Conference Team

Conference for Pre-College Philosophical Engagement

POP hosts an annual free philosophy conference that is tailored to the interests and learning styles of high school students. The conference features a variety of breakout sessions that feature presentations from both Ball State students, professors, and guests. The conference is centered around small group discussion, which gives students a real opportunity to learn, discuss, and challenge their philosophical positions. Through philosophical inquiry, POP aims to provide students with a conference experience that fosters curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge.

The students who participated in the conference team spent the semester thoroughly preparing for this year's conference. The conference was able to be held in person again this year as opposed to last year's virtual conference due to COVID-19. The team planned the schedule and conference topics, communicated with students teachers that wanted to attend, organized registration, contacted and assisted in planning with presenters, and designed "swag" items.

This year, the theme of the conference was social justice. The POP team with the aid of professors and professionals led sessions tailored to this theme. Some of the session topics included homelessness, refugees, climate change, school funding, and critical race theory. In the morning, the students attened sessions about the major philosophical studies to give them basic philisophical understanding. By the end of the conference, the students were tasked with using what they learned from their morning sessions to try to come up with solutions to these topics.

Conference Team Staff: Emma Hamilton (Lead), Cierra Tindall (Lead), Emily Voelker, Abby Eads, and Austin Lewis