Image courtesy Rodin Museum
Leave the togas at home.
That’s the message of James Fritz, an assistant professor in Virginia Commonwealth University’s philosophy department and the creator of the VCU Summer Camp in Philosophy, where teens explore thorny topics in a thoughtful and deliberate manner.
“There have been movements aiming to show that philosophy isn’t the exclusive property of a few people from ancient Greece,” Fritz says. “Philosophy flourishes everywhere people are figuring out the truth. It’s about letting perspectives bang against each other.
“One of the priorities [of this camp] is to show students it’s not about people wearing togas,” he adds. “Philosophy happens inside the academy and outside the academy. I’m happy to address my students as philosophers, because they’re doing the work.”
As a graduate student, Fritz spent a summer working as a camp counselor. After returning to his studies at Ohio State University, he had an idea: “I wanted to help young people expand their horizons and think about philosophy,” he says. Working with OSU colleagues, Fritz created a summer camp there centered on philosophy and critical thinking. “My understanding is the camp is still going strong,” he says.
Fritz joined the VCU faculty in fall 2019 with the hope of replicating the camp at his new school. The pandemic delayed the process, but he eventually gained approval — and some internal grant funding from the College of Humanities and Sciences, home to the philosophy department. The program hosted its inaugural session in July 2022 with more than 20 teens.
“We’re very fortunate and grateful for the support,” Fritz says. “The reaction from VCU has been very positive, and so many colleagues raised their hands to help. It’s good to be in a community that prioritizes community engagement.”
The weeklong, full-day camp is open to rising ninth graders through immediate high school graduates. Activities are centered on a particular topic — last year’s was justice; this year’s will be art and beauty. Participants research, read, discuss and form groups to delve into an issue of their choosing, culminating in presentations at week’s end.
“This is applied ethics,” Fritz says. “These are questions having to do with specific problems, like drug legalization, cloning, racism. There are tricky questions about how to navigate the balance between justice and equality.”
Last year’s theme resonated with Olivia Purefoy, now a high school senior in Washington, D.C., because she had recently completed a class in morality and social justice, a requirement for all juniors. She heard about the camp through her father, a VCU alumnus.
“I think society is not and will not ever be static,” Purefoy says. “There will always be legislation to improve progress, but sometimes legislation does the opposite. What can you do about that?”
Purefoy says she appreciated the discussions around epistemological injustices, which is when someone denies an injustice because they haven’t experienced it personally. “In the 1950s and 1960s, some men would say workplace harassment didn’t exist because they didn’t experience it, but women did,” she notes.
Purefoy says she went into the camp expecting lively dialogue and wasn’t disappointed. “Everyone was willing to be vulnerable and talk about the subject in front of us openly and fully,” she says. “Whenever the professor asked a question, it wasn’t silent. Everyone was willing to offer their perspective.”
Hanover High School sophomore Lucy Rabung wasn’t sure what to expect from the camp. “I was a little nervous,” she says. “I didn’t know if it was going to be a bunch of high school students with long white beards. It was a bunch of pretty cool kids. Everyone was participating, and at school, that can be hard. Something was in the air.”
Rabung says she enjoyed meeting a diverse group of students; she’s still in touch with several fellow campers via social media. She also enjoyed working with the two VCU philosophy students who assisted with the camp, Amanda Nash and Katie Kerrigan.
“They were really helpful,” she says. “If [a reading] was at a level where I couldn’t understand it, they would put it at a level where I could understand it.”
Kerrigan, a junior majoring in philosophy, English and political science, says she was impressed with the students’ energy. “I had never been part of an academic summer camp,” she says. “It was really amazing. A bunch of students really interested in philosophy and justice is really inspiring to see.”
Kerrigan credits Fritz for setting the right tone for discussion. “We talked about hot-button topics like abortion and capital punishment, and Professor Fritz did a great job of facilitating open and honest conversation. He made sure everybody felt heard and made sure there wasn’t disrespect.”
During the inaugural philosophy camp in July 2022, James Fritz, assistant professor of philosophy at VCU, discusses concepts of justice with high school students as camp counselor and VCU senior Amanda Nash observes. (Photo by Kevin Morley courtesy Virginia Commonwealth University)
The study of philosophy isn’t always fully understood by the general public, Kerrigan notes, adding that its value as an undergraduate major is often connected to a prelaw track. “But what we did with the camp shows its value,” she says. “Philosophy is a really useful tool for social justice and answering problems we’re experiencing today deductively.”
Another benefit of the week was the validation of participants’ viewpoints. “When I was a teenager, I didn’t always feel that my voice was valued and heard,” Kerrigan says. “I’m really happy to see philosophy being made accessible [to younger students]. They were able to do that deep thinking and share their thoughts in a space where people were willing to listen.”
Rabung and Purefoy hope to attend the 2023 camp. “I think camp gave me a little bit of confidence, a little bit of an ability to think about what’s going on and who I am,” Purefoy says. “Also, I would tell [interested students] that I had a philosophical debate with my teacher about beauty and what beauty is while sipping a milkshake at Five Guys.”
Purefoy says it felt good to be in an environment where everyone was fully engaged, and she appreciated the chance to spend time on VCU’s campus — where she has applied for enrollment.
Recruiting students wasn’t even part of the goal, Fritz says.
“I aim to have students come away from the week with new skills [so they are] better at entertaining new viewpoints, better at interpreting the steps of arguments and better at critically analyzing others’ thinking,” he says. “It takes a special kind of student to want to devote part of their summer to thinking about justice.
“It’s easy to be pessimistic about what’s happening around us,” he adds, “but when you see a cross-section of the [teen] population sitting down, in dialogue with one another, it’s encouraging.”
The 2023 summer camp in philosophy is scheduled for June 26-30. Cost is $100 for the full-day camp, which includes lunch. Scholarships are available. Applications, including an essay and letter of recommendation, are due no later than April 17. The camp is limited to 30 participants. For more information and to apply, visit philosophy.vcu.edu/events/summer-camp.
