CFP: Undergraduate Philosophy Conference at Southern Illinois University

6th Annual Undergraduate Philosophy Conference at
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville 

Keynote Speaker: 

Professor Eric Brown from the Washington University 

The Department of Philosophy and Phi Sigma Tau (Illinois Pi Chapter)
of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville are pleased to announce
that they will be hosting the 6th  Annual Undergraduate Philosophy
Conference, November 4th-5th, 2011.  All undergraduate students are
encouraged to submit papers on any topic of philosophical interest. 

Submission Deadline: September 30th, 2011
Submission Guidelines:
•     Papers should be 12-15 pages in length (20-25 minutes
presentation time).
•     All personally identifying information should be removed from
the body of the paper.
•     A cover sheet including your name and contact information should
be attached separately.
•     Electronic submissions only; they should be emailed to:
blu...@siue.edu (Subject Line: “Undergraduate Conference Submission”)
•    For compatibility reasons, please be sure to save the files
in .rtf or .doc 

Please visit our website for further information and updates about
our
conference: 

http://www.siue.edu/artsandsciences/philosophy/upc 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dr. Bryan
Lueck
at blu...@siue.edu.

CFP: Undergrad

CALL FOR PAPERS:
Undergraduate Essay Competition
Alabama Philosophical Society
49th Annual Meeting
23-24 September 2011
Keynote Speaker:
Michael Watkins
Auburn University
Hilton Pensacola Beach Gulf Front
12 Via Luna Drive
Pensacola, FL  32561
Undergraduate students are invited to submit a paper for the 2011 APS
Undergraduate Essay Competition.  The winning paper will be awarded a prize
of $75.  The winner should be prepared to present his or her paper at the
APS 2011 conference.
Papers in any area of philosophy are welcome, and should not exceed 3,000
words.  Submissions should include a 100 word abstract, be clearly marked
"Undergraduate Essay Competition," and include the author's name and contact
information on a separate title page.
All submissions must be e-mailed by 22 July.
E-mail submissions: DOC, RTF, or PDF format to alabamaphil...@gmail.com
<mailto:alabamaphil...@gmail.com> .
Please watch http://alphilsoc.org/ <http://alphilsoc.org/>  for updates.
For inquiries, contact Allan Hillman at hill...@jaguar1.usouthal.edu
<mailto:hill...@jaguar1.usouthal.edu> or 251-460-6248.
Hilton Pensacola Beach Gulf Front (866.916.2999 - Group Code ALP) will hold
rooms until 30 August.

Undergraduate: Graduate School in Philosophy?

This is a very useful page for those who have started thinking about attending graduate school in philosophy from Seattle Pacific University's Department of philosophy.
http://www.spu.edu/depts/philosophy/graduateschool.asp

Undergraduate Philosophy Journals

A short list and description of undergraduate philosophy journals. It looks really good on a graduate application if one has a publication even if it is in an undergraduate journal.

Undergrad: Talking to Your Professors

The College of Saint Rose Published this nice little hand out in 2010. It would have been helpful for a few fumbles I myself made as an undergraduate. Building relationships with your professors is an important part of undergraduate as well as graduate education and the first part is knowing some of the basic protocol. I would appreciate any input from Professors with regard to your feelings about these suggestions.

Peterson's Graduate Schools Search Engine

This is a good resource for studying which graduate schools are available. Particularly because you can narrow your search by location (state) and degree level (certificate, MA, Phd) in the advanced search mode.  You can also search multiple disciplines and sub-disciplines like bioethics. For someone who was in my position, being able to search for MA by state and PHD nationally would have been really useful.

Recommendation Letters and Philosophy PhD Programs: Four Helpful Hints

Four suggestions from http://everyday-ethics.org

Strengthening Applications to Grad Programs

Advice and discussion about Strengthening Applications.

Philosophy Graduate School - FAQ advice

How do I get admitted?

Graduate schools may consider five types of evidence when deciding whether to admit you and whether to give you financial aid: your grades and courses, letters of recommendation, a writing sample, GRE scores, and your personal statement.

Graduate School Application Timeline

Here is a basic timeline for applying to graduate school as well as an extended description of each month. The following time line comes from Mathew Lu, Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at The University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. It also contains updates and comments from my recent experience with the philosophy graduate school application process. Includes average cost of one university application all together.

Philosophy and Medicine - Pre-med

It seems what a department wants, is to have a flourishing local community of philosophers as well as interactions with philosophers at other universities. So, more philosophy students means more funding/positions, creating a more flourishing community. Developing "tracks" which utilized the tools we have in philosophy, but lead out side of philosophy, would be beneficial to the profession on many levels, while not making it more competitive than it already is.
Check out this pre-med track flyer.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/120887/Philosophy%20Handouts/Philosophy%20Major/Philosophy%20and%20Medicine.pdf

Recruiting Undergraduate Philosophy Majors

This is a great post with tons of ideas about recruitment into philosophy departments. I'm working on another post right now about the same topic, more specifically how philosophy "tracks" (like pre-law, or bio-ethics) are the best option for the profession in general. Keeps student levels up, decreases new PhDs, and creates new jobs. Anyway.... There are some really insightful comments on this post about how to recruit quality undergrad candidates to your department.
http://peasoup.typepad.com/peasoup/2009/09/recruiting-philosophy-majors.html#more

Ph.D. Program overview/expectations

 Description from Columbia University:

The purpose of earning a Ph.D. in Philosophy is to become an independent scholar and, also, a teacher of the subject. Perhaps the single most important accomplishment during the Ph.D. is the writing of the doctoral dissertation, which is typically a student's first substantial and original scholarly contribution to Philosophy. The coursework that is undertaken in advance of the dissertation is meant to serve as preparation both for writing the dissertation and for teaching. In addition to coursework and the dissertation, Ph.D. students at Columbia are required to assist in the teaching of undergraduate courses as part of their doctoral training.

Phases of Study:

Grad Applications -- Reflections from the Other Side

Eric Schwitzgebel, Professor at University of California Riverside (one of the better philosophy grad programs), writes about what the application process is like for the reviewers.

Gives an inside view of the application process.

http://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2007/01/philosophy-grad-school-applications.html

Graduate Study in Philosophy

A realistic approach to Graduate school in philosophy.

http://philosophyfaculty.ucsd.edu/faculty/dbrink/GraduateStudy.pdf

Resources for Students

This site is really great links to all sorts of stuff.... I'm going to be pulling off this one for a while = ) here are just a few

How to Write a Philosophy Paper

How to Study and Keep a Reading Notebook

How to Use Faculty Feedback

How to Apply to Graduate School

Philosophy Journals

Whether and How to Publish Your Work

How to Get a Job in Philosophy

http://www.umsl.edu/~piccininig/Resources%20for%20Students.htm