Session 1 -- 11 a.m.
If someone asked you to define religion, you might start by listing examples of major world religions. Or, you might describe central elements of your own religious tradition. But, what if you encountered a community, practice, object, or text “in the wild” and had to determine whether it was religious or not? How would you do so? In this session we will try to answer the question “what is religion, anyway?” through examining popular definitions of religion and applying them to complex and borderline cases like the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. We may not come to a firm definition by the end of the session, but we will gain some insight into how others have tried to answer this question and learn to identify what makes some definitions more useful than others.
What is Religion? -- Dr. Matt Hotham
How to Save the World -- Prof. Jen Rowland
What will it take to save the planet? Through a series of exercises, we'll think through what climate change means for the future of humanity, and what each of us ought to do about it. Be prepared for active participation and conversation!
How to Start a Philosophy Club -- Lexi Wood
Are you interested in starting a philosophy club at your school? Join Ball State's returning Philosophy Club executive board members to learn how to create and maintain a philosophy club. Find resources for building and leading presentations, researching topics, and facilitating philosophical debate. Additionally, gain helpful tips on keeping a philosophy club interesting, engaging, and enlightening for all members while still keeping everything behind the scenes functioning.
Distributive Justice -- Dr. Juli Thorson
In this session, we will work in groups to make decisions about distributive justice via the exercise below. We will conclude the session by discussing what philosophers could be used to support the decisions you have made. You are on the Municipal Council of a small town. The town has received a significant award from a philanthropist for being one of the “Top Ten Small Towns in America.” You are required to give the award to the citizens in the town by selecting the order from which the members of three groups can draw from the funds. The three groups are based on need, merit, and effort. You are at a Municipal Council meeting at which you, with fellow council members, must make policy.
Wake Me Up Before You Gogh Gogh -- Zoe Lawson
We all know that there are “great works of art,” art museums, artistic geniuses. Some call things like literature and music their own kinds of art. But, what is art? Who can make art? How do we know, and who gets to decide? In this session, students will get a look into the philosophy of art, a sub-discipline of aesthetics, and start to examine questions about the nature of beauty, creativity, and, of course, art. Once we get an idea of what art might be, students will consider what it means to own art and what makes something “original.”