challenges cadets to push their writing beyond basic, first-year academic prose through an emphasis on advanced figures of speech and thought, through a deliberate attention to style, and through an in-depth approach to reading and research. This course expects cadets to think critically and to discover and articulate new ideas and original arguments through persuasive, polished, and mature writing. Finally, this course instills habits of mind that will that will serve cadets throughout their academic and military careers. Because this is an advanced version of EN101, cadets will be placed in EN151 individually, based on the results of a placement exam given in the summer prior to enrollment and by approval of the Head of the Department of English and Philosophy.
2025 1
2026 1
2027 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN152 2019-2 ADVANCED LITERATURE 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE EN152 is an advanced version of EN102. The course revolves around the innovative interpretation of literary texts, though it simultaneously acquaints Cadets with strategies for grounding these interpretations in concrete textual evidence and logical inferences. EN152 promotes close, deliberate reading of literary works, presents a comprehensive overview of the terms and tenets of literary studies, and emphasizes how writing, as a process, allows for the further development of one's critical thinking and analytical skills. Finally, EN152 explores the power of literature to promote ethical awareness, cultivate empathy, and emphasize a shared sense of humanity.
2024 2
2025 2
2026 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN300 2019-2 LITERARY METHODOLOGIES 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course provides cadets the methodological tools required to analyze and evaluate primary and secondary sources. Through the study of representative primary sources ranging from the ancient to the postmodern, cadets will learn the critical vocabularies and theoretical contexts necessary for the meaningful study of literature. Attention to the nature and history of literary genres, the historical development of literary criticism, and a variety of theoretical approaches to literature will provide cadets with the foundational knowledge required of an English major.
2025 1
2026 1
2027 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN311 2020-1 ANCIENT TO EARLY MODERN LIT 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course will focus primarily on the development of the Western literary canon from antiquity to the Early Modern period. Cadets may read from the works of Greek and Roman authors such as Homer, Sophocles, Thucydides, Cicero, Virgil, Ovid, from Medieval authors such as St. Thomas Aquinas, Sir Thomas Malory, Geoffrey Chaucer, and from Early Modern authors such as John Donne, George Herbert, Ben Johnson, and Miguel de Cervantes. Cadets will explore a variety of genres including, but not limited to, epic poetry, histories, drama, and lyric poetry. This course may take its focus from a central theme or idea and trace that theme or idea in the course texts.
2024 8
2026 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN321 2020-1 AMERICAN LITERATURE I 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE The course will focus on the development of American literature from early contact to the Civil War. Students will read from works by such authors as the Puritans, Jefferson, Lincoln, the Transcendentalists, Dickinson, Whitman, and Melville, as well as literature outside of the New England canon: for example, works by Native Americans, French and Spanish colonizers, and African captives. All works will be considered in the context of cultural and intellectual history. We will consider a broad range of genres and modes of writing, including (but not limited to) colonial theory, ethnography, autobiography, fiction, essays, and poetry. A central concern of the course will be the question of what constitutes American literature.
2026 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN322 2019-2 AMERICAN LITERATURE II 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course will examine both traditional and nontraditional writings from the Civil War to the present. We will examine post-Civil War literature and the myriad, often contradictory desires--economic, aesthetic, sexual, spiritual, and intellectual--to which it gives expression. The course will provide a framework within which students may examine the literature in an historical context. As does American Literature I, the course stresses the diversity of experience and poetics that characterizes American literature. In addition, students will trace the evolution of important literary movements and philosophical influences, as well as the metamorphosis of certain genres over time.
2024 2
2026 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN331 2020-1 BRITISH LITERATURE I 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course is an introduction to the study of British literature, ranging from the Anglo-Saxon period through the eighteenth century. Cadets will encounter representative masterworks from the Old English, Medieval, Renaissance, and Neoclassical periods, exploring in the process the development of literary forms, the culture of the British Isles, and the English language itself. Possible areas of emphasis include narrative and lyric poetry from all these periods, drama from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the periodical essay from the Neoclassical period, and the emergence of the novel as a distinct form of literature in the eighteenth century.
