Carlos E. Bertha, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Philosophy
United States Air Force Academy
Contact Information
Business Address: Personal Address:
HQ USAFA / DFPY 5745 Pale Rock Ter., Apt G
2354 Fairchild Drive, Suite 1A45 Colorado Springs, CO 80919
US Air Force Academy, CO 80840 Cell phone: (719) 237-4591
Office phone: (719) 333-8655 Personal Email: carlos.bertha@comcast.net
Email: carl.bertha@usafa.edu
Academic Credentials
Ph.D., Philosophy, University of South Florida, Summer 2000. Dissertation title: “Honor and Honors: An Ethical Study of Military Duty and its Relationship to the Practice of Awarding Medals.” Director: Peter A. French
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, University of South Florida, Spring 1989
Areas of Specialization
Professional and applied ethics (especially engineering and military ethics), ethical theory, and critical thinking
Areas of Competence
Philosophy of science, formal logic, skepticism, social and political philosophy
Peer-reviewed Scholarly Publications
“The Socratic Durkheim,” coauthored with Stephen Turner, in Using the Elementary Forms in Teaching, Terry Godlove, ed., American Academy of Religion, Teaching Religious Studies Series, Oxford University Press, 2004
“Teaching Military Ethics to ROTC Cadets” in Academic Exchange Quarterly, Volume 8, Issue 2, Summer 2004.
“Obeying an Outlaw Order” in Globalism and the Obsolescence of the State, Yeager Hudson, ed. (Studies in Social and Political Theory Series, Number 20), Edwin Mellen Press, 1999.
Other Scholarly Publications
“Aristotle and Engineering Ethics Education” in Professional Engineer Magazine, On Ethics feature, June 2009.
“The AHA Problems” in Philosophy of Mathematics Education Journal, Number 12, http://www.ex.ac.uk/~PErnest, November 1999.
“Teaching Seminar Report” in The Newsletter of the American Association of Philosophy Teachers, Volume 22, Number 1, Philosophy Documentation Center, Spring/Summer 1999.
Book Review of Research Ethics (Indiana University Press, 1995), in Science and Engineering Ethics, Opragen Publications, Volume 2, Number 1, January 1996.
Scholarly Presentations
“Engineering Ethics Education and Sustainable Development,” Engineering, Social Justice and Sustainable Development Workshop, National Academy of Engineering, Washington, DC. October 2008.
“Engineering Ethics: Improving Pedagogical Methods,” American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Chicago, IL. November 2006. Proceedings available.
“Teaching Engineering Ethics,” American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), Mid-Atlantic Section Spring Conference, Brooklyn, NY. April 2006. Proceedings available.
“How to Teach Ethics in Engineering,” ASEE Rocky Mountain Section Annual Meeting, US Air Force Academy, CO. April 2006.
“Writing Across the Academy,” workshop sponsored by the Center for Educational Excellence and the USAFA Writing Center, US Air Force Academy, CO. November 2005.
“Is Blowing the Whistle Supererogatory?” 4th Conference on Ethics and Social Responsibility in Engineering and Technology, Loyola Marymount, Los Angeles, CA, June 2005.
“Fighting Fideism,” James Randi Educational Foundation Conference, Las Vegas, NV. January 2005. Proceedings available.
“Separation of Church and State and Foreign Policy,” REALIA Conference, Providence, RI. August 2004.
“The Obligation Theory of Medals,” Department of Philosophy Colloquia Series, United States Air Force Academy, CO. February 2004.
“Legitimidad y conflicto, ¿qué cuenta como legítimo?” (Legitimacy and Conflict: What Counts as Legitimate?), The International Social Theory Consortium, Tampa Bay, FL. Presented in Spanish. May 2003.
“US Northern Command and the Posse Comitatus Act,” Joint Services Conference on Professional Ethics (JSCOPE), Washington, DC. January 2003.
“Argumentative Writing,” Writing Center’s Lecture Series, US Air Force Academy, CO. September 2001.
“The Domestic Role of the National Guard and Reserves,” with Brigadier General Harold Nevin, JSCOPE, Washington, DC. January 2001.
“Teaching Ethics to ROTC Cadets,” JSCOPE, Washington DC. January 2000.
“Principles of Military Ethics,” guest speaker for Air Force ROTC class, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL. April 1999.
“The Heroism of Long-term Military Service,” JSCOPE, Washington DC. January 1999.
“The Value of Medals,” On Top of the World Philosophy Club Lecture Series, Clearwater, FL. November 1998.
