9th Bilkent International Undergraduate Philosophy Conference
Saturday, March 29, 2026, via Zoom
Registration is free but required. Once you register you will receive an e-mail with the Zoom link.
Please click here to register
Conference Program:
(Istanbul time, GMT+3)
13:00-13:10
- Tufan Kıymaz
- Opening Speech
First Session:
13:10-13:40
- Pelin Yonca Genç (Boğaziçi University, Türkiye)
- “Can You Just Write It for Me?” Apologies in the Age of AI
13:40-14:10
- Sinan Orbay (Bilkent University, Türkiye)
- Sense as Conditions for Reference (Rethinking Frege on Identity)
Second Session:
14.20-14:50
- Makan Moslemkhani (Kharazmi University, Iran)
- A Critique of Botin’s A Posteriori Russellian Physicalism
14.50-15:20
- Ieva Šmitaitė (Vilnius University, Lithuania)
- From Taste to Politics? The Problem of Sensus Communis in Kant’s Critique of Judgment
Third Session:
15.30-16:00
- Yuyao Zhang (New York University, USA)
- Explaining Our Territorial Rights: Political Ontology, Particularity, and the Ethical Demand
16.00-16:30
- Arda Bulut (Koç University, Türkiye)
- Accuracy of Causal Theoretical Models: Idealizations and Scope of Model Use
Fourth Session:
16.40-17.10
- Jada Wilson (Temple University, USA)
- Split Selves, Political Agency, and Marginalized Resistance: A Fanonian Lens on Political Psychology
17.10-17.40
- Jinglong Yang (Vanderbilt University, USA)
- Against Moral Deference: Why Artificial Moral Agents Need Not Undermine Phronesis
17.40-18.00
- Closing Speech
Please click here to register. If you have any questions, you can reach us at philstudentconf@bilkent.edu.tr
Organizers:
- Bilkent University Department of Philosophy
- Bilkent Philosophical Society
Organizing Committee:
Faculty Supervisor:
- Dr. Tufan Kıymaz (Bilkent University, Department of Philosophy)
Planning Committee Members:
- Beyza Nur Taştemir (Bilkent University, Department of Philosophy)
- Sermin Aydemir (Bilkent University, Department of Philosophy)
- Eyşan Ezgi Gökçay (Bilkent University, Department of Philosophy)
- Nil Deniz Yıldız (Bilkent University, Department of Philosophy)
Call for Abstracts (CLOSED)
We invite undergraduate students from all departments and universities to take part in the 9th Bilkent International Undergraduate Philosophy Conference on Saturday, March 29, 2026, which will be held online via Zoom.
The purpose of this conference is to provide an academic platform for undergraduate students to share their philosophical views and arguments with their peers.
Presentations will be in the form of a 20-minute talk followed by a 10-minute question-answer session.
Submission Guidelines:
- The deadline for submission is February 20, 2026.
- There is no restriction on the subject matter, as long as philosophical argumentation is presented.
- Participants should send an abstract of 300-500 words.
- Your abstract should have the title on top, but it should be anonymous and not in any way give away the identity of the author (this is necessary for the blind-review process).
- Please include in the body of the submission e-mail your full name, university affiliation, the title of your paper, and your contact information (such as your e-mail address).
- The submitted abstracts and PowerPoint presentations should be in English. The conference language will be exclusively English.
- For submitting your abstract, please fill this form: https://forms.gle/b1eAGVkGNXXedqaJ8
- All other inquiries should be sent by e-mail to philstudentconf@bilkent.edu.tr
All presenters are expected to use PowerPoint (or similar) slides during their presentations.
Among the accepted submissions that are presented successfully at the conference, some of them will be selected by the conference committee to be published on Bilkent Philosophy YouTube Channel, with the permission of the presenter. Also, the longer version of their abstract of the selected presentations will have the chance for publication in Prokopton, Bilkent University Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy (prokopton.bilkent.edu.tr), as part of the conference proceedings. The final decision about publication belongs to the Prokopton editorial board.
Important Dates:
February 20, 2026: Abstract submission deadline
March 1, 2026: Announcement of accepted abstracts
March 20, 2026: Presentation slides submission deadline for speakers
March 29, 2026: Conference
If you have any questions, you can reach us at philstudentconf@bilkent.edu.tr
Organizers:
Bilkent University Department of Philosophy
Bilkent Philosophical Society
