Additional Information | Philosophy Conference
If you have additional questions outside of the topics below regarding the Pacific University Undergraduate Philosophy Conference, please contact Ian O'Loughlin at ian.oloughlin@pacificu.edu.
Paper Presentations
Each session has either two or three papers based on a common topic (such as philosophy of language or ethics, etc.). Each paper is allotted 40 minutes. Of that time, about 20 minutes will be for the author to present his/her paper. This usually involves actually reading the paper to the audience, but if you prefer you can "talk through" the paper. The rest of the 40 minutes is for questions and discussion. It's difficult to say exactly how many people will be in the audience. There will be nine or ten different sessions going at the same time (ten different classrooms), but with over 100 people there, you can expect 10-20 people at your session. Of course, sometimes it can be fewer than 10 or more than 20; it depends on what people want to go listen to.
Friday Banquet
The banquet on Friday evening will be in the MPR, which is in the lower level of Washburn Hall, also known as the University Center. Saturday breakfast and lunch will also be held in the MPR.
The banquet is a casual occasion.
Food
If you have any special dietary restrictions, please let us know. We always provide meat, vegetarian, and vegan meals. Remember that we will provide the Friday banquet plus Saturday breakfast and lunch.
Lodging
There are four local hotels, all within about a half-mile of each other and about a mile or so from the Pacific University campus— Best Western University Inn, America's Best Value Inn & Suites,and McMenamin's Grand Lodge.
If you stay at one of these hotels, we will provide shuttle service to and from our campus on Friday evening and also select times during Saturday. In addition, there is a public bus that runs right by each of the hotels and can take you to our campus.
Additional lodging is available in the nearby city of Hillsboro, located 10 miles away from Forest Grove.
Travel
The conference is located on Pacific University's main campus located in Forest Grove, Oregon, 22 miles west of downtown Portland. For those who are driving, the preferred route to campus from Portland is via Highway 26 (Sunset Highway), turning south at Banks (via Highways 6 and 47). For those who are flying, you will need to fly into Portland International Airport (PDX).
Traveling from the airport
Public transportation: Public transportation through Tri-Met is available from Portland International Airport to Forest Grove. Riders using public transit generally take the Red Line light rail train (MAX) from the airport to Beaverton Transit Center where they can either transfer to the number 57 bus to Forest Grove or to the Blue Line MAX to meet up with the number 57 at the Hillsboro Central stop. The 57 bus route runs every 15 to 20 minutes and travels by all of the local hotels, Pacific University campus and stops one block north of the church where the banquet is being held.
Although total transit time can be more than two hours, cost is about $3 (train ticket also serves as your bus ticket) and it can be a nice way to see Portland and the local area. Tri-met's detailed online trip planner calculates time, routes and cost. Once at the hotel, if you have any questions, call 503-352-2150.
Shuttle to Forest Grove: You can call PacifiCab (503-649-6860), White Van Shuttle (503-774-9755) or Airport Shuttle Service (503-452-0687) directly. For any of them you will need to make a reservation at least 24 hours prior to arriving, but the cost goes down per person if there are multiple passengers. Be sure to call them ahead of time and they will try to arrange a convenient time to take several people together.
Cab: This is the most expensive option, but it is the quickest and most direct. Expect to pay up to $100 and expect the time to be about 45-60 minutes. Cabs are not recommended as Portland cab drivers are unfamiliar with the Forest Grove area and often get lost.