America’s Founding Principles 

Chris Nadon, UATX Visiting Professor

Read Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of Independence and his famous Letter to Holmes. Together, these works invite us to grapple with the philosophic basis of American political life—its ideals, its contradictions, and its reckoning with slavery.

Christopher Nadon (B.A., M.A., Ph.D., University of Chicago) writes on the character and history or republican government understood as self-rule in authors such as Herodotus, Xenophon, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Sarpi, Hobbes, Locke, Tocqueville, and Lincoln. He has taught political philosophy and Humanities at Emet Classical Academy, Claremont-McKenna College, Trinity College, and Kiev-Mohyla Academy.

Chance, Games, and Decisions

David Ruth, UATX Dean of STEM

Begin to master probability and good decision-making when faced with uncertainty. Topics include counting techniques and probability theory, classic chance problems such as the Monty Hall and Birthday Problems, expected value and variance, and basic decision and game theory. Applications will be stressed through examples.

Professor David Ruth is Dean of UATX's Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Previously, Ruth held several leadership positions as a Permanent Military Professor of Mathematics at the United States Naval Academy, where he was an award-winning teacher from 2009 until 2022. Ruth has authored several articles in a variety of statistics journals, as well as a book chapter on mathematics in cybersecurity. Prior to his academic work, Ruth led and served as a naval officer with operational experience in submarine and surface warfare, nuclear power, oceanography, and meteorology.

Transhumanism

Allen Porter, UATX Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Delve into the bold promises and perils of transhumanism. Explore visions of technologically enhanced humans and posthumans, and consider the moral, political, and even religious dimensions of this emerging movement.

Allen Porter is a philosopher from New Orleans with interests in phenomenology, ethics, politics, the philosophy of technology, and the history of philosophy. Prior to becoming Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Austin, Dr. Porter was a postdoctoral associate at the University of Florida’s Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Rice University in 2021. He holds a M.A. in Philosophy from Tulane University and a B.A. in German from Princeton University.