Program for the 2025 Annual Meeting of the MPA

[Steven C Skultety]

 

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14

Liberal Arts Building, Room 102 (1999 Pearl St, Hattiesburg, MS 39401)

 

8:30-9:00 Pastries & coffee

 

9:00-9:35 Austin McGrath (Mississippi State University):

“Fear of Simulation”

 

9:35-10:10 Sara Bizarro (University of New Orleans):

“AI Consciousness in the Movies”

 

10:10-10:20 BREAK

 

10:20-10:55 Patrick Hopkins (Millsaps University):

“Ghosts in Buckets, Ghosts in Machines: How Even High-Tech Popular Culture

Treats the Mind Exactly Like the Soul”

 

10:55-11:30 John Bickle (Mississippi State University):

“Be Care What You Wish For! “Popped” Neuroscience Reveals a Dilemma for

“Popping” Academic Philosophy”

 

11:30-11:40 BREAK

 

11:40-12:15 Craig Carey (University of Southern Mississippi):

“Replaying Language Games: Wittgenstein’s Builders in Minecraft and Tetris” 2

 

12:15-1:45 LUNCH

 

1:45-2:20 Justice Cabantangan (Florida State University):

“Swinging Swords, Casting Spells, Killing Gods: On Intentions for Virtual

Actions”

 

2:20-2:55 Stefan Tallaj-Rodriguez (McMaster University):

“Beyond Play and Agency: A Contextualist Theory of Video Games”

 

2:55-3:05 BREAK

 

3:05-3:40 Ian Dunkle (University of Southern Mississippi):

“Ridicule and Aesthetic Appreciation”

 

3:40-4:15 Kerry Clark (University of Tennessee):

“Devotion to Creativity”

 

KEYNOTE

Liberal Arts Building, Gonzales Auditorium: Room 108 (1999 Pearl St, Hattiesburg, MS 39401)

4:30-6:00 DOMINIC McIVER LOPES,

University Killam Professor, University of British Columbia

“AI Art and Artists: What They Are, What They Could Be, What They

Should Be”

 

DINNER ON YOUR OWN

 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15

Liberal Arts Building, Room 102 (1999 Pearl St, Hattiesburg, MS 39401)

 

8:30-9:00 Pastries & coffee

 

9:00-9:35 Paula Smithka (University of Southern Mississippi):

“Lessons in Peace-Building from Good Omens: Empathy, Kindness, and

Cooperation for the Greater Good”

 

9:35-10:10 Barbara Stock (Gallaudet University):

“Course Corrections: Star Trek and Disability” 3

 

10:10-10:20 BREAK

 

10:20-10:55 Jacob Sloat (University of Southern Mississippi):

“Metaethics and Fiction: Star Wars as a Case Study”

 

10:55-11:30 Daniel Stearman (Tulane University):

“Anything and Everything All of the Time: Bo Burnham’s Inside and the Internet”

 

11:30-11:40 BREAK

 

11:40-12:15 Court Lewis (Pellissippi State Community College):

“Pop Culture as a Means for Living in the Truth”

 

12:15-1:45 LUNCH

 

1:45-2:20 Dakota Layton (University of Alabama-Huntsville):

“Fake News and Partisanship in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice”

 

2:20-2:55 Brant Entreken (University of Tennessee):

“Reading the God’s Not Dead Series as Christian Nationalist Propaganda”

 

2:55-3:05 BREAK

 

3:05-3:40 David Wong (Georgia Southern University):

“Savoring and Satisfying Curiosity about Monsters: A Revisionary Account

of Horror”

 

3:40-4:15 Kayla Bohannon (University of North Alabama):

“What Can Celebrities Owe Us? Defining the Limits of Legitimate

Expectations for Entertainers”

 

4:15-4:25 BREAK

 

4:25-5:00 Madison Cosby (Pellissippi State Community College):

“Pedagogical Possibilities of Reality TV: Nussbaum’s Narrative Imagination

in the Technological Era”

 

5:00-5:35 Neil Manson (University of Mississippi):

“Philosophy: The View from TikTok”

 

MPA DINNER: TBA

 

                                                Additional Information

 

Conference Registration (for those who do not have institutional membership)

The registration fee is $25. You will be able to register at the conference. Please make a check

payable to MPA (MS Philosophical Association). Cash is acceptable as well. We will provide a receipt.

 

Information about parking on the USM campus will be made available soon.