Oklahoma Philosophy Day 2025
Liberal Arts News and Events
9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Saturday, March 8, 2025
University of Central Oklahoma Liberal Arts Building
Admission to this event is free, but registration is required.
The UCO Department of Humanities and Philosophy invites students, faculty and community members from across the state to discuss philosophy. A variety of sessions are planned for the day, including panel discussions, student research presentations, a philosophical game room and an invited public lecture.
Co-Sponsored by:
University of Central Oklahoma Philosophy Club
Oklahoma State University Department of Philosophy
University of Oklahoma Shyam Dev Patwardhan Department of Philosophy
Register to attend, present or moderate.
Directions to visitor parking.
“For more information, email Vanessa Bentley, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at UCO or Jerry Green, Associate Professor of Philosophy at UCO.
Tentative Schedule 2025
Registration Table: 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
Game Room: 9:45 a.m.–Noon, 1–4 p.m., LAS L05
| 9 a.m. | Breakfast and registration | LAS Lobby |
| 9:30 a.m. | Opening remarks and welcome | LAS Lobby |
| 9:45-11:15 a.m. | Student presentations
· Augustina Fianko Agyin (OSU), A Critique of Behavioral Uptake · Mary Emezana (OSU), Understanding First, Influencing Later: The Primacy of Mindreading over Mindshaping · Matthew Beasley (OU), AI and Cognition in a Thomistic Ontological Framework |
LAS L03 |
| Student presentations
· Jonathan Ramos (OU), Understanding Suffering Through the Moral Witness · Micah George (UCO), Pastries to Die For: An Objection to Causal Efficacy Principles · Andy Huynh (OU), The Green New Deal: Difficult, Deficient, Necessary |
LAS L04 | |
| 11:20-12:20 p.m. | Student presentations
· Melle van Duijn (OU), Ps. Plato’s Axiochus and the Problem of Death · Tylan Hamilton (USAO), Love as the Antidote: Confronting Death’s Poison to Find Meaning |
LAS L03 |
| Student presentations
· Jonathan Casad (OU), An Excellence-Based View of Practical Wisdom · Shanisty Whittington (RSC), Bridging Partial and Full Compliance: A Rawlsian Case for Transformative Justice |
LAS L04 | |
| 12:20-1:10 p.m. | Lunch | LAS Lobby |
| 1:10-2 p.m. | Discussion rooms
· Non-academic career discussion with invited UCO philosophy alumni |
LAS L03 |
| Discussion rooms
· Graduate school panel: Joanna Lawson (OSU), Rusty Jones (OU), Syd Morrow (UCO) |
LAS L04 | |
| 2:05-3:05 p.m. | Student presentations
· Sanzida Emu (OSU), The Limits of Radical Doubt: Evaluating Descartes’ Epistemological Framework · Julio Silva-Cespedes (OSU), The Importance of Having Two Concepts of Woman in Haslanger’s Ameliorative Project |
LAS L03 |
| Student presentations
· Layla Williams (OU), Resisting the Funnel of Misbelief · Marlon Rivas Tinoco (OU), The Importance of Knowing Our Own Epistemic Styles |
LAS L04 | |
| 3:10-4 p.m. | Panel discussion: Philosophy in an Irrational World
· Panelists: Chris Blake-Turner (OSU); Guy Crain (Rose St); Jerry Elix (Langston); Adam Green (OU) |
LAS L03 |
| 4:15-5:15 p.m. | Public Plenary
· Dr. Eva Dadlez (Professor Emerita, UCO), Thoughtful Fictions: Can Fiction Be a Thought Experiment? |
LAS L01 |
| 5:30 p.m. | Closing remarks | LAS L01 |