CURRICULUM VITAE
PERSONAL Name: William Clyde Sewell
DATA School Address: Department of Humanities
Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, MI 49931
(906)-487-3242
Home Address: 304 W. Douglass Avenue
Houghton, MI 49931
(906)-482-6038
Fax: (906)-487-3559
E-mail: wsewell@mtu.edu
Title: Associate Professor of Philosophy
EDUCATIONAL B.A., Philosophy, Southern Illinois University at
BACKGROUND Edwardsville, 1965
Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, 1975
Dissertation: Mach, Einstein, and the General
Theory of Relativity
(Examines influence of Mach's positivism on development of general relativity,
with emphasis on Mach's Principle; traces Einstein's work on general relativity
from 1907-1917.)
AREA OF Philosophy of Science
COMPETENCE
AREAS OF Bio-ethics, Death and Dying, Environmental Ethics, Philosophy of
INTEREST Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Technology
ADMINI- Associate Department Chair (1996 - present)
STRATIVE
POSITIONS Director of Scientific and Technical Communications (1993 - 1996)
Responsibilities include directing STC curriculum revision, coordinating STC
course offerings, interviewing prospective students (and their parents),
admitting students to the STC program, developing recruitment materials,
supervising the STC advisor, supervising a GRA student, advising the student
chapter of the Society for Technical Communications, coordinating STC fund
raising efforts, editing and publishing the STC alumni newsletter, coordinating
STC job placement activities, establishing and maintaining corporate contacts
and relations, and working with STC faculty to maintain and enhance the STC
program.
Director of General Studies (1977-1980)
Advised all General Studies students (approximately 200 or more; these
students are now enrolled in General Studies, Engineering Undeclared, or
Sciences & Arts Undeclared), approved all degree schedules for the
Humanities Department (General Studies, STC, Liberal Arts, and English),
generally administered the General Studies program.
COMMITTEES University Course Change Committee (1975-78)
AND OTHER University Alumni College Committee (1979-80)
ADMINI- University Multiple Associate Degrees Committee (1981-82 chair)
STRATIVE University Committee for Campus Enrichment (1988-92, 92-93 chair)
POSITIONS University Judiciary Committee (1986-88)
University Task Force for Quality of University Life (1987-91)
University Prejudice Reduction Committee (1993-1998)
University Human Relations Series Planning Committee (1995-present)
University President's Commission on Diversity (1995-present)
University National Coalition Building Institute Chapter (1995-present)
University Distribution Courses Subcommittee (1999 - present)
MTU Senate Curricular Policy Committee (1986-89 chair, 89-90)
MTU Senate General Education Committee (1986-89)
College Science, Technology and Society Committee (1978-81)
College Computer Assisted Instruction Committee (1978-80)
College Core Curriculum Committee (1978-81)
College NEH Selection Committee (1979-80)
College Science, Technology and Society Symposium Committee - Publicity Subcommittee chair (1979-80)
College Humanities/Social Sciences Coordinating Committee (1977-80)
College Writing Intensive Courses Committee (1980-81)
College Philosophy and Science, Technology and Society Committee (1981-82)
College Philosophy and Psychology committee (1985-86)
Humanities Interdisciplinary Courses Committee (1972-74)
Humanities Philosophy Committee (1980-89 chair)
Humanities Head Search Committee (1975-76)
Humanities Graduate Program Committee (1975-76)
Humanities Promotion and Tenure Committee (1973-74, 76-81, 81-82 chair, 85-86)
Humanities Curriculum Committee (1976-82 chair, 92-93 chair)
Humanities Executive Committee (1981-82, 85-89)
Humanities Steering Committee (1992-present)
Humanities Sherman Gym Liaison Committee (1981-83)
Humanities Philosophy Search Committee (1982-83, 85-86 chair)
Humanities Cluster Courses Committee (1986-87)
Humanities Graduate Policy Committee (1989-90)
Humanities Rhetoric and Composition Search Committee (1989-90)
Humanities Core Curriculum Committee (1989-91)
Humanities Empirical Research Committee (1990-91)
Humanities Initial Advising Team (1990-93)
(Advised all first year RTC graduate students)
Humanities Psychology Committee (1991-92)
Humanities Charter Committee (1992-93, 94-present)
Humanities Scientific and Technical Communications Committee (1993-1996; chair)
Humanities Curriculum Reform Committee (1993-1996)
Humanities Undergraduate Steering Committee (1994-present)
Humanities Grievance Committee (1995-96)
Humanities Merit/Release Time Committee (1997)
Humanities Performance Profile/Rating Committee (1997-present)
Social Sciences Native American Committee (1980-81)
Social Sciences Science, Technology and Society Committee (1980-82)
Social Sciences Long Range Planning Committee (1987-88)
Social Sciences Environment, Technology and Policy Masters Program Development Committee (1993-1997)
MTU Senate Alternate (1975-77, 89-92)
MTU Senate (1985-89)
Humanities Advising Coordinator (1977-80)
Humanities Library Liaison (1981-82)
Humanities Colloquia Coordinator (1986-87)
Humanities Computer Consultant (1989-90)
Humanities Philosophy Liaison (1992-93)
COURSES Advanced Logic* Ethics and Technology
TAUGHT Computers and Society Engineering Ethics
Environmental Ethics Ethics*
Existentialism* Introduction to Logic
Introduction to Philosophy* History of American Science*
History of Ancient Philosophy History of Modern Philosophy
History of Science* Philosophy of Language*
Philosophical Problems of Artificial Intelligence*
Philosophical Problems of Space and Time*
Philosophy of Religion Philosophy of Science*
Political Philosophy Symbolic Logic*
Philosophy of Technology Seminar in Social and Political Philosophy*
Social Science Research Methods Philosophy*
Spirit of the Age: Newton to Paine Death and Dying*
Spirit of the Age: Darwin to Marx Bioethics
Spirit of the Age: Freud to Einstein
Asterisks indicates a course I developed and introduced into the curriculum.
PROFESSIONAL American Philosophical Association
ORGANIZATIONS International Society for Environmental Ethics
Philosophy of Science Association
Philosophers for Social Responsibility
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
Society for Philosophy and Technology
REFERENCES Professor Howard Stein, Department of Philosophy,
University of Chicago
Professor Arthur Young, Department of English,
Clemson University
Professor Cynthia Selfe, Chair, Department of Humanities,
Michigan Technological University
(3/99)