About

The Philological Society is a graduate student association that organizes interdisciplinary humanities events each academic year. The group was originally founded in 1877 by President Daniel Coit Gilman and Professor Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve with the following charge: to further the cooperation and communication amongst the university’s different academic disciplines and departments whose research could be defined as humanistic and philological. The Philological Society’s primary function was the communication of the results of scholarly research and study through monthly meetings and lectures. In its current form, The Philological Society especially brings vibrant speakers to Johns Hopkins to discuss a diverse set of topics.

Activities

In 2019-20, we held a talk with Brian Feltman (Georgia Southern) about the home as a site of mourning in 20^th-century Germany that was co-sponsored by the Department of History and the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute. 

Some months later in the winter, we hosted a lecture by Andrew Huddleston (Birkbeck) concerning the status of modern European literature with respect to religion. This event was co-sponsored by the Departments of Philosophy and Modern Languages & Literatures.

Finally, we ran a major conference on Spinoza’s moral and political philosophy in 18^th– and 19^th-century German thought, featuring scholars from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the Hebrew University, NYU, and other institutions, with co-sponsorship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation as well as the Departments of Philosophy and Modern Languages & Literatures.

This academic year 2020-21, we have thus far sponsored several events and also hosted an international workshop to celebrate Paul Celan’s centennial. We are planning events for the summer and fall. Keep checking our home page for upcoming events.