SOPHIA events will primarily take three forms, local conversations, professional gatherings, or online meetings or conversations. (We categorize business meetings under the category, “Organizing.”
“Opportunities and Challenges for Building Local Communities of Philosophical Conversation”
A SOPHIA panel organized for the 2018 meeting of the Public Philosophy Network, featuring:
“Liberating the Liberal Arts: Encouraging Philosophical Engagement Outside of the Classroom”
Anthony Cashio
“Building Philosophical Community in the South Puget Sound chapter of SOPHIA”
Matthew Salzano, Michael Rings, and Sergia Hay
“Communities Take Roots: Challenges for Locally Grown Communities of Philosophical Conversation”
Eric Thomas Weber
Date:
February 9, 2018
Time:
01:15-02:45 p.m.
Event:
SOPHIA Panel at the 2018 Public Philosophy Network Conference
From the Meeting Program for the 2018 Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, which runs from January 3rd through the 6th of 2018:
The Society of Philosophers in America, SOPHIA (G6E in the group meeting portion of the program)
Topic:
Establishing Conditions for Community Building and Philosophical Dialogue
Chair:
Daniel Brunson (Morgan State University)
Speakers:
Jacquelyn Ann Kegley (California State University, Bakersfield)
“Establishing Conditions for Community Building and Philosophical Dialogue”
James William Lincoln (University of Kentucky)
“Fellowship: An Epistemological Analysis”
Eric Thomas Weber (University of Kentucky)
“Cosmopolitanism Online: Philosophical Community-Building in the Internet Age”
In the last two years, SOPHIA underwent big changes, having drafted a new mission statement and strategic plan. That development called for a new Web site, which we now have. In the process, a number of SOPHIA events took place and have yet to be included on our new site. One such great event took place in February 2016 at Pacific Lutheran University, where SOPHIA member and officer Dr. Sergia Hay helped organize a great symposium on Food.
Pacific Lutheran University has held a Food Symposium more than once, furthermore, and SOPHIA was able and happy to cosponsor the event. Videos are available of some of the more traditional panels and addresses. Events that SOPHIA sponsors can certainly incorporate some traditional formats in that way, but we want to ensure also that there is room for conversation, for dialogue, not merely paper presentations and (largely) one-way communication.
The Food Symposium at Pacific Lutheran was special because of the variety of elements of their events. In addition to some traditional panels, they also had an outing to learn about Mother Earth Farm and Hidden Valley Compost, for example, which addressed food’s connection to sustainability concerns.
Pacific Lutheran University also put together a lovely gallery of photos from the event here. And, while the event has passed, check out the great poster that they made for it!
This is the flyer that the Philosophy department made for the Food Symposium. Clicking on this link will open up the Adobe PDF version of the poster.
Finally, here’s a write up about the prior Food Symposium, from 2014, which came out in the Lute Times. The event at PLU is exciting for SOPHIA because 1) it clearly was on a topic of interest to the public, 2) it demonstrated the importance of philosophy for matters of public concern, 3) it involved conversation and not only paper delivery and critique, and 4) it moved beyond the classroom, even including outings to venture to farms and meet with people actually engaged in sustainability-related work connected with farming and food.
So, while our intention was to publicize this event before and soon after it, a number of obstacles got in the way. Nonetheless, it’s time now that we recognize the work that Dr. Hay and her colleagues put together with SOPHIA support and congratulate them on the great success of their events. Examples of successful ventures can help others have ideas and models to follow. Congratulations!
SOPHIA Awarded the 2017 APA/PDC Prize!
SOPHIA is honored to have been chosen for the 2017 prize from the American Philosophical Association and the Philosophy Documentation Center for Excellence and Innovation in Philosophy Programs! News about the prize and some comments from the chair of the selection committee were posted on the APA’s blog. We are most grateful to the APA and to the PDC!
The award will be conferred at the 2018 meeting of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association, to be held between January 3rd & 6th in Savannah, Georgia.
“Building Philosophical Community in the South Puget Sound chapter of SOPHIA”
“Communities Take Roots: Challenges for Locally Grown Communities of Philosophical Conversation”
