• To promote our majors' understanding of the nature of contemporary research in philosophy. The seminar examines a contemporary debate that has spawned significant publications. The subject matter of this debate is characteristically associated with the research work of a Philosophy Department faculty member. The instructor will present his or her own publications or writings for general discussion and criticism.
• To promote our majors' appreciation of the mutual influences, affinities, and differences between the "Anglo-American" and "European-Continental" traditions of philosophical inquiry. Contemporary work that explicitly relates the two traditions are assigned, longside classic texts.
• To promote our majors' ability to draw together their course work into a fuller, more coherent understanding of the discipline as a whole.
• To familiarize students with the activities, norms and demands of the profession. Some class periods will be devoted to the preparation and presentation of seniors' individual research.

The first six weeks of the fall and winter terms will be devoted to the presentation and discussion of assigned readings. In the remaining 4 weeks of the fall and winter terms, seminar will then be used for the presentation and/or discussion of seniors' SIPs, conference papers, essays submitted to competitions, or comprehensive examination papers. During spring term, seniors schedule individual tutorials with Philosophy Department faculty to review a student's preparation for taking the comprehensive examination. Also, we encourage students to make suggestions regarding issues, under-represented areas of philosophy, readings or artworks that they would like to discuss in this forum.  Finally, some time will be devoted to discussing graduate schools and the process of applying to M.A. and Ph.D. programs.

Additional time will be given to the following topics:

• Writing in philosophy
• Internet research sites
• Reference works in the Humphrey House Reading Room
• Preparation for undergraduate journal submissions
• Preparation for essay competitions
• Preparation for academic scholarships (Watson, Fulbright, Chamberlin, etc.)
• Interdisciplinary connections between philosophy and other disciplines
• Conferences and paper presentation in Michigan