A Day at Camp
The PACT Summer Camp will explore the session theme through a weeklong series of fun, engaging activities. Each in-person day will include creative projects and learning activities around our beautiful campus, including our seminar room, lecture halls, and the Oval. Throughout the week, campers will have the opportunity to discuss the issues that matter most to them. In several sessions, campers will hear lively and interactive presentations from Ohio State professors on core philosophical questions. Still other sessions will explore our topic through examining practical scenarios through the eyes of leading philosophers around the world.
A typical in-person day will be split into several sessions, each lasting 1-2 hours. Campers are expected to arrive at camp every day by 9:00 a.m. at the latest. Campers will depart Monday-Thursday between 4:00 and 4:30pm. On Friday afternoon, parents/guardians are invited to a showcase featuring the week’s highlights.
This year, we will offer additional programming after regular camp until 6:30pm. We will watch movies that relate to our theme. We will play board games when its raining. And we will organize games outside on the Oval when the weather permits. The goal for these additional hours is fun and building connections among our campers.
2023 Session 1 Theme: Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence
Questions we will explore through guest lectures from our world-class faculty, interactive discussions, media, and debates:
- Can a computer system be “intelligent” or “conscious”?
- How and why can “artificial intelligence” improve on human decision-making?
- How and why can the use of algorithms or machine learning improve the fairness of decision-making? How and why can it enshrine bias or other forms of injustice?
- Who is responsible when a self-driving car or a social media algorithm produces bad outcomes?
- Does the potential for super-intelligent autonomous AI systems pose an existential threat to humanity?
2024 Session 2 Theme: Science, Faith and Reality
Questions we will explore through guest lectures from our world-class faculty, interactive discussions, media, and debates:
- What is the nature of science?
- Are there important questions science can't answer?
- Is science aimed at truth or just at helping us to make useful predictions?
- Does God exist? Is belief in God a matter of reason or of faith?
- Can faith ever be rational?
- What is skepticism? Can it ever be rational?
- Do we have evidence that we live in a simulation or a multiverse? How do these ideas relate to questions about God?
Learn more about PACT:
Overview