IAPC Faculty & Staff Oral Histories

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  Gazzard, Ann Interview 8 August 2018

  Ann Gazzard and Peter Shea

  In this IAPC Oral History Interview, Dr. Ann Gazzard describes studying with Gareth B. Matthews at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and later working for eight years at the Institute the Advancement of Philosophy for Children, where she conducted research, wrote curriculum, and traveled around the United States conducting teacher workshops, before joining the philosophy faculty at Wagner College. She describes the different roles of Matthew Lipman and Ann Margaret Sharp at the Institute. She later gave workshops on emotional intelligence for parents using philosophical discussion at an early childhood center. She discusses relationships among yoga, meditation, and philosophy for children.

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  Guin, Philip C. Interview 1 December 2005

  Philip C. Guin and Peter Shea

  Philip C. Guin was the Director of Teacher Education Services at the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (IAPC) at Montclair State College (later University) from 1978 through 2000. He was interviewed on video camera by Peter Shea at the IAPC on December 1, 2005 as part of the IAPC Oral History Project. In the interview, Guin describes his own education in philosophy, how he discovered philosophy for children, and his work preparing teachers to implement the program, in New Jersey and across the United States. He reflects on the impact of doing philosophy on children’s thinking and character. The interview was broadcast on the regional cable and online interview show The Bat of Minerva, which Shea produced and directed for over two decades, with support from the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Minnesota. It was transcribed, edited, and annotated by Maughn Rollins Gregory.

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  Lipman, Matthew Interview 13 November 2008

  Matthew Lipman and Peter Shea

  In this last interview of his life, given at the age of eighty-five, Matthew Lipman reflects on the development of philosophy for children. He revisits the formative period of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children was consolidating its curriculum and training practices. Central to the interview is Lipman’s meditation on Harry Stottlemeier’s Discovery as a breakthrough text that demonstrated the possibility of cultivating philosophic thinking through narrative, even before its underlying principles could be fully articulated. He describes philosophy as a practice that is grasped through immersion rather than explicit instruction, employing vivid metaphors—most notably philosophy as a “passport” that enables intellectual travel across domains of experience and culture. Lipman also discusses subsequent novels (Lisa and Suki) as reiterations of a single project: helping readers come into a new relationship with language as it is elemental to logic, ethics, and aesthetics. Throughout, the interview illuminates Lipman’s enduring concern with how philosophic competence is recognized, fostered, and lived, even when its essential elements resist precise formulation.

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  Matkowski, Joanne Interview 2012

  Joanne Matkowski and Peter Shea

  Joanne Matkowski was a business major hired as a student worker at the IAPC in 1980. On graduation she became an office manager and eventually Assistant Director of the Institute. For over three decades, she handled purchasing, printing and sales of the IAPC curriculum and the journal 'Thinking', managed the Institute’s budget, communicated with university administrators, and assisted faculty members, graduate students, and visiting scholars to the IAPC. Joanne developed close relationships with many of these, especially Matthew Lipman, with whom she interacted the most.

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  Michelli, Nicholas M. Interview 24 April 2025

  Nicholas M. Michelli, Maughn Rollins Gregory, and Megan Jane Laverty

  In this interview, Nicholas M. Michelli, former Dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Montclair State University and a leading advocate of critical thinking, civic education, and education for democracy, reflects on his career and his involvement with the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (IAPC). He describes his early encounters with Matthew Lipman and Ann Margaret Sharp, and key moments in the founding, expansion, and internationalization of the IAPC, including teacher-training initiatives, state and federal recognition, graduate and doctoral programs, and international partnerships. Throughout the interview, Michelli emphasizes the inseparability of philosophy, critical thinking, and civic education, framing them as essential to democratic life and social justice. He also reflects candidly on tensions between philosophers and educators, the challenges of institutional politics, and the contemporary urgency of democratic education amid national and global political instability.

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  Weinstein, Mark Interview December 2005

  Mark Weinstein and Peter Shea

  In this 2005 IAPC Oral History Interview, Mark Weinstein reflects on more than three decades of involvement with Philosophy for Children (P4C), tracing his intellectual trajectory from formal logic to informal logic, critical thinking, argumentation theory, and educational practice. Weinstein recounts his leadership of the New York City Reasoning Skills Project and his role at Montclair State University in developing and administering graduate and doctoral programs in Philosophy for Children. He argues that the distinctive strength of P4C lies not in the delivery of discrete thinking skills but in its creation of a philosophically rich “universe of discourse” that empowers children’s voices through communities of inquiry. Weinstein candidly appraises Matthew Lipman’s intellectual genius, strategic opportunism, and enduring legacy, as well as Ann Sharp’s transformative contributions to the internationalization and theoretical expansion of the movement. Weinstein also addresses debates about critical thinking as skill versus disposition, the role of philosophy in education, and the limits of rationality in addressing acute social problems.