2022 Summer Workshop: Field Philosophy

Wed, Jun 8, 2022 - Fri, Jun 10, 2022

The Public Philosophy Network welcomes applications to participate in a workshop to be held June 8 - 10, 2022 at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY.

Workshop Directors:
Evelyn Brister, Professor of Philosophy, Rochester Institute of Technology
Robert Frodeman, former Professor of Philosophy

21st century philosophy is developing new formats and growing in public visibility, creating new research opportunities while answering calls for greater relevance. This workshop will increase the capacity of philosophers to work effectively with policymakers and communities through a set of strategies called Field Philosophy (Brister and Frodeman 2020). 

This workshop is targeted at late-stage graduate students and faculty looking to develop philosophical practices that engage with non-philosophers on policy issues related to science, technology, environment, education, or government. Participants will acquire skills and become part of an ongoing community of engaged scholars. 

Applicants should have policy-relevant research interests and a potential field project in mind. Participants will receive advice on how to shape a field philosophy research program. Workshop leaders and participants will provide peer feedback on projects, with the long-term goal of forming a continuing, supportive community of field philosophers.

The workshop will improve collaborative and facilitative skills for working with non-philosophers across the university, the public and private sectors, and NGOs. Participants will sharpen their skills in framing and clarifying complex social problems. 

The deadline for submission is March 18, 2022; participants will be notified of acceptance by March 30. Please apply via email to elbgsl@rit.edu.

To apply, please provide:

  1. A one-page CV

  2. A 300-word statement of a policy problem that briefly addresses how philosophers might contribute to understanding and addressing the issue.

Pacific APA Session: Public Philosophy as Scholarship

The PPN Group Session at the 2022 Pacific APA in Vancouver is scheduled for Wednesday, April 13, 6pm - 8pm.

This session will be structured as a panel discussion, with Michael Burroughs, Vice President for PPN acting as moderator. The discussants will include Tiffany Tsantsoulas (California State University, Bakersfield), Robert Eli Sanchez, Jr. (Occidental College), Perry Zurn (American University), Kristopher Phillips (Southern Utah University), and Ian Olasov (City University of New York).

The discussants will be giving their thoughts on questions about public philosophy as a form of scholarship, including:

  • In your view, what counts as public philosophy research? Does philosophical research that addresses or connects (in any way) to pressing issues in the world count as "public philosophy" research? Or is public philosophy research of a more specific kind with distinct aims and styles of approach?

  • What role can research play in advancing public philosophy in our profession and discipline?

  • Are there strategic areas of research or focal points that should be prioritized in order to grow the field of public philosophy in constructive directions?

  • In contrast to traditional forms of philosophical scholarship, public philosophy is often thought of as a practice-focused form of philosophy, including diverse forms of engaged activity in collaboration with communities beyond the university. What is public philosophy research in this understanding, given that research is often written for and by professional philosophers?

Public Philosophy, Education, and Social Justice

Education and Social Justice are cornerstones of a flourishing society. PPN is partnering with PLATO and the Kegley Institute of Ethics to host a Zoom panel discussion (webinar) on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific.

The fourth in a series of PLATO webinars, this event will feature an in-depth panel discussion of cultivating impactful and innovative philosophy programming toward ends of social justice and will be moderated by Dr. Michael Burroughs, Director of the Kegley Institute of Ethics at CSU Bakersfield.  

Please register for the webinar here.

Event panelists include: Dr. Briana Toole (Founder, Corrupt the Youth), Dr. Sol Neely (Founder, The Flying University),Dr. Kyle Robertson (Leader, Ethics Bowl, Children & Jail Programs, UC Santa Cruz Center for Public Philosophy), and Adam Blazej (Coordinator, Rethink).

Ask-a-Philosopher Booth in Baltimore, Jan. 5 - 8, 2022

Sadly, this event was canceled due to Covid restrictions. We’ll try again next year!

