WKU Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

Western Kentucky University is holding its third undergraduate philosophy conference on Friday, April 11th, 2025. The conference's keynote speaker is Professor Lindsey Chambers (University of Kentucky) whose talk is titled, "Acting for Two? Why a pregnant person’s obligations to the fetus are akin to duties to the self." The deadline for submitting papers is February 7th, 2025.

Students currently enrolled (or who will be enrolled during the spring 2025 semester) at any institution of higher education (community college, college, university) are eligible to submit a paper for the event. To submit a paper, please enclose an anonymized paper with a paper abstract and a paper title. Please also enclose a cover sheet that includes your institutional affiliation, name, paper title, and paper abstract.

Please keep papers to a length suitable for reading and/or presenting in 20-to-30 minutes (i.e. no more than 5,000 words inclusive of footnotes and references). Speakers will also have a Q&A period of 15 minutes. The Q&A period will include a comments and response period. Paper comments will be given by a WKU philosophy student. The speaker will have a few minutes to respond and then the floor will open to questions from the audience.

The conference venue will be in Cherry Hall (Room TBA). Cherry Hall is an accessible building. At present we are unable to offer funding for travel and lodging, but we strongly encourage you to seek funding through your department, college, undergraduate student government, and other available resources. Lunch or dinner will be provided to presenters.

Those with questions can contact the Philosophy Club faculty advisor, Professor Landon D. C. Elkind (landon[dot]elkind[at]wku[dot]edu) directly, or the Philosophy Club at philclub[at]wku[dot]edu.