AY 2016-2017

Congratulations!!!

May 2017 Graduation Pictured: Three Philosophy PhD graduates (Marcella Linn, Ndidi Nwaneri, Giancarlo Tarantino) as well as current students and alums.

"Is money the root of all evil?"

Philosophy professor Julie Ward replies to the perennial question, "Is money the root of all evil?"

Responsibility While Protecting and the Intervention in Yemen

Philosophy PhD student Drew Thompson just had an article posted on the website of the journal Ethics and International Affairs. He discusses the recent Saudi-led airstrikes against Yemen, which caused massive destruction and loss of life. The ostensible justification was the “responsibility to protect,” an ambiguous international norm that may lend itself to problematic interpretations. In Thompson’s article he argues instead for the application of the norm “responsibility while protecting,” which would not have authorized the indiscriminate harm to civilians and to food security that resulted from the airstrikes.

Unhappy Confessions: The Temptation of Admitting to White Privilege

“Claire Lockard, a PhD student in the philosophy department, has published an article in the journal Feminist Philosophy Quarterly. The article, called “Unhappy Confessions: The Temptation of Admitting to White Privilege,” explores the ways that white people’s admissions of their own privilege or racism contribute to their unconscious habits of privilege and thus block further anti-racist action.

Philosophy doctoral candidate Nicoletta Ruane helping to develop a new community-based program called Illinois Speaks.

Philosophy doctoral candidate Nicoletta Ruane, who is the first recipient of the assistantship in the field, is working for 10 months with Illinois Humanities. She is responsible for helping to develop a new community-based program called Illinois Speaks. The goal of Illinois Speaks is to provide “resources to support monthly small group discussions within communities throughout the state. These discussions will focus on current events and the impact of these events on our communities. They will be led by paid facilitators from the community who have been trained by Illinois Humanities and who will have access to materials focusing on media representations of current events provided by Illinois Humanities.”

Former grad Liz Willock sends Uber driver to Rio to see son compete in Olympics

Earlier this summer former graduate student Elizabeth Willock spearheaded a donation campaign to send her Uber driver to Rio to see his Son perform in the Olympics. In a mere month the GoFundMe page managed to raise $8,200 to send retired bus driver Ellis Hill to see his son, Darrell Hill, compete in the Men's shot put. The campaign was featured on CBS News, Today, and CNN.