Philosophy Newsletter: September 2014
Dear Alumni and Friends,
Greetings from the William & Mary Philosophy Department! I am writing to you, once again in the position of department chair, this time filling in for a year as my colleague, Elizabeth Radcliffe, is on research leave for 2014-15.
I would like to extend a warm invitation to our informal Homecoming Reception, which will be held on Friday, October 17. Please stop by any time between 3:00 – 4:30 p.m., in the Frank MacDonald Memorial Commons Room, on the first floor of James Blair Hall, for conversation and light refreshments.
If you are in the area, you are also most welcome to attend any of the sessions of our upcoming conference, The Authority of Tradition, which will be held on Friday, October 3, in the Leadership Hall of the Alumni House. Details about the conference schedule and speakers may be found at the conference website:
http://www.wm.edu/as/philosophy/biennialconference/index.php
We are grateful to all of our donors, especially for the generous support of Teresa Thompson and Michael Foradas in funding our major biennial conferences and speaker series, and for the generous support of James Bassage in funding a number of departmental programs that enrich the intellectual environment for department faculty and students, including the departmental reading group and mentoring programs. Our thanks also go out to William Richardson for his continuing support of a senior essay prize and to Eric Dietrich, Sean Echevarria, Douglas and Sebastiana Springmann, and Christian Colton for their significant gifts and pledges this year. If you are interested in supporting the department, we are grateful for any gift large or small:
http://www.wm.edu/as/philosophy/supportphilosophy/index.php
As a brief update on department news, we have been happy to greet three new visiting assistant professors this fall: Chad Vance, Jonah Goldwater, and Tucker McKinney. You will find interesting interviews with each of them in the News section of our department homepage:
http://www.wm.edu/as/philosophy/index.php
Their addition makes us a department of fourteen full-time faculty members, each dedicated and enormously productive in research, service to the College, and teaching. You will find a handsome photo of the department faculty here:
http://www.wm.edu/as/philosophy/people/index.php
Finally, if you'd like to send us an update, we would be delighted to hear from you. Our students are especially interested in learning more about how our alumni and friends have used their philosophy training in pursuing their careers. You’ll find an on-line form that’s easy to use at this location:
https://www.wm.edu/as/philosophy/alumni/sendnews/
We hope we will have the pleasure of seeing you during Homecoming Weekend or whenever your plans bring you back to William & Mary.
All best regards,
Laura
Laura W. Ekstrom
Class of 2016 Professor and Acting Chair
Department of Philosophy
College of William & Mary
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
