Virtual Night Owls: What Are Universities For?

The Night Owls series features several faculty-led, late-night conversations each year on arcane philosophical topics. Students gather in the evening to listen to speakers, ask questions and eat cookies.

This Spring, as University operations move online, Night Owls will be moving online as well, with streamed events, as well as opportunities for ongoing conversation.

At this event, we will discuss questions such as:

• What are universities for?
• Why do discussions about the value of higher education, or the humanities, tend to be boring?
• Should academic research be more accessible to the outside world?
• Does the University have a (or more than one) moral cause?
• In what sense are Universities meritocratic—and in what sense aren’t they?
• Why does the outside world tend to hate universities?
• What makes the University of Chicago special?

Click here to view the Spring Quarter schedule.