2025 1
2027 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN332 2020-2 BRITISH LITERATURE II 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course continues the survey initiated in British Literature I by considering major authors and works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Through representative but necessarily selective readings, cadets will trace the development of British literature from the Romantic Period into the Victorian Age and then to the present day. Possible areas of emphasis include poetry of the English Romantics; Victorian poetry and prose, to include the novel; and poetry, short fiction, and drama from the twentieth century. Study will emphasize the relation of the works considered to the cultural history of Great Britain and the British Empire and will attend as well to the wider influence of the British tradition.
2025 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN340 2020-1 CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course examines literature of the later 20th and the 21st centuries. In addition, it may explore the implications of contemporary information technologies for traditional literary forms, the role of globalization in literary production and reception, or the relation of literature to pressing current issues such as persistent violent conflict, immigration, and climate change. Possible genres and modes of writing include (but are not limited to) short fiction, the novel, poetry, graphic narrative, and electronic literature. A central concern of the course will be the question of what constitutes literature in the contemporary period, a time marked by developing and often differing trends.
2024 8
2024 9
2025 1
2025 8
2025 9
2027 1
2027 8
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN351 2020-1 WORLD LITERATURE 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course enhances cadets' cultural awareness and refines their disciplinary knowledge and interpretive skills by introducing them to major literary texts from around the globe. As an advanced exercise in comparative study and synthesis, World Literature builds on core courses such as EN302 and foreign language offerings. The prose and poetry of a variety of periods and a range of countries provide contexts for and contrasts to the Anglo-American tradition. In a given semester typical texts could include epics and tragedies of Ancient Greece and Rome, Russian novels, works of medieval Islamic literature, haiku of Japan, Continental European novels of the nineteenth century, or postmodern fiction of South America. This course familiarizes students not only with important literary forms and genres but also with cultural and historical contexts for many of the most pressing issues in our volatile world.
2024 8
2024 9
2025 1
2025 8
2025 9
2026 1
2026 8
2026 9
2027 1
2027 8
2027 9
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN352 2019-2 POWER AND DIFFERENCE 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course examines the complex relationship between language and power through in-depth study of texts. The course focus may include but is not limited to Indigenous literature, Asian-American literature, African-American literature, and LGBTQ literature.
2025 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN353 2020-2 WAR LITERATURE 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course ranges widely across cultures and historical periods in studying how human creative imagination has dealt with war. The works in this course are especially illuminating to professional soldiers.
2025 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN354 2019-2 SPECIAL TOPICS COLLOQUIUM 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course explores a special topic in Literature. Specific subject matter will vary with the expertise of the senior faculty member conducting the course.
2024 2
2025 2
2026 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN354A 2020-2 SPECIAL TOPICS COLLOQUIUM - A 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course explores a special topic in Literature. Specific subject matter will vary with the expertise of the senior faculty member conducting the course.
2024 2
2024 8
2024 9
2025 2
2025 8
2025 9
2026 2
2027 1
2027 2
2027 8
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN354B 2020-2 SPECIAL TOPICS COLLOQUIUM-B 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course explores a special topic in Literature. Specific subject matter will vary with the expertise of the senior faculty member conducting the course.
2024 2
2025 2
2026 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN355 2020-1 CRITICISM COLLOQUIUM 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course introduces cadets to the theory of interpretation and the practice of literary criticism. Through the study of critics ranging from the ancient to the postmodern, Cadets investigate mimetic, pragmatic, expressive, and objective schools. They also cultivate their own philosophies of interpretation and apply them to primary texts. Readings may focus on aesthetic, cultural, and ethical dimensions of literature, on the role of the critic, and on the proliferation of competing theories during the latter half of the twentieth century.
