08/12/2025
https://epay.goldlink.etsu.edu/C20071_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=1084&SINGLESTORE=true
Philosophy was first offered as a program of study at East Tennessee State in 1960, making 2025 our 65th anniversary. The department has decided to mark the occasion with a day of philosophy and reunions. Former department faculty members, Dr. Stephen Fesmire, Dr. Heather Keith, Dr. Deepanwita Dasgupta, as well as current faculty member, Dr. Austin Due, will be giving short lectures on issues related to their research. Dr. Fesmire is an expert on the philosophy of the great American Pragmatist, John Dewey, and has published two well-regarded books on Dewey’s work. Dr. Keith is the co-author of two books on ethics and intellectual disability, and the co-editor of a book on the philosophy of environmental, social, and personal resilience. Dr. Dasgupta is a philosopher of science who is currently working on her second book manuscript, in which she explores the role of wisdom within scientific practice. Dr. Due, a philosopher of medicine and bioethicist, only received his Ph.D. in 2022 but has already published several articles in prominent journals. Based on the diversity of their respective research interests, we hope you’ll agree with us that it promises to be an excellent day of philosophy. But we actually have much more planned!
We’re inviting all former faculty to our reunion. In addition to those already mentioned, Drs. Chris Hackler, John Hardwig, and Jim Spence, all plan on attending, as do beloved and retired former staff members, Alice Terrell and Marie Graves. We’re hopeful that several other former faculty and staff will be able to join us.
In addition, six alumni have agreed to come and talk about how philosophy has impacted their lives, either personally or professionally. Between them, these alumni represent a wide range of career paths, including law, medicine, higher education, chaplaincy, and ministry. We're confident that our current students will benefit enormously from hearing from these alumni about their experiences since graduation. Finally, since some of our alumni have gone on to complete graduate work in philosophy, we thought it would be fun to hear some of what they’ve been working on since their time at ETSU. We're pleased to report that several have accepted the invitation.
We hope we’ve done enough to convince you that this will be a memorable occasion, which will highlight the values of philosophy and demonstrate to students and administrators that our department deserves their ongoing support. The event is intended for all former faculty and staff, and all department alumni, and we are particularly hopeful that this will be a great occasion to reconnect with our alumni.
Achieving a better understanding of what students think is one of the great joys of teaching. Our department teaches a course called Philosophy as Conversation because we think that conversation is one of the best methods for developing philosophical reasoning and understanding. When we’ve had the chance to reconnect with alumni over the years, the conversation has always been enjoyable. All our current and former faculty would relish the opportunity to reconnect with their former students, or meet people who came through the program before or since their time at ETSU.
The department will provide breakfast and lunch for all attendees and everyone is encouraged to join us for a ticketed dinner at a Southern Craft, in downtown Johnson City. Please feel free to bring a guest to all or part of the event, including the evening dinner (just remember to buy them a ticket, too). Our 65th reunion is taking place on Saturday, November 15th, which is five days before World Philosophy Day. We do ask that anyone who would like to attend some part of the day register, using the link, above, by October 17th.
If you plan on attending any part of the day, enter “1” in Quantity and Select “Add to Cart”. If you plan on bringing a guest to some part of the day, enter “2” in Quantity. After clicking on “Add to Cart”, you’ll be prompted to provide names of attendees, select which parts of the day you plan on attending, and have the option to explain any dietary restrictions. If you have problems with the registration process, please let us know.
Finally, we have on more request: we've emailed all department alumni for which we have email addresses. We're aware that some of the email accounts in our list are no longer in use. Some are perhaps rarely if ever checked. This email might end up in junk folders and thus never discovered. The extent to which this message reaches its intended audience is hard to predict. It’s a somewhat sad story, we realize. But you can help! Think back on your time in the philosophy department. Who graduated around the same time as you? Are you still in touch? Can you hunt them down on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram? Why not reach out? Encourage them to attend. Wouldn’t it be fun to be back in Johnson City with your fellow department alumni? People, let’s spread the word and help make this a memorable day for everyone!
If you have questions, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We hope to see lots of you in the flesh, on November 15th.
ETSU College of Arts & Sciences ETSU School of Humanities and Social Sciences
