Concordia Philosophy Student Weekly Tabloid Vol. 31
I’ve heard several jokes about summer being here already in light of all the warm weather. Spring is (hopefully) around the corner!
Another tidbit of good news: we’re nearly halfway through the semester! March break is all but less than two weeks away.
Without further ado, here’s the 31st Volume of the Concordia Philosophy Student Weekly Tabloid, which brings you all the hottest and best events and relevant philosophy news.
This week, we tell you about:
- Our February executive meeting recap
- An exciting speaker event!
- Our Sheila Mason Bursary
- ASFA academic awards
- A Champlain College Speaker Series
- Philopolis inter-university conference
- People’s Potato emergency food baskets
- Various Concordia events
- A book recommendation from our library
SoPhiA February Executive Meeting – Recap
SoPhiA held our February executive meeting on Feb 13th at 11:30am.
We discussed (short recap):
- Holding the sexual harassment workshop at the end of this term or early in the Fall.
- Suggestions for purchasing cool SoPhiA merch! (Toques and joggers, anyone?)
- Holding our bylaw review meeting next Monday, Feb 20th at 11:30am
- Purchasing more furniture to continue renovating the SoPhiA space. (dart board and beanbag chairs!?)
- Our end-of academic year event held in the philosophy department, most likely on April 20th (it’s gonna be big!)
Our next executive meeting will be held and we will review the bylaws Monday, Feb 20th at 11:30am in S-05. All philosophy students welcome to join.
See our meeting minutes.
Speaker Talk: How Should We Thin Today? Some Imperatives for Philosophy in Times of Ecocide
SoPhiA’s Inclusivity Project is hosting a second exciting speaker event this term! Dr. Michael Pelias joins us this time to discuss some imperatives for philosophy in times of ecocide.
As part of an intent to create rigorous discussion on the necessity of Philosophy in times of intersecting global crises, Dr. Michael Pelias will engage with questions on the end of Western metaphysical thinking, the seemingly unprecedented and neglectful domination of nature, and the demand for a reorientation within the current crises in late liberal politics and hyper-industrialization.
Michael Pelias has taught both ancient and modern philosophy for over thirty years at Long Island University-Brooklyn campus, and in the Political Science and Sociology departments at Brooklyn College since 2020. He is the editor-in-chief of the journal, Situations: Project of the Radical Imagination and the director of the Institute for the Radical Imagination which offers alternative classes in Philosophy and Political Theory.
His most recent publication is in the forthcoming issue of Social Text on the legacy of Stanley Aronowitz and is writing the idea of Convergence Philosophy.
This is a public event and it will be hybrid.
To receive information about the event and the Zoom registration link, please email us at: [inclusivity dot sophia at asfa dot ca]
Limited capacity at the event, please arrive early!
Drinks and snacks will be served.
Who: Dr. Michael Pelia and the SoPhiA Inclusivity Project
What: A speaker talk and roundtable discussion
When: Feb 21, 2023, 12pm
Where: 4thspace Concordia
See the Concordia event and the Facebook event.
Sheila Mason Bursary
Each year, SoPhiA provides our Sheila Mason Bursary, an essay-based student bursary, to one or more lucky students! We do not evaluate academic performance or GPA, but how well the student engages in promoting diversity and inclusivity in the philosophy or Concordia community.
The bursary is restricted to current undergraduate students enrolled in a major, minor or honours program in the philosophy department.
Those eligible for application include (as self-disclosed):
- Women
- LGBTQAI+ (lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, asexual, intersex, and others included in this umbrella)
- BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of colour)
- Students with disabilities
The application process typically includes:
- Personal statement, which must include a description of community involvement, how the individual is working towards creating an inclusive environment within philosophy, and an explanation of financial need.(500-750 words)
- Essay, on the topics of queer, postcolonial, intersectional, feminist, or race theory (1500-2000 words)
- Letter of recommendation (e.g., from teacher, advisor, employer, etc.)
- C.V. (resume), updated to include information pertinent to the award
Start thinking now about compiling your application and if you have a great essay on queer, postcolonial, intersectional, feminist, or race theory topics from one of your courses, that’s completely acceptable as a submission! Or you can write your midterm in one of your courses on this topic and use it as a submission.
See more information from our 2022 bursary, including previous year’s winners, on our Inclusivity Project page.
Stay tuned with more updates on exactly how and when to apply!
Who: Undergrad philosophy students who self-identify as: women, LGBTQAI, BIPOC, or disabled
What: An essay-based student bursary
When: Deadline for application is March 17th, 2023
ASFA Student Academic Awards
The Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) has opened their applications for the 2022-2023 Concordia University undergraduate Arts & Science students!
ASFA is a student-led nonprofit consisting of student leaders for all students registered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. ASFA aims to recognize students who have worked hard academically, contributed to student life at the University or demonstrate a financial need.
They have awards for:
- Outstanding community contribution
- High academic achievement
- Most improved student
This is a great opportunity to get a small financial award for all your hard work!
