The bioethics program was developed in collaboration with the Indiana University Center for Bioethics. Bioethics is a rapidly growing field that requires educated and trained theorists and practitioners. Since IUPUI is home to one of the nation’s largest health-profession complexes, it is well-placed to play a leading role in the academic training of such individuals.

Students who pursue a general philosophical education may, if they wish, take a number of elective courses focused on classical American philosophy and pragmatism. The department provides the most comprehensive program anywhere in the world for studying the work of Charles S. Peirce. IUPUI has become an important center for research in American thought, with the Institute for American Thought housing the Peirce Edition Project, the Santayana Edition, the Josiah Royce Papers, the Ray Bradbury Center, and the Frederick Douglass Papers. In addition it has extensive archives.