Category Archives: Events

SOPHIA events will primarily take three forms, local conversations, professional gatherings, or online meetings or conversations. (We categorize business meetings under the category, “Organizing.”

A photo of a symbol that reads "Trigger Warning: Explicit Content," and which is made to look like the "Explicit Content" warnings used on mature media sold to the public in the United States.SOPHIA is holding our first online symposium, a conversational meeting open to all, on the subject of “trigger warnings,” the act of alerting students in advance about potentially offensive messages or images to be covered in an educational setting. Controversy arose in part in reaction to a letter from the Dean of Students at the University of Chicago, which you can find here, and which we ask that each participant in our conversation read prior to joining us (1 page).

Photo of the letter that the University of Chicago sent incoming students about "trigger warnings."Title: Trigger Warnings: Offense, Respect, and Freedom [Online Video Symposium]

Day and time: Wednesday, 10/19/16 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. Eastern.

Place: Online. In advance, click this link to download a small tool that will enable participation. If you have used Zoom online video conferencing before, you may not need to download the little app.

SPECIAL NOTE: This conversational meeting will be recorded and then posted on YouTube. You can participate either with video and audio or you can just watch the discussion and comment in the platform’s chat section. Those unable to participate at the time of the discussion can watch the video later on YouTube.

Photo of Dr. Bertha Manninen.Facilitators:

Dr. Bertha Manninen, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Arizona State University

and

Photo of Dr. Shane Courtland.Dr. Shane Courtland, Managing Director of the Center for Free Enterprise at West Virginia University.

In addition,

Dr. Eric Thomas Weber.Dr. Eric Thomas Weber, Executive Director of SOPHIA, will serve as the moderator of our online forum.

And featuring a special Guest:

We are also very fortunate to have a special guest joining us from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE):

Ari Cohn, J.D., Senior Program Office for Legal and Public Advocacy, F.I.R.E.Ari Cohn, J.D., Senior Program Officer for Legal and Public Advocacy for F.I.R.E.

We welcome and invite comments and questions in advance of the symposium. Please write to us at philosophersinamerica@gmail.com, post a comment on our Facebook page, or Tweet to us @SOPHIAchirp.

Finally, you can also call us and leave us a voicemail with a comment or question, by calling: 859.257.1849. Please introduce yourself, tell us where you’re from, and please limit your message length to 1 minute or less.

Date: October 19, 2016
Time: 02:00-03:30 p.m. Eastern
Event: Trigger Warnings: Offense, Respect, and Freedom [Online Video Symposium]
Topic: Education, Academic Freedom, Respect for Victims of Trauma
Venue: SOPHIA's Zoom Online Video Conferencing platform
Public: Public

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As we in SOPHIA prepare for an online philosophical discussion about “trigger warnings,” we thought some of you may enjoy hearing a talk by Dr. Shane Courtland, SOPHIA’s Communications Officer. He’ll be one of our facilitators for the conversation, along with Dr. Bertha Manninen. We are also working on possibilities for invited participants, and will share more information when it it available. This talk is Dr. Courtland’s “Last Lecture,” titled “The Importance of Tolerating Offense,” which he gave at the University of Minnesota Duluth before he moved from there to West Virginia University. If you get a chance, listen to his talk via YouTube (FYI, it is a sound recording only).

UPDATE: You can also follow along with Dr. Courtland’s slides for the talk here:

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“Trigger Warnings” – Topic for a SOPHIA Symposium?

This is a photo of the letter that the University of Chicago sent to incoming students about 'trigger warnings.' Clicking the photo opens a printable PDF file of the letter, with optical character recognition applied.

Looking for info on the event? Click here.

A photo of a symbol that reads "Trigger Warning: Explicit Content," and which is made to look like the "Explicit Content" warnings used on mature media sold to the public in the United States.Two SOPHIA members have independently suggested that we hold a discussion on the topic of “trigger warnings.” Remember that SOPHIA discussions generally begin with a very short text (whether written, audio, or video), which can help spark the discussion. It also allows us all to be literally on the same page as we begin our discussions. Both Trustee Dr. Bertha Manninen and member Dr. Annie Davis Weber have suggested that we have a discussion on “trigger warnings,” and both of them independently suggested that we use the University of Chicago letter on the subject, which has been in the news recently.

If you would be interested in participating in an online video conference discussion on this topic, whether or not you’re a member of SOPHIA, and whether or not you’ve ever studied any philosophy, you can comment below, email us, or let us know on Facebook or on Twitter. In addition, reach out to us if you have ideas about other topics that you think would be rewarding to talk about in a SOPHIA group meeting, whether with a local group, at a national event, or via an online video conference call.

Of course, if you are interested and have not yet officially joined or renewed your membership in SOPHIA, you can do so here.

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SOPHIA Trustee Emeritus Among 50 “Most Influential Living Philosophers”!

Professor John J. McDermott.

50 most influential philosophers.The Society of Philosophers in America is proud to celebrate our Trustee Emeritus, Dr. John J. McDermott, who has been named one of the 50 most influential living philosophers.

In recognizing Professor McDermott, the list’s authors wrote the following:

[Book Image]John McDermott received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Fordham University, in New York City, in 1959, and, though he is getting up in his years, is still teaching, holding the position of University Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Texas A&M University. McDermott’s work is primarily focused on the philosophy ofculture, specifically American literature and philosophy, having written, compiled, or contributed to books on William James, Josiah Royce, and John Dewey, as well as being a former President of the William James Society. McDermott is most notable for, and has been most influential in exploring and advancing the ideas of James and Dewey in relation to American culture, as well as his examination of American culture through philosophy.

Congratulations, John! And thank you for all you’ve done for American philosophy and for SOPHIA!