Just ask Arto Haapala, a Finnish Fulbright scholar visiting the University for eight months. Haapala could have gone anywhere, but he chose Temple. Many of the philosophy department's scholars have visited Finland, including chairman Richard Shusterman. Generally speaking, aesthetics is the study of art and the theory of beauty. There is an increasing interest in environmental aesthetics, or the aesthetics of nature and everyday items and their ugliness or beauty.
Some people only view the aesthetics of beauty.
That's very narrow. Aesthetics is much broader. At Temple, Haapala will be able to work with some of the giants in the aesthetics field, including Shusterman and Joseph Margolis, he proudly noted while pointing to books by both men on his desk. Haapala, who received his Ph.D. in the philosophy of literature from the University of London, is chairman of the aesthetics department at the University of Helsinki. While here, he will conduct research for a book and several articles.