“Mathematics during the Logical Positivism Era,” Mathematics Honor Society Colloquia Series, USF, Tampa, FL. November 1998.
“Heroism and Military Duty,” 15th North American Society for Social Philosophy Conference (NASSP), North Adams College, MA. August 1998.
“Military Heroism,” The Ethics Center Lecture Series, USF, St Petersburg, FL. November 1997.
“The Law of Land Warfare,” guest speaker for Army ROTC class, USF, Tampa, FL. October 1997.
“Obeying an Unlawful Order,” 14th NASSP Conference, Kingston, Canada. July 1997.
“Is Conscientious Objection Tenable?” Philosophy Graduate Student Organization Colloquia Series, USF, Tampa, FL. February 1997.
Other Scholarly Work
Technical Advisor for the Anti-Corruption Education and Training initiative, an activity sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers. December 2006 to November 2008.
Commentator for Global e-discussion forum entitled “Business Action on Combating Corruption: Setting One's Own Standards.” Hosted by the World Bank Institute, 1-7 October 2007.
Moderator for “Religion as Setting in Writing,” Pikes Peak Writers World-Building workshop, Colorado Springs, CO. November 2005.
“DoD 101” and “NORAD/NORTHCOM Bi-Command Briefing” Department of Philosophy Colloquia Series, United States Air Force Academy, CO. August 2005.
“Military Ethics: A Primer,” NORAD and US Space Command Army Call, Peterson Air Force Base, CO. May 2002.
Served as the External Reviewer for a Doctoral Dissertation. Candidate: John Janzekovic, “Humanitarian Obligation: The Use of Military Intervention to Counter Severe Human Rights Abuses,” University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia. Spring 2001.
Manuscript reviewer for the Journal of Military Ethics, Journal of Social Philosophy, and Social Philosophy Today.
Review conference proposals for JSCOPE and the American Association of Philosophy Teachers (AAPT) Conference.
Commentator for MyLai Remembered (BBC Movie), The Ethics Center “Night at the Movies” Series, USF, St Petersburg, FL. November 1997.
Moderator at the Ethics and Pop-Culture Conference, Clearwater, Florida. April 1997.
Non-Academic Publications
“The Right to Religious Expression at the US Air Force Academy,” The Humanist, Sep-Oct 2007
“¿Cómo puede ser una conversación necesaria e inútil al mismo tiempo?” Pensar, Jul-Sep 2006
Non-Academic Presentations
“Atheists in Foxholes,” Atheist Alliance International Convention, Long Beach, CA, October 2008.
“Ethics and War,” Kiwanis International Club Meeting, Manitou Springs Chapter, Manitou Springs, CO, May 2006.
“Fideism Revealed,” American Humanist Association Conference, Albuquerque, NM, May 2005.
“Religion and Just War Theory,” Atheist Alliance International Convention, Los Angeles, CA, March 2005.
“On the Necessity and Futility of Conversations about the Existence of God,” Atheist Alliance International Convention, Colorado Springs, CO. April 2004.
“Conversations about God,” Colorado Springs Freethinkers Monthly Meeting, Colorado Springs, CO. February 2004.
Teaching Activities
Courses at USAFA
Ethics (PHIL 310): Prepared and gave lectures, wrote, administered and graded tests, evaluated critical essays, arranged guest lectures and used audiovisual materials. Major subjects covered: moral reasoning, virtue theory, deontology, utilitarianism, relativism, casuistry, military ethics and professionalism. Taught every semester since Fall 2000.
War, Morality and the Military Profession (PHIL 311): Took the military ethics portion of the Ethics course and expanded it to an entire semester. Used Michael Walzer’s Just and Unjust Wars as the main text. Spring 2004.
Philosophy of Science (PHIL 330): Surveyed the standard view of science, reactions to it, and covered social and cultural aspects of the practice of science. Other topics included the limits of scientific knowledge, pseudoscience, and ethics in science. Springs in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009.
Applied Reasoning (PHIL 360): Covered critical thinking, informal fallacies, categorical and propositional logic, and the application of these skills to literature, current events and scholarly publication. Taught 6 sections since Fall 2001.
Introduction to Symbolic Logic (PHIL 370): In depth coverage of categorical, propositional and quantificational logic. Cursory treatment of modal logic. Some attention to informal logic. Fall 2005.
Independent Studies (PHIL 499): One-on-one directed studies with cadets.