2027 8
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN361 2020-1 POETRY 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE Embracing a wide variety of authors, works, periods, traditions, and forms, this course considers the literary genre through which human beings have expressed their most intensely imaginative visions of themselves and the world, and connections between the two. Some consideration of poetics and prosody will complement the cadets' reading of verse that ranges from Japanese haiku through the Shakespearean sonnet to the free-verse creations of modern and contemporary poets.
2026 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN362 2018-2 FILM AND FILM THEORY 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course examines film as the major new art form of the twentieth century. Screenings of important films and readings in film theory introduce cadets to the origins, evolution, and cultural influence of cinema. Cadets explore connections between film and the other arts as well as the relationship between art and technology. Topics may include the Hollywood studio system, the transition to sound, world cinema, auteur theory, screenwriting, censorship, and propaganda.
2024 2
2024 9
2025 8
2025 9
2026 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN363 2019-2 THE NOVEL 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE In this course the word novel designates any extended fictional narrative, almost always in prose. Cadets will explore the novel of kind or time or both, and, in addition to becoming better readers, will work toward understanding the culturally complex world around them.
2024 2
2026 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN364 2020-1 DRAMA 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course surveys significant plays from a variety of periods and traditions to give cadets an appreciation of a genre that exists as both written literature and creative interpretation. Works to be studied range from the classical tragedies of ancient Greece through the great products of the English renaissance to modern efforts by British and American playwrights. Although the primary focus rests upon the Anglo-American tradition, the course will not neglect dramatists from other countries and cultures.
2025 1
2027 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN370 2020-2 SHAKESPEARE 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course surveys representative Shakespearean plays, including great tragedies, histories, and comedies. Study stresses the nature of Shakespeare's genius and the relation of his works to the cultures of all ages.
2025 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN371 2020-1 SINGLE-AUTHOR COLLOQUIUM 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This elective course provides in-depth study of a single author's life and work. The featured author will vary depending on instructor expertise and preference as well as department need. The course allows cadets to gain an insight into the life and work of important authors deeper than the necessarily limited exposure within a survey or genre course affords. The course invites cadets to explore the relationships between biography and creative output, to understand individual works within the context of a writer's larger oeuvre, and to see individual authors as both agents and products of their world.
2024 2
2026 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN371A 2020-1 SINGLE AUTHOR COLLOQUIUM 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This elective course provides in-depth study of a single author's life and work. The featured author will vary depending on instructor expertise and preference as well as department need. The course allows cadets to gain an insight into the life and work of important authors deeper than the necessarily limited exposure within a survey or genre course affords. The course invites cadets to explore the relationships between biography and creative output, to understand individual works within the context of a writer's larger oeuvre, and to see individual authors as both agents and products of their world.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN371B 2020-2 SINGLE AUTHOR COLLOQUIUM-B 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This elective course provides in-depth study of a single author's life and work. The featured author will vary depending on instructor expertise and preference as well as department need. The course allows cadets to gain an insight into the life and work of important authors deeper than the necessarily limited exposure within a survey or genre course affords. The course invites cadets to explore the relationships between biography and creative output, to understand individual works within the context of a writer's larger oeuvre, and to see individual authors as both agents and products of their world.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN385 2016-2 THE NOVEL 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE In this course the word novel designates any extended fictional narrative, almost always in prose. Cadets will explore the novel of kind or time or both, and, in addition to becoming better readers, will work toward understanding the culturally complex world around them.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN400 2020-1 SEMINAR IN ADV LITERARY STUDY 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course provides cadets with the opportunity for advanced study in the discipline. Through a focus on a particular topic in literature, cadets will build on the foundation established in EN300. They will deepen their mastery of critical methods and theoretical models and grow as scholars by closely examining an author, period, theme, issue, or debate from multiple perspectives. Through intensive study of primary and secondary texts, this course broadens the knowledge base by bridging disciplinary approaches and setting the stage for cadets' continued educational development.
