Our APA Central Watch Party Experience

The 2025 Central APA Watch Parties left an impact on our students, some of whom expressed surprise that a community college would have been invited to participate in any capacity. The result of our participation was a stronger sense of community, a good deal of student engagement, and an increase in philosophy as a discipline, and I was pleased to hear one attendee report that she was “still chewing on those topics months later.”*

I was excited by the prospect of welcoming my Northern Virginia Community College students into philosophy in the way that I was introduced to it as an undergraduate. At a community college, our students don’t always have the opportunity to engage in academic research as their peers at other institutions do.

While the watch parties initially jumped out to me as an opportunity to incorporate the experiential learning and research elements of our Honors Program curriculum into the Honors course I was teaching, my ultimate aim was to include as many of our students as possible. None of the approximately twenty students who attended one of the sessions had previously attended a philosophy conference. For most of the students, it was their first chance to attend an academic conference of any sort, and it was a thrill for me to bring this opportunity to them. After attending, our students enthusiastically formed a new philosophy club at our campus, where they continue to engage with the discipline.

A More Welcoming Academic Conference

The accessibility of the watch party format helped motivate me to participate. That format helped students feel as though they belonged to the broader philosophy community. One student noted that despite not knowing what to expect going in, the event “was certainly a lot more comfortable and casual and approachable than I had imagined it would be.” Another observed that though the presentations were more polished and professional than one would give as part of a class assignment, “it’s certainly encouraging to me as a student that presenting at a conference may be more familiar than I initially thought.”

I think that the way in which the events demystified what we do as academics is particularly valuable for our students, who are in the early stages of determining what they want for themselves and from their education, and so the event was an excellent opportunity to reinforce the idea that the study of philosophy was just as much for them as it is for their peers at other institutions.

Expanding Exposure to Philosophy Beyond the Classroom

Because we do not have a philosophy major or concentration at the College, the courses we teach are primarily selected by students to fulfill a humanities elective requirement. Due to the structure of our degree requirements at the College, a student is realistically only able to take at most two philosophy courses before they finish their degree program. This poses a real challenge for students who might be interested in learning more about the subject but will need to do so on their own time.

Moreover, since the courses we offer are broad surveys of the discipline, the watch parties are an excellent opportunity for students with an interest in philosophy to engage with other work in the field. Our students were eager to do so. One attendee noted that she had been enjoying the discussions in her Introduction to Philosophy course, and “was excited at the prospect of hearing arguments and concepts that we would not be going over in class.” Because we do not offer specialized courses, the chance to attend a session on a topic in Medieval Philosophy or on Indigenous Environmental Ethics presents an opportunity to appreciate the full range of philosophical study.

Benefits of the Virtual Watch Party Format

Holding the meeting virtually helped with logistics and organization. Many of our students have work, childcare, or eldercare obligations outside of class, and all must commute to campus for class. Given that this is the case, I wasn’t sure how many students would be able to spend a Friday evening or Saturday afternoon attending a watch party.

One benefit of holding public sessions alongside the watch parties is that students who were unable to commute to campus were still able to attend some of the events. There were a handful of students who were unable to make it to campus on Saturday evening due to prior commitments, but who were able to log in from home for the Philosophy and Civic Life conversation, for example.

Campus Support and Event Organization

The Honors Program was gracious enough to provide funding for the event and to open it up to the entire campus community. I advertised the events both to my courses and to colleagues in other disciplines. The College has classrooms equipped with cameras, microphones, and speakers for remote classes, so I reserved one of those for the sessions and made sure to have some food available: bagels/donuts for the morning sessions and pizza/takeout from a local Indian restaurant in the evenings, as well as coffee and tea. Before the event, I polled students about which events they would be interested in attending. I also attended and kept the room open so that students could come and go as they were available.

Strong Attendance and Student Engagement

I was pleasantly surprised with the turnout. The Friday sessions were better attended than the Saturday sessions, and the Presidential Address and Sanders Lecture, held on both Friday evenings, had approximately a dozen students at each. No student was able to attend every session, but many students attended multiple sessions. I did not incentivize attendance with any sort of course credit and relied on the promise of conversation and some light refreshment to entice students to attend.

Some of the attendees’ feedback suggested that the opportunity to build a community was part of the attraction as well. One attendee indicated that “having peers and my professor present only made it easier to participate.” Another attendee, who primarily attends classes remotely, noted that “I missed being in the same room as other people engaged in mutual academics” and that “I thought it would be fun, and it was.” The attendees typically stayed well after the watch party sessions had ended, discussing the material, asking questions, and socializing.

Resulting Student Initiatives and Future Opportunities

One happy consequence of our participation in the watch parties is that it sparked interest in a new philosophy club at my campus. After the Presidential Address, some of the attendees asked if there were opportunities beyond the watch parties to have these sorts of conversations, and one attendee who is particularly active in student life at our campus suggested forming a club. Students are now meeting twice a month to read and discuss philosophy with one another, and we have attended one public talk at a nearby institution with plans to attend more in the near future. Some students have even inquired about the possibility of attending the Eastern APA in person this year, since it is within driving distance of our campus. This all came about as a direct result of our participation in the watch parties.

Looking Ahead to Future Virtual APA Meetings

I appreciate the APA’s commitment to continuing with the virtual meeting format and am looking forward to attending the APA Pacific meeting virtually in the spring with our newly formed club. Virtual events like these strike me as an excellent way of reaching more students and of growing the discipline as the watch parties did here at Northern Virginia Community College.

Tips for Hosting an APA Watch Party

• Share the schedule in advance to gauge interest for specific sessions.
• Encourage students who are unable to attend in person to attend one of the public sessions.
• Advertise the event with colleagues in other humanities departments. We had attendees who had heard about the event from some of my colleagues in history, sociology, and fine art.
• Reserve a room that is already set up with the audiovisual technology to hold class remotely, and leave the space open for students to drop in and out over the course of the day.
• Provide snacks. In my experience, it doesn’t need to be anything too fancy (the day-old bagels from a local bakery were surprisingly popular among my attendees).

Positive Outcomes of Hosting a Watch Party

• Students now have a better idea of what goes on at an academic conference
• Engagement with topics that students would not have been able to otherwise
• Increased interest in philosophy
• Plans to attend upcoming talks at nearby institutions
• Plans to attend the in-person 2026 APA Eastern Division meeting
• The formation of a new Philosophy Club at our campus, which continues to meet regularly

Visit the 2026 Pacific Division virtual meeting page for more information on hosting a Watch Party and to view the list of sessions included in the Watch Party Registration.

*My thanks to Alexis Cerritos, Isabel Kosar, and Aliza Salinas for sharing their thoughts on the event.