2025 Philosophy Student Research Updates

It was a banner year for student research in the Philosophy Department. Our majors won two of the three “best thesis” awards! Megan Crowley received the Best Thesis in Humanities award for her study of the social epistemology of misinformation; Allan Bagley won Best Thesis in the Natural Sciences for his research in the theory of games. Two Philosophy majors – Kathleen Clarke ’26 and Kaitlin Renaud ’26 – presented their research at the 22^nd Annual Steven Humphrey Undergraduate Philosophy Colloquium. Kathleen also completed an internship at the Envirome Institute, where her research on the ethics of wastewater surveillance epidemiology resulted in her first scholarly publication, on which she was the lead author. She also attended the Yale summer bioethics institute, and presented her research on prison pregnancy at a regional Honors conference. Andrew Heggie, a veteran of last year’s Kentucky Philosophical Association, presented his paper on democratic theory at Purdue University’s Systems and Disruptions Undergraduate Philosophy Conference. And Tuesday Shaw presented a paper applying philosophical frameworks to the Russian novel Eugene Onegin at the Kentucky Honors Roundtable. 

Health Care Ethics graduate students typically spend a semester in a paid internship with the Kentucky Department of Health. This year five students worked with the health department on fascinating research and policy projects. Stephanie Schemke, a December ’24 grad, almost single-handedly stood up the Commonwealth’s regulatory framework for THC sales and marketing. This work was carried forward in the spring by Lane Scott ’26. Marissa Smith developed surveys to support tobacco prevention and cessation resources. Wala Al Zara worked with community health workers who face stress and other challenges in their efforts to serve refugees and immigrant communities. And Zahara Alzubaidi assembled grant resources for agencies across the Commonwealth. One student, Allie Underwood (December ’24), met her internship requirement through the fieldwork component of her MSSW, earned concurrently with her MA. And dual degree Humanities PhD/Health Care Ethics MA graduate student Steve Muir presented papers in Michigan, Ohio, and Georgia, and also participated in a training module for mobile crisis responders in California!