2024 8
2024 9
2025 1
2025 8
2025 9
2026 1
2027 1
2027 8
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN401 2020-1 SENIOR THESIS I 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course permits cadets with the requisite energy and talent to initiate a yearlong project requiring research in depth that culminates in a substantial thesis of high scholarly quality.
2025 1
2026 1
2027 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN402 2020-1 SENIOR THESIS II 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course permits cadets to complete a yearlong project requiring research in depth that culminates in a substantial thesis of high scholarly quality.
2024 2
2025 2
2026 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN433 2016-1 SEMINAR IN ADV LITERARY STUDY 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course provides cadets with the opportunity for advanced study in the discipline. Through a focus on a particular topic in literature, cadets will build on the foundation established in EN333. They will deepen their mastery of critical methods and theoretical models and grow as scholars by closely examining an author, period, theme, issue, or debate from multiple perspectives. Through intensive study of primary and secondary texts, this course broadens the knowledge base by bridging disciplinary approaches and setting the stage for cadets? continued educational development.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN490 2020-1 INDEPENDENT STUDY: LITERATURE 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This optional elective offers the cadet an opportunity for in-depth study of an advanced topic in Literature under the mentorship of a senior faculty advisor. The scope and topic of the course are developed in consultation with the faculty advisor and appropriately build upon academic work already completed in the regular Literature electives. Since such a course is beyond normal teaching duties, an agreement to serve as a faculty advisor will be at the discretion of the faculty member. Enrollment is subject to Department approval.
2024 2
2025 2
2026 9
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
EN490A 2024-2 INDEP STUDY: LITERATURE (A) 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This optional elective offers the cadet an opportunity for in-depth study of an advanced topic in Literature under the mentorship of a senior faculty advisor. The scope and topic of the course are developed in consultation with the faculty advisor and appropriately build upon academic work already completed in the regular Literature electives. Since such a course is beyond normal teaching duties, an agreement to serve as a faculty advisor will be at the discretion of the faculty member. Enrollment is subject to Department approval.
2024 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY201 2019-2 PHILOSOPHY & ETHICAL REASONING 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course helps third-class Cadets develop their capacities to think clearly and critically and to write in a logically rigorous and conceptually precise manner. The course acquaints Cadets with various viewpoints on major philosophic issues, a significant part of it is devoted to developing Cadets' ethical reasoning ability. The study of ethical theory provides the foundation for this ability as well as the foundation for their Academy's character development efforts. The course also includes a substantial block on the ethical application of military power through the study of the Just War Tradition.
2024 2
2024 5
2025 1
2025 2
2025 5
2025 8
2026 1
2026 2
2026 5
2026 8
2027 1
2027 2
2027 5
2027 8
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY251 2019-2 ADVANCED PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course is an advanced introduction to philosophy and ethics. It helps third-class Cadets develop their capacities to think clearly and critically and to write in a logically rigorous and conceptually precise manner. The course acquaints Cadets with various viewpoints on major philosophic issues, and a significant part of the course is devoted to developing Cadets' ethical reasoning ability. The study of ethical theory provides the foundation for this ability as well as the foundation for the Academy's character development efforts. The course also includes a substantial block on the ethical application of military power through the study of the Just War Tradition.
2024 2
2025 1
2025 2
2026 1
2026 2
2027 1
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY300 2020-1 PHILOSOPHICAL METHODS 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course provides cadets the methodological tools required to analyze and understand the important moments and topics in philosophy, developing the philosophical language necessary for success within the philosophy curriculum. Through the study of philosophy within the western tradition, cadets will learn about major developments in logic, metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, among other areas. This background provides the foundational knowledge required of a philosophy major.
2025 1
2026 1
2027 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY305 2019-2 LOGICAL REASONING 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course blends two areas of study that are often kept separate in university courses on logic: informal logic and formal (or symbolic) logic. Informal logic's emphasis is on natural language arguments relatively simple in structure, on rules of valid inference as codified in what is called traditional logic, and on the identification of mistakes in reasoning that make arguments logically weak though possibly persuasive (fallacies). Formal logic builds a symbolic representation of sentences and arguments, describes rigorous tests for determining whether symbolized arguments are valid, and provides the means to assess arguments of far greater complexity than the rules of traditional logic are able to manage.
