I deeply value teaching the history of philosophy as a series of alternative ways of viewing the world. If we properly understand these - if we not only accept that people have thought differently, but appreciate that they had reasons for doing so - we become better equipped to think about our own world in independent, critical, and creative ways. I like to stress the particular historical context in which a philosophical argument was formulated, and I focus a lot on cultivating the skills necessary to analyzing and writing about historical philosophy. But I also hope to make students see how even very old philosophical texts may have something to teach them about their own lives and the problems they face. This means that not only do students need keep an open mind about what they read; more importantly, the historical canon that we teach needs to be opened up to include new perspectives from traditionally marginalized groups, which have at all times contributed greatly to philosophical discussion, even if their contributions have been forgotten.