Newsletter Issue #134, November 2011
Email version of the current newsletter (includes contact emails for chapter advisors.)
AR-BETA(0402) [University of Arkansas at Little Rock; advisor, Allison Merrick] NEW ADVISOR.
CA-IOTA(0509) [Westmont College; advisor, Jim Taylor] President: Christopher Kyle, Vice-president: Daniel Gee, Secretary: Laura Robinett, Public Relations: Amber Bartlett and Casey Hoag.
CA-MU(0512) [University of California, Santa Barbara; advisor, Kevin Falvey]. NEW ADVISOR.
GA-GAMMA(1103) [Agnes Scott College; advisor, Lara Denis] NEW ADVISOR. President: Virginia Luttrell, Vice-president: Natalie Stadnick, Secretary: Osasha Fertal. The Agnes Scott chapter met for six one hour long sessions during the 2010-2011 school year and also sponsored a lecture by Sebastian Rand from Georgia State University.
GA-ETA(1107) [Georgia Southern University; advisor, Danielle Layne] NEW ADVISOR.
GA-IOTA(1109) [University of West Georgia; advisor, Robert Lane] President: Ryan Washington, Vice-president: Lewis Williams, Secretary-Treasurer: Kevin King.
IN-DELTA(1504) [Valparaiso University; advisor, Aaron Preston] President: Jeffrey Schutz, Vice-president: Erin Beckmeyer.
KY-ALPHA(1801) [Bellarmine University; advisor, David L. Mosley] Secretary: Arielle Weber. Our first meeting of the year was held on September 19. The Bellarmine chapter plans a booth at the University’s Involvement Fair and held a picnic. During the fall we will hold a Topical Discussion on language (tentative discussants are Cate Willard and Jay Cougan with Joe Jareczek moderating), sponsor a Reading Group to discuss Nagel’s ‘‘What is it Like to be a Bat,’’ view a film, have a panel on Law and Philosophy, hold a dinner (to be arranged), arrange a service project, and hold a fundraiser.
KY-EPSILON(1805) [University of Louisville; advisor, John Gibson] NEW ADVISOR.
LA-GAMMA(1903) [Xavier University of New Orleans; advisor, Thora Bayer] Since the President of our chapter graduated last year, we elected Zachary Carroll to replace him; Blake Smith continues as Vice-president. During the first meeting, members discussed career goals as well as spring course selections. Two new members were inducted into the chapter.
MD-ZETA(2106) [Salisbury University; advisor, Joerg Tuske] New Advisor. Officers: Grace Clement, James Hatley, Timothy Stock.
MA-IOTA(2209) [Assumption College; advisor, Christian Gobel] President: Alden Bianchi, Vice-president: Jeffery Starr, Secretary: Tyler Pau, Treasurer: Luke Jarvis.
MI-MU(2312) [Alma College; advisor, Nicholas Dixon] President: Malorie Lakosky, Vice-president: Eric Borgeld, Secretary: Sarah Herpst, Treasurer: Jared Aslakson. Our chapter at Alma College plans to meet the second Tuesday of each month during the school year. At each meeting we will have a student or professor present on a current topic of interest. Our year began with three students attending a Philosophy of Sport conference in New York with advisor, Nicholas Dixon. Members are considering other conferences they might attend during the year, particularly the APA conference in Chicago. Other ideas for the chapter are a Resume building workshop, a class related movie night, faculty panels as a way to connect philosophy to current events and other disciplines, and a possible collaboration with the English club on a dinner night for the two clubs. We are also considering a bowling competition and a skating night.
SD-BETA(2402) [St. Olaf College; advisor, Danny Muñoz-Hutchinson] President: Patrick J. Behling, Vice-president: Dayna Jondal, Secretary-Treasurer: Caleb Harrison. The first chapter meeting was a summer catch-up. Chapter members considered student colloquia, faculty talks, and inductions into the society. Our induction is planned for October 12, and we also plan a student colloquium in December; we are working on a faculty talk for October or November.
MS-ALPHA(2501) [University of Mississippi; advisor, Steven Skultety] President: Garrett Roberts, Vice-president: Jeff Zepatos, Secretary: Tara Whitfield. The Ole Miss chapter held a Pizza Symposium on September 13; we considered the question, ‘‘Is it ethical for doctors to use patients’ samples without the patients’ permission?’’ This led to a question about whether a person should be required to give up personal property for the sake of a higher good. We also asked what can be considered personal property and pondered a Lockean conclusion: mixing labor with an item makes it personal property (of the doctor, not of the patient). However, we did not reach clear agreement on whether DNA is a patient’s personal property or where to draw the line.