In conjunction with the American Philosophical Association’s Eastern Division annual meeting in Baltimore, MD on January 5 - 8, 2022, PPN will be holding an Ask-a-Philosopher booth at Lexington Market (400 W. Lexington Street). The booth will be open from 11am - 3pm each day. Philosophers who would like to participate can sign up by emailing Ian Olasov.

We had a great time doing this at the last in-person APA conference!

To learn more about ask-a-philosopher events, check out Ian’s blog post and his book!

2022 Central Division APA Group Session, Chicago

This February PPN is starting what we hope will be a tradition of organizing a session of contributed papers with commentaries at one of the divisional APA meetings each year. The advantage of this format is that it provides an opportunity for scholars who are new to writing and thinking about forms of public philosophy to submit a piece. When group sessions are organized based on established work, they may not highlight new work and new scholars. We’re also excited to use the commentary format because of the networking opportunities and intellectual exchange when we engage with each others’ ideas.

The contributed paper session this year will feature discussion of methods for engaging the public, for organizing conversations in local place-based communities, and for addressing equity. Please join us in late February!

Thursday evening, February 24, 7:15pm - 10:15pm
G3E. Public Philosophy Network
How To Do Public Philosophy - In Print, In Person, Online
Chair: Ben Almassi (Governors State University)

"Using Our Outside Voices: Public Philosophy as Pandemic Era Storytelling"
Speaker: Anna Gotlib (City University of New York - Brooklyn College)
Commentary: Evelyn Brister (Rochester Institute of Technology)

"Lawrence Talks: Community Engaged Philosophy"
Speaker: Alejandro David Tamez (University of Kansas)
Commentary: Saba Fatima (Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville)

"The 'How' of Public Philosophy: Building Skills and Ensuring Equity"
Speaker: Beba Cibralic (Georgetown University)
Commentary: Taylor Rogers (Northwestern University)

"Climate Ethics" in the Field

On Tuesday, Nov. 9, 4:30 - 6:00 pm (Eastern) PPN is co-sponsoring a webinar on integrating philosophy, science, law and policy for climate justice with Princeton’s Climate Futures Initiative and ISEE (the International Society for Environmental Ethics). This event will take the form of a panel discussion on how to support collaborative engagement among philosophers, legal scholars, scientists and policymakers, and the panelists will be offering concrete and practical advice for applying philosophical skills in science, policy and management contexts. The speakers are Robert Hockett (Edward Cornell Professor of Law at Cornell University and author of “Financing the Green New Deal: A Plan of Action and Renewal”), Deborah McGregor (associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice at York University), and Nancy Tuana (DuPont/Class of 1949 Professor of Philosophy and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Penn State).

A video of this event can be viewed here.

6th PPN Conference, October 21 - 23, 2021: Conference Schedule

Below is the conference schedule with all times given in Eastern US timezone. Conference registration is here. For registered participants with password access, conference access can be found here.

Thursday, 21 October 2021

Conference Welcome (1:00 – 1:15 PM)

Plenary I (1:15 PM – 3:00 PM)

Climate Change and Our Common Future
Andrew Light | Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy
David Morrow | American University and George Mason University

Concurrent Afternoon Sessions (3:30 PM – 5:00 PM)

Public Philosophy: Theory and Practice (Lightning Talks)
Chair: Danielle Lake

Anna Peterson & Sam Snyder, “Public Philosophy, Ethics, and Activism”
Marie Sandy & Benjamin Trager, “Revisiting John Dewey's Social Philosophy during the ‘Original’ Liberal Turn: Implications for Service Learning with Democratic Values in a Neoliberal Context”
Catherine Womack, “The Making of a Proud Public Philosopher, or How I Learned to Love Writing on Deadline”
Landon Frim, “Mill, Mao, or Socrates: Three Strategies for Dealing with the Alt-Right in the Public University Classroom”
Britt Holbrook, “Engaging the Public as a Field Experiment in Engineering Ethics Education”

