Past Events
Spring 2016
4/27: Rahul Kashyap (Graduate Student, UMD Physics) “Astrophysics and Scientific Certainty”
4/23: Relay for Life, team event
4/20: David Parnell, (UMD Student) presents “Inspiration, the Subject and Art: A Talk of 20th & 21st Century Aesthetics”
4/13: Prof. Eckert Presentation: “Game of Thrones and Philosophy”
4/6: Mulnix X 2 lead discussion of “Kumare”
4/3: Experience UMD Accepted Students Day, table at Corsair Fair
3/23: Graham Priest, talk on new book Fifth Corner of Four
3/22: Charlie Donahue Review Session for Graham Priest’s talk, 7:00 PM LARTS 108
3/16: Preparation Meeting for Graham Priest talk, Prof. Donahue & Prof. Eckert
3/6: Experience UMD Day, Corsair Fair table
3/3: Prof. Eckert Presentation: House of Cards and Philosophy
2/22: “Mad Max: Warrior Road,” student led discussion.
2/17: Philosophy and Pro-Wrestling, Student presentation
2/15: Philosophy Association Recruiting, table Campus Center
2/10: Planning Meeting
Fall 2015
11/18: Prof. Maureen Eckert presentation: “Physical Graffiti: Body Modification and Philosophy”
11/11: Prof. Nick Angelov (Public Policy, UMD) presentation: “Sustainability and the Garment Industry – One Year Challenge, Buy No Clothing”
11/4: Rachel Frederickson (Philosophy Major) presentation: “Meat or Kids? A Conundrum”
10/28: Daniel Allen (Philosophy Minor) presentation: “Philosophical Themes in John Carpenter’s Halloween”
10/21: Rocky Horror Picture Show and Transgressive Cinema
10/14: Madeline Weinreb (Philosophy Major) presentation: “The Philosophy of Fantasy Fiction” (Harry Potter, Hunger Games and Chronicles of Narnia)
10/7: Film viewing
9/30: Film viewing
9/23: Our Annual Ethical Dilemmas discussion!
9/16: Planning meeting
9/9: Corsair Fair
Spring 2015
The UMD Philosophy Association holds weekly events in LARTS 118 on Wednesdays from 4:00 - 6:30 PM. A schedule can be found below and our Facebook page is regularly updated. Folloe us on Twitter UMD_Philosophy_Club. All are welcome! Events are free of charge! No philosophical experience required!
4/29 Jason Stanley (Yale) "How Propaganda Spreads Ideology" *Room Change* BOT Conference Room
4/22 Otavio Bueno (University of Miami) Special Workshop: Logical Pluralism 2:00 - 3:00 PM LARTS 397D
Presentation 4:00 - 6:00 "Jose Saramago and the Nature of Fiction" LARTS 118
Co-Sponsored by the Ph.D. Program in Luso-Afro-Brazilian Studies and Theory and MAP (Minorties and Philosophy)
4/15 Student Research Presentation: Natalie Tessicini "Denying Autonomy: Disability in the Free Will Debate"
4/8 Relay for Life Team Fundraiser Game Night!
4/1 Christopher Larkosh (UMD) "The Importance of Language Study, Linguistics and World Travel for Young Philosophers"
3/25 Mulnix^ Event: "Who is the Happy Person?" with Michael Mulnix (Salem State) and Jennifer Mulnix (UMD)
*Room Change* Woodland Commons
3/18 Spring Break -- read MORE PHILOSOPHY!
3/11 Carl Sachs (Marymount University) and Maureen Eckert (UMD) team Teach-In on Jason Stanley's new book,
How Propaganda Works. Preparation for his visit on 4/29.
3/4 Student Research Presentation: Jessica Latta "Charles Mills: Philosophy of Race and Critical Race Theory"
2/25 House of Cards and Philosophy with Prof. Eckert
2/18 Film Viewing: "I <3 Huckabees" and discussion
2/11 Valentine's Day Meeting: What is Love?
2/4 Planning Meeting!
Fall 2014
The UMD Philosophy Association holds weekly events in LARTS 204 on Wednesdays from 4:00 - 6:30 PM. A schedule can be found below and our Facebook page is regularly updated. All are welcome! Events are free of charge!
12/3 Ugly Holiday Sweater and Pussy Riot Documentary
11/26 Thanksgiving -- no meeting!
11/19 Student Research Debate: Olivia Gauvin (Philosophy Major) debates Graham Priest (CUNY Graduate Center) on Buddhist Ethics via Skype
11/12 Prof. Robert Sherwin presents on the Philosophy of Music.
