I served in the role of the Central Division Secretary-Treasurer (S-T) from January 2017 through June 2024. The role is many times a behind-the-scenes role, but many come to know us through our various emails and appearances at the divisional meetings. When I was first hired via a national search, I was a very junior faculty member. I knew little about the details of the position, and when I stepped into the interview room in the Palmer House at the 2016 Central Division meeting, I was greeted by Linda Zagzebski, Elizabeth Anderson, Valerie Tiberius, and Robin Smith. It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. I was overjoyed when they offered me the position.
After being hired for the position, I joined Becko Copenhaver (Pacific S-T) and Jeff Dunn (Eastern S-T) as the cohort of relatively new Secretary-Treasurers. Under the leadership of Executive Director Amy Ferrer, we began working together on divisional coordination to learn from each other and to create best practices. Former Eastern S-T Jeff Dunn remarked on the role and various duties of the S-T in his retrospective APA Blog piece, and so I will only speak briefly about the responsibilities I quickly learned to take on.
I was in the unique position of taking over the position previously held by Robin Smith. Robin was an extraordinary mentor to me, and guided me in learning how to manage the division’s finances, running elections, ensuring bylaws are followed, and helping the Central Division meetings run smoothly. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with Robin and learn so much from him. Over these last eight years, I tried my very best to ensure the meetings were a success, and I will review them in turn.
2017: St. Louis
The 2017 Central Division meeting was in St. Louis, and leading up to the meeting I was shadowing Robin. The hotel was huge, Valerie Tiberius gave a wonderful presidential address, and I ran my first executive committee meeting. The meeting was relatively well attended for past Central Division meetings, but a near crisis occurred with last-minute cancellations. Quickly, I worked with the program committee to find chairs and commentators to ensure sessions were filled. Our program chair, Helga Varden, ever so gracious and capable, led the program committee to run a successful meeting.
2018: Chicago
The 2018 meeting was held in the Palmer House, a Central Division favorite. Philosophers had been attending the Palmer House for nearly three decades making memories talking about ideas in the Red Lacquer ballroom, bringing their graduate and undergraduate students to make connections, and gathering in the hotel bar after sessions to talk philosophy and gaze up at the ceiling. Some philosophers’ high school proms had even been held at the Palmer House. I supported our program chair, Colleen Murphy, and the 2018 program committee to break a record for meeting attendance in the Central Division’s history: 1,125 meeting attendees. Charles Mills gave the presidential address, which won a standing ovation. It was a personal honor for me to assist Charles, who had been a mentor to me in graduate school, and to help him prepare for his address on the Red Lacquer stage. After this meeting, I realized I needed to pay it forward. I made it my priority to connect graduate students to scholars during receptions and to create an APA internship for undergraduate students to work behind the scenes with me in the development of the meeting.
2019: Denver
In 2019, the Central Division meeting occurred in Denver. Based on a membership survey, Denver had been a strongly desired place for a divisional meeting. And to no surprise, it was a success: meeting attendance matched Chicago’s record of 1,125. Our program chair, Ben Caplan, and the 2019 program committee put together an amazing program: sessions were well attended, Jennifer Nagel gave a fantastic presidential address, and I brought my first APA intern to this meeting.
2020: Chicago
This meeting was significant in many ways. Here, we returned to the Palmer House to hold the last in-person APA meeting before the pandemic occurred. Our program chair, Anne Margaret Baxley, and the program committee developed a fantastic program, and Julia Driver gave an exceptional presidential address. Weeks before the meeting, though, I received panicked emails from participants overseas whose flights had been grounded. Global concern for COVID was spreading and countries were beginning to take action. A few weeks later, the president of the United States declared a national emergency for the global pandemic.
2021: New Orleans (planned)—virtual due to the pandemic
The 2021 Central Division meeting was scheduled to be in New Orleans, but due to the pandemic, instead was held online. Our program chair, Robert Johnson, led the program committee to transition our large program into an online format. The greatest challenge in making the program schedule was accommodating time zone differences. Like Jeff Dunn mentioned in his retrospective post, this virtual meeting showed me the promise and limitations of a virtual meeting. Part of the promise that occurred was the bonding for participants in the online sessions: we were “all in this together” and trying to get through a challenging time. Russ Shafer-Landau greeted us all for his presidential address in Mardi Gras beads and gave an incredibly thought-provoking talk. But probably most importantly, we had philosophers who had not usually attended divisional meetings due to location constraints join us for the first time. However, there were limitations that we faced. First, participants had challenges navigating registration and technology. Second, the APA administrative office staff worked overtime to ensure all sessions had tech support (even all three S-Ts ran tech support for the three divisional meetings). And third, the casualness of being able to connect with someone over an interesting idea during an in-person reception or hallway alcove after a talk was a challenge to recreate. Spontaneous conversation had to fall into a more structured format.
