Lectures, Seminars and Meetings
Postgraduate Seminar
The postgraduate seminar is chaired by volunteer postgraduate students and no academics attend. The seminar runs fortnightly during term time, and the overall aim of the seminar is to allow students to present their research, and to receive peer feedback.
More specifically, the seminars aim to:
1. foster a co-operative rather than a competitive environment for discussion
2. encourage open-minded exploration of ideas, without losing focus on the key issues
3. encourage participation by all members in the seminar and actively try to overcome any barriers that might inhibit some students.
If you would like to chair the seminar for a term, please get in touch with the PG secretary.
MPhil Seminar
There is a weekly seminar for MPhil students, at which they present and discuss their work – the seminar focusses on developing presentation and discussion skills, sharing work with their fellow students, as well introducing students to a very wide range of philosophical topics. All MPhil students are expected to attend this seminar every week. Details can be round on the Faculty Lecture List, see below.
Philosophy Lecture List
The lecture list including MPhil seminars can be found here. The University Timetable (central online timetabling system) allows you to construct your own online timetable. Reading lists and handouts for lectures and course readings will be located on the relevant paper's moodle page.
Postgraduate students are also encouraged to attend undergraduate lectures, especially those listed for Part II of the Philosophy Tripos, as well as postgraduate seminars listed by Classics, Divinity, English, History, History and Philosophy of Science (listed under Natural Sciences Part II [General]) and Politics, Psychology, Sociology and International Studies. Early in Michaelmas Term, MPhil students should discuss, with their Advisor and PhD students with their Supervisor, which lectures it would be appropriate to attend.
Lectures and seminars start on the first Thursday of each Full Term, and run for eight weeks in the Michaelmas and Lent Terms, and for four weeks in the Easter Term.
Other Postgraduate Seminars
Postgraduate Students are also encouraged to keep up the long-standing practice of running seminars themselves on special topics. Arrangements for these may be made through the Faculty Office who can organise Zooms for online sessions and can add your seminar to Faculty pages.
Postgraduate students are strongly encouraged to join the Cambridge University Moral Sciences Club, which meets weekly in Full Term to discuss papers, typically given by visiting philosophers. PG Students are also advised to take part in other postgraduate seminars within the Faculty or in other Faculties (e.g. the ‘D’ Society for the philosophy of religion). There are also informal discussion groups such as the Amoral Sciences Club. Details of all these meetings are circulated by e-mail on the CamPhilEvents mailing list: go to http://bit.ly/CamPhilEvents and make sure to sign up.
There are also a number of philosophy meetings in London which are open to postgraduate students and which can be attended quite easily from Cambridge. Notable here are meetings of the Aristotelian Society, for which a special student membership rate is available.
It is a very good idea indeed for students to go to such events. They increase your exposure to philosophy; they increase your understanding of its practice; they interrupt the relatively lonely life of writing in private; and they increase your profile as you gain confidence to raise questions and take part in discussion. All these are important elements in launching a career. And quite apart from that, they are often great fun.