11/5 Prof. Eckert provides an introduction to Philosophy of Time, focusing on McTaggart's article, "The Unreality of Time"
10/29 Filippo Casati (University of St. Andrews) provides a Skype lecture, "Richard Routley: An Encounter"
Abstract: When, in 1996, the great philosopher and logician Richard Routley (nè Sylvan) died for an heart attack, a big part of the Australian philosophical community was deeply shocked. Graham Priest, in Sylvan's Box, wrote: 'I still could not believe it was possible. Richard dead. Never again would I see him. Never again would we talk, share ideas, problems, a bottle of wine'. Bob Meyer, in the obituary, said: 'Richard is gone! It's hard to believe; it would be in character for him to be fooling us, speeding the rumor of his death for some deep Sylvanesque purpose'. Tragically, Richard was really gone and, as we all thought, he was gone forever. However, after eighteen years from his death, during the last summer, I had the pleasure to meet him again. He was waiting on the second floor of the library at the University of Queensland: surrounded by boxes full of his manuscripts, he was in a perfect shape, ready to chat about philosophy. We discussed about logic, ontology and the book (Re-exploring Meinong's Jungle and Beyond) that he was planning to write before the tragic event...
10/22 Daniel Allen (Philosophy Student) presents on the Philosophy and Nature of Horror.
~~Special Event~~
Northern New England Philosophical Association Annual Conference
Hosted at UMASS Dartmouth
October 17-18th
Information
Program
10/15 Student-led discussion of Time Travel and viewing of "Donnie Darko."
10/8 Prof. Gardner provides an introduction for our film viewing of Derek Jarman's "Wittgenstein." PHLOS-Play has been declared! (Dress as a philosopher, real or imagined, past, present or future.)
10/1 Prof. Phil Cox (UMD) presents on Radical Philosophies
9/24 Ethical Dilemmas!" Our annual discussion session of classic moral problems lead by Jessica Latta (UMD Philosophy Major). If you want some practice with this kind of thing, you should check out: http://www.philosophyexperiments.com (particularly the first three games and the "Morality Play" game).
9/17 Planning Meeting: Join us as we plan our activities for this semester and academic year -- pizza will be served!
9/10 Corsair Fair 1:30 - 5:30 Stop by our table!
Spring 2014
The UMD Philosophy Association holds weekly events in LARTS 120 on Wednesdays from 4:00 - 6:30 PM. A schedule can be found below and our Facebook page is regularly updated. All are welcome! Events are free of charge!
4/30 Student Research Presentations on Free Will, Determinism and Fatalism:
Jessica Latta, Thomas Medieros, Omari Steans.
4/23 ONLINE UNDERGRADUATE PHILOSOPHY CONFERENCE
Open House Gala
Celebrate Our Conference and our UMD Participants
1:00 - 3:00 PM LIBRARY 314 Pizza & refreshments
Guest Speaker: Filippo Casati (University of St. Andrews)
"Quine, Meinong and Heidegger - What is Water?"
4:00 - 6:00 PM LARTS 120 (regular room)
4/16 Guest Speaker: Prof. Catherine Villanueva-Gardner gives a talk: "Female Slaves and 'Civilized Wives':
Nineteenth-Century Philosophical Arguments on Slavery and Marriage."
4/11 5:00 PM - Sat. 6:00 AM RELAY FOR LIFE
The Philosophy Association RFL team will meet on Cressey Field.
4/9 BAKE SALE for Relay for Life 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM Campus Center
4:00 - 6:30 PM Philosophy of Game of Thrones: Prof. Eckert leads discussion of the world of Westeros
4/2 Relay for Life Game Night: Cards Against Humanity Against Cancer
4:15 - 7:00 PM in AUD 007.
3/26 Speaker Prof. Eckert (Philosophy): "Is Owning Pets Immoral?"
3/19 Spring Break
3/12 Film viewing and discussion: "Man from Earth"
3/5 Guest speaker: Prof. Steven Baden (History): "Theory of Suffering"
2/26 Skype w/Costal Carolina Philosophy Club & later Debate
2/19 Peer Review Party!
2/14 Planning Meeting!
2/5 Cancelled (Snow Day)
Fall 2013
The UMD Philosophy Association holds weekly events in LARTS 107 on Wednesdays from 4:30 - 7:00 PM. A schedule can be found below and our Facebook page is regularly updated. All are welcome! Events are free of charge!
Dec. 4 Last Meeting of the SemesterStudent Chris Crogan presentation "Brains, Robots, and Cognition: Towards a Computational Theory of Semantics"
Nov. 20 Guest Speaker Prof. Dien Ho (MCPM) "Cruelty Cap and Trade -- Offsetting One's Cruelty Footprint."
