Jerry Green, Ph.D.

• Ph.D. Philosophy - University of Texas at Austin (2016)
• M.A. Classics - University of Texas at Austin (2014)
• M.A. Philosophy - Texas Tech University (2010)
• B.A. Classics - Ohio University (2008)
• B.A. Philosophy - Ohio University (2008)

Jerry Green started teaching at UCO in the Department of Humanities and Philosophy in 2017. He specializes in Ancient Greek Philosophy, especially ethics in Plato and Aristotle. Most of his research focuses on Aristotle's under-appreciated Eudemian Ethics, and its relationship to the better-known Nicomachean Ethics (covering a range of topics including the nature of the soul, the relationship between humans and God, the foundations of friendship, the components of happiness and what it means to be human). He is also interested in contemporary virtue ethics and virtue epistemology, social epistemology and the overlap between epistemology and teaching and learning. Green is an affiliate faculty in Modern Languages, where he teaches Biblical Greek.

Outside of class, Green is a drummer and amateur gardener and has a completely normal and in-control obsession with Star Wars. He drinks a barely immoderate amount of coffee each day.

Recent Publications:

• “The First City and First Soul in Plato’s Republic” Rhizomata 9 (2021):50-83
• "Epistemic Goods". Southwest Philosophy Review 36 (2020):187-198
• "Metacognition as an Epistemic Virtue". Southwest Philosophy Review 35 (2019):117-129
• "Was Pyrrho a Pyrrhonist?” Apeiron 10 (2017):335-365
• “Melody and Rhythm at Plato’s Symposium 187d2” Classical Philology 110 (2015):152-158 
• "The Underlying Argument of Aristotle's Metaphysics Z.3" Phronesis 59 (2014):321-342

Recent Conference Presentations:

• “Sealioning: A Case Study in Epistemic Vice”
• "Cross-References and the Common Books of Aristotle's Two Ethics"
• "The Platonic Soul of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics"
• “Honor, Divinity and Eudaimonia in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics”                                            
• “‘Phronēsis’ in the Undisputed Books of the Nicomachean and Eudemian Ethics”
• "Secondary Happiness in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics"
• “Practical nous in Aristotle’s Ethics”

Recent SoTL work

• “Addressing Learning Loss without Losing It”
• “Increasing Student Engagement (In and Out of Class)”
• "Online Discussion Boards that Students Don't Hate”
• “Fostering an Active-Learning Environment In and Out of the Classroom”
• “Assignment Tracks & Learning Objectives for Upper-Division & Graduate Courses”
• "Teaching the Nicomachean Ethics: Transformative Learning & Epistemic Virtue"
• “Autobiographical Essay Prompts for Analytic & Critical Writing”
• "Teaching Socrates as Metacognitive Exemplar in Plato’s Apology”

• Intro to Philosophy (Every Semester)
• Intro to Biblical Greek (Every Year)
• Ethical Theory
• Ancient Philosophy
• Medieval Philosophy
• Philosophy and Humanism
• Conspiracy Theories & Philosophy
• Non-Western Ethics
• New Testament Humanities
• Philosophy of Religion

The Ancient Greeks thought of philosophy as necessary for a flourishing, happy life. This may have been a bit optimistic, but it isn't totally wrong: learning how to think more clearly really can help you be a better person. That's why I studied philosophy, and that's why I teach it. Especially at the Intro level, I design my courses to provide an environment to help students cultivate epistemic virtues, the character traits that make us good thinkers. This means learning more about what good reasoning looks like, but it also involves developing good habits over time and a better awareness of how the non-rational parts of our psychologies affect our reasoning.

To put these goals into practice, I think about pedagogy a lot. I'm a regular participant in faculty reading groups in the 21st Century Pedagogy Institute, and I'm always working on ways of improving my course design and my teaching techniques. I've even started a new line of research connecting my classroom interest in metacognition to my philosophical interests in virtue epistemology.

• AAPT Seminar on Teaching and Learning Philosophy Facilitator (2022)
• 21CPI Distinguished Teacher-Scholar (2021, 2020, 2019)
• Vanderford Teacher Distinguished Award (2020)
• College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Teaching (2019)
• 21CPI New Teacher-Scholar (2018(
• First Place, Waggener Hall Chili Cook-Off, Austin TX (2014)