Webster University Philosophy Department

03/29/2026

Ideas come to everyone! Hear others’ and share yours at Webster’s 20th Undergraduate Philosophy Conference on Friday, April 3, in Sunnen Lounge of the University Center. We’ll host students not only from Webster but also a dozen other colleges from Tenessee-Knoxville to St. Louis Community College and Kansas State. The daylong conference features presentations by individual students or grouped in panels that cover topics as varied as romantic love, Plato’s Republic, human rights law, feminism, generative AI, and John Carpenter’s movie, The Thing.

The midday Keynote Address, titled, “What Does It Mean to Care for Ourselves in Hard Times?” will be by Dr. Saba Fatima of Southern Illinois at Edwardsville.

The full schedule and other details are available online at https://write.as/websterphilosophy/
The event is free and open to the public. Alumni are especially welcome.

Founded in part by generous support provided by philosophy alum Eve Coulson, as well as the Faculty Speakers Series, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the student Philosophy Coalition, and the Philosophy Department.

02/17/2026

IDEAS COME TO EVERYONE — and we want yours! Send your paper or panel proposal, or tell us you want to display your zine. Review of submissions begins soon, and our students can’t review what you don’t send in.

More details via the QR or at the link in our bio linktr.ee/websterphilosophydept/

Hope to hear from you soon!

02/14/2026

We must love and support one another! Won’t you please be our Valentine?

12/26/2025

A week to honor purpose, unity, agency, creativity, collective action, economic cooperation, and steadfast commitment to justice

06/28/2025

Dream well. Risk well. Perhaps no concessions will be needed.

04/18/2025

NEXT FRIDAY! Join us to thank Paul for his long service to the Philosophy Department and the Human Rights program and to give him a joyous send off to new endeavors!

03/26/2025

Ideas come to everyone: Hear others’ & share yours! Students from 8 colleges + alums, free to all, lunch provided, in the University Center all day Friday. Link in bio for details (Go ahead and share this to let your friends know, too!)

03/22/2025

Thanks, chat! See you Friday at the Conference? Link in bio for more info

01/15/2025

Warm up with philosophy & community Wednesdays in Pearson House — ideas come to everyone!

12/31/2024

Wishing all of you a New Year of appreciating the in between.

12/23/2024

And, of course, not only librarians: “‘Vocational awe’ refers to the set of ideas, values, and assumptions librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries as institutions are inherently good and sacred, and therefore beyond critique. In this article, I would like to dismantle the idea that librarianship is a sacred calling; thus requiring absolute obedience to a prescribed set of rules and behaviors, regardless of any negative effect on librarians’ own lives. I will do this by demonstrating the ways vocational awe manifests. First, I will describe the institutional mythologies surrounding libraries and librarians. Second, I will dismantle these mythologies by demonstrating the role libraries play in institutional oppression. Lastly, I will discuss how vocational awe disenfranchises librarians and librarianship. By deconstructing some of these assumptions and values so integrally woven into the field, librarianship can hopefully evolve into a field that supports and advocates for the people who work in libraries as much as it does for physical buildings and resources.“

Fobazi Ettarh, in In The Library With The Lead Pipe: An open access, open peer reviewed journal

2024 28 Aug Jessica Condlin /0 Comments Conducting a Diversity Audit in an Academic Library on the Psychology, Non-Fiction Collection In Brief Over the course of a year, I conducted a diversity audit of part of the general nonfiction collection, specifically the psychology section (BFs) at the Charl...