Philosophy: hot major at two-year college

Without institutional support, Cronk and Redmond say their department's growth would have been impossible. But they've worked for that, too, gaining favor with administrators through a "willingness to shoulder institution-wide responsibility that could have been avoided," says Redmond.

Since the 1980s, a professor from their department has spearheaded accreditation, the quality-control process to ensure that the school meets standards. Cronk, who heads the Faculty Senate, led accreditation in 1985; Redmond, now vice president of technology and information services and a former dean, did so in 1995; and Dlugos is heading up the 2005 review.

Yet if philosophy and religion professors hadn't engaged their diverse group of students, these efforts would have meant little.

In part, Cronk, Redmond, and Dlugos simply believe that philosophy is deeply relevant to everyone. Aristotle's "Ethics" is "about becoming happy; the pursuit of happiness," says Cronk. "Almost everybody is interested in that."

"Philosophy is sort of like plumbing," offers Redmond. "Not everyone needs to be a professional plumber, but it's certainly helpful to have some basic skills."

Dlugos adds: "Philosophy is training for the career of being a human being."

To convince their students, however, they've learned a back-to-basics approach, different than each had planned on when arriving at Bergen - where nearly 40 percent of students are over age 24, and many are the first in their families to attend college.

"I never took anything for granted," says Cronk, who still entertains the idea of teaching more complex material at an elite school. "I never assumed anything about background knowledge, and always started from scratch." Cronk, Dlugos, and other department professors have edited a reader-friendly compilation of classic Eastern and Western works.

While Dlugos and Redmond, like Cronk, have also at one time hoped to work at a more prestigious four-year institution, they've come to appreciate Bergen's advantages, and neither plans to leave. In teaching "Contemporary Moral Issues," which delves into sexual ethics and the nature of love, Redmond has engaged 18-year-olds, single mothers, and grandmothers - each with a unique perspective.

Today, he believes the pursuit of philosophy is no less important at a two-year school than at a four-year college. And as more students attend community colleges, it may become more important. Last year, two-year schools enrolled nearly half of all undergraduates, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.

The type of philosophical inquiry taught at Bergen has, in recent years, also spilled beyond campus, into cafes and parks.

The Cafe Philo movement in Europe, where ordinary citizens take part in philosophical discussions, took off in the 1990s. Bergen has hosted its own "Friends of Socrates" group in a local Borders Books since 1999. And in 1996, Christopher Phillips formed the first "Socrates Cafe" discussion - there are now 200 nationwide - in Montclair, N.J., only 14 miles from Bergen .

"Everybody has a philosophy about life, but most people don't take the time to articulate or express it," says Mr. Phillips. "There's something exhilarating and forward-looking about taking an hour or two a week to reflect with other thoughtful souls and discover your philosophy."

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