To learn more about the research and development activities within the College of Letters and Science, visit Research – Letters & Science.

The post Dr. William Penn Awarded College of Letters and Science Course Development Grant in Public Humanities appeared first on Philosophy.

Information regarding this award along with our other awards can be found at the following link:

Scholarships and Awards – Philosophy

The post Moses Bidwell and Richard Sanderson Receive Seidler Award (2025–2026) appeared first on Philosophy.

“New Books in Philosophy” is part of the New Books Network which is the largest book-focused podcast network in the world!

Below is a link to the podcast; and congratulations to Professor Neufeld for contributing to this exciting organization!

The post Professor Blain Neufeld is now a co-host at “New Books in Philosophy” appeared first on Philosophy.

For more information regarding the fellowship, please visit here.

The post Professor Blain Neufeld on being awarded the C21 Faculty Fellows Award for 2026-2027 appeared first on Philosophy.

Eligibility:

• Enrolled 51���� student with declared Philosophy Major at time of submission.
• Continuing student (not graduating spring 2026)

How to apply:

• Submit general scholarship application on the Panther Scholarship App by deadline (2/22/26)
• Send essay (900-1500 words) in response to the prompt below as Word document by email to Professors Miren Boehm (boehmm@uwm.edu) and Matthew Knachel (knachel@uwm.edu) by deadline (Feb. 22, 2026).
• Deadline: February 22, 2026

Essay topic:

The skills one develops as a philosophy major are universally applicable. Disciplined, systematic thinking; the ability to interpret texts and assess different viewpoints; facility in critically analyzing and clearly formulating arguments—these skills are useful not only in tackling the most abstruse topics in metaphysics or epistemology, but also in confronting the sorts of everyday, contemporary issues that are important to every citizen in the modern world.

Using these skills, write a short essay (3 – 5 double-spaced pages = 900-1500 words) responding to the following prompt:

Recently, many state governments have enacted laws or promulgated policies that appear to restrict or otherwise subject to heightened scrutiny the subject-matter taught and discussed in college classrooms. Topics such as gender-identity, racism, ethnicity, and diversity in general are now subject to various forms of governmental oversight in these states. Should state governments be able to determine the content of the curriculum in their public universities in this way, or should curricular decisions be left to the faculty of those institutions? How should we balance the prerogative of government officials to oversee publicly funded institutions, on the one hand, with values like academic freedom on the other?

Submissions will be evaluated using the following four primary criteria:

1. thoroughness in articulating not only the author’s view on the issue in question, but also the most compelling version of the opposing viewpoint;
2. argumentative rigor: attention to the structure of arguments on both sides, with conclusions, premises, and the relationships among them made explicit;
3. clarity of presentation: the essay should be accessible to non-philosophers, non-academics—any curious, reasonably well-informed person
4. the quality and degree of independent, critical and creative thinking displayed in the paper.

Further instructions:

• Do not use AI in any part of the process of writing or proofing the essay.
• Because the emphasis in this competition is on philosophical argument, it is not necessary or advisable to do research for this paper. The task, rather, is to consider how one might argue on each side of the question, from first principles, as it were. Or, put another way: what counts as research for this paper is the construction, analysis and evaluation of arguments on both sides of the issue. Having done that “research”, one constructs the strongest argument one can on the topic, within the scope of a paper of this size, and one defends the argument in the face of possible counterarguments. Please direct inquiries about this essay competition to William Bristow (bristow@uwm.edu – Chair of Philosophy Department) or Ágúst Magnússon (magnusso@uwm.edu – Undergraduate Advisor for Philosophy Department).

The post 2026 51���� Brian Winters Undergraduate Philosophy Essay Competition appeared first on Philosophy.

The post Philosophy students explore a new way of thinking with Indigenous philosophy course appeared first on Philosophy.

This marks Professor Koethe’s 13th published book of poetry.

Congratulations John!!!

The post Distinguished Professor Emeritus John Koethe’s “Cemeteries and Galaxies” appeared first on Philosophy.

The post Congratulations to Braden Cooper appeared first on Philosophy.

“Finding Funny”
David Shoemaker, Cornell
3:30 – 5:30
April 18, 2025
CRT 175

ABSTRACT
We’re all familiar with advertent humor, things that people say or do deliberately that aim to be funny (e.g. telling jokes, making wisecracks, engaging in pratfalls, etc.). But there’s plenty of inadvertent humor we’ve experienced as well (e.g. a dog sounding like a human, a typo in an email that alters the content hilariously). In this talk, I aim to explicate how and why to find the funny in inadvertent events like these. After beginning with a few important distinctions and then articulating the nature of the practical reasons in play, I’ll start my investigation in earnest with advertent humor, which reveals a familiar model for how to understand and find certain kinds of deliberative efforts funny, even when morally offensive (and so even when they are the apt target of angry blame). I’ll then apply a similar model to inadvertent humor, a kind of humor that is actually available all around us, were we to choose to seek it out. The “how,” in cases of advertent and inadvertent humor, will be somewhat similar, appealing to a kind of empathy (albeit with one key twist), but the “why” is very different in each case, being most fascinating and important for inadvertent humor, which, if one can find it, generates significant—and underappreciated—prudential and moral value.

April 11

Nedah Nemati, Columbia
3:30 – 5:30
MIT 361

March 28

Karl Ameriks, Notre Dame
3:30 – 5:30
CRT 175

February 21

Eric Wilkinson, 51����
“Moral Knowledge and Epistemic Self-Defeat”

The post Spring 2025 Colloquia appeared first on Philosophy.

Joachim Horvath
Ruhr University Bochum
3:30 – 5:30
MIT 361

September 20

Matt Boyle
University of Chicago
3:30 – 5:30
CRT 175

October 18

Don Garrett
NYU
3:30 – 5:30
CRT 175

November 8

Javiera Perez Gomez
Marquette University
3:30 – 5:30
CRT 175

The post Fall 2024 Colloquia appeared first on Philosophy.