Hamilton College Summer Program in Philosophy

We're also thrilled to welcome our tutors! Yingshihan Zhu is a PhD candidate at CUNY, Graduate Center, and she will bring her interest of social and political philosophy to "Utopias and Dystopias." Noa Dahan, "CSI: Philosophy" tutor, will be starting his PhD at the University of Cincinnati in the fall, studying the intersection of cognitive science and philosophy of science. Shannon Chang is the "Conversations in Ethics" tutor and a PhD student at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor studying ethics and science.

Our final class will be taught by Dr. Alex Cain, Teaching Specialist in the Philosophy department at the University of Melbourne, Australia. "Conversations in Applied Ethics" will challenge teams of students to examine real-world ethical problems, based on the US Ethics Bowl. We're so excitedto welcome her all the way from Austrialia!

Our next course, CSI: Philosophy, will be taught by Professor Kathryn Petrozzo of Oakland University! Students will engage with challenging dilemmas that demonstrate how inextricably linked science, the law, ethics, and social institutions are, using a combination of philosophy of science and forensics.

We're so excited to welcome Professor Mara Harrell of the University of California, San Diego, to HCSPiP 2025 with her class "Utopias and Dystopias." Her class will apply the thought experiments of science fiction stories to philosophical discussions about government, inequality, and ideal society. We can't wait to welcome her to campus!

Our first morning of classes! Philosophers discussing writing methodology.

And the 2024 HCSPiP begins! Pictures here: philosophers deliberate over trivia questions at our welcome dinner!

We’re thrilled to announce our tutors for the HCSPiP 2024! Chris Bousquet (Syracuse University) will be bringing his interests in social and political philosophy and philosophy of law to Ethical Discourse for Depolarization. Noa Dahan (Western Michigan) will be tutoring for Disaster Ethics and studies philosophy of science, gender and race. Henry Curcio (University of Wisconsin, Madison) will be tutoring for Fiction Writing as Philosophical Methodology, and has interests in Ancient philosophy, particularly the literary form of Plato’s Dialogues. We’re so excited to bring them each (back) to campus!!

Lauren Traczykowski, our third and final instructor for HCSPiP 2024, hails from Aston University and will be teaching Disaster Ethics! This course will teach students how to examine and apply ethics in disaster scenarios while considering the conflicting and overlapping priorities of different disciplines. With a background working for the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, and a PhD from the University of Birmingham (UK), Lauren’s research focuses on disaster ethics and pedagogy, particularly playful learning. We’re so excited to welcome Lauren to the program!

We’re super excited to welcome Dr. Emily Esch as our Pedagogy resident this year! Her role will include supporting instructors and helping create inclusive classroom spaces at this summer’s program. Emily teaches philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, epistemology, and propaganda, often with a focus on race and gender, at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. She has been on the Board of the American Association of Philosophy Teachers for fifteen years and serves as the President of the Teaching Philosophy Association.

This summer Andrew Jason Cohen, from Georgia State University, will be teaching “Ethical Discourse for Depolarization,” a course which tackles issues of political polarization, encouraging civil more discourse about controversial topics! His research looks at toleration (or lack thereof) in our system of criminal law, in business ethics, and in other fields of applied ethics. We’re thrilled to have him teaching at the HCSPiP!

Professor Spotlight! We’re excited to welcome Prof. Sara Uckelman from Durham University to this summer’s HCSPiP. Sara teaches Logic and Philosophy of Language at Durham and will be teaching the course Fiction Writing as Philosophical Methodology. Her research focuses on the history of logic, women in logic and philosophical problems generated by fiction.

The student application for the HCSPiP 2024 is now open! We’re thrilled to announce three new, innovative philosophy courses and we’re looking for 20 eager undergraduates to attend the program. Spread the word! Applications are due March 11 and can be found on our website (link in bio).