Graduate Philosophy Conference: History and Hutchins Prize Winners
In 2005, a group of Gonzaga graduate students in Dr Michael Tkacz’s Medieval Philosophy course, including Brent Diebel, Brad Thompson, and John van Houdt explored with their professor the idea of conference at which graduate students could share scholarly work with their peers. After consulting with Gonzaga Philosophy faculty member Erik Schmidt, who served as the first faculty advisor to the conference, the first Gonzaga Graduate Philosophy Conference took place on April 2, 2005, and featured a keynote address by Gonzaga philosopher Richard McClelland. Each year thereafter improvements were made to the conference. Many such improvements came after Debby Hutchins took the role of faculty advisor in 2007, including participation in the conference by graduate students from a gradually increasing number of programs across the U.S. and even abroad, a more formal structure to the conference planning and events, a conference workshop on a topic of professional interest to philosophy graduate students, and a conference-ending banquet for the participants.
A prize for the best paper of the conference, which includes a cash award, was introduced in 2006. In 2013, in honor and recognition of the seven-year advisor term that Gonzaga philosopher Debby Hutchins had served, and the leadership she had offered in helping the graduate students build the professionalism and national reach of the conference, the annual paper prize was formally named the Hutchins Prize.
Gonzaga philosophy professor Dan Bradley became the faculty advisor of the conference in 2013, due to Debby Hutchins’ move from Gonzaga to South Texas College.
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YEAR
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DIRECTOR
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WELCOME
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KEYNOTE
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HUTCHINS PAPER PRIZE*
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WORKSHOP
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1
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2005
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Brad Thompson / Brent Diebel
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Richard McClelland, Gonzaga University
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2
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2006
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John van Houdt / Garrin Hertel
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Forrest Baird, Whitworth University
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Todd Trembley, Washington State University “Between Man and Nature: An Environmental Ethic of Encounter”
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3
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2007
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Daniel Wagner
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Keith Wyma, Whitworth University
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Mason Cole, Texas A&M University “Don’t Play with Matches”
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4
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2008
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Daniel Wagner / Adriana Kowal
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Rose Mary Volbrecht
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Pol Vandevelde, Marquette University
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Daniel Wagner, Gonzaga University, “Contra Al-Ghazali: St. Thomas’ Account of Secondary Cause & God’s Omnipotence”
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5
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2009
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Adriana Kowal
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David Calhoun
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Andrew Cutrofello, Loyola University
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Joshua Hall, Vanderbilt University, “Reattaching Shadows: Dancing with Schopenhauer”
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6
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2010
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Lukas Sauer
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Wayne Pomerleau
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Ronald Tacelli, S.J., Boston College
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Guy Elgat, Northwestern University, “A Reading ofAmor Fati—Nietzsche’s Love of Fate”
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Choosing Philosophy Textbooks
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7
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2011
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Lukas Sauer
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Tom Jeannot
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Christopher Menzel, Texas A&M
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Matthew Jacobs, University of Oregon “James, Haraway, and Vision: Finitude and the Optics of Knowledge”
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Applying for a Philosophy Position
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8
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2012
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Melissa Thiringer
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Dan Bradley
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Jonathan Kvanvig, Baylor University
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Matthew Braich, University of California San Diego, “Responsibility, Luck, and Rationality”
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Teaching a Successful Philosophy Class
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9
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2013
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Mitchell Palmquist
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Richard McClelland
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Daniel Dombrowski, Seattle University
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CO-WINNERS: Ben Hole, University of Washington, “Elitism in Two Approaches to Virtue Ethical Theory: Aristotelian and Stoic” and Noel Saenz, University of Colorado at Boulder “Composition and Facts”
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Marketing Yourself as a Philosopher
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*the Prize for the best paper of the conference was inaugurated in 2006, and was formally named the Hutchins Prize in 2013.
Faculty advisors for the Conference:
2005-2006 Erik Schmidt
2007-2013 Debby Hutchins
2014- Dan Bradley
502 E. Boone Avenue
Spokane, WA 99258-6741
Phone: (509) 313-6741
Email: philosophy@gonzaga.edu
www.gonzaga.edu/philosophy
Location: Rebmann House
1207 N. Astor Street
(Across from St. Aloysius Church)
