Constitution for the Lancaster University Philosophy Society
25th February 2020
Contents
5.5. Handover Meeting and Requirements
7.5.1. Guided Reflection Groups
7.5.2. Collaborative Reflection Groups
7.6. Academic and Professional Guest Events
7.6.2. Professional Guest Events
7.7. Philosophical Skills Workshops
7.8. The Annual General Meeting
7.9. Executive Committee Meetings
7.9.1. Emergency Executive Committee Meetings
The Lancaster University Philosophy Society is to underpin the creation of a community surrounding the discussion and debate of key areas of the human condition.
At the core PhilSoc is the desire to bring people together from all academic disciplines, ages, genders, sexes, races, cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, nationalities, religions and ideologies to form a society of people with a passion for collaborative, effective and productive discussion on humanity’s biggest issues.
It is the endeavour of the PhilSoc Executive Committee to create a sense of belonging amongst all those with a passion for philosophy at Lancaster University.
This sense of belonging should be particularly salient amongst the undergraduate students of philosophy within the Politics, Philosophy and Religion Department at Lancaster. This should be achieved by the efficient, organised and sustained delivery of PhilSoc events themed towards the furthering of students’ studies and personal wellbeing.
This Constitution is written primarily to indicate, explain and clarify what PhilSoc is, what it wants to do and how it believes those things are best done. In this way, not only is what constitutes PhilSoc described here, but tips, advice and other extra information are included also. This to help further the progression and development of the Society as much as possible.
We the students in this the 2019th year of the Lord Saviour swear to uphold the commandments and leadership of our philosophical idols (left unnamed for apoliticality). We are Skander Manaa (President), Guillermo Alonso (Vice-President), Zacharie Chiron (Treasurer), Tom Williamson (General Secretary), Sveta Kolmogorova (Social Secretary) and Jamie Walls (Memedia Maester), and this is our Constitution.
This is the Constitution of the Lancaster University Philosophy Society. It will be henceforth referred to as “the Society” or “PhilSoc”.
Persons who have paid a membership fee (see 4.) will constitute part of the “Membership Body”, and individually will be referred to here as “Members”.
The Executive Committee of PhilSoc (see 3.1.) will henceforth be called the “Exec.”.
The meeting of Society and Exec. members at which Hustings (annual elections for the new Exec.) takes places will be known just as “Hustings” (see 5.).
The meeting of Society and Exec. members at which amendments to this Constitution are discussed shall be called the “Annual General Meeting”, or “AGM”.
The Society is a registered Society of the Lancaster University Students’ Union. This organisation will be henceforth called “LUSU”. The Society shall be associated to LUSU subject to conditions set out in the Activities Bye-Law. As such, the Society agrees to abide by the Union Constitution, its Bye-Laws, the LUSU Safety Framework and all other Union policies.
The Society may affiliate to external bodies subject to the approval of the Exec. (see Section 100.6 in LUSU’s Constitution).
The online cloud platform hosted by NUS Digital and LUSU on which details of the Society Exec. members, Membership Types, individual Members, news, events, and communications known as the Union Cloud will be henceforth referred to as “the Union Cloud”.
LUSU is the Students’ Union of Lancaster University, which will be henceforth referred to as “Lancaster”, “the University” or “Lancaster University”.
The Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University, of whose students PhilSoc represents a third, will henceforth be called “the PPR Department”.
The bank with which the Society has an account, NatWest Westminster Bank, shall be henceforth known as “NatWest”.
After the dissolution of a previous philosophy society in the past, PhilSoc was relaunched in the 2016-17 academic year. It was founded as an attempt to create an inclusive community at Lancaster who could come together and share their passion for philosophical discussion and insight.
The Exec. of the time (Pablo Bilbao, Ben Crumpton, Marcin Kaminsky, Sveta Kolmogorova & Guillermo Alonso) decided to branch out to students from other disciplines and to other Societies to create inclusive discussions that would promote critical analysis in a friendly environment.
Since 2016, the Society has attracted a wide range of people from different disciplines and walks of life. It has been able to host debates with multiple Societies (the Feminist Society, the Catholic Society and the Wine Society to name a few) that have led to fruitful discussion about many important philosophical and real-life issues.
The spirit of PhilSoc is and has always been to question all ideas without a recourse to violence or aggression. We pride ourselves for having been able to have done so for these first three years.
The primary aims of PhilSoc will be:
Creating a community of people who are interested in philosophical discussion regardless of background;
And furthering the integration, familiarisation and academic development of undergraduate philosophy students at Lancaster.