2022: Chicago
In 2022 we finally returned to in-person meetings, and participants were overjoyed to return to the Palmer House. We were careful, masking, and respectful of each other. Being able to connect to each other in person after the pandemic reminded us all of what we had missed. Our program chair, Sandy Goldberg, and the program committee put together an incredible program, and Jennifer Lackey gave a phenomenal presidential address. And I was happy to bring back my intern to connect with other philosophers over meaningful conversations. We are all looking forward to being back in the Palmer House in Chicago for the 2026 meeting.
2023: Denver
In the summer of 2022, my life dramatically changed while planning the 2023 Central Division meeting: I became a mother to our daughter, Lani. Everyone was excited about returning to Denver and our program committee was led by our co-chairs, Kenny Easwaran and Meghan Sullivan, who did a tremendous job developing the meeting program. Connie Rosati gave an insightful and perceptive presidential address, and many affiliated groups gave presentations on post-pandemic reflections. Connections were forged, friends were made, and Lani attended her first APA divisional meeting as an APA Baby. Not only did I get to bring my intern, but also my daughter had the honor of meeting Alison Jaggar and Eleonore Stump among other philosophers. Since then, the Central Division has developed a great relationship with Denver, and we are looking forward to returning there in 2027.
At the 2023 executive committee meeting, I announced my retirement for June 2024. I had been promoted to chair of my department and the challenges of balancing chairing, being an S-T, and being a mother made me realize that I had to make a tough decision. Soon after our executive committee meeting, the Central Division executive committee set out to hire a new S-T.
2024: New Orleans
For 2024, my transition for retirement as S-T was in motion: we successfully hired Chloe Armstrong to shadow me for my last meeting. The New Orleans meeting was a success: participants enjoyed the balconies at the Astor Crowne Plaza, made connections, and walked Bourbon Street. Our program chair, Julia Driver, and the 2024 program committee developed a fantastic program, and Marya Schectman gave a phenomenal presidential address. My most proud moment, though, was passing the baton—as Robin Smith had done for me—to Chloe Armstrong for the future leadership of the Central Division. The Central Division is in great hands.
2025: Online for the 2+1 Experiment
As my term ends on June 30, 2024, I want to return to my reflections for the 2021 virtual meeting. One of the promises of our 2021 meeting was that it presented the opportunity for philosophers who had not usually attended divisional meetings to participate in the virtual meeting. As a philosopher of disability and a proponent for environmental sustainability, the 2+1 experiment of one divisional meeting being held online while the other two divisional meetings are held in person holds great promise to make greater connections. It offers us the chance to act on our values of inclusivity, sustainability, and social justice. It offers us the opportunity to finally break away from the unfortunate rumor that the APA only supports particular institutions and particular ways of doing philosophy.
To address the challenges, our program chair, Helen De Cruz, has created an innovative program committee that includes philosophers from an international perspective and philosophers with a background in TV production and podcasting. The committee has been hard at work creating new ways to forge connections online, create public forums, and organize watch parties for departments, student clubs, and other philosophical organizations in which to participate. While this experiment has caused concern for some, I want to challenge us as philosophers to think about our future: What opportunities are we missing for our students, our fellow colleagues, and for the public by doing things the way we have always done them? These are the questions this committee is engaging with, and Chloe Armstrong as the incoming S-T will support their endeavors as they bring this meeting to a successful conclusion.
Conclusion
I was lucky to be selected for this position when I was a junior faculty member. This position helped me grow in professionalism and leadership. I had the blessing of working with wonderful divisional presidents, members of the Central Division executive committee, members of the Central Division program committee, and with members of the APA Board of Officers. As a junior faculty member at a state university for undergraduate students, I was given the opportunity to connect with philosophers across all university types and regions as well as make international connections.
Further, I had the opportunity to create an internship to help undergraduates connect with graduate students and faculty from different universities. But most importantly, I had the great opportunity make wonderful friends: connecting with the other S-Ts, Becko Copenhaver, Jeff Dunn, Andy Cullison, and Chloe Armstrong, the APA staff, including Erin Shepherd, Melissa Smallbrook, Mike Morris, Linda Nuoffer, Michelle Crabb, Deb Bullock, Devin Brymer, and most of all, Amy Ferrer, who has transformed the American Philosophical Association in incredible ways and offers it a promising future. Thank you to you all. I am ever so grateful for the Central Division taking a chance on me.
Elyse Purcell
Elyse Purcell is an an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Philosophy Department at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta. From 2017 to 2024 she served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Central Division of the APA. Her research focuses on how various forms of disability present challenges for identity, moral personhood, virtue and social justice. Follow her research interests onAcademia.edu.