MO-ALPHA(2601) [Lindenwood University; advisor Rachel Douchant] Several of our members are officers in the Lindenwood Philosophy Club. Rachel Brown is President of the club, and new initiates, Jared Darby and Aaron Kothe are Secretary and LSGA Representative respectively. The Philosophy Club plans a series of lectures for the fall term. On September 8, Rachel Brown spoke on Reproductive Ethics; on September 15, Brandon Elliott spoke on Eastern Mysticism; Martin Zaldivar spoke on Pain in Philosophical Dialect on September 29; P.J. O’Rourke spoke as part of our Speaker Series; Ryan Irvine spoke on Anonymity and De-individualization (October 13); and Drayg Hodge, Ashley Jemes, and Aaron Kothe are scheduled to speak later.
MO-IOTA(2609) [Conception Seminary College; advisor, Elizabeth McGrath] NEW ADVISOR.
MO-TAU(2619) [Northwest Missouri State University; advisor, Richard Field] President: Shannon Griffin, Vice-president: Jared Haer, Secretary-Treasurer: Shane Steeley.
MT-BETA(2702) [Montana State University; advisor, Sara Waller] NEW ADVISOR. President: Shelby Rogala, Vice-president: Madeleine Pike, Secretary: Evan Ivaldi, Treasurer: Brady Jensen. At our first meeting, we held elections for officers, collected dues, arranged meetings, and planned a Filmosophy event.
NE-BETA(2802) [Creighton University; advisor, Anne C. Ozar] President: Sarah Barnett, Vice-president: Alejandro Echeverri, Secretary: Alexander Verhoye, Treasurer: Eduardo Puche-Carbonell.
NM-ALPHA(3201) [University of New Mexico; advisor, Paul Livingston] President: Rameez Burney, Graduate President: Corbin Cawarez, Secretary: Joshua Clifford, Treasurer: Erick Pacheco. At our first meeting (Spetember 13), we agreed to hold bi-weekly meetings. Also, we discussed updating our webpage, future chapter events, the budget, the film series, contributing to the Philosophy conference, and re-chartering PST as an official UNM student organization. One idea for the conference is to have a prize for the best undergraduate paper; we want to have more undergraduate papers this year. We are also considering helping to obtain a keynote speaker as a way of encouraging interest in the conference.
We held our second meeting on September 30 and continued discussions about the conference, guest speakers, slates of presenters, and possible invitiations to city council members and state legislators. We are also considering a debate among professors with PST members and students invited to join the discussions. Our film series will probably have to be postponed until a bit later in the semester, but we hope to have a couple of film sessions in the fall and more in the spring term. Our website has been updated. We are also considering a spring presentation/mini-lecture series where undergraduate honors students can present their theses.
NY-ZETA(3306) [The College of Saint Rose; advisor, Daniel P. Thero] President: Adam Mish, Vice-president: Stephanie Vega, Secretary-Treasurer: Danielle Schnitzer.
NY-IOTA(3309) [Long Island University; advisor, Shawn Welnak] NEW ADVISOR.
NY-KAPPA(3310) [Siena College; advisor, John Blanchard] President: Jeff Tisch, Vice-president: James Lyons, Secretary: Kelly Patterson, Treasurer: Kara Battaglia.
NY-XI(3314) [Geneseo College, SUNY; advisor, David Levy] President: Brandon Rosenberg, Treasurer: Jesse Goldberg.
NY-UPSILON(3320) [Hunter College, CUNY; advisor, Gerald Press] NEW ADVISOR.
NY-CHI(3322) [Lehman College, CUNY; advisor, Anthony K. Jensen] President: Paulette Monforte, Vice-president: Suela Lleku.
NY-OMEGA(3324) [Niagara University; advisor, Alexander U. Bertland] President: William Rinaldi, Vice-president: Sebastian Galbo, Secretary: Rebecca Hesley.
NC-ZETA(3406) [University of North Carolina at Greensboro; advisor, Jarrett Leplin] NEW ADVISOR. We regret announcing that the previous advisor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Dr. John King, has died after injuries from a fall. Dr. John Roberts, the advisor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented a talk, ‘‘Infinity,’’ at the Phi Sigma Tau sponsored Great Conversations lecture last year.
ND-ALPHA(3501) [University of North Dakota; advisor, A. Rebecca Rozelle-Stone] President: Daniel Draovitch, Vice-president: Caitlin Wildeman, Secretary: Brandilyn Binstock, Treasurer: Thomas Peschel. During two hour long meetings, the advisor and officers of the North Dakota Alpha chapter organized three official events for the fall 2011 semester. October 5: ‘‘Animals’ Status in Humans’ Ethics,’’ led by Mick Beltz. October 26: ‘‘On the Integration of the Sciences and the Humanities,’’ led by Dr. Dan Poachigian. November 9: ‘‘Identity Politics and ‘Coming Out of the Closet’,’’ led by Dr. Rebecca Rozelle- Stone, the advisor for the chapter.
OR-ALPHA(3801) [Linfield College; advisor, Monica Aufrecht] NEW ADVISOR.