Secondary aims include:
Supporting the aims for academic development of the PPR Department, such as via course-specific events that might further the philosophical capabilities of students;
Fostering the development of friendships of philosophy students at Lancaster such that it might better their academic and social lives, and in doing so fostering the development of a community spirit between them;
Developing the diversity of the Membership Body by actively encouraging persons of all academic disciplines, ages, genders, sexes, races, cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, nationalities, religions and ideologies to attend.
And encouraging and developing students’ critical thinking, debating and philosophical skills.
The Society is set up primarily to have a collective, community spirit.
The Executive Committee (see 3.) is formed of six members: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, General Secretary, Social Secretary and Memedia Maester (or, Media Secretary – see 3.7.).
It is the desire of those writing this Constitution that the PhilSoc Exec. be considered by Society members to be equals with them. In this sense, there should be no braggadocious displays of power, overinflated sense of personal importance or anything else overtly authoritative from members of the Exec. – this would hamper the Aims of this Constitution as set out in 2.3. above.
The Structure of the Society can also be defined with a view to what Events it puts on. PhilSoc plays host to Discussions (see 7.1.), Presentations (see 7.2.), Debates (see 7.3.), Reflection Groups (see 7.5.), Academic and Professional Guest Events (see 7.6.) and Philosophical Skills Workshops (see 7.7.). These exist to meet the Aims of the Society as set out in 2.3. above.
The Exec. will be formed by six main positions: the President, the Vice-President, the Treasurer, the General Secretary, the Social Secretary and the Memedia Maester.
Given the community, collective spirit of the Society, there is also the option (upon unanimous vote from the incoming Exec. following Hustings) to elect any Honorary Member to the Exec. (see 3.8.).
Being the presiding Chairs of weekly Discussions will be a responsibility shared by the General Secretary along with any other Exec. member.
Where any Exec. member is absent or unable to fulfil their role (in a way that is not grounds for an MNO or Re-election), their duties may be delegated to another Exec. member.
The main duties of the President are the presiding over all matters of the Society. In this way, the President should have a grasp over all Society matters. Roles of the President include, although are not limited to:
Being the representative for PhilSoc to the PPR Department, to the Membership Body, to LUSU when necessary, and to any persons external to Lancaster with an interest in the Society.
Presiding over Re-elections (see 5.6.) and the appointment of Guided Reflection Group Pandits (see 7.5.1.)
Delegating the organisational responsibility for Philosophical Skills Workshops to individual Exec. members ad hoc (see 7.7.);
Delegating the duties of an incapacitated Exec. member where necessary;
Organising and overseeing regular Executive Committee Meetings (with the Vice-President, see 7.9.);
Ensuring that the weekly Discussions are planned, prepared and organised sufficiently in advance (with the Vice-President);
Organising Guest Events, by:
Researching persons of interest in advance;
Contacting invitees;
And organising Events’ logistics (with the Vice-President – see 7.6.).
Acting as one of three Returning Officers at Hustings (see 5.), which requires the organisation and overseeing of the Hustings Procedure (see 5.1.) and the vote count (with the Vice-President and the General Secretary);
Being the secondary signatory for the Society’s bank account (with the Treasurer);
Enabling the smooth transfer of the bank account details, including the organisation of the change of signatory forms for the incoming Exec., during the Handover process (with the Treasurer);
Organising the re-affiliation process with LUSU for the Society before Week 30 during Summer Term (with the General Secretary, see 3.5. for further details);
The comedic prosecution of horrific misquotations of philosophers whom the President deems important enough for misquoting to be sacrilegious;
And, the sentencing of Members or of the Exec. to the Metaphorical Gulag, whereupon the sentenced person must either perfectly recite a verse of a poem, sing a song of the President’s choosing or stand on the nearest table and proclaim the following:
I am the real silly. I know nothing but that I nothing know. Waa!
The Vice-President’s primary role is to assist the President in any way possible. This means the Vice-President will share the following duties with the President:
To organise and oversee regular Executive Committee Meetings (see 7.8.);
To ensure that the weekly discussions are planned, prepared and organised sufficiently in advance;
And, to organise Guest Events, by:
Researching persons of interest in advance;
Contacting invitees;
And organising Events’ logistics (see 7.6.).
Further, the Vice-President is specifically responsible for:
Liaising with other on-campus Societies for collaborative events (with the Social Secretary);
Overseeing and addressing the welfare needs of Society members. If an issue arises pertaining to the Vice-President personally, any Society member is welcome to speak to any other Executive Committee member;
Acting as one of three Returning Officers at Hustings (see 5.), which requires the organisation and overseeing of the Hustings Procedure (see 5.1.) and the vote count (with the President and the General Secretary);
And aiding any other Exec. member where necessary.
