Mark Burris, Adjunct Faculty
Office: DKSN, 105
Phone: 501-683-7440
Email: mfburris@ualr.edu
Introduction
I have been teaching philosophy since 1996, but joined UALR in 2008. Because my full-time job at UALR is as the Director of Scholarly Technology and Resources (STaR) and the Blackboard Student Support group, I only teach online courses. And that has become my passion, utilizing technology to encourage robust philosophical reflection and interaction in the student-student-instructor relationship. Recently, technology has advanced so that my students and I can have “live” voice and video conversations through Wimba Classroom. We can discuss challenging concepts in a way that “feels” more like a face-to-face classroom. It has been interesting to hear the positive reactions of online students to this technology and it certainly has added a level of interaction that I really enjoy.
Teaching Interests
Before I came to UALR, I taught Introduction to Philosophy, Business Ethics, and Developmental Psychology. But, since I have been at UALR I have focused on teaching Introduction to Critical Thinking and Ethics and Society. I like teaching both of these courses because I am quite sure that there is nothing more important than learning how to think clearly and there is nothing more practical than thinking clearly about the ethical issues that we face today.
Courses regularly taught: Ethics and Society, Critical Thinking.
Research Interests
I have numerous philosophical interests, but tend to focus on using technology to enhance learning. It was very gratifying for me when one of my course designs was published in R. Palloff and K. Pratt, Assessing the Online Learner: Resources and Strategies for Faculty (Jossey-Bass, 2008).
Educational Background
M.A. Humanities
University of Chicago
M.S. Community Counseling
Henderson State University
Graduate Certificate, Teaching in the Virtual Classroom
Fielding Graduate University