Postgraduate "Work In Progress" Seminar
Postgraduate Work-In-Progress SeminarA weekly seminar for Philosophy postgraduates to present their in-progress work, followed by a well-spirited trip to the pub. OverviewThe WIP provides a risk-free and supportive space for postgraduates to present their work and receive feedback from other graduates and faculty.
Attendance optional but highly recommended. All postgraduates are welcome to present or attend -- whether MA, MPhil, PhD, Visitors, etc. Useful InfoThe WIP is a unique opportunity for graduates to develop their presenting and writing skills, take risks, test out ideas, and receive constructive feedback from peers.
Presentations need not be watertight or polished pieces at all. You are encouraged to present work at all stages of the writing process. Should you present?Are you a postgraduate? Then yes, you should present. |
NEXT TALKBen Long (PhD) Scepticism Thursday 04/06/2026 5pm - 6:15pm S1.50 ORGANISERS |
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Philosophy Christmas Lecture 'Myself and my selfie.'
The talk takes two arguments from Perfect Me – that beauty is a dominant value framework and that our bodies are ourselves – and extends them into the virtual world of social media. In the shift to the virtual our 鈥榮elf鈥�, who we are, moves from our 鈥榠nner life鈥� (our character, feelings and thoughts) to our bodies 鈥榯he outer鈥�, to our curated images on TikTok and Instagram. This dislocation of the self has some features which are continuous with identifying ourselves with our bodies. For example, appearance is paramount on social media and only some faces and bodies make the grade, also, like body work in the 鈥榬eal鈥� world, 鈥榙oing the gram鈥� takes extraordinary effort. However, the selfie-self, unlike the transforming and imagined self, is a concrete object, an 鈥榚nd point鈥�, which we know is fake. While we know in theory that no one looks like their Instagram, in practice we compare our actual bodies with everyone else鈥檚 ideal selfie. Even those who look like they succeed on social media, are liked and followed by thousands, cannot close the gap between their 鈥榬eal鈥� selves and their selfie.