Our Philosophy

The High School Philosophy Seminar (HSPS) aims to bring the benefits and pleasures of philosophical reasoning to high school students. Philosophy is typically a post-secondary discipline. However, we believe that philosophical skills are vital in the formative High School years.

What is HSPS?

HSPS is a free program approved by the District of Columbia Public Schools Academic Services. HSPS was created to give District of Columbia high school students an opportunity to study philosophy with college students and professors on a high-ranking university campus. Philosophy, perhaps more than any other subject in the humanities, requires rigorous critical thinking, reading comprehension, and writing skills. Students get the opportunity to hone these skills on GW’s Foggy Bottom campus once a week through interactive educational programming.

Each session lasts for just under two hours—the typical length of a weekly college class. HSPS emphasizes the incorporation of analytic thought, discussion, and writing into day-to-day circumstances. This is accomplished through short lectures on different philosophical arguments and group discussions led by undergraduates. Participant development is measured over the course of the semester through daily written responses and two in class writing workshops where students complete an essay with the help of an undergraduate advisor. Undergraduates choose six of the essays to be published in the High School Philosophy Journal, a publication that goes out to other sponsors of the program nation-wide.

Several classes throughout the 14-week seminar will be devoted specifically to college: the application process, as well as what it means to be a college student academically and socially. Every semester, a GW admissions official comes to the class to give a presentation for juniors about applying to college. For those already accepted to college, we assemble a panel of undergraduates to field any questions having to do with study habits, social adjustment, and what it is to be a college student.

For more information, read our

FULL PROGRAM BROCHURE

contact: hsps@gwu.edu website: sawood@gwu.edu