2023 Philosothon

2023 Australasian Philosothon will be held in a hybrid format on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th September 2023. 

The face-to-face event is to be hosted by the team at the Critical Thinking Project, University of Queensland, and the online event by a team of philosophy academics and postgraduates at the University of Western Australia. The two events will run concurrently, with hybrid ‘meet-ups’ at the start and end of each day and during the ‘conversations with a philosopher’. Together we can make this event a wonderful experience for your students, affording them an opportunity to engage with other outstanding students from throughout Australasia.

The purpose of a hybrid event is to afford accessibility, diversity, and increase in capacity of participation in the Australasian Philosothon. Schools can choose to return to pre-Covid19 in person interactions or remain online via Zoom. A lecture hall at UQ will form the hub of the event, creating a hybrid space for interaction and conversation, and allowing for the promotion of philosophical excellence in even more schools. 

As per previous years, PiCC has expanded the number of ways that a school can qualify for the Australasian Philosothon. You will be receiving this invitation if your school qualified at a local event in 2022, or if the inclusion of your school increases the Australasian Philosothon’s overall diversity – be it socio-economic, public rather than private, or by location, be it regional or beyond Australian borders.

Each breakout room will have 8 students with a teacher from each of the participating schools facilitating the discussion. Philosophy academics and pedagogues will judge the inquiries. There will be 1^st – 3^rd places for the overall school winners and each of the year levels. The AAP will also award two Most Promising Philosophers. Each participating school will send a team consisting of a student from each of the year levels: 8, 9, 10, 11, & 12. Two reserves can also be chosen – students can compete up, but not down. So, a year 9 can compete at year 9, 10, 11, or 12 levels, but not at year 8. 

To secure your school’s place at the event, register your interest on our website: https://www.philosothon.org we will then send you an invoice, the stimuli and detailed information kits for teachers, facilitators and students. If you qualified at a 2022 local event or have completed your school’s registration, including payment, before Friday, 9^th June 2023, you will receive the early bird rate of $790 (F2F) or $590 (Online) GST Inc, after which the full fee of $840 (F2F) $640 (Online) GST Inc, will be charged. 

Special thanks for the support and sponsorship of the AAP and the members of PiCC. We look forward to working with you all! Feel free email philosothon@aap.org.au if you have any questions.

Dr. Kaz Bland 

Lecturer, UWA

Project Manager, AAPP