What is COMPASS?

COMPASS is a mentorship and networking workshop for undergraduates from diverse backgrounds interested in pursuing philosophy. Run by graduate students, COMPASS takes place over the course of a weekend, and is designed to help introduce undergraduates to graduate school in philosophy. The workshop combines seminar-style discussion of recent work in philosophy with faculty-led advice panels.

COMPASS was designed to be easily replicable; it can be run by two or three graduate students on a shoe-string budget. Typically, a university that hosts a COMPASS workshop will seek participants from surrounding areas to minimize travel expenses. The hope is that, if enough universities run COMPASS workshops, interested undergraduates from across the country will have the opportunity to participate in one.

A number of philosophy departments including those at UNC, University of Michigan, UT Austin and Princeton have run COMPASS workshops in the past. Find out more about applying to COMPASS, or about starting a COMPASS workshop at your university!