During the week of July 10-14, the Hoffberger Center for Professional Ethics held its first-ever Philosophy Camp for Teens here at UB. Twenty-two Baltimore-area high school students attended.

Fred Guy, director of the Hoffberger Center, and his staff designed each day of camp to demonstrate to the students that philosophical thinking is relevant and valuable to them in their daily lives. Topics and activities included social media bullying, shaming, and texting obsession; police brutality; moot court cases on ethical dilemmas; robots and A. I. (from The Matrix and more); ethics bowl competitions; and role playing as mayor of an ideal city.

During the closing exercises, the students spontaneously went up to the mic and said how much they had benefited from the camp and how many new friends they had. All said they couldn’t wait until camp next summer!

students and staff from the Hoffberger Center’s inaugural Philosophy Camp