Introduction

The Doctoral Program

How to Apply

Financial Aid

Enrollment Opportunities

Events and Activities

Cave Series

Papers/Presentations

Dissertations

Placement of Graduate Students

Cave Series

Cave Series is a graduate student colloquium series, supported by the Philosophy department, designed to provide students the opportunity to present works in progress and practice their presentation skills in a supportive and informal environment.  It contributes to the department's intellectual environment, supplementing the regular PNP and Philosophy colloquia, and WIPS and WPES meetings with a forum focused on graduate student work. Students have used the Cave Series to develop qualifying papers, practice before presenting at conferences, pitch ideas for their prospectus and dissertation, and to share their interests with one another. The majority of attendees are also graduate students, who benefit from the opportunity to formulate questions and criticisms in this setting, and to learn about and engage in debates not limited to their current coursework and research. The community nature is an important aspect of the Cave Series: Food and drink are served, and the atmosphere is meant to be easy-going. Ultimately, the Cave Series provides a place for students to share ideas and learn about one another's work in ways that fosters collegiality outside of the classroom. 

The Cave Series was established in the Fall of 2005 by graduate students and for graduate students, and has featured dozens of presentations by students at many stages of their graduate career. It has become a well-established tradition in the department, and has been valuable to those who have participated.

To view the titles and abstracts of talks, click here.

Colloquia

The Department typically sponsors colloquia on Thursday afternoons at 4:15 PM. (On alternate weeks the colloquia are arranged by the PNP program.) These represent a major part of the education experience in the department, and graduate students are expected to attend these colloquia regularly. Current colloquia can be found on the Philosophy calendar.

Each fall the Department sponsors the Helen Stenner Memorial Essay Prize Competition, the winner of which receives a cash prize and presents the paper in a colloquium to the Department and University. The competition is open to all undergraduate majors in the Department and all first, second, and third year graduate students. For further details, please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies or the Graduate Advisor in Philosophy.