Vol. 38, No. 18

1-2-2007
By: Richard Gillette

Colleagues again

On a cold winter evening, the best place to find two of the Department of Philosophy’s newest professors is in front of Nationwide Arena looking for tickets to a Blue Jackets game.

NHL hockey and philosophy? Some might question the combination, but not Tim Schroeder and Ben Caplan, two of the six new professors in the Department of Philosophy.

The two men, who are sometimes mistaken for siblings, grew up craving the ice sport. What else would you expect from two transplanted Canadians?

Schroeder and Caplan are colleagues again for the second time in their short and what others in their department describe as promising careers. In fact, both associate professors followed similar education and career paths before landing at Ohio State.

They received their undergraduate degrees at Canadian schools before attending California universities, where both earned a Ph.D. Schroeder received his at Stanford and Caplan at UCLA, where he also played on the Bruins’ hockey team.

Both started teaching at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Despite specializing in different areas — Schroeder in philosophy of the mind and Caplan in metaphysics and philosophy of language — both partnered on research at Manitoba and became friends outside their work.

“We lived on the same street in Manitoba, maybe seven blocks from each other,” Caplan said. Both, without advance knowledge, chose homes in the Short North about 1-1/2 blocks from each other when they moved to Columbus.

They like that the neighborhood has urban density and is commercially vibrant. Both walk to the university and enjoy the closeness to an arena that has NHL hockey.

They crossed the United States/Canada border together on Sept. 5, just 10 days before the first day of classes.

“For visa reasons, we couldn’t enter the country sooner. We drove together from Winnipeg for the two-day trip,” Caplan said.

The Department of Philosophy replaced six new professors this year due to retirements and advancements and a seventh will join them autumn quarter.

The seven new professors will make up one-third of the department, a monumental change for the school. Chair Donald Hubin said the additions could have potentially been a disruption to the department.

“Over time, each department has a pattern of people interacting. This big of an adjustment could have been a recipe for disaster, but I think the change has been quite seamless. Everyone is fitting in well,” he said.

Both in their 30s, Schroeder and Caplan are considered young in their profession, unlike mathematicians who peak in their 20s.

“Philosophers are like vinegar. If you let them mature, they become better at their craft,” Schroeder said.

Hubin said their age was not a deterrent.

“They’re very active researchers and have published a lot. They’ve become more closer and engaged with their graduate students and that’s a plus for our department,” he said.

Schroeder and Caplan said the Department of Philosophy’s reputation attracted them to the university.

“Ohio State has one of the best philosophy departments in the world. It’s considered in the top 15 of public universities in the United States,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder’s impressed with the university and the city, but he still misses Canada.

“There are very smart people here doing exciting work. There’s a constant stream of intellectual people coming through giving thoughts and you are more plugged into the intellectual community here,” he said.

“But I miss being part of the political system in Canada. I still have my national pride and identity.”

For more information on the other new faculty who joined the department, visit philosophy.osu.edu.

onCampus Home