Undergraduate Philosophy Club: The University of North Carolina

UNC’s Philosophy Club emerged a few years ago in conjunction with the dissolution of our Phi Sigma Tau honors society chapter. It was founded in an effort to make extracurricular undergraduate philosophy more accessible, both to philosophy majors as well as those specializing in other disciplines but still seeking to integrate philosophy more thoroughly into their lives. Since its inception, we have had no trouble finding an abundance of curious and open-minded interlocutors from across campus to join our club. We are an almost entirely student-run organization, although the logistical support offered by the philosophy department makes us resistant to the vicissitudes of rapid membership turnover, given that no member today will be involved with the club four years from now. Other than behind-the-scenes actions like room reservations and the distribution of student-made recruitment fliers, there is very little involvement by faculty or staff. In my experience, UNC’s philosophy department does a uniquely great job at intermingling undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty, but having student-only spaces dedicated to pursuing philosophy helps diversify the opportunities offered by studying philosophy at UNC.

My fellow philosophy majors know that survey courses tend to be strewn all across campus, but Caldwell 213, where we meet, is home to all of the graduate seminars. In a sense, this room is the inner sanctum of UNC’s philosophy department, with tables arranged in a circle such that all who enter may engage as equals. Caldwell is a truly strange building. The architectural layout is labyrinthian, and spending ten minutes trying to get the projectors to work has become a religious ritual; nevertheless, the people do far more than enough to make this dilapidated ruin feel like home.

We meet weekly in the evenings, technically for an hour, but with the community we’ve built together, you will often see students arriving long before presentations begin and lingering long after the discussion technically ends, trying to tie up loose ends from the hour that passed far too quickly or just talking about their lives. Club meetings follow a relatively consistent format. They begin with a brief presentation, either from a club officer or from a member volunteer, which introduces a subject and leaves the group with a series of discussion questions that guide the conversation for the remaining hour. Topics vary widely—often people will bring up books they’ve read, issues that have come up in class, essays they’ve recently written or published, or simply problems they have encountered through the process of being alive. In my experience, the best conversations come from topics that are highly accessible (although I’m certainly guilty of violating this guideline). Certainly, a brief discussion of Plato’s Symposium can help set the groundwork for a conversation, but love is something that everyone has thought about and whose depth can never be exhausted.

UNC’s philosophy department is great at offering lots of opportunities to students, both inside and beyond the classroom, and I think the philosophy club fills a particular niche that adds a lot to the whole program. The club is very low-stakes—unless you are the one presenting, there is virtually no preparation required. This helps make the organization very accessible to all people. This open and informal format makes the community uniquely welcoming to those across campus. I remember, when I first joined as a freshman, being awestruck by how few members were philosophy majors, and how these unique backgrounds informed the many varying perspectives. And yet, despite the diversity, we are all united by a shared love of discussion and interesting ideas. Philosophy club is emphatically not debate (I should know; I tried multiple times to join debate only to leave dissatisfied by the combative and surface-level conversations). Club members regularly attest to the fact that the accepting community and respectful disagreement makes the club not exhausting, but invigorating. Furthermore, the emphasis on phenomenology and life experience makes discussions feel much more tangible to lived realities as compared to class settings where topics can trend towards the abstract and fantastical (which, I believe, can be immensely rewarding, but the club helps provide a nice counterweight by emphasizing issues which are particularly pertinent to one’s daily life).

UNC’s philosophy club is where I’ve found some of my closest college friends, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to discuss so many engaging ideas with a group of such interesting people.

Elijah Parish

Elijah Parish is a junior at the University of North Carolina studying philosophy and math with a minor in philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE). He is the president of UNC’s philosophy club and lead editor of UNC’s undergraduate philosophy journal, Aperto Animo. After graduation, he hopes to pursue a PhD in philosophy.