The Philosophy Club of Loyola University New Orleans provides a forum for exploration and discussion of philosophical ideas and issues. The Club regularly schedules lectures, film screenings, reading groups, and debates. It also produces an annual publication, Elenchos: The Loyola Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy. The Club attempts to engage a wide-range of philosophical thought in order to build community among philosophy majors and minors, and to encourage philosophical discourse within the Loyola community as a whole.
The Philosophy Club has invited eminent scholars (local, national, and international) to give presentations at Loyola in order to support a philosophical, interdisciplinary, and diverse discourse on campus. For the fall of 2009, the Club is coordinating Reflections on Practical Philosophy: An Undergraduate Conference co-hosted by Tulane University and Loyola University New Orleans. The conference will take place on November 21-22 on the campuses of Tulane and Loyola. The keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Alphonso Lingis of Penn State University.
In September 2008, the Club invited Tulane Department of Philosophy Chair Dr. Ronna Burger to give a lecture on elements of irony in the Nichomachean Ethics. In November 2008, the Club sponsored a lecture on philosophical perspectives on the economic crisis by Loyola philosophy professor Dr. Terry Hoyt.
Past speakers have included Prof. Drew Hyland from Trinity College, Prof. Hugh Silverman from SUNY Stonybrook, Prof. William Desmond from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Michael Zimmerman from Tulane University, Prof. Thomas Flynn from Emory University, Prof. Brian Martine from the University of Alabama, Prof. Daniel Shannon from Depauw University, and Prof. Peter Kampits from the University of Vienna.
In most semesters the Club offers a discussion group led by a faculty member and based around a central theme or text. In Fall 2008, Dr. Terry Hoyt led a discussion group that explored critiques of the Enlightenment found in the writings of Rousseau, Strauss, and Voegelin. Past discussion groups have included studies of Adorno and Beckett, the Sublime and Kant’s Third Critique, Plato’s Women, and the Philosophy of Borges.
The Filmosophy series has traditionally been one of the Club’s most popular activities. Students screen a film that is introduced by a professor, and afterward discuss the film’s philosophical implications. Films screened in Spring 2009 included:
The Philosophy Club has annually edited, produced, and distributed The Loyola Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy since 1998, with the goal of consistently producing the most outstanding undergraduate journal at Loyola. The current editorial board consists of Nate Thacker, Nick Courtney, Peter Santos, Rebecca Locke, and Sergio Lobo-Navia. Professors of upper level classes often recommend for publication the best papers they have received, but the journal is open to submissions from all undergraduate Loyola students. Copies of both current and earlier volumes are available through the Philosophy Department office in room 442 of Bobet Hall.
The officers of the Philosophy Club for 2011 are:
President: Marissa Gentner (mlgentne@loyno.edu)
Vice President: Rebekah Locke (rclocke@loyno.edu)
Secretary: Michaela Kametani-Rider (mikameta@loyno.edu)
Treasurer: Richard Martin (rhmartin@loyno.edu
The Philosophy Club is advised by Dr. Robert Brice.
Membership in the Philosophy Club is open to any Loyola student who has an interest in philosophical discourse; Club events are open to the Loyola community and the interested public.
Philosophy Club members with sophomore standing who have taken at least three courses in philosophy and have a Phil. G.P.A.of at least 3.2 and an overall G.P.A.of at least 3.0 are invited to join the Philosophy Honor Society (Phi Sigma Tau). The 2009 president of Phi Sigma Tau is Maria Rossi; Nate Thacker is the vice president. Contact Prof. Berendzen for more details.
Updated September 1, 2009