John Wall

Teaching

I teach undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students across philosophy, religion, liberal studies, and childhood studies.

Currently I also serve as chair of Rutgers Camden's Department of Philosophy and Religion. Starting in July 2025, I will be Director of Rutgers Camden's Graduate Liberal Studies program.

Courses

Children's Rights

Graduate Course, Department of Childhood Studies

This course introduces students to the field of study of critical children’s rights. This field examines children’s rights, not just as established principles only needing implementation, but as contested expressions of children’s lived experiences within diverse normative, social, cultural, and historical contexts. To this end, the course examines a range of ways that children’s rights can be theorized, how children’s rights both reflect and challenge assumed conceptions of human rights, how children’s rights to protection and provision interact with rights to participation and power, what roles children have and should have in defining rights for themselves, and how children’s rights are tied up with issues of globalization, cultural difference, systemic marginalization, and intersectionality.

Evil

Graduate Course, Masters in Liberal Studies

This course examines the nature and meaning of evil, particularly moral evil as visited upon human beings by one another. Through close readings and discussions of a range of philosophical, religious, literary, and political texts, students pursue the following kinds of fundamental questions: Is there such a thing as “evil”? What does it mean that humanity might be capable of it? Is evil a characteristic of only some or of all people? What kind of language could make evil available to understanding? Is evil in the world compatible with the existence of a good God or Creator? How can the difference be judged between evil and good? Is the concept of evil outdated, or is it still useful today for understanding phenomena such as racism, sexism, the climate emergency, genocide, terrorism, greed, violence, abuse, inequality, and poverty?

Philosophical and Religious Perspectives on Childhood

Undergraduate Course, Departments of Philosophy and Religion and Childhood Studies

This course explores the complex diversity of philosophical and religious approaches to the meaning of childhood. It is often assumed that children’s lives are universal and simple to understand, but in fact they are diverse, highly complex, and differently interpreted. The first half of the course critically examines a range of the most influential philosophical and religious writings on childhood from history. It looks into different ideas that have been held about such things as the nature of childhood, the agency of children, and responsibilities to and of children. The second half of the course explores in depth one contemporary issue, namely the nature of children’s rights. Within this issue, various questions are raised such as about whether children have special rights, deserve to be treated as political beings, and should be able to vote.

The Bible as Literature

Graduate Course, Masters in Liberal Studies Program

This course examines the historical, literary, and contemporary worlds of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and New Testament. These rich and controversial writings have profoundly influenced Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as well as worldwide culture and thought for thousands of years. And they continue to inspire, challenge, and trouble people today. We discuss who wrote the Bible, its social and political contexts, different ways to think about reading it, its meanings and functions as literature, possible interpretations for the twenty-first century, and core themes such as God, creation, evil, covenant, prophesy, justice, and love. Students will leave the course with a complex understanding of what one twentieth century theologian called “the strange world of the Bible.”

Debating Ethical Issues Across Disciplines

Undergraduate Course, Department of Philosophy and Religion

This course trains students in ethical reasoning and argumentation through both the study of ethics as a discipline and the practice of ethical debate in an ethics bowl competition. Students gain not only an understanding of ethical ideas and argumentation, but also skills in constructing arguments, oral communication, close reading, community outreach, and event organization. In the first third of the course, students will gain a grounding in ethical theory and how it relates to ethical practice. In the second third, with the aid of the instructors, students will develop and organize a college-wide ethics bowl, which is a competition between teams of students who debate specific ethical cases. In the final third of the course, students will form their teams for the ethics bowl and practice for the competition in April.

Doctoral Theses Supervised

“Democratic Schooling in North America in the Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries.” Chair, dissertation by Sebastian Barajas, Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, started Spring 2022.

“Identifying Child Labor: A Historical Study of Bombay Textile Mills 1880-1920.” Member, dissertation by Palak Vashist, Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, started Spring 2022.

“Constructing Moral Babies: The Medical and Scientific Enterprise of Infancy in America, 1850s-1920s.” Chair, dissertation by Elisabeth Yang, Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, graduated January 2022.

“Children’s Participation in Post-Conflict Peace-Building in Columbia.” Member, dissertation by Diana Garcia, Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, graduated May 2021.

