About this website...

This website had its beginnings in 1999 when a dear colleague and friend at the University of Alberta, Karen Pilkington, was in hospital with leukemia. Karen was passionate about the philosophical life, and I wanted to preserve her thoughts on how she came to philosophy, what she loved and perhaps disliked about it, and so on. Karen died in March, 2000. While her interview has yet to be added to this website, the site is meant as a tribute to her love of philosophy, and her commitment to cultivating that love in others.

The site is designed and maintained by David Kahane, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy of the University of Alberta.

The graphic design of the site, its interface, and the filming and digitization began through the good graces of Xiaomei Zheng, an intern from the University Faculty of Extension's New Media Diploma. Xiaomei poured herself into this project, for which I am genuinely grateful. Gregg Dearborn dealt expertly with a second round of digitization, and with useful tweaks to the site as a whole. Thanks as well to Eric Spoeth of Academic Technologies for Learning, for help at a crucial stage.

Finally, the site would not have been possible without the support of the Province of Alberta's Learning Enhancement Envelope funding for the redevelopment of a team-taught section of Philosophy 101 in our department; the genesis of this site was as a resource for these and others new to philosophy.