WKU Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

Western Kentucky University is holding its fifth undergraduate philosophy conference on Friday, April 10th, 2026. The conference's keynote speaker is Professor Natalie Nenadic (University of Kentucky), whose talk is title is TBA.

The soft deadline for submitting papers is February 16th, 2026; the hard deadline for submiting papers is March 9th, 2026. Submissions receieved by the soft deadline will be given priority for conference acceptances. Students currently enrolled at any institution of higher education (a community college, college, or university) are eligible to submit a paper for the event. To submit a paper, please enclose an anonymized paper with an abstract and title, together with an cover sheet that includes your institution.

Please keep papers to a length suitable for reading and/or presenting in 30 minutes (i.e. no more than 5,000 words). Speakers will also have a Q&A of 15-to-20 minutes (depending on the conference schedule).

The review process is as follows: papers will be reviewed by fellow students who are officers of the WKU Philosophy Club, who will then decide which papers to accept.

The conference venue will be in Grise Hall (Room TBA). Grise 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 and dinner will be provided to presenters.

The conference is open to members of the WKU, Bowling Green, and Warren County communities, and members of the public in Kentucky are welcome and encouraged to attend. There is no registration fee for participants or for audience members.

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