Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

The 26th Pacific University Undergraduate Philosophy Conference will be held on campus on April 5th and 6th, 2024

The Pacific University Undergraduate Philosophy Conference is an annual, two-day conference held each spring, attracting students from across the country and internationally. Since 1997, more than 1,600 students from over 350 schools have participated in our conference.

These students represent all 50 U.S. states as well as a number of Canadian provinces and several other countries. All of the participants are undergraduate students, with the exception of the annual keynote address by a renowned philosopher. Past keynote speakers have included Paul Churchland, Hilary Putnam, John Searle, Keith Lehrer, Catherine Elgin, John Perry, Hubert Dreyfus, Jerry Fodor, Alvin Plantinga, Cora Diamond, James Sterba, Peter Kivy, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Daniel Dennett, Elliott Sober, Alva Noë, L.A. Paul, Susan Haack, John Martin Fischer, and Manuel Vargas.  The keynote speaker in 2024 will be Jason Baehr.

Submission Guidelines

Papers are required to be of philosophical content, but there are no specific restrictions on subject matter within the arena of philosophical discussion itself. Papers should be approximately 3,000 words (10-12 pages).  Submissions are due February 7th.

Electronic submissions (as Word documents) are required and should be sent to Ian O'Loughlin at ian.oloughlin@pacificu.edu. Submissions should include both the full paper and an abstract of no more than 200 words.  Please send these, prepared for blind review, as an email attachment. The attachment should be a single file (preferred file formats are .docx or .odt) with title, abstract, paper, and bibliography.  In the body of the email, please include the title of your paper, your name, and your university.

Selected papers from the conference will be published as a special issue of the International Journal for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities.