Features
Congratulations to Dr. Kyla Bruff!
On the 7th of March, 2022, Kyla successfully defended the first PhD in Philosophy in the history of Memorial University! Kyla's thesis, "Schelling's Political Philosophy," reconstructs the social and political thinking of the German Idealist, F.W.J. Schelling (1775-1854). Kyla's dissertation is the product of many years of research at Memorial and at various universities in Europe. The PhD was completed as a Cotutelle with the prestigious University of Freiburg in Germany. Dr. Bruff's two German examiners, Dr. Philipp Schwab and Dr. Lore Hühn, awarded her the highest grade possible in the German University System, Summa Cum Laude. The external examiner, Dr. Paul Franks from Yale University concurred. Dr. Bruff is in her first year of a tenure track position in philosophy at Carleton University. For more details on Dr. Bruff at Carleton see the following press release https://carleton.ca/philosophy/2022/kyla-spotlight/
2019
May
North American Society for Early Phenomenology Conference
NASEP 2019 Conference – Early Phenomenology In Context (The North American Society for Early Phenomenology), Wednesday, May 22 through Friday, May 24 at Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland.
2018
July
Neoplatonic Demons and Angels
A new book entitled Neoplatonic Demons and Angels, co-edited and including a chapter by MUN Philosophy's Seamus O'Neill, has recently been published by Brill. The co-editors are Prof. Luc Brisson, Directeur de Recherche (1e classe) at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, and Andrei Timotin, Senior researcher at the Romanian Academy (ISEES), Associate Professor at the University of Bucharest.
Neoplatonic Demons and Angels is a collection of eleven studies which examine, in chronological order, the place reserved for angels and demons not only by the main Neoplatonic philosophers (Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, and Proclus), but also in Gnosticism, the Chaldaean Oracles, Christian Neoplatonism, especially by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. This volume originates from a panel held at the 2014 ISNS meeting in Lisbon, but is supplemented by a number of invited papers.
March
Ecological conversion
Like any good philosopher, PhD candidate Kyla Bruff offers a critical reflection on the very concept of sustainability.
“What are we really sustaining?” she said. “Are we trying to figure out a way to sustain consumerism by “greening” it up? Are we sustaining an Earth that has problems with smog?”
Ms. Bruff, along with Dr. Sean McGrath, Department of Philosophy, and Dr. Barry Stephenson, Department of Religious Studies, as executive members of For A New Earth (FANE), are making environmental discourse more difficult by asking tough questions.
Read more about FANE in the Gazette.
2016
November
Twinsome Minds
In a stunning performance, they brought us back to a foundational moment in the history of modern Ireland, demonstrating a transformative interpretation of Dublin's Easter Rising for a new generation. The event was co-hosted by the Department of History and the Department of Philosophy, with the support of the Irish Embassy, Culture Ireland, and the Irish Newfoundland Association.
Click
2015
December
Welcome Shannon Hoff!
The department's most recent hire is Dr. Shannon Hoff, who specializes in Hegel, feminism and social and political philosophy. Dr. Hoff is also the president of the Canadian Society for Continental philosophy and moved moved here from Toronto.
Staging an Ecological Intervention: Future of Nature, Gros Morne Park September 2015
From September 10th to the 13th, several members of the philosophy department, led by the principle investigator, Dr. Sean McGrath, convened the Future of Nature, a four day festival of ideas on the West Coast of Newfoundland.