The Treasurer’s main role is the responsible management of Society finances. The Treasurer’s duties include:
Maintaining good order of the Society finances and ensuring that the LUSU Financial Regulations are adhered to;
Maintaining an up-to-date account of all financial transactions;
The creation of a budget for the Society to re-affiliate with LUSU in Summer Term (to send to the General Secretary);
The creation of a report of revenue and expenditure to present at Hustings in Week 17;
Having the primary authority over decisions concerning the usage of Society funds, especially concerning expenditure;
To be the primary signatory for the bank account (with the President as secondary);
Enabling the smooth transfer of the bank account details, including the organisation of the change of signatory forms for the incoming Exec., during the Handover process (with the President);
Chasing up unpaid Membership fees;
Designing, ordering, distributing and collecting payment for PhilSoc themed merchandise;
And the overseeing of The Cake Jar (see 7.1.3.).
The General Secretary is responsible for the smooth running of the internal, administrative affairs of the Society. These include:
Taking minutes at the regular Executive Committee Meetings (see 7.9.);
Taking minutes at the Discussions. If the General Secretary cannot attend a Discussion, it is their responsibility to organise that another Exec. member records that week’s Discussion’s minutes;
Being the primary Chair presiding over the weekly Discussions along with any other person on the Exec.;
Acting as one of three Returning Officers at Hustings (see 5.), which requires the organisation and overseeing of the Hustings Procedure (see 5.1.) and the vote count (with the President and the Vice-President);
Having a working knowledge of this Constitution;
And organising the re-affiliation process with LUSU for the Society before Week 30 during Summer Term. This process requires the following to be completed (as of 2019):
The submission of an online form to LUSU giving the details of the incoming Exec. members;
The completion of a LUSU Data Protection Training test (to access the Union Cloud);
The submission of an up-to-date Constitution to the Re-affiliation Moodle page;
The submission of an Activities Plan for the upcoming academic year;
The submission of a Budget for the upcoming academic year;
And the submission of screenshots demonstrating updated Group Profile, Membership Types and Committee Details pages.
The Social Secretary has three primary responsibilities:
The management and regular updating of the Society’s social media accounts;
Advertisement and promotion of Society events through any means the Social Secretary deems appropriate;
And organising social events, including liaising with other on-campus Societies for any collaborative social events (with the Vice-President).
It is also the responsibility of the Social Secretary to maintain good order at all socials, Meetings and other Events.
The Memedia Maester (the official title of what might be otherwise called PhilSoc’s Media Secretary) has two primary responsibilities:
To produce a PowerPoint once a week for the Discussions, wherein spicy memes on the surrounding areas should be included to prompt serious, intellectual conversation;
And to design posters ad hoc for any PhilSoc event in a timely fashion, at the request of other Exec. Members.
The Memedia Maester also has the secondary responsibility of maintaining morale on the PhilSoc Facebook Messenger group chat, mostly by posting memes but also by checking upon the health and wellbeing of the Membership Body, and assigning and subtracting lad points by subjective decision of desert.
Where, following a Hustings, a unanimous decision of the Exec. decides that a further person to the originally elected Exec. would be beneficial to include within themselves, extra persons can be awarded the position of “Honorary Member”.
An Honorary Member has no specific duties or roles, but ought to assist and offer their services where possible.
An Honorary Member is not obligated to fulfil any of the constitutionally mandated roles or requirements of the original six Exec. members set out in this Constitution.
To dismiss an Exec. member, a Motion of No Confidence (MNO) must be placed on the member in question.
Grounds for an MNO may include:
Failure to fulfil any of the roles set out in 3.;
Failure to give sufficient reason or due notice of absence to an Executive Committee Meeting;
Or absence to an AGM (or a Hustings, although a dismissal before a Hustings would be pointless);
This MNO must be levelled by one Exec. member, and seconded by another, for it to have any repercussions.
Once an MNO has been levelled and seconded, a two-thirds majority of the Exec. must be acquired for the motion to be passed. Following a successful MNO, the Exec. member in question must immediately resign.
Any Exec. member who has given no reason nor apology at all for absence to two consecutive Executive Committee Meetings will be considered to have resigned, and a Re-election should be held for their role to be refilled.
The tenure of Exec. members shall begin following the Handover Meeting as described in 5.5. and shall end after its completion the following year.