2024 2
2025 2
2026 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY310 2020-1 REALITY AND KNOWLEDGE 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course will address the perennial questions concerning the nature of reality (metaphysics) and what we can know about it (epistemology). How do we acquire knowledge of the physical world, the nonphysical world? Are there noncorporeal entities (souls, deities, angels)? If so, what can we claim to know about them? How are belief and knowledge related? A systematic and comprehensive approach to these problems and others will entail reading works by Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Leibniz, Hume, and Kant, as well as more recent metaphysicians and epistemologists.
2026 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY320 2019-2 ETHICS 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course offers a systematic examination and comparison of standard Ethical doctrines as well as an analysis of some of the fundamental concepts and assumptions belonging to the nature of ethical thinking itself (Meta-ethics). The ethical doctrines to be studied include those associated with renowned philosophers such as Aristotle (virtue theory), Kant (deontology), and Mill (utilitarianism). The focus will be not only on original texts which advance the doctrines but also on criticisms and defenses of them by contemporary philosophers. The texts of Meta-ethics to be studied belong to the analytic tradition of Philosophy and concern the meaning and status of normative language in general. PY320 provides a worthwhile background Cadets may apply in any course in applied Ethics, such as PY325 Military Ethics and PY326 Cyber Ethics. It will also prove useful to Cadets in other academic majors, particularly in Political Theory, Law, and History.
2025 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY325 2020-1 MILITARY ETHICS 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE The fundamental values and principles of the warrior ethos can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome. These values provide the moral boundaries of the military profession and distinguish members of this profession from other individuals and groups who employ violence to achieve their ends. Cadets in this course will examine the moral principles that define the profession of arms, both in terms of when the use of force is permissible (or even obligatory) to achieve political objectives, and what, if any, limits ought to govern how that force is used.
2024 8
2024 9
2025 1
2025 8
2025 9
2026 1
2026 8
2026 9
2027 1
2027 8
2027 9
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY326 2020-1 CYBER ETHICS 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This multi-disciplinary course will examine the current ethical, social and legal issues related to cyberspace, with a particular focus on: (1) the regulation or regulability of cyberspace; (2) the inherent tensions between traditional government surveillance and public safety efforts and the growing necessity for strong cyber security practices; (3) the ethical concerns surrounding government secrecy; (4) privacy and anonymization in cyberspace; and (5) cyber weapons and cyberwar.
2025 1
2026 1
2027 1
2027 8
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY329 2020-2 TOPICS IN ETHICS 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course provides cadets an opportunity for reading and analysis in depth of some of the seminal philosophical works in ethics. Taught in seminar format, the course challenges first-class and second-class cadets to take responsibility for discussion and analysis and for drawing connections between ideas as they occur throughout history and across cultures. The cadets will gain a deeper understanding of the human condition and of the complex world of values.
2024 2
2026 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY329A 2020-2 TOPICS IN ETHICS-A 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course provides cadets an opportunity for reading and analysis in depth of some of the seminal philosophical works in ethics. Taught in seminar format, the course challenges first-class and second-class cadets to take responsibility for discussion and analysis and for drawing connections between ideas as they occur throughout history and across cultures. The cadets will gain a deeper understanding of the human condition and of the complex world of values.
2026 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY329B 2020-2 TOPICS IN ETHICS-B 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course provides cadets an opportunity for reading and analysis in depth of some of the seminal philosophical works in ethics. Taught in seminar format, the course challenges first-class and second-class cadets to take responsibility for discussion and analysis and for drawing connections between ideas as they occur throughout history and across cultures. The cadets will gain a deeper understanding of the human condition and of the complex world of values.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY330 2020-1 POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE Examining the major theories and problems in the history of political philosophy from Plato to Rawls and emphasizing contemporary theory, this course includes such topics as liberty, equality, political authority, the obligation to obey the State, civil disobedience, anarchism, liberalism, conservatism, democracy, meritocracy, affirmative action, and global politics.
