Profiles of Past Majors

Jesse Alama

Graduate Student, Philosophy

Stanford University

Jessica Attwood, M.A.

Bioethicist

I graduated from UMM in the spring of 2004. I started my college career as a mathematics major, and picked up Philosophy during my third year. I decided to stay at UMM for an extra year to complete my Philosophy major, a decision I will always be grateful for. My background in mathematics gave me an appreciation for advanced logic, but I enjoyed the Ethics courses above all. I took a lot from my philosophy courses at UMM.  I learned how to reason and how to defend my beliefs; I especially enjoyed learning about different ethical theories and applying them to my own life. Through philosophy I was able to tie my college education into my personal life, as I wrote my senior defense paper on a subject I'm deeply passionate about: vegetarianism. Besides my current career as a small business owner (creating and maintaining websites), I also manage the Pomme de Terre Food Co-op in Morris.  It is an incredibly rewarding job, and I am constantly relating it to my philosophical beliefs about social and environmental responsibility, factory farming, and the local economy.

Brian J. Huschle, Ph. D

Philosophy and Liberal Arts, Chair

Northland College

I studied philosophy at UMM because I enjoyed the subject. At a certain point during my time at UMM I came to realize that, in addition to wanting to teach, I also wanted to teach college level students and teach the subject closest to my heart. That is what I do now, and I love it. At the time I was a student in Morris, my study of philosophy helped me in other disciplines (including my second major in English). I received comments from faculty in several different disciplines complimenting my essay writing. Many of those valuable writing skills I learned through my study of philosophy. In thinking about whether you should major in philosophy, all I can add is this: I am happy that I pursued what I enjoyed, trusting that it would lead to a career I enjoyed. I am also grateful to the faculty in the philosophy discipline at UMM who supported me through those decisions while a student at UMM, and continued to support me well beyond as I attended graduate school (University of Nebraska) and adjusted to my present job teaching philosophy in the Minnesota State College and University system.

Aaron Froberg Boston Scientific Corporation, Enterprise Systems Administrator

I stumbled upon philosophy after taking an introductory course at UMM. After only two weeks of exposure to logical argumentation and critical thinking, I knew I had found my discipline.  What attracted me the most to philosophy was how its mastery could be applied to all other areas of study. Being able to construct a solid, logical argument, and support your viewpoints with valid reasoning is essential for intelligent, thoughtful decision making.  After graduation I used all the logic skills gained in the UMM Philosophy program to enter the field of Computer Science.  I found it quite easy to make the transition because logic is the basis for all computer operations (although sometimes it certainly doesn't seem like it).  I spent five years in the industry at such companies as 3M, Best Buy Corporate, Allina Medical, and KPMG before finally settling in at Boston Scientific.  Now I am part of the BSC IS Operations team that services over 28,000 client machines and systems in over ten different countries.  Much of my success in the field of computers and technology can be attributed to my philosophy training at UMM. It was also this training that made me want to be a part of a company that provides life saving medical devices to patients around the world.  I can think of no other degree program that offers more to a student than philosophy.

Like so many other freshman, I had some ideas about what I wanted to major in, but when I took a Philosophy of Religion class during my first year at Morris, it really awoke all my senses. It seemed like a completely different way of examining important issues facing me personally. I then began taking other Philosophy classes out of interest until it became obvious that this was a topic area that I wanted to learn more about and later chose it as a major. I enjoyed the critical thinking encouraged in Philosophy classes and that, at its core, the study of Philosophy was not about rote memorization or memorization of facts with context but really a processes or way of looking at the world we live in.   I use the skills that I acquired through studying Philosophy every day. I am a research attorney for LexisNexis, an online legal research provider. The practice of law requires analyzing and formulating argument, and in my opinion, there could be no better preparatory discipline for the study of law than the study of Philosophy.

Marcus W. Miller, J.D. Chief - Civil Division Stearns County Attorney's Office

I earned a degree in philosophy for the simple reason that I enjoyed the subject as well as the people who taught it. The philosophy department at UMM is a gem within a gem. Today I am a lawyer. I am Civil Division Chief for the Stearns County Attorney’s Office and also a Judge Advocate with the United States Army Reserve. Every day of my life I use the skills obtained through the study of philosophy: I learned to construct arguments that were cogent, creative, and persuasive. I learned to write with concision and precision. I learned problem solving skills. I learned how to develop and support plausible answers to uncertain questions. Because of philosophy I am better able to spot defects in the reasoning of my opponents and, more importantly, I am better able to eliminate defects in my own reasoning. I am able to deal with an avalanche of detail while holding in focus the larger policy aims and, hopefully, the public good. In short, philosophy taught me to think well. (The walleye was 28 inches and safely released after the photo.)

Kelly Quick, Ed.D, CSCS

Assistant Professor of Exercise Science

University of Sioux Falls

I don't think I chose to study philosophy as much as philosophy chose me.  The analytical nature of the discipline matched my temperament, interest, and raw skills.  My studies at UMM honed these skills and made me a better thinker.  In turn, as Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at the University of Sioux Falls (USF), I draw from this training to make my students better scientists.  I push them to comprehend processes and principles, ask better questions, and reflect on their experiences.  Thus, my love for philosophy, initiated at UMM, has come full circle with my current students at USF.

Dr. Kyle Vick, Ph. D

Assistant Professor of Psychology

Shawnee State University

I double majored in Physics and Philosophy because I regarded those disciplines as the two most fundamental ways of understanding the world, and I wanted to be exposed to both.  In studying philosophy, I learned how to analyze complex issues.  In particular, I learned how to differentiate core issues from irrelevant rhetorical distractions, by reducing arguments to their basic premises and weeding out statements that do not relate to the argument.  These skills have been invaluable to me as an educator and a researcher in neuroscience.  As an educator, they allow me to identify and emphasize the factors that are most critical to students understanding.  As a researcher, these skills help me design experiments that test the appropriate variables for the research question I am pursing.  I also feel that these skills have made me a better citizen in that I am better able to follow and analyze political discourse than I would have been without these skills.