Public Engagement with Science and Policy (Lightning Talks)
Chair: Ben Almassi

David Henderson, “Who Am I to the Crow?”
Elizabeth Hoppe, “Hindsight is 20/20: Anticipatory Technology Ethics and the Boeing 737 MAX”
Siobhain Lash, “Environmental Racism and Governance: A Case for an Ostromian Approach towards an Alternative Institution in Louisiana”
Kian Mintz-Woo, “Reflections on Speaking to Non-Profits and Decision-Makers”

The Adversities of International Displacement: Refugees (Panel)
Chair: Michelle Pham

Mlado Ivanovic, “The Fictions of Refuge”
Ezgi Sertler, “A Structural-Epistemological Approach to Forced Displacement”
Anna Malavisi, “Integrity as an Institutional Virtue as a Form of Political Responsibility”

Roundtable on the Blackwell Companion to Public Philosophy (Panel)
Chair: Sharyn Clough

Speakers: Nancy McHugh, Lee McIntyre, and Ian Olasov

Engaging the Public in Philosophy on Social Media (Panel)
Chair: Cristina Cammarano

Timothy Barczak, “Social Media as the New Technological Public Sphere”
Kristan Barczak, “An Exploration of ‘Truth’ on Social Media in a Post-Truth Era”
Beththena Johnson, “Audience and Interaction: Thoughts on Engagement via Social Media”
Katie O’Keefe, “Using Design to Calibrate Philosophical Discussion on Social Media”
Jamie Herman, “Concerns and Limitations in Conducting Public Philosophy via Social Media”

Evening Workshops (6:30 PM – 8:30 PM)

Workshops require pre-registration.

A1: Peace Literacy 101: Human Aggression and Its Anatomy
Shari Clough & Paul K. Chappell

A2: We Know What You Did Last Summer…: Incorporating the P4C Pedagogy into a Summer Camp Setting
Claire Katz, Daniel Conway, Haley Burke & Michael Portal

A3: Transforming Undergraduate Philosophy Curricula
Clair Morrissey & Caro Brighouse 

A4: Using Public Philosophy to Increase Diversity and Inclusion
Kristen Intemann, Jingyi Wu & Krushil Watene

Friday, 22 October 2021

Morning Workshops (10:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

Workshops require pre-registration.

B1: Philosophical Fieldwork: Strategies for Participatory Engagement
Evelyn Brister & Robert Frodeman

B2: Public-Facing Assessments in Graduate Seminars
Colin Marshall, Erica Bigelow, Nic Jones & Darcy McCusker

B3: Descriptive Inquiry: A Process for Doing Public Philosophy
Cara Furman & Cecelia Traugh

B4: Empowerment through Dialogue: Creating Communities of Philosophical Inquiry in Elementary Schools
Karen Emmerman & Debi Talukdar

Plenary II (1:15 PM – 3:00 PM)

Science and Technology for the Public Interest
David Rodin | Principia Advisory and University of Oxford
Tony Pfaff | U.S. Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute 
Rachel Gillum | Salesforce, Office of Ethical and Humane Use and Stanford University 
Moderated by Jesse Kirkpatrick, George Mason University

Concurrent Afternoon Sessions (4:30 PM – 6:00 PM)

Applied Ethics and Policy (Lightning Talks)
Chair: Clair Morrissey

Elizabeth Fenton, “Reciprocity and Resources”
Alyssa Adamson, “Budgets as Moral Documents”
Michael Lissack & Brenden Meagher, “Lessons from Covid-19: Decisions Based on Truthiness Need More Solid Foundations”
Michelle Pham & Ashley Feinsinger, “What's the Value of Participant Engagement in Basic Human Neuroscience Research?”
N.A.J Taylor, “The International Ethics of Australian Nuclear Heritage”