2025 1
2027 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY345 2020-1 PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course examines the nature of religion and its truth claims from the perspective of philosophical analysis. It examines such perennial questions as: is there a God? What are the arguments for and against the existence of a Supreme Being? How can a good God permit Evil? Is there life after death? Is it rational to believe in God or does faith stand above or against reason? What is the relationship of religion to ethics? Is the Good good because God commands it, or does God command the Good because it is good?
2026 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY350 2019-2 PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE Mathematics and the sciences (especially the natural sciences) have often been portrayed in the modern era as paradigmatic sources of knowledge. Nevertheless, one can still pose a number of lively and much-debated questions: what makes something a science? Is there a single "scientific method" or ideal way of discovering, confirming, or disconfirming scientific truths? Are there limitations to the knowledge the sciences can provide? Indeed, do the sciences provide knowledge? Does science make any presuppositions about the nature of the world or about what exists (ontology)? What is the nature of mathematics? Does it apply to a world of ideal objects, to rules for using symbols, or to the physical world? What kinds of things are numbers? Readings will include works by Peirce, Frege, the Vienna Circle, and Kuhn, as well as contemporary readings in the philosophy of science and mathematics and in the philosophies of physics, biology, the social sciences, and logic.
2024 2
2026 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY355 2019-2 PHILOSOPHY OF MIND 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course will jointly address major topics in the traditional philosophy of mind and questions created by recent developments in artificial intelligence: what is mind? What is the relationship of a mind to the physical world, including the brain? What is consciousness and self-consciousness? What are the definitions of mental states and processes, such as perception, desire, belief, emotion, reasoning, and action, and their relationship? Can computers be constructed to think or behave like human beings, or to have consciousness? Readings will come from classical sources, such as Descartes, as well as contemporary literature in philosophy, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence.
2024 8
2024 9
2025 2
2025 8
2025 9
2027 2
2027 9
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY360 2020-1 ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE The heritage from ancient Greece and Rome provides the foundation for the Western concept of the universe and the place of people in it. This course examines the origins of philosophy; the essentially secular view of man and the world established during the classical period; and major figures whose views continue to shape Western thought.
2026 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY369 2023-1 ASIAN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course focuses on philosophies originating in Asia, possibly including, but not necessarily limited to, those of India, China, Japan, and Korea. These philosophical traditions offer a valuable opportunity to broaden a student's intellectual perspective because they are largely free from the influence of the Hellenic philosophers that are so foundational to the Anglo-European canon. The course emphasizes engagement with primary source texts and attempts to locate those texts within the social, political, and historical contexts from which they emerged. The particular content of the course may vary in terms of the traditions explored and historical timeframe but will always do so in a way that respects the richness of the many distinct philosophies that have emerged from the Asian continent.
2024 2
2026 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY370 2020-1 17TH & 18TH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course examines a selection of texts written by central figures in the formative centuries of modern European philosophy. Their ideas have had continuing influence on philosophers down to our present day, as well as profound influence on the development of political thought and on the scientific understanding of human beings. Two schools of thought will be covered: Rationalism and Empiricism. Associated with the first school are the continental philosophers Descartes (widely accepted as the founder of Modern Philosophy), Spinoza and Leibniz. The school of Empiricism includes the British philosophers Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley and Hume.
2025 1
2027 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY375 2019-2 KANT & 19TH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course gives primary attention to the systematic philosophy of the German thinker, Immanuel Kant, whose influence on Nineteenth Century thinking was widespread and who is commonly recognized as one of the pillars of Modern Philosophy. The course will also devote attention to other important areas of philosophical thinking in the Nineteenth Century, whether within the Kantian tradition or lying outside it in other movements, such as Utilitarianism or Pragmatism, which had a continuing and significant influence on later philosophical thinking.