- Membership Body
Membership of the Society is open to all Full and Associate Members of Lancaster University Students’ Union, as set out in the LUSU Constitution.
From the period of 2016 – 2019, it was the endeavour of the Exec. teams to maintain the cost of membership for PhilSoc to be free.
This decision was overturned by the Exec. of 2019-20, who realised that in order to expand the types of events and other services offered by the Society, a tiered, payed system needed to be introduced.
There are three tiers of Membership, which permit free entry to the various types of events that the Society puts on (see 7.). The names of each Membership Tier were decided based upon an assessment of the increasing difficulty and relative access level required to read each philosopher.
The first tier will give membership to a Platonic Member. A Platonic Member is allowed free entry to:
Weekly Discussions (see 7.1.);
Presentations (see 7.2.);
Debates (see 7.3.);
Reflection Groups (see 7.5.);
Hustings, at which they will also be allowed to vote (see 5.);
And the Annual General Meeting, at which they will be allowed to vote (see 7.8.).
The second tier will give membership to a Kantian Member. A Kantian Member is allowed free entry to:
All that which a Platonic Member is allowed (weekly Discussions, Presentations, Debates, Reflection Groups, Hustings, and the Annual General Meeting, at both of which they are also allowed to vote);
Academic Guest Events (see 7.6.1.);
Professional Guest Events (see 7.6.2.);
And Philosophical Skills Workshops (see 7.7.).
In the case that the Society organised a special, additional philosophy course with a paid tutor, a third tier should be introduced for that academic year. This tier will give membership to a Nietzschean Member. A Nietzschean Member is allowed free entry to:
All that which Platonic (weekly Discussions, Presentations, Debates, Reflection Groups, Hustings, and the Annual General Meeting, at both of which they are also allowed to vote) and Kantian (Academic Guest Events, Professional Guest Events and Philosophical Skills Workshops) Members are allowed;
The alternative philosophy courses that the Society might provide alongside the modules offered by the PPR Department. For instance, in 2019-20 a course offered by a PhD student at Lancaster was taught, and paid for by a higher tier of Membership.
The Platonic Membership fee should be £0. It is part of the aim of PhilSoc to create an inclusive community, and there should be no barrier to entry to it in the form of a fee.
In order to be able to provide the additional Events as described in 7., and to ensure a paid membership has value-for-money in being overall less than it would cost to get one-off entry to the year’s events (see 4.3.), it is reasonable to have small annual fee (below £10) for a higher, Kantian tier Member.
For any specialised, additional courses (as described in 4.1.), the fees for a Nietzschean Member should be decided ad hoc to cover any potential costs (where it is assumed here such costs will be met by a Membership Fee higher than £10, thus necessitating the creation of a third tier).
In instances where a Platonic (or Non-) Member wishes to attend any of the Events that a Kantian or Nietzschean Member has free access to (such as Guest Events or Skills Workshops), there should be a One-Off Admission Fee decided.
This One-Off Admission Fee should reflect the quality of the content of the Event being given whilst remaining highly affordable.
It is the recommendation of this Constitution that One-Off Admission Fees be no more than £5, with a view that, for the most part, £2 or £3 will suffice.
Any Exec. member is permitted to propose the revoking of Membership of any Member upon the seconding of any other Exec. member.
It should be noted that Dismissals should not occur over ideological disputes, only serious provocations of an inappropriate nature should give grounds for proposing Dismissal.
The Exec. reserves the right to refuse or revoke Membership, with the approval of the LUSU Societies Committee, of any individual.
The Hustings for the Society should occur annually during Week 17 (Lent Term). This will give the new Exec. enough time to orient themselves before the start of Lent Vacation and is sufficiently before end-of-term deadlines.
In order for Hustings to have constitutional competence, all Exec. members must be present, along with at least fifteen further Members of the Society.
Hustings must be advertised by the outgoing Exec. at least two weeks beforehand.
At the start of Hustings, the President will announce the positions available on the Exec. The President will then write those positions on a piece of paper or on a whiteboard.
Persons interested in bidding to become a part of the incoming Exec. will not be required to give any prior notice before the Hustings event.
Candidates interested in running for a position should make their intent known at this point, wherein candidates shall go and write their names under each position they are interested in running for.
There shall be no limit on the number of positions one candidate can run for.
Re-Open Nominations (RON) shall be a candidate in all elections.
The Treasurer will then give a brief report of revenue and expenditure from the past academic year.
Following this, the candidates will be invited to give a brief speech to promote themselves. Positions will be bid in the following order: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, General Secretary, Social Secretary, and Memedia Maester.
