Recent News

Welcome New Philosophy Faculty

The philosophy department is delighted to welcome three new faculty members:  Professor Kathryn Gines is a 2008-09 Penn State Philosophy and Africana Research Center Post-doctorate Fellow, and beginning fall 2009 she will be Assistant Professor in Philosophy.  Professor Leonard Lawlor joins the philosophy faculty in fall 2008 as Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Philosophy, and Professor Robert Bernasconi will join the philosophy faculty in fall 2009 as Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Philosophy.  For more information on Professors Gines, Lawlor, and Bernasconi, click here

Tuana named 2008 SWIP Distinguished Woman Philosopher

Nancy Tuana, DuPont/Class of 1949 Professor in Ethics, Professor of Philosophy, Humanities and Women’s Studies, and Director of the Rock Ethics Institute, has been named the Society of Women in Philosophy’s 2008 Distinguished Woman Philosopher. Begun in 1984, this annual award honors a woman philosopher whose contributions to the support of women in philosophy and to philosophy itself are outstanding and merit special recognition. A panel and reception celebrating Professor Tuana’s accomplishments will be organized for the Eastern Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association in Philadelphia , December 27-30, 2008

Graduate Program Admission Deadline: January 2, 2009

The deadline for applications for graduate admission to Penn State’s Philosophy Department for students beginning their studies in the fall 2009 is January 2, 2009. For more on the department’s graduate program, including its dual PhD in Philosophy and Women’s Studies and its partnership program with the University of Freiburg (Germany), please visit the Graduate section of our website.  For specifics concerning the application process, see Admissions Information.

Cultivating Underrepresented Students in Philosophy (CUSP) program continues in Spring 2009

CUSP is an all-expense paid 2-day workshop held at the Philosophy Department at the Pennsylvania State University each April for up to eight promising prospective graduate students in philosophy from traditionally underrepresented groups (such as African Americans, Chicano/as and Latino/as, Native Americans, Asian Americans). For information on eligibility and application process, click here.

 

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About us

Sparks Building, home of the Department of Philosophy.The Department of Philosophy at the Pennsylvania State University is characterized by a focus on, and commitment to, the history of philosophy conceived as a basis for pursuing philosophy in an international context. The program includes special emphases on both contemporary Continental philosophy (including phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, social theory, and postmodernism) and classical American philosophy (including transcendentalism, naturalism, semiotics, pragmatism, and contemporary cultural issues).  The department is strongly committed to both undergraduate and graduate education. The curricula of both the undergraduate and graduate programs are structured so as to foster and promote genuine dialogue across international borders and philosophical traditions, both established and emerging. 

The program is organized to facilitate the ability to engage meaningfully a variety of philosophical approaches—including feminist theory, analytic philosophy, critical race theory and social/political philosophy—and a range of systematic fields—including aesthetics, ethics, political philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of science.  Our faculty maintain strong professional relationships in Europe and Latin America. Members of the faculty work in close collaboration with students to ensure the depth and breadth of their philosophical education.

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