Nov. 13 Casual meeting & Discussion
Nov. 4 Philosophy of Breaking Bad
Oct. 30 Film viewing: "Pontypool" & Halloween Party
Oct. 23 Ashely Nunez (UMD Philosophy Major) will lead discussion on sustainability and philosophy: "How we can understand the topic of sustainability as humans and also as philosophers, and also what the field of philosophy can contribute to the discourse on sustainability." She will show a video and hold an open discussion on these topics.
Oct. 16 Monday Schedule today-- a low-key filmviewing is planned.
Oct. 9 Chris Crogan (UMD Philosophy Major) will present his research on John Searle's Chinese Room Argument.
Oct. 2 Special Guest speaker! Henri Le Chat Noir, the world's first and foremost feline philoospher, and the Thieving filmmaker Will Braden will join us via Skype to discuss life, the universe and hairballs. Henri's website.
Sept. 25 Ethical Dilemmas!" Our annual discussion session of classic moral problems lead by Jessica Latta (UMD Philosophy Major). If you want some practice with this kind of thing, you should check out: http://www.philosophyexperiments.com (particularly the first three games and the "Morality Play" game).
Sept. 18 Planning Meeting!
Sept. 11 Corsair Fair 12:30 PM - 5:30 PM Stop by!
Spring 2013
May 1 Prof. Asher Walden will be giving a talk about epistemology in Asian Philosophical Traditions. End of the year! Laughter! Tears!
April 24 Prof. Tara Lyons (English Department) will be giving a talk on the film "Anonymous."
April 17 No meeting today--Monday Schedule!
April 12-Saturday April 13th Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society
April 10 Preparing for Relay for Life (Making Light sabers to sell)
April 3 Film viewing of "Anonymous" in preparation for Prof. Lyons talk on April 24
March 27 Philo. Association Game Night Fundraiser: Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society 4:00 - 9:00 PM Woodland Commons $5.00 suggested donation New and classic board games, music & conversation
March 25 Auditorium lobby from 10-3 Bake Sale: Fundraiser for Relay for Life American Cancer Society
March 13 Student Officer Elections, film viewing: "Stranger Than Fiction"
March 6 AIDS Quilt square, talking about elections, fundraising planning
Feb 20 Film viewing: "Paprika"
Feb 13 Professor Eckert will be giving a talk entitled "Why be one self when there are so many selves we can be?" She will be discussing Daniel Dennett's view of the Self and Fernando Pessoa and his heteronyms' poetry and other writings.
Feb 4 Film viewing: "Kumare"
Jan 30 Planning meeting
Fall 2012
The UMD Philosophy Association holds weekly events in LARTS 120 on Wednesdays from 4:00 - 7:00 PM. A schedule can be found below and their Facebook page is regularly updated. All are welcome! Events are free of charge!
(advanced logic reading group): TBA
October 10 Film viewing: "Pontypool"
October 3 "Ethical Dilemmas!" A discussion session. If you want some practice with this kind of thing, you should check out: http://www.philosophyexperiments.com (particularly the first three games and the "Morality Play" game).
September 26 Film viewing: "The Philosopher Kings"
Road Trip Planning for the Dalai Lama in Providence on 10/17
September 19 General Interest Meeting LARTS 120 4:00 - 7:00
September 12 Corsair Fair 1:30-5:30 at the Campus quad behind the Maclean Campus Center.
Spring 2012
The UMD Philosophy Association holds weekly events in LARTS 113 on Wednesdays from 4:00 - 7:00 PM. A schedule can be found below and their Facebook page is regularly updated. All are welcome! Events are free of charge!
(advanced logic reading group): Wednesdays 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM at the Writing Center and at 6:30/7:00 PM LARTS 113.
May 2 Bill Murray Movie Madness Festival: Veiwing "Rushmore" (Friendship, Integrity, Artistic Integrity)
April 25 Bill Murray Movie Madness Festival: Viewing "What about Bob?" (Friendship, Philosophy of Psychology)
~Special Event~
Graham Priest (CUNY Graduate Center, University of Melbourne)
Live Skype Session
“Limit Paradoxes”
Tuesday, April 24 6:00 – 7:00 PM LARTS 111
Preparation Review: Monday April 23 6:30 – 7:15 LARTS 113
April 18 Bill Murray Movie Madness Festival: Viewing "Groundhog Day" (Eternal Recurrence)
April 11 Planning Meeting
April 4 Faculty Presentation and Guest Speaker: Profs. Jennifer and Michael Mulnix (Salem State University) will be giving a talk "Who is the Happiest Person." The meeting is in LARTS 117 (instead of 113). This talk is co-sponsered by the Honors Council.
