The Northwestern Women Into Philosophy initiative celebrated the end of its first year with Thursday’s Gertrude Bussey Lecture, at which a guest female philosophy professor gave a presentation on the relationship between morality and beliefs. The initiative, which began during Fall Quarter, aims to reduce the gender gap that currently exists among students in philosophy, said Prof. Axel Mueller, the department’s director of undergraduate studies. In 2011, 30 percent of NU undergraduate philosophy majors were female, compared to 53 percent of the total undergraduate population, Mueller said. In an email, he also said 21 percent of employed philosophers are female. “This is not a feminist initiative at all,” Mueller said. “It is an initiative to articulate that there are great women in philosophy, and being a woman in philosophy can be great.” Since its first meeting, Women Into Philosophy, called WiPhi and led by Weinberg senior Maria Brackin, has acquired 15 members. There are only 30 female undergraduates majoring in philosophy at NU. “There are really two important aspects to the group: to break down gender barriers and create discussion among women,” Brackin said. According to an email from Mueller, the all-female group began “get-togethers” twice a quarter, created an agenda of their goals and planned the Gertrude Bussey Lecture. The inspiration for the lecture derives from the fact that Bussey, a woman, became the first recipient of a Ph.D. in philosophy at NU in 1915. Berit Brogaard, a professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and the guest lecturer at Thursday’s event, said she has focused on the underrepresentation of women in her own work. She said she has personally experienced the challenges of being a woman in philosophy, from not being cited as frequently as men to not being treated as a professional at conferences. She said she thought it was important that NU began this initiative at the undergraduate level. “I thought that was really a new step in the right direction that perhaps other universities might want to implement,” Brogaard said. Undergraduates in WiPhi have been able to gain helpful advice from graduate students who attend their meetings, Brackin said. “We are in academics so we can talk about our experiences as women in graduate school and what the environment is like,” said Chelsea Egbert, who is in her second year at NU’s Ph.D. philosophy program. As WiPhi’s first year comes to a close, Mueller said the group is beginning discussions about its own sustainability. He said the faculty and staff within the NU philosophy department have also supported WiPhi’s mission. The group is attempting to form connections with other similar groups on campus. “A dream that I have is that all such initiatives in areas where we have the same problem of female underrepresentation across campus could have some kind of regular exchange with one and other,” Mueller said. catherinezakrzewski2015@u.northwestern.edu