East Stroudsburg University Set to Host Interdisciplinary Association of Philosophy and Religious Studies Annual Conference

East Stroudsburg University’s Department of Modern Languages, Philosophy and Religion will host the Interdisciplinary Association of Philosophy and Religious Studies (IAPRS) annual conference on Saturday, March 21, 2026. Faculty and students from across PASSHE and neighboring institutions will deliver papers and panel discussions on an array of philosophical themes. This year’s keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Ricki Bliss, chairperson of the Philosophy Department at Lehigh University.

The conference will be held from 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. in classrooms throughout the Warren E. ’55 & Sandra Hoeffner Science and Technology Center (number 70 on the campus map.)

This is the second straight year that ESU has hosted the conference. This year, there will be 27 total presentations from ESU faculty and by students from ESU, Cheyney University, CUNY Lehman College, Lycoming University, Penn West University, Slippery Rock University, Villanova University, and West Chester University.

The purpose of this conference is to provide an opportunity for students to present their original work in a public forum. The conference enables faculty to bring their students to a conference to see how academic work is presented and why it is important to foster collaboration with colleagues in the discipline. This year, the conference widened its scope to include papers from majors other than philosophy, such as biology, speech, language, and hearing sciences, political science, criminal justice, health promotions (from the CUNY system), a doctoral student working on issues of equality and student success, a panel on peer mentoring, and an ESU associate dean of the college of arts and sciences.

ESU students participating presenting at the conference are AJ Dilks, a junior majoring in philosophy; Zeia McClennon, a sophomore majoring in psychology; Faith McLean, a junior majoring in criminal justice; Christopher Isolda, a senior majoring in philosophy; Michael Mode, a senior majoring in philosophy and computer science; Pari Patel, a senior majoring in biology; Tianna Dodson, a junior majoring in middle level education; Rachel De Leon a junior majoring in middle level education; Jack Paszar, a senior majoring in nursing; and Zaynab Hajali, a junior majoring in communication science and disorders.

The IAPRS conference is supported by a grant from the National Association of Higher Education Systems (NASH) to promote course sharing and systemwide collaboration of Philosophy courses.

For more information about the Interdisciplinary Association of Philosophy and Religious Studies (IAPRS) annual conference contact Dr. Eric Schumacher, professor of philosophy and religion, by calling (570) 422-3544 or email eschumache@esu.edu.

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