Members of the WKU Philosophy Club dressed as ghostly philosophers at its annual “Dead Philosophers Haunted Tour” Monday evening at Cherry Hall.
Grim reapers and Greek ghouls began ushering students through the classrooms of Cherry Hall at 6 p.m., leading them to meet seven famous philosophers: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Ronald Dworkin, Friedrich Nietzsche, Margaret Macdonald, the Oracle of Delphi Pythia and Socrates. Each philosopher presented a short speech about their life and beliefs and offered candy to attendees.
Students dressed in period-typical clothing and wore face paint. They also utilized accents and speaking styles to enhance the immersion of the tour. Club members provided their own costumes and met before the tours began to prepare for the night together.
The tour is one of the Philosophy Club’s annual events. “It’s a way for us to have some fun and also spread the word about the program and our courses, and maybe recruit some people as minors and majors,” Michael Seidler, a philosophy professor who dressed as a plague doctor, said. “We’ve done this for half a dozen years, and it seems to get better every year.”
Landon Elkind, a philosophy professor and the club’s faculty advisor, said the students led the planning of the event.
“I booked the rooms and I went to Walmart to get the candy, but otherwise they did the costumes,” Elkind said. “They wrote the scripts. They decided how to present the material… They get total credit for it.”
Club presidents Eliza Marsh and Kayla Kean participated as Margaret MacDonald and Pythia, the oracle of Delphi.
Many attendees were motivated by extra credit opportunities for their classes. Students signed into the event and filled out a quiz paper as they toured.
“I’m here getting extra credit for my history class,” said Nora Justice, a freshman sociology and forensic psychology major. Other students attended to learn about philosophy or to spend time with friends, like Jaden Min, a freshman English major who attended with Justice.
The Philosophy Club meets Mondays at 6 p.m. in Cherry Hall 316. The club also hosts thought experiments and a spring student conference.
News Reporter Natalie Freidhof can be reached at [email protected]
