1971	Dr. Clay Tucker becomes acting Head of the new Philosophy Department. The next year he would become the first Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.
1972	Dr. Harold Parker becomes the first permanent Head of the Department.
1992	The Department of Philosophy having grown to five full time members initiates its on-going Applied Philosophy Lyceum which, in its twenty year history, has brought such distinguished speakers as Arthur Danto, Lewis Gordon, Joel Kovel, Helen Longino, and Bart Ehrman to MTSU.
1995	Dr. Ron Bombardi becomes the second permanent Chair of the Department.
1996	Professer John McDermott calls MTSU's Philosophy Department "one of the best small philosophy departments in the country"; during the keynote address of the Tennessee Philosophical Association.
2001	The MTSU Philosophy Department hosts the Annual Southeastern Undergraduate Philosophy Conference.
2009	Professor John Lachs of Vanderbilt delivers a timely and spirited Lyceum lecture on the critical role played by academic departments of philosophy, particularly in troubled times.
2011	The Department of Philosophy grows to seven tenured faculty and five adjunct faculty. The program in philosophy, while continuing its central role in general education, also contributes to seventeen academic minors and currently serves almost two hundred students majoring or minoring in philosophy.
2012	The Department of Philosophy adds a tenure track position in Religious Studies.
2017	The Department of Philosophy is renamed to the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies.