SOPHIA aims to build communities of philosophical conversation, which can take the form of video or audio recordings, as well as interactions in writing. In addition, SOPHIA gathers and produces materials to be used for our events and publishes pieces that analyze or disseminate insights about our meetings and practices.
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).
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.
Facilitators:
Dr. Bertha Manninen, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Arizona State University
and
Dr. Shane Courtland, Managing Director of the Center for Free Enterprise at West Virginia University.
In addition,
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 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 |
Keep up to date on SOPHIA activities and get involved by joining SOPHIA!
Dr. Paul Croce of Stetson University has long been a supporter and practitioner of publicly engaged philosophy. Academically, his work has focused especially on William James’s philosophy. It is our pleasure to welcome Paul into membership of SOPHIA and, as we do, to call attention to his latest oped published on the Huffington Post, on “An Economy that Grows Anger.” Check it out.
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:
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:
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!
![[Book Image]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0823226638.1.L.jpg)