Calendar

The 23rd Annual CUNY Graduate Student Philosophy Conference invites graduate students to submit their work engaging with philosophical topics and traditions that consider or bridge the analytic/continental divide. The analytic/continental division typically assumes contrasting notions of what philosophy ‘is’ and what it ought to be. The divide also describes the varying methodologies employed when we practice philosophy. Whether it refers to meta-philosophical commitments or strategies used, the divide can do exactly that – divide. When concerned with the nature of philosophy and how one ought to conceive of the practice the stakes can be high; when we ask, “What counts as philosophy?” we implicitly ask, “What doesn’t ‘count’ as philosophy?” This conference aims to explore issues that need to be explored by the philosophical community at large, especially when the legitimacy of certain practices are under scrutiny. The conference also aims to create a space where we can learn to ask better questions concerning the nature of our academic practices, the traditions we draw from, the methodologies we employ, and the topics we consider.

Keynote speaker: Talia Mae Bettcher (California State University, Los Angeles)

We are particularly interested in papers from all areas of philosophy that:

• explore the meta-philosophical or sociological questions concerning the analytical/continental divide without exclusionary border-policing. Is such a divide legitimate? What has motivated this divide? What are the advantages and disadvantages of maintaining the divide? How can we bridge or dismantle the divide? Etc.
• broadly engage with the question of “what can philosophy be?” How can philosophy establish fewer borders and more bridges?
• engage with philosophers (i.e. Rorty, Badiou, Williams, etc.), philosophical topics (i.e. race, gender, coloniality, etc.), and/or traditions (i.e. critical race theory, feminist philosophy, queer theory, postcolonial/decolonial theory, etc.) that have always or currently do bridge the analytic/continental divide, again without exclusionary border-policing.
• explore the analytic/continental divide in an interdisciplinary manner drawing from sociology, critical psychology, gender studies, race studies, literature, history, the arts, etc.

The conference is committed to providing a platform for marginalized persons and topics in the discipline. In answering some of the questions presented we highly encourage papers regarding, among other topics: critical race theory, feminist philosophy, queer theory, trans philosophy, and disabilities studies. Speakers from marginalized groups in the discipline are strongly encouraged to submit. Any abstracts that aim to discredit already marginalized philosophers or philosophies are strongly discouraged.

riday, November 10

9:30–9:55        Check–in and Coffee

9:55                 Welcome

10:00–12:00    Adam Smith

Speaker: Ryan Patrick Hanley (Boston College)

Commentator: Samuel Fleischacker (University of Illinois Chicago)

12:00–2:00      Lunch Break

2:00–4:00        Immanuel Kant

Speaker: Marcia Baron (Indiana University Bloomington)

Commentator: Kyla Ebels–Duggan (Northwestern University)

4:00–4:30        Coffee Break

4:30–6:30        German Romanticism

Speaker: Frederick Beiser (Syracuse University)

Commentator: Owen Ware (University of Toronto)

6:30–7:30        Reception

Saturday, November 11

9:30–10:00      Check–in and Coffee

10:00–12:00    Friedrich Nietzsche

Speaker: Andrew Huddleston (University of Warwick)

Commentator: Claire Kirwin (Northwestern University)

12:00–2:00      Lunch Break

2:00–4:00    Simone De Beauvoir

Speaker: Michelle Kosch (Cornell University)

Commentator: Susan J. Brison (Dartmouth University)

4:00–4:30        Coffee Break

4:30–6:30    Contemporary

Speaker: Simon May (King’s College London)

Commentator: Alecxander Nehamas (Princeton University)

6:30–7:30        Reception