PIKSI-Rock
Academic philosophy has and continues to be built to reflect dominant power structures and hegemonies in the academy and the world. It has and continues to be shaped by inequities along axes such as disability, economic status, ethnicity, gender, neurotypicality, race, and sexuality. As academic philosophy has unfolded, then, it has entrenched the regional, demographic, epistemological, and political marginalization of certain groups in the field. PIKSI is committed to transforming that story. It exists to encourage and equip undergraduates from groups typically under-represented in philosophy to build broader change. PIKSI is distinctive because it exists to open up the field of philosophy and to change it by including the distinctive experiences that bring people from inside and outside the classroom.
PIKSI-Rock is an intensive summer program that brings together a cohort of undergraduate students from groups underrepresented in the academic discipline of philosophy, in order to support them in their pursuit of further study in the field. While at the PIKSI-Rock summer institute, students participate in seminars with prominent and up-and-coming philosophers from similarly marginalized backgrounds, attend public talks, and engage in networking and mentoring opportunities. International students are welcome to participate in PIKSI. We regret that we are not able to offer stipends to international students who require an F-1 visa to attend.
PIKSI-Rock 2026 will take place on the campus of Penn State University Park from June 8–16, 2026. The 2026 cohort will work with visiting scholars Jameliah Shorter-Bourhanou, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, The University of Memphis; Keisha S. Ray, Associate Professor, McGovern Center for Humanities & Ethics, UTHealth Houston; Miguel Gualdrón Ramírez, Assistant Professor of Philosophy , University of Oregon; and Desiree Valentine, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Marquette University.
GUIDELINES
Each applicant should be prepared to submit the names of two recommenders, current transcripts, and a ten to twelve page writing sample.
In addition, you will be asked to draft two short essays (not exceeding 300 words) in response to the following prompts:
- Identify a piece of philosophical writing that you read in a class or on your own that was especially meaningful to you, and explain why.
- What would you hope to gain from, and to contribute to, this Institute, and how do you envision philosophy fitting into your life in the future?
PIKSI-Rock Graduate Assistantships
PIKSI-Rock 2026 will take place for on the campus of Penn State University Park from June 8-16, 2026. PIKSI-Rock’s two-day graduate assistant (GA) orientation and graduate seminar will occur during the week before the institute itself. Three graduate students will assist the institute director. In addition, one graduate assistant will come from the Penn State Department of Philosophy. The home institution of each graduate assistant must fund their positions directly to the GA (approximately $2,500 total, including travel and housing for the two-day GA orientation and the ten-day undergraduate institute, and a recommended $1,500 stipend).
Graduate students enrolled in Ph.D. programs are eligible to apply.
Applications will be screened according to the graduate student’s accomplishments as a researcher, a teacher, and a mentor; the relevance of their research to the topics of the institute; and the home institution’s willingness to fund the student. All offers of GA positions are contingent upon the successful completion of background checks that verify that the student has no criminal or other record that would preclude employment and that the student’s educational credentials are valid. Information about Penn State’s procedures for background checks for employment will be emailed to accepted GAs and must be completed, with all required approvals obtained, prior to arriving on campus. If you have questions about the application process, please contact us at info@piksi.org.
Speakers
PIKSI-Rock Board Co-Chairs
PIKSI-Rock Director
PIKSI-Rock Advisory Board