Spring 2001 Cadet Constance Bradley Symbolic Logic
Fall 2001 Cadet Matthew Rabe Modal Logic
Fall 2003 Cadet Steve McGregor Metaphysics
Fall 2004 Cadet Matthew Layman Symbolic Logic
Spring 2006 Cadets Sump and Merrin Modal Logic
Latin American Drug Trade (FAS495L): part of a team of instructors who taught a course about various aspects of the Latin American drug trade. I taught the ethics block and contributed to the pop culture portion. Spring 2006.
Courses at the University of South Florida
Military Ethics. Covered historical overview of military ethics, just war theory, and a wide range of applied ethical dilemmas related to military life and service. I proposed, designed and implemented this course, which was new to USF. This was a Distance and Technology-Mediated Learning (DTML) class, broadcast via satellite to USF’s remote campuses. Taught 4 sections between 1997 and 2000.
Introduction to Philosophy. Covered Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, and Mill's Utilitarianism in some detail. Although ethics was the common thread, I introduced a variety of philosophical topics as the course progressed. Spring 1999.
Critical Thinking. Covered informal fallacies, formal logic, and critical thinking methods in the context of the investigation of paranormal claims. Placed special emphasis on reading comprehension and clear exposition of ideas in written form. Fall 1998.
Introduction to Formal Logic. Introduced informal fallacies and covered categorical, propositional, and quantificational logic. Taught 5 sections between 1996 and 1999.
Political Philosophy and Philosophy of Mind. Teaching Assistant. Attended lectures, served as the student’s point of contact for problems, coordinated audiovisual materials, and graded essays, reflection papers and tests. 1996 and 1998, respectively.
Teaching Awards and Fellowships
Outstanding Academy Educator Award, USAFA, academic year 2003 – 2004.
Graduate Assistantship, Philosophy Department, USF. Fall 1996 to Spring 2000.
American Philosophical Association Scholarship ($500 stipend) to attend American Association of Philosophy Teachers Seminar on Teaching Philosophy. July 1998.
Philosophy Department’s nominee for the Provost’s Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Student, USF, March 1998.
Frances Elvidge Graduate Fellowship in Ethics, The Ethics Center, USF, St Petersburg Campus. Fall 1997 and Spring 1998.
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Scholarship ($500 award). November 1997.
Service Activities
To the Nation:
More than 16 years service as a US Government employee. This time reflects total number of years in civil service, including 1985 – 1993, when I served as a Mechanical Engineer (up to GS-11) at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, Savannah, Georgia. Held positions in Construction Division (Fort Stewart area office), Modifications and Specifications Section, Energy Analysis Section, and Drafting Section (1985 - 1989 as a co-op student). Served as the government’s Construction Representative for a variety of projects at Hunter Army Airfield, designed Energy-Monitoring and Control Systems (EMCS) for various US Army installations, conducted energy analysis studies and surveys, and used a Computer-Aided Design and Drafting system extensively.
More than 20 years service in the South Carolina Army National Guard, Florida Army National Guard, and now United States Army Reserves. Current rank: Lieutenant Colonel. Held positions of increasing responsibility, to include platoon leader and projects officer (122nd Engineer Battalion); support platoon leader, brigade targeting officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Service Battery commander, and operations officer (2-116th Field Artillery Regiment); and personnel officer (3-116th Field Artillery Regiment). Also served as staff officer for the Florida-Venezuela National Guard partnership. Spent 2002 on active duty (mobilized), on a joint assignment at US Space Command (now US Strategic Command) as a Personnel Section Operations Officer. Follow-on joint assignment at US Northern Command, Engineering Division, with the additional duty as a Spanish language bi-command briefer for the command. Served a year-long deployment period (Aug 07 to Aug 08) with the US Army Corps of Engineer, Afghanistan Engineer District, as the Resident Engineer and Contracting Officer’s Representative in Gardez. Responsible for project management of Corps of Engineers-funded contract in four provinces in the southeast of Afghanistan. I am now an Intermediate Level Education (ILE) instructor for the 84th Training Command. Military bio available upon request.
To the United States Air Force Academy:
Member of the USAFA Faculty Council since Fall 2005.
Associate Air Officer Commanding for Cadet Squadron 06 (academic year 2004/05). Responsible for teaching 6-7 Professional Military Learning (PML) lessons per semester.
Served as a cadre member for the command when the Officer Development System (ODS) was being implemented (Spring 2004).
