Each presenter will deliver a 15-minute presentation showcasing their research, followed by a 5-minute Q&A session for deeper discussion

Speakers and Topics

Braidyn Moore : Braidyn is currently completing a MRes thesis on the convergence between ancient Greek and 18th century Romantic understandings of poetry and how they inform and invigorate philosophy. He has completed a BA at WSU, studied ancient Greek and Latin at USyd, and has returned to WSU for his postgrad studies. His interests are in literature, language and philosophy, particularly from antiquity and the Romantic period. He is also a junior editor at the Journal of Continental Philosophy at WSU.

Title : The Thread of Ariadne – Poesis and Romanticism

Abstract: Poetry and Philosophy are two modes, often seen in opposition to each other, of exploring one of the oldest and most poignant questions that we ask: what does it mean to be human? For most of the history of thought and inquiry, these two rarely intersect to say something profound about that question. However, there are moments in which they do, and these moments stand as shining examples of progress and innovation. What has become clear to me, is that the study of poetry reveals an intimate fascination and fraternity with philosophy. The central motive behind both is in harmony: it is the critical spirit which drives and motivates both poets and philosophers in their work. Both ask the same question, the difference lies in how the attempted answers come about. It is my goal to illuminate how both poetry and philosophy are at their core, not inherently at odds, but can in fact, as the Romantic poet Friedrich Hölderlin once said, operate in ‘harmonious contrariety’.

Claudia Wrzos : Claudia completed a Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy/English)/Business (Hospitality Management) between 2020-2023, later pursuing a Master of Research (2024-2025) to continue to explore philosophy and to learn about phenomenology. They are currently in the first-draft stages of their thesis.

Title: The Human Across Philosophy to Phenomenology.

Abstract: This project began with the philosophy of mind, and then tracked into other fields like psychiatry (briefly) and notably, phenomenology. The themes within these disciplines were plentiful, but a central ‘theme’ emerged—the human. Initially this sounds very broad, and it is; but it is what most discussions within all these disciplines are pointing to/implying, albeit varying in obviousness across a spectrum. For example (and very broadly) these discussions include ‘the mind’, ‘consciousness’, ‘other minds’, ‘interaction between, e.g., mind and body’, ‘experience’, ‘brain’, ‘cognition’, ‘intuition’, ‘identity’, ‘self’, ‘interaction’, etc. The variety of discussions implies that there are different ways of talking about the human (arguably some more effective than others). Philosophy has tended to reduce the human to either mental/mind or brain, or has only seemed to refer to an ‘ideal’ subject. These discussions disregard—often—context, situation, the way we experience our bodies, and the way we experience each other and the world. Phenomenology, although not disregarding philosophy completely, focuses on interrogating how we experience the world, encouraging a clean-slate in terms of assumptions made about reality and ourselves.

Julian Walker : Julian Walker is a Master of Research Candidate. His research reframes the Korean Provisional Government through secessionist theory by investigating labels associated with the governmental entity.

Title: Importance of Labels: Who decides what words mean?

Abstract: Political terminology functions less as objective description and more as strategic tool for legitimacy. This presentation examines how the Korean Provisional Government (1919-1945) demonstrates the gap between scholarly definitions and political reality. While historians debate whether the KPG truly qualified as a "government in exile" based on established criteria, Korean independence activists deliberately chose this label—alongside "provisional government"—to maximize international recognition and legitimacy during their anti-colonial struggle. Drawing parallels to the American Continental Congress and Belgian wartime government, Korean leaders understood that self-identification with recognized political concepts could transcend technical definitions. The term "provisional" served as a conceptual placeholder before decolonial language emerged post-1945, while "government in exile" provided strategic legitimacy despite the KPG's fundamentally secessionist nature. This case study reveals how political movements shape meaning through usage, challenging historians to consider not just what labels technically mean, but why certain groups choose them and how this choice influences both contemporary reception and historical interpretation.

Margrete Lamond: Margrete is an author, editor, publisher and creative coach. Her book The Sorry Tale of Fox and Bear was short-listed for the NSW Premier’s Literary Award, and her picture-books Just One Bee and Paper Flower Girl were Honour Books in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards in 2021 and 2024. Margrete’s latest picture book, Tilly in a Tangle, illustrated by Monty Lee, was released in November 2024. Margrete holds a master’s degree in children’s literature (Macquarie), and is a current Doctorate of Creative Arts candidate at Western Sydney University and is writing her first novel for adult readers.

Title: THE UNWITTING ASSUMPTION OF BELIEF: how readers believe what they know to be untrue.

Abstract: Enjoying a work of fiction means accepting the events it portrays are not true and yet engaging with them as if they were: the reader suspends critical judgement about the plausibility of events described and embraces the ‘as if’ nature of fiction. Coleridge’s statement about the suspension of critical judgement, ‘the willing suspension of disbelief’, suggests the reader makes a conscious, willing effort to lay aside doubts and judgements, and that this willingness occurs during the act of reading, where the fiction is known to be both untrue and as-if-it-were-true. I argue that neural networks relevant to belief operate on a preconscious level, and that the mind/brain makes decisions about believing or not believing prior to information entering conscious cognition. The suspension of disbelief is therefore not only unrelated to the will, it is largely unwitting.