CFP: MPA Annual Conference

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS:

MISSISSIPPI PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL MEETING

MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY, STARKVILLE, MS

February 3-4, 2017

THEME:

CIVICS

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

PETER LEVINE, Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship and Public Affairs and director of Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement CRIRCLE), Tufts University, Medford, MA

The Mississippi Philosophical Association (MPA) is soliciting abstracts

for presentations at its annual meeting, to be held February 3-4, (Friday-

Saturday), on the Mississippi State University campus in Starkville,

MS.

Our subject this year is Civics, or better yet Civic Studies. In Civic Studies, a recent book co-edited by Peter Levine, this year’s Keynote Speaker, and Karol Edward Sołtan, this approach is defined as an “emerging intellectual community, a field, and a discipline. Its work is to understand and strengthen civic politics, civic initiatives, civic capacity, civic society, and civic culture.” The editors develop two ideals to guide this framework, “public spiritedness” (or “commitment to the public good”) and “the idea of the citizen as a creative agent.”

For this conference, we seek presentations which will explore this topic further, by raising fundamental questions about citizens’ potential and responsibility. We will consider both ethical approaches and dialectical analyses of the nature of the problems. While the MPA is a regional organization, we continue our practice of recent annual meetings to seek broader participation. We encourage philosophers from all regions and nationalities to submit abstracts.

Submissions must include a title page, with the title of the presentation, author’s name, institutional affiliation, email address, and postal address. Send a 500-word abstract or completed paper (less than 3000 words), prepared for blind review, as a second file (.doc or .pdf only). Email all submissions or questions to Dr. Anthony Sean Neal ([email protected])

SUBMISSIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY December 1, 2016.

Authors will be notified about acceptances by December 15, 2016.

There are cash prizes of $150 (first) and $100 (second) for the best graduate student presentations. To be eligible for the prize, the abstract or paper must be accepted by blind review. If you are a graduate student and want to be eligible for the prize, notify Anthony Neal of that fact immediately after you have been notified of your abstract’s or paper’s acceptance.

For more information about the MPA, see: http://www.olemiss.edu/orgs/mpa

For more information about the Department of Philosophy and Religion at

MSU, see:  http://www.philosophyandreligion.msstate.edu/