Mark Ornelas Headshot

Mark Ornelas

Assistant Professor

Department of Philosophy
College of Liberal Arts

Office Hours
MW: 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Office Location

Mark Ornelas

Assistant Professor

Department of Philosophy
College of Liberal Arts

Bio

Mark Órnelas completed his Ph.D in Philosophy 2024 from the University of Cincinnati. He recieved Master's degrees in Psychology and Psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 2023, and in Cognitive Science (Mind, Language, and Embodied Cognition) from the University of Edinburgh in 2017. He earned a B.A. in Philosophy and Psychology from Gonzaga University in 2016. 

His research is at the intersection of Ethics and Cognitive Science. He takes an interdisciplinary approach to studying moral cognition. His current work focuses on developing ecological learning theory to explain moral cognition in human and artificial agents. 

Currently Teaching

PHIL-102
3 Credits
This course examines ethical questions that arise in the course of day-to-day individual and social life. Some consideration will be given to ethical theory and its application to such questions, but emphasis will be on basic moral questions and practical issues. Examples of typical issues to be examined are: What are the grounds for moral obligations like keeping promises or obeying the law? How do we reason about what to do? Examples of typical moral issues that may be introduced are capital punishment, euthanasia, abortion, corporate responsibility, the treatment of animals, and so forth.
PHIL-306
3 Credits
This course critically examines ethical issues that arise in professional life. The course will examine not only the general relationship between ethics and professional life but the particular consequences of ethical considerations within the student's own profession and the professions of others with whom the student must live and work.
PHIL-313
3 Credits
Introduces students to models of film interpretation and critique that arose in pre-war Europe and that have burgeoned since; these models combine philosophical, aesthetic, economic and psychoanalytic methods of analysis. Among the topics considered are the nature of the image, ideology and alienation, trauma, fetishism, magical realism, realism and anti-realism in film.
PHIL-316
3 Credits
This course introduces students to some of the ethical considerations and problems that arise in the context of medical practice, biological science, health care policy, and related research. Issues that may be covered include: abortion; stem cell research; human cloning; euthanasia; informed consent; human organ procurement; health care allocation and how it is approached in various countries; bioethical concerns arising from human caused climate change and other environmental issues impacting public health concerns around the globe. Students will become familiar with the concepts and principles of bioethics while engaging with case studies and related media. Part of the philosophy immersion, the ethics immersion, the global justice immersion, the philosophy minor, the ethics minor, and the philosophy major. May also be taken to fulfill the ethical perspective, the global perspective, or as an elective.