Oxford's graduate philosophy conference turns thirty, with Chalmers on the bill

Conferences reserved for doctoral students are common enough in academic life. Most of them consist of young researchers listening to one another, with the senior members of the profession nowhere in sight.

The conference Oxford has kept going for thirty years works to a different model.

The University of Oxford's 30th Annual Graduate Philosophy Conference meets on 13 and 14 November 2026, at Blackfriars Hall and Regent's Park College.

The keynote speakers#

Three names have been announced, and each stands for a different front.

David Chalmers (New York University) — the central figure in the philosophy of consciousness. As we set out in detail on the site yesterday, the thirtieth anniversary of the "hard problem" was marked this year, and Chalmers's current work has moved towards artificial consciousness and virtual reality.

Monima Chadha (University of Oxford) — works where Indian philosophy meets the philosophy of mind. She is known above all for her work on Buddhist theories of the self: what the Buddhist tradition's no-self thesis has to say to the contemporary debate about personal identity.

Chadha's presence on the programme is not a stray gesture towards diversity. The sharpest criticism of the Philosopher's Annual selection we covered this week was that the list did not contain a single paper written in any language but English. For non-Western traditions to enter a programme not as an exotic supplement but as a party working on the same problem is a concrete answer to that criticism.

Rob Simpson (University College London) — works on freedom of expression, academic freedom and the regulation of speech. The field bears directly on the argument over the defence of philosophy departments that we have been following this week.

The detail in the design#

The genuinely interesting thing about the conference is not its programme but its form.

Every graduate student selected gives a paper in a session of thirty to forty minutes. And every presentation is followed by a reply — typically from a member of the Oxford Faculty of Philosophy.

That repairs the commonest weakness of student conferences.

At an ordinary student conference a paper is read, a few questions are asked, and the next speaker takes the floor. The student goes away with the experience of having presented — but with no serious assessment of the work itself.

A structured reply produces something different. The paper comes back read by someone who works in the field, with a counter-argument developed against it.

For a doctoral student that is worth more than the letter of acceptance.

Scope#

The call is open to all graduate students working in philosophy. Papers may be on any subject; the aim is to represent a wide spread of debate across theoretical philosophy, practical philosophy and the history of philosophy.

The threefold division is a more careful way of saying "we are open to anything". The inclusiveness of a conference is measured not by the breadth of its call but by the spread of the papers it accepts.

Applying from Turkey#

For philosophy doctoral students in Turkey, conferences of this sort are among the most accessible doors to international visibility.

The reason is structural. Getting an article accepted by a journal can take years; a conference paper is decided within a few months and brings feedback directly.

As we pointed out in the Sanders Prizes feature this week, most of these channels are not well enough known in Turkey.

Practical information#

• Dates: 13-14 November 2026
• Venue: Blackfriars Hall and Regent's Park College, Oxford
• Keynote speakers: David Chalmers (NYU), Monima Chadha (Oxford), Rob Simpson (UCL)
• Who may apply: all graduate students working in philosophy
• Format: a paper of 30-40 minutes plus a reply from an Oxford faculty member

Details are on the Oxford Faculty of Philosophy's conference page.

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Other forthcoming meetings in our calendar: Cavell Symposium (30-31 October, New York) · Reichenbach Congress (5-6 November, Istanbul) · World Philosophy Day (19 November) · The Philosophy of Animal Welfare (20-21 November, Duke).