News & Events
September 12, 2009
13th Annual Northeast Florida Student Philosophy Conference
Special focus: “Health Care, Conscience, and Property”
The conference will start 8:30 am, Saturday, Sept. 12th, with all events at the UNF Brooks College of Health, Building 39, first floor. There will be two keynote addresses related to the conference focus. H. Tristam Engelhardt, Jr. Ph.D., M.D. (Rice University) will speak on “Reckless Justice: Some of the Follies of National Health Insurance.” Kennel Brummel-Smith, M.D. (Florida State University) will speak on “One Nation, Uninsured: The Ethics of National Health Insurance Coverage.” The UNF Alumni Presentation—a new feature of the conference honoring a successful UNF philosophy graduate—will be given by Andrea Pitts (University of South Florida), on “A Chimera, Lie, and Illusion: Reciprocal Love in Rousseau.” There will also be a related panel discussion, besides the core feature of concurrent sessions featuring undergraduate and graduate student papers. For more information, please contact Dr. Rico Vitz, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, at rico.vitz@unf.edu.
November 5 - 7, 2009
2nd Ethics Center Annual Public Philosophy Symposium
Topic: “Religion in the Public Sphere”
The 2nd Public Philosophy Symposium, annually organized by the Blue Cross and Blue shield Center for Ethics, Public Policy, and the Professions, will again bring together a international group of distinguished scholars, including philosophers and political scientists, to engage the relation between religion and the public sphere. Participants include Corey Brettschneider (Brown University), Maeve Cook (University College Dublin), Chris Eberle (US Naval Academy), Gerald Gaus (University of Arizona), Michael Gillespie (Duke University), Mark Lilla (Columbia University), Robert Talisse (Vanderbilt University), and Lambert Zuidervaart (Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto, and University of Toronto). There will be a public lecture by Professor Mark Lilla (Columbia) Friday evening, November 8. For more information, please contact Dr. Andrew Buchwalter, Professor of Philosophy, at abuchwal@unf.edu.
November 7, 2009
2nd Annual Pediatric Bioethics Conference, Jacksonville, Florida
The Florida Pediatric Bioethics Conference, now held for the second time in Jacksonville, will this year take place at the University Center at UNF. As last year, the event is organized by Alissa Swota, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Senior Fellow of the ethics center. The conference will focus on ethical issues that arise in providing medical care to children. Experts from across the U.S. and Canada will come to discuss these issues and offer guidance in dealing with these intricate issues. For more info, contact Dr. Alissa Swota at aswota@unf.edu.
April 2010
2nd John C. Maraldo lecture in Comparative Philosophy
The 1st annual John C. Maraldo Lecture in Comparative Philosophy was delivered by Joel Kupperman, University of Colorado, on “Ethics in Asian and Recent Western Philosophy.” The annual lecture, funded by UNFs’ COAS Dean’s office, by the UNF ethics center, and by the Department of Philosophy at UNF, brings a distinguished representative of comparative philosophy to campus to engage non-western traditions. The 2nd speaker will be announced at this place. For more info, contact Dr. Dan Callcut, Associate Professor of Philosophy, at dcallcut@unf.edu
Recurring Student events:
Annual Northeast Florida Student Philosophy Conference
The Northeast Florida Student Philosophy Conference will again take place annually. Previously held in spring, it will now be hosted during the fall semester. The conference usually takes place during a weekend, with undergraduate and graduate students from Florida as well as other states in the US, even Canada. The conference includes invited two keynote addresses by distinguished faculty, including the Ellen C. Wagner Lecture, as well as a panel discussion. Recently, the conference has been focused on a theme, such as “Latin American Philosophy” in early Spring 2009, and in this academic year, Sept. 12th, “Health Care, Conscience, and Property” (see special info at top of page). Over a hundred student participants, as well as faculty from UNF, JU, FSCJ, Flager College, Stetson University, and other sister institutions participated in the event.
The conference continues to be an exciting opportunity for UNF philosophy undergraduate and graduate students to present their papers, to serve as chairs of sessions, and to meet students from across the country who share common academic interests.
Philosophy Slams
The Philosophy Slams—public philosophical talks taking up thought- provoking issues—continue to take place, now on an irregular, special event basis. Founded by Associate Professor emeritus Dr. Ellen Wagner, the Philosophy Slams used to be held at the legendary Fuel Coffeeshop in Historic Five Points in Riverside, Jacksonville. The most recent event was hosted by the UNF Philosophy Club, Nov 20th, 2008, featuring a discussion by UNF philosophy major Aaron Kenna on the topic: “If You’re an Egalitarian, Why Are You So Rich?” The event took place at the The Grape in St. Johns Town Center (with a special drink menu for the event) and was facilitated by Rico Vitz, UNF Assistant Professor of Philosophy. For more info, also on other club activities, please see the Club’s Facebook page.