UAF Department of Philosophy

Real research. Real fieldwork. Real stories. What does it mean to observe, interpret, and represent reality? The CLA StoryWorks Field Intensive invites students to engage with these questions in a real-world setting, documenting active research in Tok, Alaska and considering how knowledge is captured and shared.

📍 Location: Fairbanks + Tok, Alaska
📅 Dates: June 7–13, 2026
👥 Cohort Size: 4 students selected
💰 Cost: All expenses covered + $1,000 compensation

👉 Apply now: https://forms.gle/VDqDPHtrPLDyNnBs9
🗓 Deadline: Friday, May 1, 2026 at 5 PM AKST

This opportunity is made possible through UAF Transformative Experience Funding, supported by the Matriculation Fee.

📖 What can Plato teach us about artificial intelligence? Tomorrow evening, the UAF Department of Philosophy invites you to join us for:

Reading Meno in Cyberland: What Plato can tell us about knowledge in the age of AI
with Dr. Seth Jones

As contemporary society becomes increasingly dependent on AI systems for answers, this lecture asks a foundational philosophical question: what is knowledge, and why does it matter?

Drawing on Plato’s dialogue Meno, Dr. Jones will explore how ancient philosophical insights can help us think more critically about learning, inquiry, and truth in a world shaped by artificial intelligence.

📅 Friday, April 3
⏰ 6:30–8:00 p.m.
📍 Schaible Auditorium or via Zoom
🔗 https://alaska.zoom.us/j/88432159787

Free and open to the public.

Thank you to everyone who joined us last night, both in person and online, for such a thoughtful and engaging evening. We are especially grateful to Dr. Eduardo Wilner for an enlightening talk that challenged us to think differently about language, artificial intelligence, and what it means to think. The Q&A that followed was incredibly rich, and it was clear how curious, inquisitive, and engaged this community is. These are exactly the kinds of conversations that make events like this so meaningful.⁠
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Dr. Wilner’s lecture was the first in our philosophy mini-series on AI, and we hope you will join us again next week for the second talk:⁠
⁠
📚 Reading Meno in Cyberland: What Plato can tell us about knowledge in the age of AI⁠
with Dr. Seth Jones⁠
📅 Friday, April 3⁠
⏰ 6:30 p.m.⁠
📍 Schaible Auditorium⁠
⁠
We would love to continue the conversation with you.⁠
⁠

🧠 AI, language, and the nature of thought The UAF Department of Philosophy invites you to join us this evening for a public lecture by Dr. Eduardo Wilner: AI, Memetic Organisms, and the Creature That Thinks It’s You

Recent developments in artificial intelligence suggest that complex reasoning abilities can emerge from language alone. This lecture explores a provocative philosophical question: should we understand language not simply as a tool, but as a memetic system that co-evolved with the human brain?

If so, what happens when that system is embedded in artificial intelligence?

📅 Friday, March 27
⏰ 6:30–8:00 p.m.
📍 Schaible Auditorium or via Zoom
🔗 https://alaska.zoom.us/j/86340280778

Free and open to the public.

What does a liberal arts education actually do? “It’s more complicated than that.”

That’s the phrase Associate Professor of Philosophy Seth Jones returns to again and again in his teaching. In a world that often looks for simple answers, the liberal arts push students to sit with complexity, to ask better questions, and to think more deeply about the political, social, scientific, and ethical challenges we face.

This is what CLA does. It gives students the tools to think clearly in a complicated world.

That kind of education matters. And it takes support to sustain it.

👉 Give now: https://qrco.de/bgfs3p

We invite you to help shape the future of the UAF College of Liberal Arts. Join us as finalists for the CLA dean position present their vision for the college. Attend in person or via livestream, ask questions, and share your feedback.

📅 Public Presentations (8:30–9:30 a.m.)
• Dr. MaryTheresa Seig — Monday, March 30
• Dr. Alvin Malesky — Tuesday, March 31
• Dr. Carrie Baker — Tuesday, April 7

📍 BP Design Theatre (in person + livestream available)

Additional opportunities to connect:
• Faculty & Staff Meet and Greet: 2–3 p.m.
• Student Meet and Greet: 3:30–4:30 p.m.