PA-DELTA(3904) [Duquesne University; advisor, Michael Harrington] NEW ADVISOR. PA-THETA(3908) [Grove City College; advisor, David M. DiQuattro] NEW ADVISOR.
PA-MU(3912) [Villanova University; advisor, Stephen Napier] NEW ADVISOR.
PA-RHO(3917) [West Chester University; advisor, Cassie Striblen] NEW ADVISOR.
PA-TAU(3919) [University of Scranton; advisor, Christina Gschwandtner] President: Marie Libassi, Vice-president: Michael Le, Secretaries: Jessica Wagner and Ashley Michini. The University of Scranton chapter had two meeting in September and is off to a great start for the year.
PA-PHI(3921) [Gannon University; advisor, David Nordquest] NEW ADVISOR.
SOUTH DAKOTA-ALPHA(4201) [Augustana College; advisor, Stephen Minister] President: Benjamin Goodwin, Vice-president: Tyler Coverdale, Secretary-Treasurer: Cody Lensing.
TX-LAMBDA(4411) [St. Mary’s University; advisor, James Greenaway] NEW ADVISOR. President: Matthew Magliacone, Vice-president: Ana Olivares, Treasurer: Shane James.
VA-ALPHA(4701) [Christopher Newport University; advisor, Dawn Hutchinson] President: Sean Meslar, Vice-president: Bret Marfut, Secretary: Jennifer Asselin. Chapter members discussed having the Third Annual Hoaglund Conference in the spring. Chapter members are working on details of the Conference, particularly on advertising and getting other schools involved. We want to encourage more people to submit papers, so we have chosen to specify no topic for papers. We are also working on getting a keynote speaker. Please watch for our announcement of the Conference and be ready to submit your paper! A final note: we are discussing applying for a grant to sponsor a philosophy speaker to come to Christopher Newport University.
VA-GAMMA(4703) [James Madison University; advisor, Anne M. Wiles] Co-Presidents: Elizabeth Comitz and Dora Duvisac. Each year our chapter sponsors a series of events on a special topic; this year the theme is ‘‘Methods and Approaches to Philosophy.’’ As we considered a theme for this year, students urged us to provide talks that would help them become acquainted with various approaches to philosophy. So far, we have commitments for talks on the approaches of Naturalism, Existentialism, and Phenomenology, though other approaches will be included later, particularly Analytic Philosophy and Buddhism. Our first installment of ‘‘Philosophers Talk about Philosophy’’ was a great success. About forty people attended the event on October 25, and Professors Bill Knorpp, Tracy Lupher, and Chip Bolyard spoke. Professor Bolyard spoke mainly about the method and history of philosophy and considered periods of philosophy, intellectual history as opposed to history, and other things. Dr. Knorpp spoke about the types of method in the history of philosophy, methods employed by different philosophers, and how philosophical method is important. Dr. Lupher spoke on the methods of mathematics and science and their relation to philosophy. The event concluded with the floor opened to questions from the audience.
In addition to our series, ‘‘Philosophers Talk about Philosophy,’’ we plan to organize an information series on graduate school for Phi Sigma Tau members and other philosophy majors. We will also hold bi-monthly meetings to discuss papers written by Phi Sigma Tau members, to read short articles for group discussions, and to discuss the philosophical implications of current events. Chapter members considered setting up a discussion site for talking about papers. We also talked about designing and ordering a PST sweatshirt.
At our September 27 meeting, we discussed Nietzsche’s Eternal Recurrence from The Gay Science.. Krystel Holst gave a brief background on Nietzsche; key points of the discussion were 1) the world isn’t an organism that depends upon us, 2) all actions are equally important, and 3) all change must be predetermined. Some questions arose. Is this a cosmology or some sort of ethical guideline? If Eternal Recurrence is a cosmology for Nietzsche, how can we prove it?
VA-LAMBDA(4711) [Hampden Sydney College; advisor, James Janowski] ***NEW CHAPTER***
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Dialogue
By now you should have received the October issue of Dialogue, our first issue that exceeds 100 pages. The new binding allows us to print larger issues, but we are only able to print these larger issues if students submit work to be published. So, we encourage you to submit your best work to our editor, Dr. Steve Barbone, for possible inclusion in our April issue. Dr. Barbone is already at work on our next issue and welcomes your contributions. The journal will only succeed if students, both undergraduate and graduate, provide the material for the journal. You may submit original works in philosophy, or you may request a book from our list of Books Received; book reviews are also welcome. Please submit papers as well as requests for review books to Dr. Barbone at barbone@rohan.sdsu.edu.
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PHI SIGMA TAU
International Honor Society in Philosophy
Dr. David E. Gibson, Humanities Division
Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Hwy
Malibu, CA 90263-4225
david.gibson@pepperdine.edu
A listing of email addresses for chapter advisors is available in the email version of the current newsletter.