2025 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY380 2023-2 20TH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course will introduce cadets to a representative sample major of figures and topics which have set the stage for understanding contemporary Philosophy in the so-called Analytic Tradition. Major figures include Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Moore, the philosophers of the Vienna Circle, and American philosophers such as Quine, Putnam, Davidson and Kripke. Topics include the ideal of a logically perfect language, meaning and reference, the nature of truth, the distinction between analytic and synthetic statements, the common sense analysis of metaphysical concepts, and the rule-centered social nature of language. As appropriate, leading figures and ideas drawn from Continental Philosophy will be introduced.
2025 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY390 2020-2 INTER-DEPARTMENT SEMINAR 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE PY390 brings together a faculty member from DEP and one other department with Cadets majoring in those two departments with the aim of conducting a joint investigation of an important topic or cluster of topics, or the work of a single author, of recognized significance and shared interest. It will be taught every other year, on each occasion combining Philosophy with another discipline. Examples of second disciplines include History, Political Theory, Psychology, and Law. Examples of topics include: justice, philosophies of history, the evolution of human rights theory, the relationship between morality and law, cognition and mental phenomena, and evolving conceptions of citizenship. Examples of single author investigations include: Locke, Rousseau, Hume. The course will count as credit towards the major in both of the paired departments.
2026 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY390A 2020-2 INTER-DEPARTMENT SEMINAR-A 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE PY390 brings together a faculty member from DEP and one other department with Cadets majoring in those two departments with the aim of conducting a joint investigation of an important topic or cluster of topics, or the work of a single author, of recognized significance and shared interest. It will be taught every other year, on each occasion combining Philosophy with another discipline. Examples of second disciplines include History, Political Theory, Psychology, and Law. Examples of topics include: justice, philosophies of history, the evolution of human rights theory, the relationship between morality and law, cognition and mental phenomena, and evolving conceptions of citizenship. Examples of single author investigations include: Locke, Rousseau, Hume. The course will count as credit towards the major in both of the paired departments.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY390B 2020-2 INTER-DEPARTMENT SEMINAR-B 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE PY390 brings together a faculty member from DEP and one other department with Cadets majoring in those two departments with the aim of conducting a joint investigation of an important topic or cluster of topics, or the work of a single author, of recognized significance and shared interest. It will be taught every other year, on each occasion combining Philosophy with another discipline. Examples of second disciplines include History, Political Theory, Psychology, and Law. Examples of topics include: justice, philosophies of history, the evolution of human rights theory, the relationship between morality and law, cognition and mental phenomena, and evolving conceptions of citizenship. Examples of single author investigations include: Locke, Rousseau, Hume. The course will count as credit towards the major in both of the paired departments.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY395 2020-1 SPECIAL TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course explores an advanced topic in Philosophy. Specific subject matter will vary with the expertise of the senior faculty member conducting the course.
2025 1
2027 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY400 2020-1 SENIOR SEMINAR IN PHILOSOPHY 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course provides cadets with the opportunity for advanced study in the discipline. Through the advanced study of a topic in philosophy, cadets will build on the foundation established in PY300 and throughout their academic career at West Point. They will deepen their mastery of philosophical concepts and methods and grow as scholars by applying those concepts and methods to a number of different disciplinary perspectives. Through intensive study of primary and secondary texts, this course broadens the knowledge base by bridging disciplinary approaches and setting the stage for cadets' continued educational development.
2024 2
2025 2
2026 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY433 2016-1 PHILOSOPHY SENIOR SEMINAR 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course provides cadets with the opportunity for advanced study in the discipline. Through the advanced study of a topic in philosophy, cadets will build on the foundation established in PY333 and throughout their academic career at West Point. They will deepen their mastery of philosophical concepts and methods and grow as scholars by applying those concepts and methods to a number of different disciplinary perspectives. Through intensive study of primary and secondary texts, this course broadens the knowledge base by bridging disciplinary approaches and setting the stage for cadets' continued educational development.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY490 2020-1 THESIS RESEARCH 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course permits cadets with the requisite energy and talent to initiate a yearlong project requiring research in depth that culminates in a substantial thesis of high scholarly quality.