Serve as Officer-In-Charge of the Cadet Freethinkers and Skeptics Club since Spring 2006.
USAFA Cadet Judo Club Officer-In-Charge Spring 2003 thru Spring 2007. Commitment of 3-4 hours per week. Teach judo; be the faculty point of contact for the Judo Club.
USAFA Los Padrinos Club Officer-In-Charge (academic year 2004/05). Faculty point of contact for cadet club that represents the cadet Latino population.
Served as facilitator for the following seminars led by USAFA’s Center for Character Development:
Vital Effective Character Through Observation and Reflection (VECTOR!), Spring 2006.
Leaders In Flight Today (LIFT), Fall 2004.
Academy Character Enrichment Seminar (ACES), Fall 2001.
To the Dean of Faculty:
Member of the hiring committee for civilian instructor position for the Department of Foreign Languages. Spring 2007.
Member of “Creating Academically Rich Environments” (CARE) working group, for evaluating the “Frame and Resolve Ill-Defined Problems” learning objective. Fall 2005.
Writing Center tutor since Fall 2001. Commitment of 2-3 hours per week. Help cadets with their writing assignments, attend writing-related lectures and workshops.
Escort officer for the USAFA International Exchange Program. Took eight cadets to visit the Colombian Air Force Academy (during spring break, 2001 and 2004). Involved in the Latin American Studies Group and act as host or translator for visiting delegations from time to time.
Acted as a judge for the Forensics Classic every year since 2004.
To the Department of Philosophy:
Budget Officer since Fall 2003. Approving official for Government Purchase Card account holder for DFPY and Cost Center Manager for our account. Responsible for the accounting of departmental funds (TDY, office supplies, DAPS, copier contracts, etc.).
Scheduling Coordinator (2001 – 2006). Serve as the point of contact for all DFR matters such as course section assignments, classroom allocations, final exams scheduling, etc.
Department Faculty Research Coordinator. Responsible for tracking and reporting DFPY’s faculty research accomplishments to the Science and Technology Information (STINFO) Program.
Served as an instructor for the USAFA Summer Scientific Seminar program (2003, 2004). Introduced hundreds of visiting high school students to the academy via a successful seminar on the philosophy of science.
Ethics Bowl Team Coach (2001, 2003, 2005, and 2008 to present). Led preparation meetings and discussion periods, served as Officer Representative for the 5-cadet delegation that participated in the annual “Ethics Bowl tournament,” sponsored by the Association of Professional and Practical Ethics.
Ethics Across the Curriculum Coordinator (2003 – 2005). Served as point-of-contact for the Philosophy Department in matters relating to ethics being taught across the curriculum at USAFA.
Coordinator for the Reich and McDermott lectures, 2001 – 2004. Lined up top-notch speakers for the Philosophy Department’s two distinguished lectures in ethics, managed all aspects of their visits (when necessary, in coordination with the Command Protocol office), worked with various funding sources for granting of honoraria, reserved the auditorium, processed SCAs for cadets, and was the point-of-contact for any and all logistical issues involved with the lectures.
At the University of South Florida:
Co-founder of the Graduate Student Organization (GSO) for the Department of Philosophy. Served as the vice-president in 1996, secretary/treasurer in 1997, and faculty liaison in 1998. The creation of the GSO gave philosophy graduate students a vehicle through which to present their interests and concerns formally to the philosophy department.
USF Judo Club Officer, 1997 – 2000.
Miscellaneous
Languages
Speak, read and write Spanish, English and Hungarian.
Professional Affiliations
American Society for Engineering Education
Society of American Military Engineers
North American Society for Social Philosophy
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, inducted November 1995
American Association of Philosophy Teachers
Engineer in Training (EIT), 1989
Military Education
Advanced Operations and Warfighting Course (AOWC), Ft Dix, NJ, July 2007
Intermediate Level Education (ILE), Ft Hunter-Liggett, CA, June 2005 – June 2006
Combined Arms and Services Staff School, Tampa, FL, November 1998 – July 1999
Field Artillery Officer Advanced Course (resident), Fort Sill, OK, July – December 1993
Engineer Officer Basic Course, Fort Belvoir, VA, July – December 1989
Professional References
Col James Cook, Ph.D. Head and Professor, Philosophy Department, United States Air Force Academy. (719) 333-4070
Stephen Turner, Ph.D. Distinguished Research Professor and Chair, Philosophy Department, University of South Florida, and member of dissertation committee. (813) 974-2454
Current as of: 10 August 2009