THE DUKE PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT HISTORY PROJECTWilliam Ivey Cranford (1867-1936): Duke’s First Philosopher The founding chair of Duke’s philosophy department, William Ivey Cranford, must have found department meetings to be either breathtakingly short or interminable. For he was the department for the first six years. He taught all eight courses in the curriculum each year, until the arrival of two new colleagues in 1930… read more about Departmental Newsletter: November/December »
Learn more about Sally and her work on her website. How would you describe your research program? My work explores the question of how to live, guided by the sense that the ideal figures often found in philosophical discussions are too serious to serve as genuine ideals—or at least as the only ones. My dissertation and recent work pursue two lines of research: the nature of play and its role in a good life, and interpretation of Zhuangzi, an… read more about Research Highlight: Shih-Han (Sally) Huang »
Duke’s Trinity College of Arts & Sciences has invited its faculty to submit proposals for the creation of new research initiatives on campus.Following the successful launches of the SPACE Initiative and the Society-Centered AI Initiative, the Trinity Research Initiative will support new directions for interdisciplinary research through seed funding for nascent research collaborations, community-building, and complementary educational and outreach activities.Open to all areas of research and… read more about Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Invites Proposals for New Research Initiatives »
What do cooking dumplings and meeting a former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have in common?Both are memorable experiences first-year students had this fall, thanks to Trinity College’s Arts & Sciences Curriculum.Finding your footing in a new place can be challenging, but the Arts & Sciences Curriculum’s First-Year Experience helps students make meaningful connections from the moment they arrive on campus.All first-year students in Trinity College participate in the First-Year Experience through… read more about Building Connections Through the First-Year Experience »
Colder weather means it’s time to curl up with a book. New readings from Duke authors include everything from a mystery and a middle-grade novel to books on privacy, hip-hop and fast fashion. Below is a roundup of some of the most recent and upcoming published titles. Many of the books, including new editions of previous titles, can be found on the “Duke Authors” display shelves near the circulation desk in Perkins Library. Some are available as e-books for quick download. Most can also be purchased through the… read more about Books for When There’s a Chill in the Air »
Learn more about Botian and his work on his website.How would you describe your research program?It is centered around one issue: How do we become better people. [Actually, the issue is: How do I become a better person.] Answering the question requires me to pay attention to both what make people “good,” as well as how to become one. Since I understand “good people” in both very broadly and pluralistically. It includes not only the… read more about Research Highlight: Botian Liu »
THE DUKE PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT HISTORY PROJECT: SPOOKY EDITIONWhen Wenjin Liu and Wayne Norman began digging into the department's past in the Duke Archives, they knew there was a risk of unearthing skeletons in our closet. And also ghosts.Owen Flanagan had been reminding people for years that the Philosophy department occupied the space in the West Duke Building that had once been home to the Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory. The lab was created by a… read more about Departmental Newsletter: October 2025 »
A Trip to the Archives—and Back in TimeIntroducing Our New Monthly Feature: The Duke Philosophy Department History Project When Katherine Brading assumed her role as department chair after the pandemic, the department had weathered much change. We had lost our two oldest professors emeriti, Martin Golding and David Sanford, and, with them, much of the institutional memory of the department’s first half-century. Other faculty, staff, and graduate students had left, and… read more about Departmental Newsletter: September 2025 »
Can you tell us a little bit about who you are, how you came to Duke, and what your role looks like here?I am a Hong Kong-born southern Californian who got his Ph.D. in philosophy at Pitt. I answered the call of the Center for Comparative Philosophy for an associate director and was hired also as a research associate. So, I have the double role of a philosopher and a community person who helps organize things related to comp phil. Please reach out for anything philosophical… read more about Research Highlight: Gus Law »