2025 1
2026 1
2027 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY491 2019-2 SENIOR THESIS 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course permits cadets to complete a yearlong project requiring research in depth that culminates in a substantial thesis of high scholarly quality.
2024 2
2025 2
2026 2
2027 2
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
PY495 2020-1 INDEPENDENT STUDY: PHILOSOPHY 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This optional elective offers the cadet an opportunity for in-depth study of an advanced topic in Philosophy under the mentorship of a senior faculty advisor. The scope and topic of the course are developed in consultation with the faculty advisor and appropriately build upon academic work already completed in the regular Philosophy electives. Since such a course is beyond normal teaching duties, an agreement to serve as a faculty advisor will be at the discretion of the faculty member. Enrollment is subject to Department approval.
2025 1
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
XH400 2020-1 INTERCOLLEGIATE SEMINAR 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE The focus of the course is a topic such importance that it deserves a multi-disciplinary examination. Previous iterations of the course carried out with Bard College, examined the nature and cultural traditions of a Just War, and the complex nature of human intolerance. The course has included faculty and Cadets from the departments of English and Philosophy, History, Law, and Social Sciences. Intended for cows and firsties, it counts for credit towards the major in their respective departments. The course is conducted as a seminar course meeting in two-hour blocks during which the Cadets have chief responsibility for the discussion. A parallel course at the other institution engages undergraduates and faculty representing a comparably wide range of disciplines.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
ZH303 2009-1 BRITISH LITERATURE 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course, taken abroad by the cadet as part of a foreign study program approved by West Point, falls within the disciplinary area covered by the Department of English and has been determined by the Department as suitable to earn West Point academic credit.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
ZH313 2010-1 AMERICAN LITERATURE 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course, taken abroad by the cadet as part of a foreign study program approved by West Point, falls within the disciplinary area covered by the Department of English and has been determined by the Department as suitable to earn West Point academic credit.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
ZH323 2010-1 TOPICS IN LITERATURE 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course, taken abroad by the cadet as part of a foreign study program approved by West Point, falls within the disciplinary area covered by the Department of English and has been determined by the Department as suitable to earn West Point academic credit.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
ZH333 2010-1 LITERARY CRITICISM 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course, taken abroad by the cadet as part of a foreign study program approved by West Point, falls within the disciplinary area covered by the Department of English and has been determined by the Department as suitable to earn West Point academic credit.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
ZH343 2010-1 PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEMS 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course, taken abroad by the cadet as part of a foreign study program approved by West Point, falls within the disciplinary area covered by the Department of English and has been determined by the Department as suitable to earn West Point academic credit.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
ZH353 2010-1 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course, taken abroad by the cadet as part of a foreign study program approved by West Point, falls within the disciplinary area covered by the Department of English and has been determined by the Department as suitable to earn West Point academic credit.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
ZH363 2010-1 ETHICS 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course, taken abroad by the cadet as part of a foreign study program approved by West Point, falls within the disciplinary area covered by the Department of English and has been determined by the Department as suitable to earn West Point academic credit.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
ZH373 2010-1 WESTERN ART 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course, taken abroad by the cadet as part of a foreign study program approved by West Point, falls within the disciplinary area covered by the Department of English and has been determined by the Department as suitable to earn West Point academic credit.

No Course Offerings
COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS
ZH383 2010-1 EASTERN ART 3.0
(BS=0.0, ET=0.0, MA=0.0)
Scope Offerings
SCOPE This course, taken abroad by the cadet as part of a foreign study program approved by West Point, falls within the disciplinary area covered by the Department of English and has been determined by the Department as suitable to earn West Point academic credit.

No Course Offerings