Welcome from Current Chair
August 2011
Christine Koggel, Chair and Majors Advisor
The Philosophy Department welcomes all students back to campus for another year of study and conversation together.
Faculty News
As many of you know, Bharath Vallabha has left Bryn Mawr. We wish him well in his future endeavors. Morgan Wallhagen will fill in by teaching Science and Morality in Modernity in the fall semester. Andrew Brook will join us once again in the spring semester to teach two courses: Environmental Ethics and Philosophy of Mind
Departmental Colloquia
Philosophy Majors and Minors are required to attend Colloquia. Of course, all students and faculty are welcome to attend these events. We are pleased with the lineup of speakers for 2011-12, which you can find at: http://brynmawr.edu/philosophy/events.html
There are a couple of speakers that we would like to highlight. We are happy to report that Mary Wiseman, Professor Emerita, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, is the speaker for the annual Bi-College joint events to be held on February 23rd (Public Lecture at Haverford) and February 24th (Seminar/Discussion Group at Bryn Mawr). As well, we are continuing a practice we began last year of inviting at least one speaker who did her degree in Philosophy at Bryn Mawr or Haverford and is now a philosopher at an academic institution. This year’s Colloquia series includes Bryn Mawr graduate, Margaret Battin, who is now at the University of Utah and will be giving a talk on April 4th on “The Ethics of Suicide”.
Finally, some of you already know about and are preparing for the visit of Judith Butler, the preeminent gender theorist, who will be in residence in November as recipient of the 2011 Mary Flexner Lectureship. Dr. Butler is the Maxine Elliott professor in the rhetoric and comparative literature departments at the University of California, Berkeley and has contributed greatly to the fields of feminism, queer theory, political philosophy, and ethics during her career. While in residence Dr. Butler will deliver three public lectures, teach several seminars, and host coffee hours with students.
Philosophy Lunch Table
Feel free to access and print the poster for the lunch table and post it to remind you to attend: http://brynmawr.edu/philosophy/events.html
Philosophy Majors’ Representative
The Philosophy major representatives this year are Kate Flaming from the senior class and Irene Shin from the junior class. You will be getting reminders from them about the lunch tables, the colloquia talks, the Philosophy Club, the Major Teas in Fall and Spring, and other Philosophy related events and news through a philosophy listserv. The listserv has email addresses for faculty, all Philosophy majors and minors, and many students at Bryn Mawr and Haverford who have expressed an interest in the Philosophy Department at Bryn Mawr. Do let us know if you would like to join the Philosophy listserv.