Philosophy Department News

In Memoriam: Dr. Jay Mandt

Jay (Almer) Mandt, philosophy Professor Emeritus, passed away on June 20, 2024. Services are being provided by Downing and Lahey.

Emeritus Professors Deborah Soles (left) and David Soles (right)

Emeritus Professors David Soles and Deborah Soles to present colloquium "Considerations on Loyalty"

Please join us on Thursday, September 7th, when Emeritus Professors David Soles and Deborah Soles will deliver a talk entitled "Considerations on Loyalty." The talk will begin at 3:30pm in RSC 301 (Gridley Room).

Prof. John Symons (KU) to speak on "How will AI Change Science?"

The WSU Philosophy Department will host Prof. Symons on December 7, 5:00-6:30pm, in RSC 261. The talk is free and open to the public.

Dr. Hepburn wins the Barrier Award for Excellence in Teaching!

Please join me in congratulating our own Brian Hepburn for winning this year's John R. Barrier Distinguished Teaching Award in Humanities and Social Sciences. Well done, Brian! Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Hepburn has succeeded in impressing one of his students as a "beast", in the best possible way. To see the whole Commencement ceremony and Dr. Hepburn's spotlight in it, visit https://www.youtube.com/live/PK3JFwGOkvQ?si=EdTXeC1LW2qFs_Wu.

Best wishes to JS Johnson-Schwartz on her next adventure

Dr. JS Johnson-Schwartz has resigned her position at WSU. We wish her all the best in all her upcoming projects and plans.

Celebrating the life of Curtis D. Gridley

Curtis D. Gridley, a great friend to the Philosophy Department, sadly passed away last month.

Schedule now available for the 41st meeting of the Kansas Philosophical Society

The schedule for the 41st Kansas Philosophical Society meeting is now available. The meeting will take place at WSU on Saturday, April 13. Click this story for the schedule and additional information about this year's meeting.

Apply Now for the History of Philosophy Scholarship!

Submissions are now open for the Philosophy Department's History of Philosophy Scholarship, which comes with an award of $1,500. Applications need to completed by 1 April, 2024. View this story for information about the scholarship and for submission instructions.

Philosophy Can Help You Get A Job

A recent opinion article published by Technician describes a variety of ways that studying philosophy can help you to gain a competitive advantage in many employment sectors.

Simpliciter: A new Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy

Simpliciter is a new undergraduate philosophy journal published at Brandeis University. The first submission deadline is January 7, 2024.

Alumni News

Zohreh Dalirian has been admitted to the Doctoral program in Education at Southeastern University (2021).

LCDR Joseph M. Hatfield returned to his roots in the WSU Philosophy department to give talks on the philosophical significance and implications of the blockchain technology used in cryptocurrencies for Internet 3.0, and a philosophical analysis of state intelligence in democratic and authoritarian systems (2021).

Lucy Petroucheva is a civic engagement manager at the Kansas Leadership Center (2021).

Courtney Minor is now enrolled in the PhD program in Philosophy at UCLA with 7 years of funding. She's studying Philosophy of Law, Ethics, Political Philosophy, and Logic (2021).

Daniel Saunders finished his masters at York University and is now getting his PhD in Philosophy at the University of British Columbia. He's studying Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Social Science and Philosophy of Medicine (2020).

Tyler Hiebert is finishing his dissertation for a PhD in Communications at the Annenberg School of Communications, USC (2020).

Curt Gridley and Tracy Hoover founded Groover Labs, a creative concept to market maker space in Wichita's Old Town Opportunity Zone (2019).

Alumni Spotlight

Hector Corea

Class of 2014

Education:

Wichita State University, Political Science and Philosophy double major (2014)

UC Berkley Law School (2016)

Previous Employment:

U.S. Army Reserve

Current Job Title:

Associate Attorney, DLA Piper LLP.

Responsibilities include:

Synthesizing legal research and analysis into a coherent written memorandum or brief for submission to a client, court or arbitrator

Appearing in a court of law, arbitration or other judicial tribunal on behalf of the firm's client

Analyzing and summarizing complicated legal documents, including contracts, and suggesting alterations to those documents

Anticipating and mitigating potential legal problems within the law firm or for a client — and developing strategies to avoid costly litigation and reduce potential areas of risk

Congratulations everyone!

If you have news about our students or alumni, we'd love to hear from you.