Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Lecture: Michael Puett, "Why Classical Chinese Philosophy Still Matters"
What is the best way to live a flourishing life? How does one make ethical choices? And what should we concretely do to live in a fuller and more inspiring way? Questions such as these were at the heart of philosophical debates in China. The answers that classical Chinese thinkers developed in response to these questions are among the most powerful in human history. The goal of this talk is to ask what we can learn if we take some of these ideas seriously.
Michael Puett is the Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Anthropology and the Victor and William Fung Director of the Asia Center at Harvard University. He is a 2025-2026 Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar.
Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholars travel to more than 100 colleges and universities each year, spending two days on each campus and taking full part in the academic life of the institution. They meet informally with students and faculty members, participate in classroom discussions and seminars, and give a public lecture open to the academic c…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Communications Building (CMU). Campus room: CMU 120. Accessibility Contact: Caitlin Palo, cpalo@uw.edu, 206-685-5260. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Monday, March 2, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM.
Departmental Faculty Meeting
Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: Savery Hall 408. Accessibility Contact: Liam Blakey. Event Types: Meetings.
Tuesday, March 3, 2026, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.
Evo-Hub Lecture: Gregory Radick, "Nurturing Science: An Enhanced Role for the Humanities"
The traditional role of history and philosophy of science (HPS) in the science classroom is to stir some “human interest” into the pedagogic mix. HPS has been the stuff of the sidebar, where textbook authors put information that they regard as interesting, yet non-essential. Radick will advocate for the potential of HPS to enliven the creative critical thinking from which science benefits. He will describe how his HPS research has opened up a new option for teaching introductory genetics, more in line with present-day emphases on the modifying roles of internal and external environments than the standard start-with-Mendel curriculum. Radick will leave us with a sketch of how to broadly extend this more radical integration of HPS perspectives into science education.
Gregory Radick is Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Leeds, Editor-in-Chief of the journal Metascience, and a Trustee of the Science Museum. In 2025, he became the first humanities scholar to win the J. B. S.…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Communications Building (CMU). Campus room: CMU 120. Accessibility Contact: Simpson Center for the Humanities, 206-543-3920, schadmin@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, March 5, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM.
Washington State High School Ethics Bowl
Registration fee: $150 (one team); $250 (two teams); $30 (individual student)
If your school needs a fee waiver, please contact us at info@plato-philosophy.org. PLATO is committed to fees never being a barrier to participation in the High School Ethics Bowl.
Registration Deadline: February 15, 2026
For more information follow this link.
Begun in 2014, the Washington State High School Ethics Bowl is run each year by PLATO and the University of Washington Department of Philosophy. Teams of high school students analyze a series of wide-ranging ethical dilemmas involving topics such as cheating, plagiarism, peer pressure, relationships, and abuse of social media. The event is intended to promote collaboration and dialogue.
Unlike debate, teams are not forced to take adversarial positions or hold fast to an assigned perspective. They can agree with each other and are not required to refute each other’s points, but rather to offer commentary on one another’s arguments.
The Ethics Bowl is intended to be…
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: Liam Blakey. Event Types: Academics. Workshops.
Saturday, March 7, 2026.
Departmental Faculty Meeting
Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: Savery Hall 408. Accessibility Contact: Liam Blakey. Event Types: Meetings.
Tuesday, March 31, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
Departmental Faculty Meeting
Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: Savery Hall 408. Accessibility Contact: Liam Blakey. Event Types: Meetings.
Tuesday, April 7, 2026, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.
Philosophy Graduate Student Conference
More details TBA.
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: Liam Blakey. Event Types: Conferences.
Thursday, April 16, 2026, 9:00 AM – Friday, April 17, 2026, 5:00 PM.
O'Hara Public Lecture in Philosophy of Physics
More info TBA.
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: Liam Blakey. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Departmental Faculty Meeting
Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: Savery Hall 408. Accessibility Contact: Liam Blakey. Event Types: Meetings.
Tuesday, May 5, 2026, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.
Departmental Faculty Meeting
Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: Savery Hall 408. Accessibility Contact: Liam Blakey. Event Types: Meetings.
Tuesday, May 12, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
Virtual Colloquium - Morgan Thompson
More details TBA.
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: Liam Blakey. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Friday, May 15, 2026, 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM.
Memorial Day
Holidays
No classes. Most University offices and buildings are closed. Check with specific offices to confirm.
Event interval: Single day event. Year: 2026. Quarter: Spring. Event Types: Academics.
Monday, May 25, 2026.
For more info visit www.washington.edu.