About Dr. Ruben Rabinsky
Ruben Rabinsky received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Miami, where he has been Visiting Assistant Professor and Lecturer. He has taught at the University of Miami since 1996. His dissertation is on the Philosophy of Journalism, which explores a variety of issues in the epistemology and ethics of journalism and the mass media (focusing on the topics of Objectivity in the News, Propaganda, and Freedom of Expression).
He has taught courses in Critical Thinking, Informal Logic and Argumentation Theory, Introduction to Philosophy (Honors), Ethics, Applied Ethics (including Business Ethics, Environmental Ethics, and Computer Ethics), Contemporary Moral Issues (Honors), Ancient Philosophy (Fall '09), Modern Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Law, and he recently developed a new course at the University of Miami, based on his doctoral dissertation: Philosophy of Journalism (Spring '08).
He was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Environmental Ethics by the University of Miami’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Center (2001-2003). He has won awards for excellence in teaching and outstanding graduate work from the University of Miami, and is presently developing books (in English and Spanish) on Philosophy for Children and Critical Thinking across the Curriculum. He is also doing research in the Philosophy of Art, Creativity, and Applied Imagination, and is exploring ways of incorporating these areas into his philosophical practice. He is especially interested in Philosophy of Film.
Dr. Rabinsky is a certified Philosophical Counselor of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association, and offers philosophical counseling to individuals, and consulting services for organizations and corporations. He is also interested in Mediation, Arbitration, and Negotiation Theory, and recently completed a U.S. Supreme Court certified training program in Civil Mediation at the University of Miami Law School (2008), with Mediation Services, Inc. Dr. Rabinsky is developing mediation strategies for news organizations and corporations with interests in the areas of Journalism, the Mass Media (including book & magazine publishing, television, radio, the Internet, and the Film Industry). Dr. Rabinsky is fluent in Spanish.
CONTACT
Office: Department of Philosophy, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33124
Phone: ( 305 ) 284 - 4757
Email: rrabinsky@miami.edu
UM Faculty Profile: http://www.as.miami.edu/phi/people/faculty.html
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Welcome to my website, and thanks for visiting. Below, I've posted some of the most recent student feedback that I received at the end of the Fall 2008 semester. These are some of the comments my students wrote for my course & faculty evaluations on-line, at the University of Miami. I thank all of my students, and I hope that you all have a great New Year!
-- Ruben Rabinsky
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Dr. Rabinsky is a breath of fresh air. He is one of the nicest, yet smartest teachers I have ever met. His lectures are so intelligent and interesting that it is hard not to show up to class (I know I showed up everyday). He makes the students get involved in talking about their views, or the views they have heard about. It seems that you can ask him any question at all about philosophy or contemporary moral issues and he will have the most correct answer possible: he's like a walking wikipedia for philosophy. And despite his extreme intellect, he is a fair grader and makes the workload definitely bearable. Awesome professor
This instructor is great at conducting classroom discussion to enable all viewpoints to be heard, let every student have a chance to share their thoughts, and still reflect the goals and objectives of the course. I really liked and appreciated the way he organized writing projects around the pace and progress of the class, so that there was a balanced amount of both writing and discussion.
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Dr. Rabinsky is very knowledgeable about the subject and does an excellent job inspiring his class to discuss and debate the issues at hand.
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Dr.Rabinsky is very passionate about what he does so class was highly enjoyable thanks to him. Also his availability and friendliness during class made things even better. He is a great teacher.
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Dr. Rabinsky is a very wise, very intellectual man with great insight into many topics. I'm glad he remained neutral in our discussions and was unbiased in teaching the controversial issues to us.
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very fair, helpful, and knowledgeable
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The teacher was very knowledgeable about all the course material and presented the subject in a very interesting manner that got everyone very engaged in discussion and keen on learning more about the material.
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Dr. Rabinsky is highly knowledgeable about the subject and teaches it well. He does a great job.
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Definitely one of the best, most efficient instructors I've had. Dr Rabinsky's delivery fosters thinking by not clogging students minds with rote learning which will be forgotten upon turning in the final exam. Dr Rabinsky is a great teacher who concentrates on content and its quality, rather than quantity. If I had more Philosophy classes to take, I would definitely wait until he was the assigned professor.
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Instructor was very knowledgeable. He kept the class stimulating and interesting. I'd be happy to take another course offered by this professor.
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Dr. Rabinsky was great! He always encouraged each student individually and in groups to become involved and engaged in the class. I always look forward to my Saturday morning Philosophy class and I will miss it when the semester is over. I would absolutely recommend Dr. Rabinsky to any student, especially to a student who has not formally studied philosophy; he is an excellent instructor for this introductory class. He is able to present the material in a way that it doesn't seem so overwhelming or intimidating. I would highly recommend him.
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Extremely thought-provoking class and provided much class discussion. Also challenging, a lot of reading and writing, and presenting, but found that it was worthwhile.
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Dr. Rabinsky is an excellent professor, I cannot stress this enough, he is an asset to UM. It is obvious he loves what he does and it reflects in his well developed and organized lesson plans. We always had time for questions and group discussions during class. we also participated in debates and writing projects.
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The course is great and well taught, keeps you thinking and analyzing through out the semester
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I really enjoyed the class. The Saturday format was great because we could read in advance and then cover the material completely without interruption.