Speeches will be strictly limited to 5 minutes. Members present at Hustings will be permitted to ask questions for a subsequent 5 minutes.
After each position’s candidates have spoken, a vote will be held to decide the winner (see 5.2.).
The winner candidate of each position shall be announced following each individual vote.
The Society’s Hustings must utilise an alternative vote system. This is where voters can rank candidates in order of their preference – voters put their most favourite candidate in first place, and rank the rest.
After each position’s candidates have given their speeches, a piece of paper shall be given to each Member present at Hustings and they are required to give their rank their preferred candidates.
To determine the winner, a specific process is involved. Overseen by the three Returning Officers, the lowest-ranking candidate (who got placed as voters’ most favourite fewest times) is eliminated, and votes putting that candidate in first place are redistributed to the second choice of each voter.
If two candidates are tied for last, in terms of gaining the fewest number of highest-ranked votes, then they shall both be eliminated from contention by the Returning Officers presiding.
This process of eliminating the least-voted individual repeats until one majority winner remains.
For any Member’s vote to be valid, it must rank all candidates who ran in the corresponding election, including RON.
In the extreme circumstance where, at Hustings, an insufficient number of persons attempt to run for positions on the Exec., the incoming Exec., once elected, are permitted to rejig the roles (set out in 3.) where necessary, to maintain the smooth running of the Society.
In this instance, the minimum number of Exec. members must be 4: these roles should be the President, the Treasurer, the General Secretary and the Social Secretary.
To vote, a person must be a Member of the Society.
To run at Hustings, a person must be a Member of the Society.
To run for President, a candidate must have already held a position on the PhilSoc Exec. If RON wins the election for the President, any Member of the Society shall be allowed to run for the position, regardless of membership of the Executive Committee.
Once a new Exec. has been elected in, the old Exec. has one final task: to organise and provide sufficient materials for a Handover Meeting.
A Handover meeting occurs soon after the Hustings, and before Lent Vacation, at which all members of both the old Exec. and the new Exec. must be present.
In this, the old Exec. must provide role-specific information for each new Exec. member to enable the fluid transition between Exec. tenures.
The old Exec. must also guide the new Exec. through the overly laborious and needlessly complicated LUSU reaffiliation and bank signatory handover processes.
Only once this Handover Meeting are the new, elected Exec. members constitutionally recognised.
A formal complaint that a Member may have during the Hustings procedure should be first brought to any of the three Returning Officers.
Following the raising of any complaint, the Returning Officer with whom the complaint was raised should consult the other two Returning Officers.
If a two-thirds majority of the Returning Officers feel the complaint holds, and is sufficiently extreme for there to be a redoing of any speech or vote, it is permitted for the speech or vote in question to be redone.
Should a complainer not be happy with the resolution of a complaint, they may consult and appeal to the LUSU Societies Committee.
Where there is the unfortunate circumstance of one Exec. member having to leave their post (for any reason), there must be a re-election held for their replacement as soon after their departure as possible.
Re-elections do not have the same procedure as regular Hustings. Once a new position becomes available, the current Exec. must advertise it to the Membership Body.
Members should be asked to submit their name for consideration for the position, along with a 250-word piece detailing why they think they would be suitable for the role, their relevant experience and any ideas or plans they have to contribute to PhilSoc.
Re-Open Nominations (RON) shall be a candidate at each Re-election.
Applicants will be considered by the Exec. at special Re-election meeting, and which only the Exec. members should be present. A vote will be held amongst the Exec. members; at least a two-thirds majority must be obtained by one candidate to win the position.
Where there is no application submitted for Re-election, the Exec. team must rejig as set out in 5.3. No rejigging is therefore necessary if the Vice-President or Memedia Secretary positions are not refilled.
Society funds should be solely managed by the Treasurer, and any spending decisions must be approved by the Treasurer.
For any outgoing expenditure from the Society’s bank account, the approval of the Treasurer must be sought.
Where the Treasurer is somehow incapacitated or unable to give approval, the second signatory for the bank account will be consulted. This should be the President.
As required by NatWest, this Constitution shall also act as a mandate for the determination of signatories for the Society’s bank account.
In this way, the number and changeover of signatories for the account are mandated: the Treasurer and President shall be the sole signatories for the Society bank account, and shall thus be wholly responsible for:
Managing the Society’s finances;
And organising the handover of the bank account from the old Exec. to the new Exec. when required.
- Meetings and Events
The staple PhilSoc event is the weekly Discussion. This should be held in any room on campus that is accessible to all.
