Led by student President Elizabeth Limanni and vice president Victoria Ngo, the Philosophy Club invites students to celebrate new ways of thinking every Monday at 3 p.m. in Room S7.165.
“It’s about open ideas and open thoughts,” Professor and club adviser Danny Brown said. The mantra of the club is to promote critical thinking and develop students’ ability to be heard.
The club covers topics ranging from art to historical philosophers. Students lead the discussions and pick topics from a randomized wheel at the start of each meeting, allowing them to think about new and diverse topics each week.
“I was scared that I wouldn’t understand anything they talked about,” club attendee Camden Bottoms said. When I hear philosophy, I think all of these advanced topics I don’t have a grasp on, but I actually understood it just fine,” Bottoms said.
Students receive academic, personal, and technical benefits from attending the club. Learning to express themselves in new ways promotes students’ ability to think critically in their daily lives. Students tend to already have these thoughts without the proper way to voice them.
“They’ve had these ideas for the longest time, but they’ve never been able to communicate them to anybody within their immediate family or their friends. So it’s thoughts and ideas they finally feel they can express,” Professor Brown said.
“You talk and you think, and then you interact,” says Professor Ferdinand.
The club is open and welcomes all students at San Jac. The club advertises diversity and an open-door policy.
“Come in anytime, discuss what you want to discuss, and participate,” says Brown.
The club creates an open atmosphere, even asking attendees to expand on their ideas personally. Each student is allowed to add what they’re interested in to the conversation while keeping the club as a whole involved.
The Philosophy Club is almost entirely student-led led aside from professor moderators. Students gain leadership experience from the club and are sometimes invited to participate in core leadership roles. “We’re looking for help in marketing,” says Brownd
The Philosophy Club was founded in 2007 under Danny Brown. Robert Gaddie was the first president, later joining the San Jacinto Faculty as a Philosophy Professor and club adviser.
“It offers opportunities to grow,” says Brown.
The club has changed since its founding into a thought-provoking environment. It has become an official San Jac club that requires training for its leaders and club faculty. The club has shifted in diversity, thoughts, beliefs, and topics covered along the way.
“It is an always evolving process,” says Brown, “it actually makes it more fun when it’s always changing.
For more information, attend the Philosophy Club on Mondays at 3 p.m. on South Campus or email President Limanni at [email protected] or Vice President Ngo at [email protected].