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong is very pleased to host two visitors this fall. Letícia Yumi Nakao Morello is a graduate student from Brazil who works on gender violence. She will visit Duke from August 15 through November 15. Federico Burdman is a philosophy professor in Chile who works on addiction and mental illness. He will be at Duke from September 8-22. Both are funded by prestigious grants. Please make them welcome.Above is a photo of… read more about Departmental Newsletter: June - August 2025 »
The richness of Duke’s intellectual communities and its deep commitment to interdisciplinarity are major draws for top scholars who are leaders in their fields. To help recruit these academic stars, Duke leveraged the university-wide institutes, initiatives and centers (UICs) to create the Provost’s School-UIC Joint Hiring Program and to offer starting support from UICs. Donors’ generous gifts helped make these programs possible.Duke was able to recruit more than 40 faculty members through these mechanisms between 2006 and… read more about Nine Reasons Stellar Interdisciplinary Faculty Choose Duke »
David Wong and Wenjin Liu hosted a workshop on Interpersonal Harmony in Comparative Philosophy on April 10 and 11, funded by their FHI-affiliated Harmony Humanities Lab. Here, Agnes Callard talks with Susan Wolf in front of a packed house. Reuben Stern and Ben Eva did some causation stuff. Here, they’re pictured talking about causation with Betsy Ogburn at the Duke Causation Group workshop.… read more about Departmental Newsletter: April - May 2025 »
With sadness, we share the news that Alasdair MacIntyre, professor emeritus of philosophy, has died. Professor MacIntyre was professor of philosophy at Duke University from 1995 to 1997.His work focused on moral and political philosophy, and he published several widely-read books on the topics, including After Virtue (1981), Whose Justice? Which Rationality? (1988), Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry (1990), and Dependent Rational Animals (1999).You… read more about Alasdair MacIntyre, Professor Emeritus, 1929-2025 »
It seems counterintuitive, but it can be a wonderful feeling to realize that you’re wrong.Duke philosophy and neuroscience professor Felipe De Brigard didn’t feel great at first when he realized that some claims in the paper that helped establish his career 15 years previous were wrong. But then he had a chance to discuss his errors publicly at a large conference. He was followed in his talk by other scientists, including John O’Keefe, a Nobel Laureate who, like De Brigard, studies the hippocampus in the brain.“John ended… read more about When I Was Wrong: Faculty Lessons From Their Mistakes »
One is a first-generation Indian-American who grew up in Princeton, N.J. The other grew up in the rural United States, rodeo riding. Though Danica Bajaj and Lucas Vaughan come from different upbringings, they have one thing in common: They were selected as the undergraduate and graduate student commencement speakers for the Class of 2025. A Message of HopeBajaj, who will graduate with a computer science major and a philosophy minor, says her message to students this year will center on “finding hope and community… read more about 2025 Student Commencement Speakers: Different Backgrounds, One Special Day »
Faith Chong is a Trinity senior from Singapore majoring in Economics and Philosophy. What advice would you give to a first-year student just starting at Duke?The biggest piece of advice I would give to a first-year is to jump at every opportunity. Duke is limitless, and you can really do virtually anything here. It was the most random things at Duke that turned out to be the most significant. For example, I signed up for a coffee chat just because I wanted to learn more, which sparked a domino effect… read more about A Place in this World: Trinity Senior Finds Her Home at Duke »
Frank Mercer IV is a Trinity senior and Robertson Scholar majoring in Philosophy and minoring in Chemistry. What is one of your fondest memories as an undergraduate student at Duke?One of my fondest Duke memories was a summer spent tracing the footsteps of marginalized women philosophers across Europe, inspired by my work with Project Vox. As a researcher, I visited London’s Chelsea Physic Garden, where Mary Astell once worked, and felt history come alive in the tranquil glasshouse. In Paris,… read more about Philosophy Major Turns Texts Into Something Tangible »
Please join us in congratulating Felipe De Brigard, who has been promoted to full Professor. Felipe is a recognized leader across multiple fields for his work on memory, remembering, and counterfactual thinking, and his current project on memory and forgiveness is of powerful social importance. He is a dedicated teacher, and a reliable and hard-working colleague. Plus, he’s lots of fun to have around in the department. Katherine Brading and Caleb… read more about Departmental Newsletter: February - March 2025 »