A Discussion constitutes the brief introduction of a topic (see 7.1.1.) followed by a debate or conversation about it. It is recommended to last between 1 and 2 hours, although no constraint is recommended here.
The topic of the Discussion should be decided beforehand, either by Facebook polling or by the specific decision of the Exec.
The title, topic and timing of the Discussion should be organised (ideally) 24 hours before the Discussion itself. Once decided, these details should be advertised to the Membership Body via the creation of a Facebook event, alongside any other method of advertisement deemed appropriate.
Topics should border having a significant philosophical depth and being more broadly accessible to those with a non-philosophical background.
Such topics might be best exemplified by, but should not be limited to:
Art and Aesthetics;
Morality;
Religion;
Politics and economics;
Metaphysics;
Epistemology;
Personal identity;
Culture and society;
Or Life and death.
Trust is left in the hands of the Exec. to decide what should make a good Discussion. It is advised that topics that border on the potentially polemical, polarising or politicising should be treated with extra care, but should not be avoided at all.
This is so as to nurture effective and productive debate and so as to avoid ad hominem attacks, a breakdown in civil discourse or the reduction in the quality of the Discussion, the community spirit of PhilSoc and the Society as a whole.
The responsibility of being the Chairs of weekly Discussions is left to two Exec. members. One Chair must be the General Secretary (or a replacement for the General Secretary as organised by them, see 3.5.) and any other Exec. member.
The roles of Chairs are to:
Introduce the topic at hand;
Pose related, challenging or interesting questions throughout the Discussion so as to guide it in a suitable direction;
Ensure that the relevance and focus of the Discussion to the topic at hand is upheld, whilst allowing for tangentiality where appropriate;
To call ‘Order!’ where the Discussion breaks down and where refocussing is deemed necessary. The number of calls for order should be noted in the minutes as taken by the General Secretary (or replacement) for that Discussion;
And to monitor the timing of the Discussion, as well as calling it to an end where either topically or temporally appropriate.
To promote a sense of camaraderie, the “Cake Jar” will be implemented.
This will be taken to each Discussion, and will be the responsibility of the Treasurer to maintain.
Before each Discussion, the Exec. will pick a few key words or terms that they think will be of particular interest to those present to mention (for instance, the word ‘Trump’ in a Discussion on ‘Populism’).
These words or terms will not be mentioned to those present at the Discussion, but will be known by all the Exec. members.
Once somebody present says one of the words or terms chosen beforehand, they will be asked to place a coin (of any value) into the Cake Jar.
After each Discussion, the Treasurer will make a note of the value contained within it.
Once a certain value has been reached, the Treasurer will take the coins out and use it to buy a cake. This cake will be brought to the subsequent Discussion for consumption by those present, and the Cake Jar will start being refilled.
Where somebody, either of the Membership Body or the Exec., has appropriate expertise, interest and impetus to talk specifically on a particular topic, field or subfield, they should be invited by the Society to give a Presentation to other Members.
This Presentation could either run alongside (in a weekly schedule), or instead of, the weekly Discussion.
Presentations should be made such that there could be time afterwards for Members present to engage with the material, ask questions and discuss the topics at hand.
Presentations should be constructed to foster the sharing of knowledge between Members of the Society.
Presentations should be Chaired in the same way as set out in 7.1.2. above.
During times of particular public interest in a certain field, topic or issue, the Exec. are encouraged to host a Debate on it. This issue should be quite polemical to attract broader interest from the Membership Body and beyond.
A Debate should be similar in structure to a Discussion, but where there are two distinct sides to be taken by those in attendance. The sides might do best to be “for” or “against” a particular issue, depending on the nature of the topic at hand.
These sides should be reflected in the title of the Debate given by the organising Exec. members. It is suggested that titles be sufficiently provocative or polemical so as to stoke widespread interest.
Debates should be Chaired in the same way as set out in 7.1.2. above.
To gauge the perspectives of those in attendance at a Debate, and to note how the Debate might have affected those perspectives, an initial and concluding vote should be held. These should be taken immediately before and after any debating has taken place. Any means available to Exec. members may be used to complete such votes.
It is recommended, in order to draw in interest from those arriving or returning to Lancaster following the summer break, that a Debate be hosted during Freshers’ Week (Week 1 of Michaelmas Term).
Where necessary, a Chair has the authority to ask a Member present at a Discussion, Presentation or Debate to leave – or, to give an individual their Marching Orders.
There need not be an agreement between Chairs as to the giving of Marching Orders.