“Making Space on the Digital Margin: Youth Fandom Communities on Tumbl as Spaces for Making the Self and Re-Making Society.” Member, dissertation by Julian Burton, Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, graduated Spring 2017.

“The Cradle of Community: Mormon and Oneida Childhoods in Nineteenth Century America.” Member, dissertation by Matthew Prickett, Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, graduated Spring 2018.

“Giving Voice and Choice to Children: Q Methodology as a Capability Measure.” Chair, dissertation by Ines Meier, Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, graduated Spring 2015.

“The Use of New Media in Urban African-American Churches’ Work with Children and Youth.” Chair, Ph.D. dissertation by Thomas Holmes, Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, started Fall 2010, but student did not graduate.

“Immigrant Indian Experiences of Children in Families.” Reader, dissertation by Dianne Fabii, Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, graduated Spring 2015.

“Ethical Education in Public Schools.” Chair, Ph.D. dissertation by Brian Gallagher, Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, started Fall 2008, but did not graduate.

“The Influence of Hope on the Imagination in the Work of Paul Ricoeur.” Outside advisor, Ph.D. Dissertation by Michael Young, Sydney College of Divinity, Australia, graduated Spring 2008.

Masters Theses Supervised

“The Ideology of Adultism as Epistemic Binary in Philosophy for Children.” MA Thesis chair, Christine Eskander, Department of Childhood Studies, Fall 2023 to Spring 2024.

“Children’s Rights in Literacy Learning Disabilities.” M.A. Thesis member, Deborah Lynam, Department of Childhood Studies, Spring 2023.

“Freedom of Choice.” M.A. Capstone Thesis chair, Luc Backe, Department of Liberal Studies, Spring 2022.

“Children’s Rights to Alternative Education.” Graduate Independent Study chair, Sebastian Barajas, Department of Childhood Studies, Spring 2021.

“Child Labor Rights in the Global South.” Graduate Independent Study member, Palak Vashist, Department of Childhood Studies, Spring 2021.

“Privilege as a Theoretical Lens for Childhood Studies.” M.A. Thesis chair, Department of Childhood Studies, Sebastian Barajas, Fall 2019 to Spring 2020.

“Understanding Child School Shooters.” M.A. Capstone Thesis chair, Lynn Manuel, Department of Liberal Studies, Fall 2018.

“Philosophical and Theological Perspectives on Childhood.” Graduate Independent Study chair, Elisabeth Yang, Department of Childhood Studies, Fall 2016.

“Nineteenth-Century American Theologies of Childhood.” Graduate Independent Study chair, Matthew Prickett, Department of Childhood Studies, Spring 2012.

“Marketing as Profane, Sacred, and Secular.” M.A. Capstone Thesis chair, Dariusz Malinowski, Department of Liberal Studies, Spring 2012.

“Transformations in Post-Vatican II Catholic Ritual.” M.A. Capstone Thesis chair, Department of Liberal Studies, Rutgers University, Spring to Summer 2010.

“Rules of Engagement: What Teachers and Parents Should Know about the Importance of Emotional Context to Children’s Educational Experiences.” M.A. thesis chair, Denise Holmes, Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, Fall 2009 to Spring 2010.

“Ethical Agency in Childhood.” Graduate Independent Study chair, Marla Wander, Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, Fall 2009 to Spring 2010.

“Prophetic Non-Violence in the Civil Rights Movement,” M.A. Capstone Thesis, chair Department of Liberal Studies, Rutgers University. Dana Forde, Spring 2009.

“Evil in Augustine and Early Christianity.” M.A. Capstone Thesis chair, Lynda Hitchman, Fall 2006.

“The Problem of Homeless Families in the United States.” M.A. Capstone Thesis, Regina Silliti chair, Graduate Liberal Studies Program, Fall 2005.

“The State of Our Unions: Bare-Backing, AIDS, and Gay Men in Contemporary Culture.” M.A. Capstone Thesis chair, Kevin Cummines, Graduate Liberal Studies Program, Spring 2005. Won distinction.

Contact:

johnwall@camden.rutgers.edu

Childism Institute

Department of Philosophy and Religion

2025