Who: Arts and Science Federation of Associations
What: ASFA Academic Awards
When: March 15 Deadline
Champlain College Speaker Series: Plato on Dialectic, Being, and The Good
Champlain College is hosting a speaker series of undergraduate and graduate students in philosophy. Many of these speakers are your own peers, including Ashkan Haghighat, Sarah Fortin, and Dean Joseph!
- February 8: Sara Elianne Fortin (Concordia University): Dialectic in The Philebus
- February 22: Dean Joseph (Concordia University): Plato’s Political ᾈπορία: The Greatest Difficulty as a Practical Problem
- March 8: Bogdan Ovcharuk, (Concordia University, York University): Dialectic and The Political in Republic VI
- March 22: Ashkan Haghighat: (Concordia University): Being and Becoming in The Timaeus
- April 5: Angelo Fata (Champlain College, St-Lambert, McGill, University of Montreal): A Moment with Plato’s Parmenides
Talks take place in the Champlain College Amphitheatre from 12:30-2:30pm.
What: Speaker Series: Plato on Dialectic, Being, and The Good
When: Every second Wednesday of February and April
Where: Champlain College Amphitheatre (Champlain College of Saint-Lambert)
Philopolis Montreal Inter-University Philosophy Conference
Philopolis Montreal is coming back for their 14th iteration of their inter-university philosophy conference!
Philopolis is a public and completely free event whose goal is to foster positive philosophical discussions between the general public, students, teachers and scholars. It is a student-run project from all philosophy departments of Montreal (McGill University, Concordia University, University of Montreal, and University of Quebec in Montreal). We also give an annual donation to this event to make sure it happens each year!
This year, many of your Concordia philosophy peers will be presenting! This includes:
- Soline Van de Moortelle: Adorno’s Critique of Progress and the Envisioning of New Futures in the Ecological Crisis: The Case of Ecovillages
- Feb 25, 10am
- Diana Pylypenko: Merleau-Ponty’s Ambiguity and Buddhist Philosophy: The Absence of an Essential Self
- Feb 25, 11:05am
- Dean Joseph: The Yoke of Emancipation: A Reworked Toolkit for Social Transformation
- Feb 25, 2:10pm
- Andrew Wilcox: The Three Basic Axioms of Truth
- Feb 25, 3:15pm
- Wesley Smith: Law, Rationality, and Nationhood: John Locke’s Relativistic Moral World
- Feb 25, 3:15pm
- William Aylward: Spinozism in Kant’s “Only Possible Argument”
- Feb 26, 4pm
What’s more is several of your peers are also volunteering at the event.
Keep up to date on the Philopolis website or Facebook group
Who: Philopolis Montreal
What: Inter-university philosophy conference
When: February 24-26, 2023
Where: UQAM, Pavillon Sciences de la Gestion, 315 Sainte-Catherine East & 400 Sainte-Catherine East
Why: Come support your peers and see what sort of research they’re up to!
People’s Potato Emergency Food Baskets
Are you low on food or money? Don’t despair, People’s Potato is here!
People’s Potato is a nonprofit organization within Concordia that provides food for students and they are serving emergency food baskets throughout the term. (They also serve meals on the daily).
The emergency food baskets are on specific dates and they ask you to bring your own bags. First come, first serve.
Dates:
- Feb 24, 3:30pm
- Mar 17, 3:30pm
- Mar 31, 3:30pm
- Apr 14, 1pm
- Apr 21, 1pm
- Apr 28, 1pm
Check out their website for more information
Follow them on Facebook
Who: People’s Potato
What: Emergency food baskets
Where: Hall 7th floor
When: Various dates
Various Concordia Events
There are several events in the next week that may be interesting to philosophy students.
- Nothing for you this week! See below for Concordia’s list of events.
See more of Concordia’s events
SoPhiA Book Library: Weekly Book Recommendation
This week’s highlighted book:
English Philosophy Since 1900 by G.J. Warnock (1969)
“Mr. Warnock’s commentary on a controversial period of rapid change in English philosophy emphasizes predominant philosophical trends of the time. Summarizing influential movements from Abstract Idealism to Logical Atomism and Logical Positivism, it examines in more detail investigations of recent contemporary philosophers.”
If you didn’t know, SoPhiA has a library of over 650 books! We have books from different domains of philosophy and some outside philosophy (psychology, business, political science, and even novels). We even have textbooks for some of your courses! (e.g., PHIL-210, 235, 260, 266, and more)
You can borrow a book for an hour, or even the whole semester. Just drop by our office or send us an email.
You can see our complete library of books online on our Librarika virtual library.
What: Books!
Where: The SoPhiA library (in our office space)
Do you know of any cool philosophy-related events in Montreal or the Concordia Community? Please let us know and we will advertise them here!
**Pictures are for representative effect only and aren’t actual photos of the events, products, or services we report on.
Students of Philosophy Association 