Philosophy Colloquium Series
Winter 2026
MEETING TIME: 3:00 PM-4:30 PM
MEETING LOCATION: MAK-B-1-138
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Winter 2026
Date: February 27, 2026
More information and the rest of the Winter 2026 lineup is below.
If you have any questions, please contact Alycia LaGuardia-LoBianco ([email protected])
February 27
Total Deontic Folk Relationalism
David Killoren (GVSU Philosophy)
TALK DESCRIPTION
Total deontic folk relationalism (TDFR) is a new family of comprehensive moral theories. It represents an alternative to the standard theoretical traditions in modern moral philosophy, such as utilitarianism, contractualism, and care ethics. In this presentation, I will introduce TDFR and will describe some of its main advantages and disadvantages.
March 27
Passive-Aggression as Subversion
Alycia LaGuardia-LoBianco (GVSU Philosophy)
TALK DESCRIPTION
In this talk, I will argue that passive-aggression can be a subversive strategy to help victims navigate oppressive interpersonal interactions. Passive-aggression—the indirect expression of negative emotions designed to inconvenience the target—is almost universally viewed as toxic behavior that damages relationships. However, I consider passive-aggression deployed in response to interpersonal interactions that are already hostile to marginalized agents because they evince some oppressive norm or expectation (for instance, a relative intentionally misgenders you; a coworker makes a racist joke about a colleague; the only woman student in a seminar is routinely ignored). In interactions like these, an underexplored but promising subversive strategy is to obliquely express anger through sarcasm, irony, strategic silence, recalcitrance, eye-rolling, deliberately avoiding eye contact, or overly saccharine compliance—to be passive-aggressive—and in so doing, challenge the oppressive norms and expectations in that interaction. I argue that passive-aggression can be subversive when three conditions are met: it (1) indirectly expresses the victim’s apt anger, annoyance, frustration, or other negative emotions (2) in a way that calls out, challenges, or undermines the oppressive norm, expectation, etc. in the interaction and that (3) inconveniences the target.
April 3
Learning Management Systems Are The Enemy of Information Literacy:
Teaching Critical Thinking Skills In The Digital Age
Quinn Harr (GVSU Philosophy)
TALK DESCRIPTION
TBA
April 17
How Practical Might Reflection Be?
Itai Marom (GVSU Philosophy)
TALK DESCRIPTION
TBA