Katherine Brading, D.Phil., is the chair of the Duke Department of Philosophy, in which she is also a professor. Brading received her B.Sc. from King’s College London in 1992, her B.Phil. from the University of Oxford in 1996, and her D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in 2003.Following her D.Phil., Brading moved to the University of Notre Dame (2004-2017), where she received fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies, and served as Director of the History and… read more about Philosophy's Katherine Brading Receives Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring »
“Transformative ideas,” explained keynote speaker Roosevelt Montás, “are ideas that have the power to transform the world and transform you.”Hundreds of Duke students and faculty were listening and engaging. The first evening of the Transformative Ideas and POLIS Symposium kicked off in style last Thursday evening with a “Spring in the 20s” ball. Think suits, long dresses and live jazz.“We wanted to inspire our students and bring people together to reflect back and think forward at Duke’s centennial. Live jazz seemed to… read more about Transformative Ideas and Polis Programs Bring Serious Fun »
Until recently, a philosophy doctoral student looking for a dissertation subject would likely choose from an impressive but limited group of historical thinkers. Kant. Descartes. Voltaire. All men. All white.A decade ago, a humanities project at Duke set out to elevate many of the lesser-known women of the field. Called Project Vox, it was a multidisciplinary attempt to discover and spotlight many female philosophers whose impact on the field was either buried over time or never properly recognized at all.It worked.For 10… read more about Lost and Found: Bringing History’s Female Philosophers to the Forefront »
Jennifer Jhun won the 2024 Ernest Nagel Early-Career Scholar Essay Award from the Philosophy of Science Association for her paper "Multi-Model Reasoning in Economics: The Case of COMPASS." She and her co-hosts (Scott Scheall, François Allisson, and Çınla Akdere) also received an Honorable Mention in the PSA Outreach and Engagement Award category for their podcast "Smith and Marx Walk Into a Bar." Last but not least, Jennifer has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities… read more about Departmental Newsletter: January 2025 »
Last year, Maya Kronfeld had the satisfaction of seeing Nicole Zuraitis’ How Love Begins, on which she played keyboards, win a GRAMMY Award for Best Vocal Jazz Album.Fast forward to Sunday night and the 2025 GRAMMY Awards. Once again, an album featuring Kronfeld as keyboardist – Taylor Eigsti’s Plot Armor – won for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. The recording also features jazz icons Terence Blanchard, Lisa Fischer and many others. Participating in two GRAMMY-winning albums in as many years is… read more about Literature Professor Has the Grammy Magic for Second Year in a Row »
Welcome, Amber!The Philosophy Department’s new Business Manager, Amber Murphy, started with us on Monday, November 18th. Amber has administrative experience in several humanities departments elsewhere, most recently as a departmental Business Manager at George Washington University. Her degree is in Public Relations and her experience includes budgeting and financial management (including working with grants), data analysis, and event planning. Please join us in welcoming Amber to Duke and to our department!Maya Kronfeld is… read more about Departmental Newsletter: December 2024 »
Tayfun Gur Who is/are your favorite philosopher(s)? Why?This question reminds me of that Baruch poll on the greatest philosophy texts of the 20th century, where the authors muse that asking philosophers about their favourite books might be like asking mathematicians to name their favourite integers. I suspect something similar can be true for favourite philosophers, but for what it’s worth I might name (in no particular order) Bernard Williams, Wittgenstein,… read more about Research Highlight »
The Department of Philosophy held a conference on October 3-5, 2024, to celebrate its one-hundredth anniversary. We were incredibly pleased to welcome back many familiar faces from over the years: alumni, friends, and family came to Durham from all over the country to join the festivities. The conference began on Thursday with a tour of our history. This fall, Wenjin Liu and Wayne Norman have been exploring the department’s century-old family tree. They were glad to report that nothing… read more about Departmental Newsletter: September-October 2024 »
The Department of Philosophy held a conference on October 3-5, 2024, to celebrate its one-hundredth anniversary. We were incredibly pleased to welcome back many familiar faces from over the years: alumni, friends, and family came to Durham from all over the country to join the festivities. The conference began on Thursday with a tour of our history. This fall, Wenjin Liu and Wayne Norman have been exploring the department’s century-old family tree. They were glad to report that nothing… read more about Centennial Philosophy Conference Report »
