W 5-7:45p.m. (PL 220H-1) "History of Medieval Philosophy"
(reachable by email or voice mail)
T or W 2-5p.m. - Philosophy B26a (Ad. Bldg. basement)
Dr. Brenda Wirkus is one of the highest acclaimed professors at JCU, representing the Philosophy Department since 1987.
In Summer 2010, Dr. Wirkus was named the Director of the M.A. Program in Humanities.
She is very enthusiastic about this opportunity to engage a broader audience from within the University and reach out to the wider community.
The oldest of six children, Dr. Wirkus attended Georgetown University intending on pursuing a foreign language major. Instead, she was
intruiged by philosophy class and the life of the mind. She opted for the B.A. in philosophy, her Masters
from Cleveland State University and her
Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa.
PL220H-1. History of Medieval Philosophy. Wednesdays, 5 to 7:45p.m.
This is the Honors Section of Medieval Philosophy.
In this course we shall focus on some of the greatest thinkers in the common era up to the year 1400.
We shall study the influence of Greek philosophy on the 3 great western monotheistic traditions:
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
While embracing the Greek emphasis on reason, argument, and order, these 3 religious traditions expand Greek philosophy
to include questions about creation, the radical contingency of existence, and free will .
We shall examine in detail some major works of Augustine, Boethius, Aquinas, and Dante.
Some of the other courses she
teaches are Philosophy of Woman, 19th and 20th
Century Philosophy, Theories of Knowledge, The Classical Ethos: Ancient & Medieval World to 1500, and the Senior Seminar.
Hopefully this page enables you to see the "real" Dr. Wirkus, a pleasure in and out of the classroom.