RSVP, livestream links, candidate info, question submission and feedback forms:
https://www.uaf.edu/provost/provost-units/cladean.php

🤖 Artificial Intelligence is changing the world. Philosophy helps us understand it. This spring, the UAF Department of Philosophy is hosting a two-part public lecture mini series exploring artificial intelligence, language and human knowledge.

AI systems are increasingly shaping how we search for information, create art, communicate and solve problems. But what does this technology really tell us about intelligence, language and the human mind? These two public talks invite the community to explore those questions from a philosophical perspective.

📚 AI, Memetic Organisms and the Creature That Thinks It’s You
with Dr. Eduardo Wilner
📅 Friday, March 27, 2026
⏰ 6:30–8:00 p.m.
📍 Schaible Auditorium or via Zoom
🔗 https://alaska.zoom.us/j/86340280778

Recent AI systems show remarkable reasoning abilities that emerge almost entirely from language-based training. Dr. Wilner’s lecture explores a provocative idea. What if language is not simply a tool humans use, but something more like a living cultural system that evolved alongside the human brain? If so, embedding that system in powerful learning machines may force us to rethink not only AI but what it means to be human.

📖 Reading Meno in Cyberland: What Plato can tell us about knowledge in the age of AI
with Dr. Seth Jones
📅 Friday, April 3, 2026
⏰ 6:30–8:00 p.m.
📍 Schaible Auditorium or via Zoom
🔗 https://alaska.zoom.us/j/88432159787

As society becomes increasingly dependent on AI for answers to everyday questions, Dr. Jones turns to one of philosophy’s oldest texts for insight. Plato’s dialogue Meno, written more than 2,400 years ago, offers surprising perspectives on knowledge, learning and inquiry that remain deeply relevant in the age of artificial intelligence.

💡 Both events are free and open to the public.
Join us in person or online for thoughtful conversations about technology, knowledge and the future of human understanding.

Philosophy + Questions That Ground Us | Apply to the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival! What does it mean to live a good life? How do ideas of virtue, power, ethics, and meaning shape the way we understand ourselves and our world?

This January, the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival (January 28–30, 2026) will bring together writers, thinkers, and philosophers who wrestle with big questions — showing how philosophy is alive in literature, culture, and everyday life.

One of this year’s featured voices is Ryan Holiday, author and thinker whose work explores stoicism, ethics, power, and resilience. His books — such as The Obstacle Is the Way and Stillness Is the Key — draw on ancient philosophy to address how we navigate modern challenges with clarity, character, and purpose.

Learn more about the festival lineup:
👉 https://rmwritersfest.org/2026-writers

🔍 Why this matters to Philosophy students
-Engage with a writer who brings philosophical traditions into conversation with contemporary life
-Explore how narrative, ethics, and reflection intersect in both philosophy and storytelling
-Bring ideas from theory into dialogue with culture, literature, and public discourse

✨ How to Participate
The College of Liberal Arts is sponsoring 3 student spots (and 1 faculty spot) to attend the festival — thanks to the generous support of donor Gwen Ramras.

Apply now using this short form:
📝 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfNE4l1qn-xaecN8iP_0B_dPETWWa6msJd7DBjqewze7VHzVA/viewform

🗓 Deadline: Monday, November 3, 2025

Learn more about what last year’s participants experienced:
📖 https://www.uaf.edu/cla/news/2024/where-writers-meet.php

Don’t miss your chance to bring philosophical conversation into the heart of cultural storytelling.

Join us TODAY for UAF Convocation! 🎉 Convocation welcomes faculty, staff and students back to UAF for a new academic year, and is a celebration of UAF’s people and accomplishments over the past year.

Where: UAF Davis Concert Hall
When: 1-2 p.m.
Can’t make it in person? Watch it LIVE on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/live/2hY2VxxjN9A?si=mDAnCce_Z0LyhclL

Let’s celebrate UAF together! 💙💛

UAF Convocation 2025 Thank you for joining us for the 2025 Chancellor's Convocation livestream.