Category Archives: Philosophy News

Ian Parker on philosophy and revolution, Blackwells, Tuesday 12th December 2017, 6:30pm

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/philosophy-at-blackwells-ian-parker-philosophy-and-revolution-tickets-38432310074?aff=efbeventtix 

Tuesday 12th December 2017

18:30 – 20:30 GMT

What are the possibilities for revolution in our time? What, if any, realistic alternatives to the current world order may be achievable? Although Ian Parker’s Revolutionary Keywords for a New Left may not answer these questions directly, it sets out to address the conceptual densities of contemporary revolutionary keywords ranging from academicisation to neoliberalism, from fascism to feminisation, from postcolonialism to Zionism, while also focusing on thinkers including Alain Badiou, Judith Butler, Sigmund Freud, and Slavoj Žižek. In laying bare each concept, Parker provides the philosophico-historical lines of its formation and situates it within its broad social conditions. The book is a pioneering convergence of activist writings and philosophical inquiry.

Parker’s talk, ‘Philosophy and Revolution’, will consider the kinds of resources that philosophy, and related disciplines like psychoanalysis, critical theory, and critical psychology can bring to questions of revolution and political change. At a time when few on the left seem able to imagine, let alone provide the theoretical or practical resources to realise, a future that might be different from the present, this talk will offer an analysis of the pervasive cynicism in which we seem to be mired, and even hold out the prospect of an antidote. This event is a book launch for Revolutionary Keywords for a New Left.

The author:

Ian Parker is a world-renowned academic psychologist, an activist, and a practising psychoanalyst. He is most widely known as one of the most vociferous critics of the discipline of psychology. He has published numerous books including Slavoj Žižek: A Critical Introduction and Revolution in Psychology.

About the lecture series:

Local publisher Bigg Books (www.biggbooks.co.uk) and the Newcastle Philosophy Society (www.newphilsoc.org.uk) have teamed up with Blackwell’s Bookshop to launch this opening season of talks and book launches by world renowned philosophers alongside emerging local ones. The goal of these seasons is to promote innovative works of popular philosophy encompassing both the academic and the engaged, lived approaches to philosophy. All the invited speakers will be dealing with contemporary issues through a philosophical lens in an accessible and exciting way.

THE WRITING DEVELOPMENT CENTRE WEBSITE HAS MOVED

The Writing Development Centre website has moved

The Writing Development Centre website has moved to http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/subject-support/wdc/.  There are re-directs in place from the old homepage and the tutorials page but please be aware that any other links will result in a page not found error.  There is also a link to the WDC from the Library homepage.

The student booking form for requesting one to one tutorials has also changed and now requires students to log in using their computer log-in e.g. A0123456.   If you have any queries please contact the Writing Development Centre using wdc@ncl.ac.uk

published on: 8th November 2017

More events, Mondays, including Football

An update on the philosophy events for this term:

The next event is 3 sided football on the 6th, next Monday.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_sided_football

This isn’t competitive football, just a chance to have some fun in the park. Before I go and buy cones etc with departmental money, I want to check that we will have three teams, so I have made a sign up list online at

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0d4ba4ad2ba7f58-monday

So long as more than 20 people sign up by 12:00 on Friday, we shall go ahead with it. If not, I’ll let anyone who does sign up know on Friday afternoon. I appreciate this is in reading week, and I don’t want people cancelling plans for an event that can’t go ahead.

Due to organisational issues, the careers session scheduled for the 20th has to be postponed. Hopefully we can run it next semester. It has been replaced by a workshop about speaking at and submitting essays to undergraduate conferences.

The AV club on the 13th is about celebrity meltdowns and the existential issues they reveal. It will be lead by Zoe, one of our MLitt students.

(on behalf of Stephen Overy, stephen.overy1@ncl.ac.uk)

Another undergrad philosophy conference: Southampton

Another possible conference for at least third years to consider going to:

Southampton Undergraduate Philosophy Conference 2018 – Call for Papers

On January 4th to 5th 2018, Philosophy at Southampton will host a conference for upper level undergraduate students. The event will involve presentations by Southampton faculty – Professor Aaron Ridley, a specialist in aesthetics and the history of philosophy (especially Nietzsche), and Dr Giulia Felappi, a specialist in philosophy of language and metaphysics. In addition, there will be up to 6 sessions for student presentations.