There are grounds for giving Marching Orders when:
A Member persists in maintaining an ineffective, unsound or otherwise useless line of argument that has become sufficiently tiresome to be heard repeated;
A Member directs physical or verbal abuse of any kind that the Chair deems sufficiently inappropriate;
And when a Member behaves in any other way that is unanimously agreed by both Chairs to be worthy of the giving of Marching Orders.
Upon the giving of Marching Orders, it is under the threat of revoking Membership (see 4.4.) that a Member should leave.
Should a Member fail to leave upon being given their Marching Orders, there are sufficient grounds to revoke Membership and, upon the approval of the LUSU Societies Committee, ban the ex-Member from attending any other PhilSoc Meeting or Event in the future.
The power of giving Marching Orders also is entrusted to any Exec. member at a Hustings (see 5.), an Annual General Meeting (see 7.8.) Guided Reflection Group Pandits (see 7.5.1.) any Exec. member running a Philosophical Skills Workshop (see 7.7.),
Trialled in the 2018-19 academic year to be brought in for the 2019-20 academic year, Reflection Groups shall be an entirely different type of event to those above.
They were formally introduced to foster a sense of community and to further the academic capabilities of philosophy undergraduates at Lancaster.
The premise of a Reflection Group is to bring together philosophy undergraduates studying the same module offered by the Philosophy Department to clarify, discuss and develop themes introduced in lectures and seminars.
A Reflection Group shall occur weekly, which any philosophy undergraduate who has acquired a Platonic Membership (see 4.1.) can attend.
They might be best to be predominantly held in Seminar Rooms on campus, although the specifics of their location are not mandated here.
It is recommended that they last between one and two hours.
There should be one Reflection Group per every module that PhilSoc is able to cover.
There shall be to be two types: Guided and Collaborative.
A Guided Reflection Group shall be whose running is overseen by an older student who has recently completed the module in question.
This older student will be known as a Pandit, in reference to the Sanskrit and Hindu term for a ‘learned man’.
It is the responsibility of the Pandit to:
Organise where and when each weekly Reflection Group is to occur.
Have prepared to guide each Reflection Group by having:
Revisited that week’s content in their notes from the previous year;
Thought of some interesting or provocative questions to stoke discussion;
And prepared to answer any questions the Pandit feels they might be asked about potentially confusing parts.
Ensure that messages that the Exec. wishes be given to philosophy undergraduates be passed on. In this way, a Pandit also acts as a representative for the Society, and thus must behave appropriately.
Requirements for the appointment of a Pandit are that they must:
Have completed the module within the last 12 months upon the Reflection Group’s start;
Have achieved at least a 2:1 in that module;
Be an Exec. member, or where an individual is sufficiently known and trusted by the Exec., be philosophy student at the time of appointment – either by having it as a single or joint major.
Given that a Pandit will ordinarily be an Exec. member, no formal appointment procedure needs to be detailed. However, where another individual is eager to take on the role of a Pandit, following the agreement of at least a two-thirds majority of the Exec., they may be permitted to do so.
A Collaborative Reflection Group shall have the same structure as a Guided Reflection Group, except without any Pandit guiding it. One may be formed where there is both:
No available person to take the role of Pandit (i.e. nobody who meets the requirements for the appointment of one);
Sufficient interest and impetus from students of that module, upon having contacted the Society, to organise one.
In the founding of a Collaborative Reflection Group, the details one of the philosophy undergraduates within its organisation should be taken by the Society. This person should represent somewhat of a leader/organiser for the group, and act as a Pandit only insofar as they act as a representative for the Society (as detailed in 7.5.1.).
Academic and Professional Guest Events shall concern the invitation of individuals to give a talk, presentation or lecture to the Society’s Membership Body about a particular topic, issue or career-path.
It is the responsibility of the President and Vice-President to organise Guest Events (see 3.2. and 3.3. respectively).
It is strongly advised here that such organisation take place before the start of the academic year (i.e. over Summer Vacation) so as to avoid potential clashes with the diaries of potential invitees – the earlier organisation starts, the more likely an invitee is likely to accept an invitation.
Where the structure of a Guest Event might mimic the structure of a Discussion, Presentation or Debate, see sections 7.1., 7.2., and 7.3. for guidance.
To organise a Guest Event, the following steps need to be completed:
The President and/or Vice-President should reach out (primarily by email) and acquire the acceptance of an invitation to speak.
An initial date, time and place need to be agreed. Such agreement should occur before any venue can be booked.
In order to book a venue (done using the PhilSoc Moodle login details on the Lancaster Room Bookings Website: https://timetabling.lancaster.ac.uk/RoomBooking/Default.aspx), and once the availability of the invitee has been reaffirmed, a Speaker Request Form for LUSU must be filled out. This form can be found via the following link, and may take a week or two to be accepted: https://lancasteruni.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2uchp6vA15vvFhX.
