Alumni

Welcome, Alumni and Friends of the Department of Philosophy!

Your connection to the Department of Philosophy remains long after you graduate.  There are many ways you can maintain your connection including:

Recent Alumni News

Sara Goering

From the Chair

We made it to the summer! I hope that you are able to enjoy a somewhat slower pace in the coming months, with time to reflect and revel in the lengthy days of summer. If you’re looking for reading recommendations, check out our faculty summer reading list. This has been a challenging year on campus, with grant terminations, international student visa revocations, significant budget cuts and… Read more
Graduation 2025 Group Photo

Congratulations to the Philosophy 2025 Graduates!

Congratulations to all our 2025 graduates! We held our ceremony June 11, 2025 at the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House, continuing the wonderful tradition of a Philosophy Departmental Graduation. Over half of the class of 2025, both undergraduate and graduates, were able to attend, bringing over 200 of their family and friends to celebrate with them.   Our alumni speaker was Miriam Korngold, Therapist for A Mental Health Space and Attorney for Korngold… Read more
Dan Gerler

UW Department of Philosophy receives large bequest from the late Dan Gerler, Philosophy Advisory Board member

The University of Washington Department of Philosophy greatly benefited from the wisdom, service, and generous contributions of Dan Gerler, a longstanding Advisory Board member and general champion of philosophy. We all mourn the loss of Dan, who died April 15, 2024, from pancreatic cancer. Dan Gerler was a UW student of philosophy and psychology who, after graduating, was suddenly thrust into running his father’s two Red Wing Shoes franchises after his father suffered a stroke. Dan expanded… Read more
Cody Dout

Recent PhDs in postdoctoral positions

Last year the department saw four graduate students complete their PhDs and move on to prestigious postdoctoral positions! Cody Dout “Understanding White Superagency” (chair: Michael Blake); now postdoc at Rutgers University Kayla Mehl “Fat – Therefore, Unhealthy? Oppressing Fat People in the Name of Health” (chair: Sara Goering); now postdoc at Johns Hopkins University Arthur Obst “Wilderness for Wildness: Saving the Wild in a Post-Natural World” (chair: Stephen Gardiner); now postdoc at… Read more
Graduation 2023 Crowd

Philosophy celebrates our 2023 graduates

Congratulations to all our 2023 graduates! Our alumni speaker was Noah Purcell, Washington State Solicitor General and 2002 UW Philosophy grad, and our undergraduate speaker was Wendi Zhou. Photo credit: Merriam Al-Maiahi
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Where to watch your fellow alumni on streaming services this winter

Featured on University of Washington Magazine 
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UW, a jewel of Seattle, shines in global academic ranking

Featured on Seattle Times 
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'Be Water, My Friend’: A close-up of the latest Bruce Lee exhibition at the Wing Luke Museum

Featured on The Daily 
Tiger being vaccinated by zoo staff

Karen Emmerman discusses zoo animal consent

Karen Emmerman discusses the Woodland Park Zoo’s effort to give agency to its animals by working with them to allow hand vaccinations, which eliminates the unnecessary stress of putting animals under anesthesia or restraining them for injections. Determining whether animals can volunteer or give consent for anything, especially in zoos, can be very difficult, says Dr. Karen Emmerman, an independent scholar and part-time faculty member at the University of Washington’s philosophy department.… Read more
Black Panther and Philosophy: What Can Wakanda Offer the World? book cover

New book by Timothy. Brown explores philosophy in Black Panther

Congratulations to Timothy Brown, Assistant Professor in Bioethics & Humanities and philosophy PhD alumnus ’19 on the publication of Black Panther and Philosophy: What Can Wakanda Offer the World?, co-edited with Edwardo… Read more
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