SMS 2025 Summer School

24 - 27 June 2025, held virtually

Overall Event Description

The SMS will host a summer school this summer from June 24th to June 27th over Zoom. We are pleased to announce that there will be two streams available this year:

(A) Daniel Kostic (Polish Academy of Sciences) and James Woodward (University of Pittsburgh)will focus on Exploring the Roles of Topology and Dynamics in Network Based Explanations

(June 24-25, 10:00-1:00 EST).

(B) Jacqueline Sullivan (Western University) and Muhammad Ali Khalidi (The Graduate Center, CUNY) will focus on Psychiatric Kinds and Natural Kinds

(June 26-27, 9:00-12:00 EST).

Each stream consists of two three-hour workshops, each designed to introduce participants to the state of play in the given subdiscipline. See below for more information about each stream.

Application & Registration Information

In order to apply, please submit a c.v. to Ken Aizawa (ken.aizawa@gmail.com) and include which stream(s) you would like to attend. There is no official deadline for applications, but attendance will be capped at 20 participants.

A registration fee of $25 per stream ($25 for one stream; $50 for both) is required, which will be used to partially offset expenses. Accepted applicants will be asked to submit their registration fees by June 15, 2025, via our Registration Page.

Please direct inquiries to Jenn McDonald (jc2266@columbia.edu) and Ken Aizawa (ken.aizawa@gmail.com).

Exploring the Roles of Topology and Dynamics in Network Based Explanations

w/Daniel Kostic & James Woodward

Session Times:

June 24th, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm EST

June 25th, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm EST

Expected Readings:

  • TBD

Psychiatric Kinds & Natural Kinds

w/Jacqueline Sullivan & Muhammad Ali Khalidi

Session Times:

June 26th, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm EST

June 27th, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm EST

Expected Readings:

June 26 - Led by Muhammad Ali Khalidi

  • Khalidi, M. (2023) Natural Kinds. Cambridge University Press. 

  • Bebee, Helen & Nigal Sabbarton-Leary. (2010) "Are Psychiatric Kinds Real?" . European Journal of Analytic Philosophy Vol. 6, No. 1. 

June 27 - Led by Jacqueline Sullivan

  • Hyman SE, Fenton WS. Medicine. What are the right targets for psychopharmacology? Science. 2003 Jan 17;299(5605):350-1.

  • Sullivan, J.A. (2014) "Stabilizing Mental Disorders: Prospects & Problems" in Classifying Psychopathology: Mental Kinds & Natural Kinds, Harold Kincaid & Jacqueline Sullivan, eds. MIT Press.

  • Sullivan, J.A. (2017) "Coordinated Pluralism as a Means to Facilitate Integrative Taxonomies of Cognition", Philosophical Explorations 20 (2):129-145.