Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

The Philosophy Club offers the opportunity for students from all fields to meet and discuss philosophical issues, explore professional possibilities and organize the annual Undergraduate Philosophy Conference. Initiated in 1995, the conference has become one of the most respected events of its kind, hosting students from prestigious universities, such as Harvard and the University of Chicago, and from as far away as Hawaii, to present and discuss papers on a variety of topics. 

The 30th annual Undergraduate Philosophy Conference was held April 17-18, 2026, in SUNY Oneonta's Morris Conference Center. It featured a keynote address titled “What is a Cocktail? (Wrong Answers Only) ” by Dr. Neil E. Williams, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Buffalo. In celebration of the conference's 30th anniversary, the keynote was preceded by an Alumni Recognition Dinner, featuring remarks on the history of the conference by Dr. Michael Koch, SUNY Oneonta Associate Professor of Philosophy.

The conference brought together 23 student presenters from colleges and universities in 12 states, including Brown University, Tufts University and the University of Hawaii.

Four SUNY Oneonta students were selected to present papers:

• Delroy Tyrrell, a Sport Management Major from Trinidad and Tobago, will present a paper titled, “Dual-Level Moral Anthropology.”
• Langston Lamitie, a dual major in Criminal Justice and Philosophy from New Hartford, N.Y., will present a paper titled, “Resituating the Land Ethic.”
• Zach Blaakman, a Political Science major with minors in Philosophy and Sociology from Rochester, N.Y., will present a paper titled, “The Specter of the Economic Sovereign in Contemporary Society.”
• Phill Venne, an Accounting major and Philosophy minor from Bayshore N.Y., will present a paper titled, “Inverting the Cave: Marx’s Materialist Reconstruction of Platonic Truth.”