Classroom Activities and Pedagogy (Lightning Talks)
Chair: Ramona Ilea

Kate Brelje, “Tradespeople, Hypnotherapists, and Refugees: Utilizing Interviews in the Philosophy Classroom and Beyond”
Cristina Cammarano, “Writing and Reading Philosophy across Walls”
Timothy Stock, Cristina Cammarano & Michele Schlehofer, “Public Philosophy at the Heart: A Chair’s Perspective”
Jana McAuliffe, “Philosophy after Graduation: Conversations between Students and Alums”
Michele Schlehofer, “‘Listening First’: Community-Based Research Meets Public Philosophy”

Reflecting on the Methods of Field Philosophy (Panel)
Chair: Jeremy Bendik-Keymer

Jessica Luther Rummel & Torrey Lynne Henderson, “Field Philosophers and Direct Action – Tools for Liberation Movements”
Adam Briggle, “Field Philosophy in the Bowels of Bureaucracy”
Jared L. Talley, “Field Philosophy in an Actual Field: My Body and My Engaged Philosophy”

Prisons and Philosophy: Being an Insider While Being an Outsider (Panel)
Chair: Michael Burroughs

Speakers: Shannon Fyfe, Elizabeth Lanphier & Amy McKiernan

The Inhumanity of Fake News (Panel)
Chair: Ian Olasov

Jennifer Foster, “Fake News, Real Fears: How Misinformation Makes It Hard to Be (Doxastically) Courageous”
Megan Fritts, “Digital Misinformation and the Exploitation of Humane Virtues”
Seth Goldwasser, “How Fake News Keeps Us Dumb: The Role of Function in Modeling Pathologies”
A. G. Holdier,  “On Useless Wights: An Aristotelian Critique of Fake News”

Saturday, 23 October 2021

Morning Workshops (9:00 AM – 11:00 AM)

Workshops require pre-registration.

C1: Sustainability Activism Within and Outside Philosophy
Eugene Chislenko & Rebecca Millsop

C2: Deliberative Practice for the Public Sector
Alex Richardson, Delaney Thull & Michael Vazquez
(This is a 90-minute workshop.)

C3: Algorithmic Auditing: Ethics and AI
Jovana Davidovic & Shea Brown

C4: Spaces of Public Philosophy
Anna Peterson, Ali Mian & Jaime Ahlberg

PPN Business Meeting (11:30 AM – 12:30 PM)

All PPN conference participants are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Concurrent Afternoon Sessions (1:30 PM – 3:00 PM)

Teaching Inside and Outside the Classroom (Lightning Talks)
Chair: Britt Holbrook

Matthew Hastings, “Ethics of Education for Digital Technology” 
Bob Coulter, “Philosophical Grounding for Outdoor Learning”
Benjamin Hole and Ramona Ilea, “Radical Hope for Teaching Civic Engagement in Ethics Courses”
Danielle Lake & Dani Green, “Disrupting Higher Education: A Call to Action for Public Philosophers”
Nora Boyd, “Philosophy Gets Dirty: Teaching Environmental Ethics as Community-Engaged Activism”

Public Philosophy Events and Projects (Lightning Talks)
Chair: Nancy McHugh

Jesse Hamilton, “A Philosophy Book Club with the General Public”
Anna Ichino, “The Philosophy Museum”
Gene Lin, “Creating the Largest US Public Philosophy Group: 4 Key Decisions”
Rachel Robison-Greene & Richard Greene, “Ethics Slams in Person and Online”
Anastasia Anderson, “The Thinking Playground”

Theorizing Public Engagement (Lightning Talks)
Chair: Adam Briggle

Danna Aduna, “What Can Activists Do about Epistemic Injustice and Gaslighting?”
Jeremy Bendik-Keymer, “To Make a Community More Harmonious through Disagreement: Part I. Settler Colonialism”
Lauren Bialystok, “Using Philosophy to De-Polarize Public Discourse on Sex Education”

Invasion Biology and Conservation Decision-Making (Panel)
Chair: Evelyn Brister

Karen Kovaka & Jacob Barney, “Invasion Biology and Ecological Networks” 
David Frank, “Biogeographic Origin and Conservation Decision-Making” 
Jay Odenbaugh, “Endangered Ecosystems and Non-Native Species”
Carlos Santana, “Against Ecological Nativism in the Urban Community”

