Most undergraduate North American philosophy courses cover solely “Western,” Anglo-European philosophy. Many philosophy professors would strongly prefer to include material in their syllabi from underrepresented traditions, such as African, Latin American, Indigenous, East Asian, South Asian, and Islamic philosophy. However, they lack the expertise to do so with competence and confidence. 

The Northeast Workshop to Learn About Multicultural Philosophy (NEWLAMP) aims to address this problem by offering an annual week-long summer workshop that each year trains a new set of 20-25 philosophy teachers, from a diverse array of institutions, in a different under-represented tradition of social and political philosophy. The workshop title captures our aim to provide “new lamps” by which to see and explore, rather than just continuing to search under the old familiar lamppost.  

NEWLAMP 2025 will focus on African social and political philosophy, and will be held from June 23-27 at Wellesley College. This workshop will differ from the 2022 Africana edition in prioritizing work produced in Africa rather than in America or other parts of the diaspora. It will be led by three experts: Olufemi Taiwo (Cornell University), Bernard Matolino (University of Pretoria) and Zeyad El Nabolsy (York University).

You can find details on this site about the venue, the experts, the application instructions, the organizers, the workshop schedule, and previous workshops.

NEWLAMP 2025 is made possible through generous support from Wellesley College, Northeastern University, Rutgers University, Harvard University, a Diversity and Inclusiveness grant from the American Philosophical Association and a seed grant from the New England Humanities Consortium.