Dr. Nathan Nobis, Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Morehouse College, used his Fall 2024 sabbatical to advance key publishing projects, contribute to bioethics scholarship, and extend his teaching into new and transformative contexts.
A major accomplishment was the submission of a book proposal to adapt essays from 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology into a comprehensive textbook for students and general readers. As Lead Editor of the project, Dr. Nobis guided contributors to produce missing essays needed to complete the collection. The proposal is now under review with a respected academic publisher, marking an important step toward making accessible philosophical scholarship more widely available.
In addition to the textbook project, Dr. Nobis authored essays for leading bioethics platforms, including the International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics and the American Journal of Bioethics. He also began developing a new resource, Everyday Ethical Arguments, designed to help students and the public engage moral questions with clarity and rigor.
Dr. Nobis presented his research on euthanasia and abortion at the Society of Christian Bioethics conference and remained active as moderator of a 5,000-member Teaching Philosophy Facebook group, where he helped colleagues navigate challenges such as AI and academic integrity.
One of the most rewarding dimensions of Dr. Nobis’s recent work has been teaching in Georgia prisons through Morehouse’s Higher Education in Prisons Program and Common Good Atlanta. Using 1000-Word Philosophy essays as course material, he found students deeply engaged, thoughtful, and eager to learn. The experience underscored the transformative power of education and offered new perspectives that continue to shape his teaching.
As his sabbatical transitions into new projects, Dr. Nobis remains committed to completing the philosophy textbook, expanding his bioethics scholarship, and continuing to teach both inside and outside traditional classrooms. His work demonstrates how philosophy can connect people across diverse contexts, from publishing houses to prison classrooms, while reaffirming Morehouse’s mission of education for service and social justice.