Drama Queens: Gender & Performance in Public Testimony (Panel)
Chair: Catherine Womack

Speakers: Jeanette “Joy” Harris, Vanessa Voss & Margaret Betz

Ethics and Policing: Philosophers Engaging with Police Reform (Panel)
Chair: Helen de Cruz

Michael Burroughs, “Forming a Community-Sourced Police Reform Initiative in Bakersfield, CA”
Ben Jones, “Turning Principle into Policy: Philosophy’s Role in Police Reform” 
Eduardo Mendieta, “Reimagining Police Ethics”
Mercer Gary, “Transforming Police and Public Safety at the University”

Plenary III (4:00 PM – 5:30 PM)

Bioethics and Forms of Public Philosophy
Jonathan Moreno | University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
Nita Farahany | Duke University, School of Law
Anita L. Allen | University of Pennsylvania, School of Law and Department of Philosophy
Moderated by Christopher DiTeresi, George Mason University

Engagement, Policy, Practice: 6th PPN Conference

The 6th PPN Conference is taking place virtually on Oct. 21-23. The theme is “Engagement, Policy, Practice.” Please join us! The conference website is here.

Plenary Sessions:

“Climate Change and Our Common Future.” Speakers are Andrew Light (Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy) and David Morrow (American University and George Mason University).
Thursday, Oct. 21, 1pm - 3pm

“Science and Technology for the Public Interest.” Speakers are David Rodin, (Principia Advisory and University of Oxford), Tony Pfaff (U.S. Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute), and Rachel Gillum (Salesforce, Office of Ethical and Humane Use and Stanford University)
Friday, Oct. 22, 1:15pm - 3pm

“Bioethics and Forms of Public Philosophy.” Speakers are Jonathan Moreno (University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine), Nita Farahany (Duke University, School of Law), and Anita L. Allen (University of Pennsylvania, School of Law and Department of Philosophy)
Saturday, Oct. 23, 4pm - 5:30pm

Plenaries are free and open. Attendance at the general program, including panels and interactive workshops requires registration here.

Environmental Values in Outdoor Recreation

With the restrictions placed on indoor gatherings and international travel, outdoor recreation has exploded in popularity this year. The benefits in terms of health and environmental awareness might be balanced by downsides, such as wildlife-human conflicts, harm to cultural artifacts and biodiverse natural areas, and strain on search-and-rescue teams. PPN is sponsoring a free and open panel discussion to examine the values that draw us to recreate in nature and the potential value conflicts that can arise for participants in outdoor recreation and the communities that are affected.

Monday, April 26, 7:00-8:30 pm EDT

Free Registration here.

Featured panelists:

  • Kevin Krein, Professor of Philosophy and Director of Outdoor Studies at the University of Alaska Southeast, author of Philosophy and Nature Sports (Routledge 2019), mountaineer and professional ski guide

  • Leslie A. Howe, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Saskatchewan and author of numerous articles in the philosophy of sport, as well as in existentialism and moral psychology

  • Jonathan Ellsworth, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of BLISTER (an outdoor media & gear review company), former philosophy instructor, and co-editor of Thoreau's Importance for Philosophy (2012).

  • Moderated by Evelyn Brister (Rochester Institute of Technology, Philosophy) and Jonathan Schnaufer (RIT, Outdoor Education)

Our panel will discuss three questions at the core of outdoor recreation and adventure sports:

  1. Does outdoor recreation bring us closer to nature?

  2. What are the values that attract people to outdoor recreation, and how can these values come into conflict with each other?

  3. How can outdoor recreation develop our character as individuals and communities, and what are the hazards?

This event is sponsored by the RIT Department of Philosophy, the RIT Department of Outdoor Education in the Division of Student Affairs, the Public Philosophy Network, and RocVentures Climbing Gym.