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This course exceeded my expectations. Although I'm one who strongly believes Philosophy is best learned at one's own leisure, if one possesses the passion to do so, I still enjoyed this class quite a lot.
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Course material was very informative and well utilized for the course.
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No complaints, the course content was what I expected.
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Dr. Rabinsky has developed a most effective, challenging and provocative philosophy course. I am certain each and everyone of us in his class has come out a more critical thinker, a more observant person and better prepared to analyze and question our world. I, like many other of us in the class would definitely take more Philosophy courses under Dr. Rabinsky if made available especially Saturdays if possible
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The only thing I would change would be to limit the amount of reading required for this class (Homework). Taking into consideration that this is a Saturday class with mostly "non-traditional" students, I feel that the amount of homework given in this class is too much and at times a bit unrealistic.
I really enjoyed the format of this class and how Dr. Rabinsky chooses to conduct the class. Every student had ample, ample opportunity to be an active participant in the class on individual projects or group projects. The material was presented in unexpected ways, like the Ayn Rand scripted movie "The Fountainhead," so that it wasn't always about dry reading material. Dr. Rabinsky keeps the material interesting and engaging. A class I dreaded to take turned out to be one of the best classes I've ever taken and a class I wish could go on for another semester with the same students and instructor. This is what I always thought a college class would, could and should be.
The only regret most of us had was that the class had to come to an end. Under Dr. Rabinsky's guidance, our class atmosphere was one of friendly discussion and respect for each other even when disagreeing. And we are actually planning on all of us keeping in touch to continue to develop our philosophical insights. I urge the university to offer more courses with Dr. Rabinsky as instructor, I could not have been more pleased to have him teaching me. And thank you for allowing students to voice their opinion!
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I was really challenged to think in this course and I think my mind has been opened to new topics.
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It is very interesting, is a course that most students should take, it help us develop as persons and opens our minds (view things from other perspectives)
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it was interesting and the material was interesting to learn
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I absolutely loved this class. I think that it was one of my favorites for this semester. Professor Rabinsky was one of the best professors that I have had at the University of Miami. He seemed to be completely interested in what he was teaching which helped to keep my attention and increase my enthusiasm about this topic. The materials presented was really neat and it totally kept my attention. There was nothing that I felt as though he presented to us that was too difficult for us to comprehend.
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Very interesting. This class really made me think a lot about how I look at the world. Great course.
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The material is very interesting. The subjects and topics covered were interesting to look into and discuss.
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Fantastic instructor. Very knowledgeable and conducts highly interesting surveys. Presents material in an easily accessible manner.
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Very nice and understanding.
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Dr. Rabinsky was wonderful!!!
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It is the most incredible professor I have ever had, he is such an inspiration, excellent work, he loves what he does, he is passionate, he knows how to teach.....
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Dr. Rabinsky was one of the best professors that I have had. He really helped and was more than willing to help any of his students if they asked for it. I never felt as though I was wasting his time if I asked him any questions and he had absolutely no problems helping me which I found to be very helpful.
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Great professor! Gives us a good balance between him lecturing and giving us notes and us having class discussions, both in small groups and in the entire class. He is a very helpful teacher. He is also very approachable... he responds to emails right away and is always willing to help. He really cares about the subject he's teaching, and it shows when he lectures and conducts discussion. He also cares about how his students are doing and he wants you to do well in his class. I would definitely recommend Professor Rabinsky to a friend taking Philosophy.
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Dr. Rabinsky fulfills all the qualities of an excellent instructor.
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The instructor is a very nice guy who is very passionate about his subject. He generates very interesting discussions and makes the material easy to understand.
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He should be recognized for the incredible work he does
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all material was interesting
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Professor Rabinsky’s class was the best class. I will most definitely recommend his class to my friends. The material that I have learned in his class will stay with me for a lifetime.
I loved this course and recommended professor to all my friends. It was interesting and workload was not excessive. My only critique was that printing materials drained my Uprint balance-- try to limit the printing we have to do since it is no longer unlimited and I currently have over 300 pages printed for this class.
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Content is very interesting. Provides a forum for relevant issues facing us today.
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This course did an excellent job of really getting students involved with the course material instead of simply memorizing information.
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Being a neurobiology major, this class is definitely out of my so-called forte. However, this is probably the most interesting class I had all semester. You learn the perspectives of different people around the world and it definitely makes you think about how you TRULY feel about the world and certain aspects of the world. I strongly recommend this class to anybody, no matter their major.
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The content was super interesting and because of the format in which it was delivered it was even more interesting. I especially appreciated when we had videos to exemplify and further explain some topics, and the debates in class were a super effective way for us to actually learn the content and make it our own.
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The think tank group discussions were my favorite part of the classroom. Make sure you have these in the future!
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interesting content. class discussions led by students helped provide stimulating environment
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Course content was great. Really provided great general knowledge and made you think about many different perspectives on some of the main issues in society today.
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I really enjoyed the class discussions in which each student was able to express his or her opinion about the topic being discussed. The setup of the course allowed me to express my opinions and hear the opinions of other students rather than simply memorizing information.
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More classes should have this style of debate. Loved it.
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Great course and wonderful teacher! Would definitely recommend!
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Very interesting course and instructor. One of the best classes I have taken at UM so far
