Philosophy Graduate Students' Association

The Philosophy Graduate Students’ Association (PGSA) includes all Philosophy graduate students and provides a safe space for you to be among your peers. The PGSA creates a space to discuss and vote on issues that affect you.

Participation in the PGSA gives you a chance to gain experience with the sort of departmental service tasks that may be needed later in your career. Additionally, the PGSA facilitates the planning of graduate student events and social gatherings. These include the annual graduate student conference and the annual reading week dinner that takes place every February. We meet at least four times per year and executive positions for the PGSA run from May 1st to April 30th.

Every year, the PGSA votes on topic proposals for the graduate student conference. A committee of graduate students organizes and hosts this event led by one or two student conference directors and a faculty advisor. Students gain experience in organizing a conference that can include securing keynote speakers, student presentations, commentary, creating budget proposals, funding applications, organizing blind review of submitted papers, calls for papers, and catering events. The conference typically ends with a reception at a local restaurant for all speakers and conference attendees to provide an informal environment for further discussion. The graduate conference receives strong support from the department and has been funded in the past by the Canadian Journal of Philosophy.

Graduate Conference 2025 - Please check this page for updates.

Department of Philosophy
Social Sciences 1253
University of Calgary
2500 University Drive NW

Past Graduate Conferences

• 2024 Graduate Conference - Global Feminism
  • Keynote speaker: Ranjoo S. Herr (Bentley College)
• 2022 Graduate Conference - 10th Annual University of Calgary Graduate Conference
  • Keynote speakers: Thomas Kelly (Princeton University) and Jennifer Lackey (Northwestern University)
• 2019 Graduate Conference – Free Will, Moral Responsibility, and Obligation
  • Keynote speakers: Derk Pereboom (Cornell) and Ish Haji (UCalgary)
• 2018 Graduate Conference – Philosophy of Biology
  • Keynote speakers: Roberta Millstein (UC Davis) and Marc Ereshefsky (UCalgary)
• 2017 Graduate Conference – Ethics in the Age of Science
  • Keynote speakers: Katrina Sifferd (Elmhurst College), Gregg D. Caruso (SUNY-Corning), Samir Chopra (CUNY-Brooklyn College), and Allen Habib (UCalgary)