March 28 Faculty Presentation: Prof. Phil Cox "Philosophy of Law." Professor Phil Cox will be giving a talk on the philosophy of law. He will discuss some general ideas within the field. This is a great opportunity for anyone considering taking the Philosophy of Law class or anyone interested in studying law in the future.
March 14 Faculty Presentation: Prof. Maureen Eckert "Paradoxes of Time Travel" followed by film viewing of "Donnie Darko"
March 7 Faculty Presentation: Prof. Catherine Gardner "Women in the History of Philosophy" Followed by film viewing "Agora"
February 28 Faculty Presentation: Prof. Andrew Rotondo "Disagreement and Skepticism"
February 22 Discussion: Ethical Dilemmas!!!
February 15 Film viewing and discussion: "Another Earth"
February 8 General Interest and Planning Meeting
Fall 2011
~SPECIAL EVENT~
November 4
"Ways of being Deviant" (Logic)
Charlie Donahue, Jc Beall and Graham Priest
3:00 - 6:00 PM LARTS 374
December 7
Prof. Asher Walden: Guest lecture on Confucian and Taoist philosophy. Last meeting of the semester! Planning for next semester, laughter, tears...
November 30
Prof. Tim Nulty: Guest lecture "Martial Arts, Embodied Intentionality and Merleau-Ponty."
November 23
No Meeting: Thanksgiving Break
November 16
Prof. Steven Baden: Guest Lecture, "Gnostic Legacies: Philosophical and Theological Musings."
November 9
Guest Skype-in: Prof. Ricki Bliss (University of Melbourne) "Vicious Infinite Regresses (Again)"
November 2
Preparation for Logic Event on Friday 11/4.
October 26
Love or Lust? A discussion and debate. Student discussion leader will be Gildas Robert.
October 19
Special Event! 4:30 - 5:30 David Chalmers (Australian National University & NYU) will Skype-in to speak on "Philosophical Zombies, Wild Thought Experiments and Philosophy."
October 12
Mystery meeting! A puzzle, dipped in riddle sauce and wrapped in a condundrum. Come for the unknowing, stay for the knowing.
October 4
What is Art? Prof. Eckert will guide us through questions and issues pertaining to the nature of art. Show and Tell meeting: Bring a piece of art, picture, website link, or other example of art that you like.
September 28
Ethical Dilemmas! Trollies, Murder Buttons, Infinite Pain or ultimate destruction?...decisions, decisions. Discussion leader Ian Saccardo will guide us through a variety of thought experiments.
September 22
Roadtrip to MIT for Noam Chomsky "The Responsibilities of the Intellectual Redux" https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=258498564160149 Contact Philosophy Association (facebook): https://www.facebook.com/groups/107245902647562/
September 21
General Interest Meeting 4:00 - 7:00 LARTS room 113 Discussion and planning of meeting topics and activities this semester. Pot-luck snacks. Chomsky @ MIT 9/22 Roadtrip planning.
September 14
Corsair Fair 1:30 - 5:00 Cenetennial Way (shine) or Campus Center (rain). Join us at the Philosophy Association table!
Spring 2011 Events
The UMD Philosophy Association holds weekly events in LARTS 116 on Wednesdays from 4:00 - 7:00 PM. A schedule can be found below and their Facebook page is regularly updated. All are welcome! Events are free of charge!
May 4
Ms. Elle Benjamin (UMD Philosophy Major and graduating senior) will present her research for Independent Study, "Fundamentality and the Grounding Relation."
April 27
Matt Hogan (UMD Physics Graduate Program) will talk on Philosophy and Cosmology.
April 20
Prof. Tim Nulty will present "Embodied Intentionality and Chinese Martial Arts: the Myth of the Mental."
April 13
Special Event: Zach Weber (University of Melbourne) will give a talk, "A Paraconsistent Model of Vagueness."
April 6
"It's All so Vague" Professors Eckert and Donahue team up for a double presentation on vagueness and the Sorites Paradox. This meeting will set the stage for Zach Weber's presentation at next week's meeting.
March 30
General Discussion Session
March 23
General Discussion Session
March 9
Film viewing: "Exit Through the Gift Shop"
March 8
Special Event: Colin Caret (University of St. Andrews) presents a guest lecture on Newcomb's Paradox, 12:30 - 1:45 PM LARTS 112. At 5:00 PM he will present a talk on John Slaney's "A General Logic" in the Writing Center.
March 2
Film Viewing: "Slavoj Zizek: The Reality of the Virtual"
February 23
Special Guest Speaker via Skype: Philosophy Bro He's "just a Bro who likes philosophy," and he's hilarious. The main topic of his talk will be Heidegger.
