College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Outreach & Engagement
The Philosophy department is deeply committed to making meaningful contributions to the intellectual life of our university and city community. The faculty in the department commonly give talks in the community on issues ranging from neuroscience and philosophy to war and terrorism. Our graduate students have developed the Iowa Lyceum - a summer philosophy camp for high school students which they run every summer free of charge. We regularly teach a course at the Johnson County Senior Center. The department administers a service-learning course -- PHIL 1920: Philosophy in Public -- in which students do a community, volunteer, or campus internship and write about its relationship to their larger philosophical and career interests. We sponsor a movie series on issues of pressing concern -- the Owl of Minerva Theater. We also host a philosophy club that meets to discuss topics and figures from Plato to today. One of our faculty, Professor Carrie Figdor, conducts regular interviews with prominent philosophers as part of the New Books in Philosophy series. Our faculty also participate in on-campus programs with the Obermann Center, Human Rights Center, POROI, the Bioethics initiative, and others.