A good opportunity for pursuing summer research in philosophy for undergrads:

http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/outreach_summer_seminar.shtml

PHRE community,

Dr. Alexander’s PHRE 189: Philosophy & Literature will soon be open to all students, after having been reserved for 1st year registration. If you are looking to pick up this class, now’s your opportunity!

You may also be interested to know that Dr. Mike Ashcraft will offer both PHRE 188: Ethics and PHRE 301: Christianity during the first block of summer school in 2012. This brings our summer offerings, with Dr. Alexander’s PHRE 189: Philosophy and Literature and PHRE 336: Ancient Philosophy to four, including TWO of the major required courses.

Also, if you are relatively new to the major, don’t forget about PHRE 120: New Major’s Colloquium, taught by Dr. Alexander from 1:30 to 2:20 pm on Thursdays next Spring. The course will orient you to the professional ways of thinking, writing, and researching that are unique to the fields of philosophy and religious studies, with attention also to graduate school and post-college employment.

Best,
Dereck Daschke, Ph.D.
Chair and Professor
Department of Philosophy & Religion

The Annual Meeting of the Wisconsin Philosophical Association will be held on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Submissions should adhere to the following guidelines:

• Papers can be in any area of philosophy.
• Papers should be prepared for blind review, with the author’s name appearing only on a separate cover sheet.
• Please indicate on the cover sheet the area of philosophy addressed in the paper (e.g. epistemology, history of philosophy, philosophy of language, ethics, etc.)
• Please indicate in the e-mail whether the submission is an undergraduate submission, or a faculty/graduate submission.
• Submit papers in Word or PDF to: wpa@uwosh.edu

Instead of reading the paper, presenters will be asked to provide a 20-minute summary of the paper. This allows for more discussion and for more lively and active sessions.

Papers must be submitted by February 1, 2012.  The program will be announced in March, 2012.

WPA website: www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/carlin/WPAHome.html.

The schedule of talks for Truman’s 2011 PHRE Undergraduate Conference this upcoming Saturday, November 12 has just been released.

The Philosophy and Religion Department is pleased to announce that the following papers will be presented at this year’s Undergraduate Philosophy and Religion Conference on Saturday, November 12:

• Finoch, Kimberly, “John Zizioulas and Trinitarian Thought” [Lindenwood U.]
• Hardy, Nathan, “Al-Ash’ari and the Mu’tazila: Muslim Theology and its Role in the Development of Muslims’ Intellectual Lives” [Truman]
• Jones, Ken, “Existence Within Body:Physical Fitness and the Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche” [Truman]
• Leffler, Taylor, “Justice Is as Justice Does: Plato’s True Definition of Justice” [University of St. Thomas]
• Marren, Kevin, “Criticism of BioLogos and Natural Theology” [Missouri State]
• Rosentreter, Ann N., “Rainbows and Crucifixes: Gay and Lesbian Catholics and Their Faith” [Truman]
• Sar, Kevin,  “A Tale of Two Socrates: Plato’s Two Messages in the Apology” [Centre College]
• Smith, Jared, “Thomistic Epistemology and Lonerganian Revitalization” [U. of Louisville]
• Smith, Topher, “Foundationalism is Wonky” [Centre College]
• Vicars, Zach, “Beyond the Rhetoric: An Exploration in the Ethics of Genetic Engineering” [Truman]
• Voboril, Jakub, “Reconsidering the Akedah:A Natural Law Solution to the Interpreter’s Dilemma”  [Newman U.]
• Whitehurst, Ross, “Hallucination and the Veil of Perception” [Ursinus College]
• Yeagle, Henry, “Adam and Eve, the Theology of the Body, and the Sexual Revolution” [Conception Seminary College]

All talks will be held in the Student Union Alumni Room, beginning at 9:00 a.m.  A detailed schedule of times will be posted in the near future.

The keynote speaker for the conference is Robert Jewett, noted New Testament scholar.  The subject of his talk is “Jesus, Captain America and Barack Obama and the Superhero Myth in Contemporary America.”  The talk will be delivered during lunch at 12:00 p.m. in the Student Union Activities Room (SUB 3200).

The orientation meeting for next semester’s Philosophy and Religion Senior Seminar course will take place on Thursday, November 3 at 6:00 p.m. in McClain 209.

Any individuals anticipating being part of the Spring 2012 senior seminar should plan to attend. 

Others are welcome, too, especially those interested in hearing a little more about how Senior Seminar works and about what one might be do in advance preparation for that course.

The meeting will cover the following topics:

• selecting a thesis topic
• finding a thesis director
• what you need to do between now and the beginning of the spring semester
• tips for success in Senior Seminar

I look forward to thinking about great topics in philosophy and religion with those individuals who will be a part of the seminar.

— Prof. Mohler

From the editors of The Reed:

The Reed, run through St. Olaf’s Howard Hong Kierkegaard Library, functions as a forum for Existential themes at the undergraduate level throughout the United States and abroad. The undergraduate editors of this journal are committed to considering submissions by Existentialist thinkers struggling with the angst and alienation that comes with the freedom and learning of college.  Our hope is to create both a textual and visual space where Existentialism can be explored through various mediums.  As an interdisciplinary journal, we aim to include varied interpretations of existentialism; essays, as well as poetry, short fiction, literary criticism, religious discourse, psychological analysis, and visual art. Because this is an undergraduate journal, we attempt to offer selections hitting on various levels of the broad theme of Existentialism while maintaining a cohesive intellectual rigor present throughout the discipline. We also seek to include a range of understanding of Existentialism, from the novice to the relative expert, from the artistic, to the critical.

Students can send their submissions to thereed@stolaf.edu.

For excerpts from past issues and for more information, please visit our new website at http://www.stolaf.edu/orgs/reed/.

An interesting blog post from The Atlantic

Stephanie Malin will be speaking at the October 20, 2011 Global Issues Colloquium on “Uranium Communities and Nuclear Renaissance: Energy and Environmental Justice on the Colorado Plateau.” Dr. Malin is a 2004 graduate of Truman State University with a double major in Sociology/Anthropology and English, and a minor in Philosophy/Religion. She recently completed her Ph.D. in Environmental and Natural Resources Sociology and Social Change and Development at Utah State University, and is currently doing postdoctoral research at Brown University. In her lecture she will critically examine recent proposals that a global renewal of nuclear energy – a nuclear renaissance – can serve as a viable solution to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change impacts. She will focus on emergent social impacts of nuclear power on rural communities that are embedded within global systems, such as uranium markets. Dr. Malin will be speaking at 7 pm in Magruder 2001.

1st Annual Northern Undergraduate Philosophy Conference
March 23rd and 24th, 2012
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL

Keynote Speaker
David O’Connor, University of Notre Dame
Friday, March 23rd, 3:00 P.M., Holmes Student Center, University Suite

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: JANUARY 9th, 2012

Submissions from any and all undergraduates on any philosophical topic are welcome. Papers should be approximately 3500 words. Longer submissions will be considered, but all presenters will have about 30 minutes to present their work.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Please send submissions as an attachment to the NUPC in .doc, .pdf, or .rtf format to the following address: philusac@niu.edu
On the paper itself include no personal information, but do include a short abstract of your work (100-150 words), and number your pages. All submissions must have an abstract. In addition, attach a separate document with the following information: your name, college, contact information (email, phone number, mailing address), the title of your paper, a word count, and philosophical area of your paper (e.g., ethics, metaphysics, etc.).
The Conference Committee will notify all applicants of its selections by February 17th, 2012.

Questions regarding the conference may be sent to philusac@niu.edu.