February 16
Film viewing: "The Bothersome Man"
February 9
General Interest Meeting
2010 Events
The UMD Philosophy Association holds weekly events in LARTS 117 on Wednesdays from 4:00 - 7:00 PM. A schedule can be found below and their Facebook page is regularly updated.
Special Event
Deviant Logic Symposium
November 19th, 2010
3:00 - 7:00 pm
UMass Dartmouth Charlton College of Business, room 115
Come see Graham Priest, Agustin Rayo, Jay Garfield, Richard Heck and JC Beall in a roundtable symposium on non-classical logic. We'll be livestreaming this event, so people across the world can watch and question these esteemed logicians.
Philosophy Association Events Fall 2010
December 15
Philosophy Study Fest: All philosophy students are welcome to join our group study-paloosa!
December 8
Film Viewing: "The Addiction"
A Philosophy doctoral student becomes infected by a vampire and addicted--to what? An interesting film by director Abel Ferarra.
December 3 (Friday)
Winter Fest: Join us at our table in the Campus Center from 6:00 - 8:00 PM.
December 1
Deck the Halls Competition: We have reserved the "cave" area in the campus center and plan to build a festive Plato's Cave.
November 24
No Meeting (Thanksgiving)
November 17
Film viewing: "The Cove"
The Cove is a documentary about a team of activists who set out to try to end the dolphin slaughter that occurs every year in Taiji, Japan.
November 10
No meeting--Wednesday 11/10 follows a Thursday Schedule
November 3
Professor Maureen Eckert (UMD) “The Strange Case of the Missing Dialogue: Plato’s Metafictional Philosopher”
Prof. Eckert will be presenting on Plato and Literary metafiction. She will be teaching a class on Paradox, Self-Reference and Metafiction next semester.
Abstract: Metafictional literary works are characterized as texts constructed such that they draw attention to themselves as works of fiction. Various narrative devices further this effect, including elements of self-reference, authorial intrusion, stories within stories, etc. Although this label tends to be applied to contemporary fiction, works from other eras have been considered ‘metafictional’, such as Cervantes’ Don Quixote and Homer’s Odyssey. I will propose that the curious chronological placement of dialogues from the Theaetetus through the Phaedo (and, perhaps, even further, through to the Parmenides’ frame) and the missing “promised” dialogue, the Philosopher, can be interpreted as a metafictional move. Minimally, I will suggest that the Apology, Crito and Phaedo are inter-textually positioned to be the Philosopher, although I think a stronger case could be developed such that the Philosopher extends circularly through the corpus.
October 27
Professor Timothy Nulty (UMD) "Why You Are Not Yourself and the Limits of Authenticity."
Prof. Nulty will be presenting on Heidegger. The title of his talk is "Why You Are Not Yourself and the Limits of Authenticity." Professor Nulty will be teaching a class on Heidegger next semester, as well as an existentialism & phenomenology class. Those of you interested in Heidegger/Existentialism in general should definitely plan on attending!
October 20
Film Viewing: “Unmistaken Child”
This documentary follows the four-year search for the reincarnation of Lama Konchog, a world-renowned Tibetan master who passed away in 2001 at age 84. The Dalai Lama charges the deceased monk’s devoted disciple, Tenzin Zopa (who had been in his service since the age of seven), to search for his master’s reincarnation."
October 13
Professor Asher Walden (UMD) “Spinoza’s Ethics”
Prof. Walden’s presentation will cover the first three books of Spinoza’s Ethics. Open discussion will follow.
Here is some info on Spinoza
October 6
Film viewing: “Intacto”
September 29
Film Viewing “The Examined Life”
Filmmaker Astra Taylor explores the application of contemporary philosophy to everyday life by speaking with leading philosophers in settings that underscore the tangible relevance of their theories. Taylor's subjects include Princeton University professor Peter Singer who discusses the ethics of consumption -- while strolling amid the sumptuous luxury of Fifth Avenue. Taylor also interviews Cornel West, Michael Hardt, Judith Butler and others."
September 22
General Interest meeting
September 15
Colin Caret (University of St. Andrews) “Bridging the Modal-Relevant Divide”
Abstract: Modal and relevant logics were forged in the furnace of non-classical semantics, yet there is an important sense in which -- despite much common ground -- they remain incompatible paradigms. This talk is an attempt to clarify where the two traditions part ways, and to use this to shed light on the nature of relevance. Colin Caret received his Ph.D. from UCONN and is presently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Foundations of Logical Consequence Project, Arche Research Centre, University of St. Andrews
September 8
Student Organization Fair (Centennial Way)