Get Involved - Philosophy
You'll have the opportunity to get involved in a range of exciting extra-curricular activities, that help you to engage with philosophy in new ways and get even more out of your student experience.
The empowering nature of philosophy is why we engage in teaching, research, and publicly facing activities (such as seminars, talks, lectures and community outreach) with a special focus on hot topics and challenging social, political, ethical and existential questions.
As a philosophy student at Sheffield you will have the opportunity to get involved with a wide range of extracurricular activities to build your philosophical knowledge and communication skills. Activities may include engaging in academic debate at our annual reading weekend or teaching school children how to think philosophically with our Philosophy in the City programme.
What I enjoy most about my programme is the countless opportunities available to students to get involved in the life of the Department or the university in general. At the moment, I am a student representative, I work as a student ambassador on open days and will soon start tutoring first year students who take logic modules. In the past 2 years I helped organise the Undergraduate Philosophy Conference and I was a marker for Sheffield Philosophy Undergraduate Journal, PhilonoUS.
Claudiu Alexandru Oprita
BA Philosophy, Religion and Ethics
Philosophy in the City
This student-led outreach programme enables students at Sheffield to deliver philosophical activities in schools, homeless shelters and day centres for the elderly. It has been running for over a decade, enabling over 300 volunteers to lead philosophical activities, engaging thousands of members of the public in philosophical conversations across the Sheffield city-region. It aims to promote opportunities for people of any age or background to engage with philosophy and to make philosophy a subject that is of use and value to both the individual and society.
My university experience would have been significantly different without PinC - aside from the educational aspect of volunteering, I believe PinC is also about creating a community of people who value the pragmatic aspect of philosophy and are willing to share it with others.
Andreea Huidan
Former Committee Member
Learn more about Philosophy in the City
Reading Weekend
Our annual reading weekend is a chance for staff and students of all levels to come together in the Peak District and share their work. Students present and engage in philosophical discussion with fellow students in a friendly and supportive atmosphere and it is a great place to have a seminar. During the weekend there are also organised country walks, social activities and a philosophy quiz.
Undergraduate Philosophy Conference
The Undergraduate Philosophy Conference is a great opportunity for students to experience event organisations and present one of their own papers to an interested group of peers. Previous events have included student talks on topics including God, existential crisis and hope, feminist philosophy of disability, and personal identity. The conference has also featured lecturer discussion panels, a philosophy quiz, and invited speakers.
PhilonoUS
PhilonoUS is our undergraduate philosophy journal. The journal is organised and edited by our students, and features papers from undergraduate students from across the University.
Philosophy at the Showroom
Philosophy at the Showroom is a series of sessions probing the philosophical questions raised by some of cinema’s most intriguing films, and discussing books that have philosophical themes (either philosophical texts, or other works that raise philosophical questions). Our obligations to others, heroism, death, and the functioning of the mind are just some of the themes these screenings and the book events have explored.
Philosophy Rocks
A gathering of musical talent from the Sheffield Philosophy Department, this is a very informal concert of music of all types, by anyone skilful or brave enough to perform it, in front of an enthusiastic audience of fellow students, staff, family and friends. We also welcome 'spoken word' acts, such as poetry readings.