Philo. UAB ponders bonding

The reception's goal was to improve the level of communication between Philosophy students and faculty. The Philosophy Undergraduate Advisory Board held its first "Faculty and Philosophy Majors" reception Friday afternoon in an attempt to strengthen the relationship between students and professors in the department. Philosophy UAB Vice President Jeremy Mittman, a College sophomore, organized the event with the help of President and College junior Ari Silverman and Secretary David Futer, a College sophomore. Undergraduate Philosophy Chairperson Zoltan Domotor also assisted in setting up the reception -- a meeting he said he hopes will improve communication among students and faculty. "The mission of today's meeting is to bring students closer to faculty so that all kinds of issues can be discussed," Domotor said. After a short speech by Domotor, participants at the event discussed topics of interest and career opportunities with the philosophy professors. The meeting was for both declared majors and students interested in philosophy. College freshman Neil VanLeeuwen went to the reception to learn more about the philosophy major. "Philosophy is a really fun topic, and it gives me a lot of options for attending graduate or law school," he said. Silverman noted that Friday's meeting was more than an attempt to introduce students and faculty -- it was the first step in the rebuilding of the Philosophy Department. Formerly located in Logan Hall, the department has been at 34th and Market streets while Logan undergoes renovation. "The distance from campus, size of the department and the atmosphere at Market have taken their toll on both the majors and the professors," Silverman said. "The department is just too far away from campus to be an attraction to undergraduate students." But the UAB also attributed the weakness of the department to the small number of professors. While a typical school's Philosophy Department has 15 professors, Penn's department only houses 10, according to Silverman, who called the discrepancy "inexcusable." "Dr. Rodin and Provost Chodorow refer to an 'improvement in the humanities' as part of their agenda for excellence, but Philosophy seems to be overlooked in the equation," Silverman said. In addition to the reception -- which the UAB plans to hold once a semester -- UAB members have developed several other plans and have many more ideas for the future. To help alleviate the distance the department is from the rest of campus, the UAB has increased communication through listservs and newsgroups. The board also plans on putting together a Philosophy Department Research Opportunity Undergraduate Handbook as well as a Penn Philosophy Review. The UAB members felt Friday's reception was a great success and expressed optimism for the future progress of the department. "I felt today was a really good step in the right direction," Silverman said. "It all begins by fostering a new culture of student-faculty interaction and then it catches on like fire and spreads."