We invite submission of papers by undergraduate students suitable for 20-30min presentation. Submissions will be blind-reviewed. You must ensure that you remove any identifying information from your submission. Send your paper as an attachment to Tracy Storey: t.storey@southampton.ac.uk. In the accompanying email, include your name, institution, year of study, and programme of study.

The deadline for submissions is November 27th 2017. We aim to communicate our decisions by December 4th 2017.

The conference will be free and open to all. Philosophy at Southampton will cover the costs of meals for presenters and provide them with bursaries toward the costs of travel and accommodation.

We particularly encourage submissions from members of underrepresented groups in philosophy. The conference will be organised in accordance with the BPA-SWIP best practice guidelines.

Registration

To register, please contact Tracy Storey at the above email address with your name and affiliation.

Accessibility

The event is wheelchair accessible, as is the dinner venue. Service animals are welcome. An induction loop can be made available. A quiet room can also be made available. If you have any queries or requests relating to accessibility, please get contactt.storey@soton.ac.uk. We will seek to accommodate any requests we receive in advance.

Childcare

The University Nursery is OFSTED-regulated and offers a limited number of places for children aged between four months and five years. Advance booking is required for this service and is made on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. We can also support parents in making alternative arrangements.

BCUR 2018

I would like to encourage all stage 2 and stage 3 students who are involved in their projects to think about presetting at this conference. If you are interested, drop me a lien so we can chat about — there may be support financially as well to attend.

BCUR 2018 will be held at the University of Sheffield

Updated list of Wednesday afternoon events

A late addition to the list of Wednesday afternoon talks, to which you are welcome, on Wednesday 8th November at 2pm, in BSTC 2.39, Roger Burrows speaks on Nick Land and the ‘dark Enlightenment’, architecture, and many other things besides:

The updated list of events is as follows:
Day and Time: Wednesdays, 2–4pm
Room: BSTC 2.39 (Barbara Strang Teaching Centre), Central Campus, Newcastle University
Readings: Where they are not obvious, recommended readings associated with each talk will be communicated nearer the time by individual lecturers. For the reading groups, students may collectively choose the text they study.

— Introductions are primarily for MLitt students and interested undergraduates.
—‘Talks in apostrophes’ are Work in Progress talks to which all, including staff, are invited.

Semester I
Week

4 25/10 Michael Lewis (Newcastle), Introduction to Italian Thought: Agamben’s What is Philosophy?
5 1/11 Michael Bavidge (Newcastle), Introduction to Wittgenstein
6 8/11 **STOP PRESS!*** Prof. Roger Burrows (Newcastle), ‘Urban Futures and the Dark Enlightenment’
7 15/11 Stephen Overy (Newcastle), Introduction to Psycho-analysis and the Unconscious
8 22/11 Miriam Baldwin (Newcastle), Introduction to Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy
9 29/11 Michael Lewis (Newcastle), ‘Paolo Virno’s Essay on Negation: From Anthropology to Politics’
10 6/12 Stephen Overy (Newcastle), ‘Three Manifestations of Time in Vintage Wine’
11 13/12 Essay and Book Review advice session (Mlitt’s only)

Philosophy events, around Newcastle, theoretical and social

Newcastle students! Please come along to the events organised by the Newcastle University Philosophy Society.

On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NCLPhilSoc/,

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NCLPhilSoc,

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nclphilsoc/

Many other philosophical events take place around the North East:

Newcastle Philosophy Society (http://newphilsoc.org.uk/wpress/) and the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle (http://www.litandphil.org.uk/) are para-academic institutions and may be investigated with profit, even though they have no connection with Newcastle University.

Newcastle University Philosophy Society

The Philosophy society is rising from the ashes like a glorious phoenix and we need people to come along to events and help get the ball rolling again.

We know that a problem people have had with the course in prior years has been the lack of cross year integration and social events, but now there is a solution! We plan to step into the void and fix this issue, giving you a pace to meet like-minded people and relax with your coursemates.

If you have any interest in philosophy outside of your course, or just want to socialise please do consider joining.

Our plan for the year is as follows:

· Our famous “Think and Drink” events: every Monday night.

· Bi-Weekly socials.

· A monthly reading group based upon books chosen by members.

· End of Term Formal Balls.

Membership is £5 and gives you free access to the socials, and the reading group, plus reduced ticket price for the Balls. For any more information please check our Facebook page.

Also consider giving us a like on Facebook, a follow on Twitter or just have a gander at our Instagram. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NCLPhilSoc/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NCLPhilSoc

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nclphilsoc/