Philosothon

At a Philosothon, school-aged students are assessed by university-based professional philosophers and receive scores based on rigour and clarity of thought.

A central component of a Philosothon is the pedagogical model for teaching Philosophy to young people called Community of inquiry.

At the first Philosothon, nine local high school teams, each comprising five students, came together for an evening of philosophical investigation.

Philosothons now take place annually in each Australian capital city and in regional locations around Australia and New Zealand.

[13] Similar funding was awarded to the Ian Ramsey Centre at Oxford University to expand the UK Philosothon initiative in 2019.

[14] The Philosothons also take place around the UK with introductory presentations given to teachers at Academy Conferences multiple times each year.

[20] These presentations have been accompanied by associated outreach work, including the development of a website and distribution of more than 500 flash drives with introductory and administrative material--all funded by the Templeton Religion Trust.

[22] With the arrival of the COVID-19 and travel restrictions, the 2020 Australasian Philosothon was held online with twenty-one Australian and New Zealand schools participating.

Mark Smith & Julie Arliss from the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics Department at King's College, Taunton, UK, spearheaded the Philosothon movement in the United Kingdom in collaboration with Dr Michael Lacewing from Heythrop College and Lizzy Lewis from Sapere.