Once LUSU have confirmed that a Speaker may attend, publicity for the Event should begin. This should begin as early as possible, and should have a plan of action so as to promote the Event as far as possible.
There are to be two types: Academic and Professional
An Academic Guest Event shall be where a person whose profession is doing philosophy (e.g. a philosopher, a writer, a columnist etc.) is invited to talk on an aspect of their work to the Membership Body.
Topics on which academics speak should bridge the gap between being significant within the field of philosophy and having a wider significance in everyday life, for example in politics, medicine, biology, media, technology, or international relations (etc.).
Given the busy schedules of professional academics (i.e. Professors), it is especially important that these be organised over Summer Vacation. This is less true of academics within the PPR Department, whose logistical restraints on being hosted by PhilSoc will clearly be less limiting.
These are recommended to last between one and two hours and be hosted in a venue large enough to hold the expected capacity.
It is recommended that PhilSoc host at least two Academic Guest Events per year.
A Professional Guest Event shall be where a person whose profession can be seen potentially to follow from a philosophy degree (e.g. a civil servant, a journalist, a publisher, a lawyer etc.) comes to speak about their job.
The focus of the Event should be on what exactly the job requires and entails. What qualifications one needs, the application process, the day-to-day tasks, the positive and negative aspects, and anything else that might help Members gain employment following their degree should all be included.
These can be organised slightly less in advance, although the earlier the better of course.
Given the great importance both undergraduate students and university departments place on career prospects and employment success, it is strongly advised that the Society host as many Professional Guest Events as it can – at least two per academic year.
In collaboration with the PPR Department, the Society shall put on Philosophical Skills Workshops, whose aim shall be to promote and enhance the skills required to complete an undergraduate philosophy degree.
A Workshop should last no longer than two hours, with an hour being ample time.
They should be structured so as to include ample time for both instruction and active engagement from those in attendance. This therefore entails the preparation for a Workshop be done to facilitate both sorts of learning.
Workshops might concern the development of the following skills:
Effective reading;
Academic writing;
Or critical thinking.
However, as long as the content of a Workshop is clearly beneficial to the Membership Body and their academic development, no restriction is placed here on what they may be about.
Philosophical Skills Workshops should be organised by whichever Exec. member the President deems capable (given individual availability and expertise etc.).
It is recommended that PhilSoc host one Workshop per term.
Once a year, prior to Hustings (see 5.), the Exec. must all meet at the Annual General Meeting to discuss any changes or additions to the Constitution that they feel are appropriate.
Any Member of the Society shall be allowed to attend the AGM, and shall be allowed to vote on amendments (see 8.).
In order for the AGM to have constitutional competence, all Exec. members must be in attendance, along with at least five other Society Members.
The AGM shall have no length of time specified given its importance. It should be held in a location and at a time accessible to all.
To maintain healthy and active lines of communication between Exec. members, the President and/or Vice-President should organise regular Executive Committee Meetings (as described in 3.2. and 3.3.). An Executive Committee Meeting can also be organised at the request of two-thirds of the PhilSoc Exec.
All (and only) Exec. members should be in attendance to an Executive Committee Meeting. Where they cannot be, sufficient reason and due notice must be given to the President or Vice-President.
If an individual has not provided sufficient reason and due notice for absence to an Executive Committee Meeting three times in a row (where sufficiency is determined in this case by any Exec. member), there are grounds for a Motion of No Confidence to be placed on them. See 3.9. for how to proceed from here.
There should be an Executive Committee Meeting at least five times per academic year.
The organising President or Vice-President must give at least three days’ notice to Exec. members for the announcement of an Executive Committee Meeting.
In the case where the President or Vice-President, or half of the Exec. feel that there is an emergency warranting holding an Emergency Executive Committee Meeting, one can be called.
There is no constitutional mandate for Exec. attendance at an Emergency Executive Committee Meeting, and there no grounds for a Motion of No Confidence (or MNC – see 3.9.), should any Exec. fail to attend.
There is also no constitutional mandate for the amount of notice the organising individual(s) should give to the Exec. given how short-notice an Emergency Executive Committee Meeting may have to be.
Any change or addition to this Constitution can be proposed at the AGM or any Executive Committee Meeting.
Each change of the types described in the above clause requires at least two-thirds majority of all those present at the Meeting in question, and at least a two-thirds majority of the Exec., to be enacted.
