Frequently Asked Questions
From Philomathean Society
1. Q. What is the Philomathean Society?
A. The Philomathean Society, or just “Philo” for short, is a breath mint. Founded on October 2nd, 1813, the Philomathean Society is Penn’s first student group and the oldest literary society in continuous existence in the United States. Since that date, Philo has united Penn students with the twofold goal of increasing their learning and the academic prestige of the University. Throughout its (nearly) two-century-long journey, Philo has been at the center of Penn’s intellectual life: a recourse for inquisitive students outside the classroom, Philo is an outlet of free thought and expression.
Read more about what Philo is by clicking here.
2. Q. “Philomathean” is a funny name. What does it mean and how is it pronounced?
A. We take our name from the ancient Greek word φιλομαθία, which means roughly “love of knowledge.” Our members—who call themselves just “Philos”—have grown accustomed to pronouncing the name as if it were two words: philo mathean; therefore, the “I” is pronounced as in “might” and the first “A” is pronounced as in “hay.”
3. Q. What does it mean to be a literary society? Do you just sit around and read books?
A. Philo is not a book club. It is true that one aspect of our literary society is that our members are used to discussing literature—and not just fiction, but all kinds of literature. However, Philos usually interpret the words “literary society” less in the context of “a society of literature” and more in the context of “a society of literati,” that is, a group of men and women of letters who are seriously committed to their personal and collective education and culture.
4. Q. What exactly do you do at Philo?
A. To say that Philo is multifaceted is an understatement. For a long time, before the University had other groups to take care of its students’ extra-curricular lives—such as debate clubs, drama clubs, newspapers and magazines, artistic and poetic societies, and even fraternities and sororities—Philo was all that was available. Philo, indeed, was the debate club, the drama club, the newspaper and magazine, etc. In fact, most of Penn’s oldest student groups, such as Mask and Wig and The Daily Pennsylvanian, were started at and were once a part of Philo. Today, Philo retains some of this identity, although to a smaller scale. We may not, like our predecessors did in the beginning of this century, be rebuilding a full-size replica of the Globe Theatre to reenact Hamlet. But just as back then students gathered at Philo for their common interest in drama, debate, art, journalism, and even business, so too does Philo today serve as an aegis for students who wish to express and develop their interests within an equally eclectic spectrum. There are infinite possibilities as to what Philos do with their interests, or, indeed, what the members do while in the Society’s Halls. A little more than a century ago, for instance, one young Philo, who studied the workings of commerce and business as an extra-curricular, was frustrated that the University did not offer any education on the subject, and took matter into his own hands by founding the Wharton School of Business. Another classic example is a group of Philos who, interested in philology, managed to get their hands on a rare cast of the Rosetta Stone and produced the first English translation of hieroglyphic text.
5. Q. What is a General Meeting? What do you do there?
A. Philo General Meetings are at the core of Society activity; according to tradition, meetings are supposed to be where we transact our business—but if you’ve been to a Philo meeting you will probably have realized that transacting business is in fact the least we do. There is no better way to find out what we do at our meetings than attending the meetings themselves; however, a selection from our Minutes Book seems to approximate the truth:
“We arrived, we saw, we spoke, we laughed, we cried, we debated, we whispered, we yelled, we painted, we poeticized, we sang, we joked, we punned, we cringed, we listened, we slept, we danced, we motioned, we passed, we appointed, we rhymed, we censored, we adjourned. In short, we had a Philo Meeting.”
6. Q. If I am interested in membership, to whom should I talk?
A. If you are interested in membership, you can talk to any Philo and he or she will impart on you some of his or her views of the Society. The official person, however, whose main function is to help you, prospective member, and to answer your questions, is the First Censor. For Spring 2009 the First Censor is Kyle Sirianno who is reachable at firstcensor AT philomathean.org. Mr. Sirianno can answer any of your questions related to membership and how to apply to Philo.
7. Q. Who can apply to join Philo?
Any male or female student enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania’s undergraduate, graduate, or professional schools.
8. Q. How do I apply to Philo?
A. There is no official date in which Philo starts accepting new applications. A little after every fourth General Meeting of each semester, Philo admits new members. Prospectives interested in gaining admittance to the Society in that semester must complete their application by the fourth regularly stated General Meeting, or else they must reapply next semester. An application to Philo is only considered once all of its parts have been completed; there is no official due date to any of the application’s parts, which means they may be completed at any time before the fourth General Meeting of a given semester, if the candidate is to gain admittance to the Society in that semester. In order to get started in the application process, the prospective should contact the First Censor of the Society, whose contact information is available in the answer to Question 6.
9. Q. What are the parts of an application to Philo?
A. An application to Philo consists in three parts: an hour-long interview with four or five of our members, a 3-6 minute presentation to the Society on the topic of your choice, and a creative submission. Here is a detailed explanation of each part:
• Interview: An informal hour long interview with four members of the Society. Ideally the interview is a conversation about the prospective’s goals, interests, activities, etc. This is the applicant’s opportunity to tell us as much or as little as they want about themselves.
• Creative Submission: The only limitation or explanation is that it must fit through our door. Poetry, artwork, tapes of music, or photography are common selections, but we’ve also had submissions ranging from Spam Bombs to Elvis Shrines to photoessays about manhole covers.
• Presentation: A four to six minute presentation on a topic of the applicant’s choice, to be presented at a General Meeting of the Society, which typically fall on alternating Friday evenings. The applicant should keep in mind that there is only so much information one can present in a limited time frame. Be creative, practice the speech, and be prepared to answer two questions from members of the Society.
10. I saw a “Solistimum” listed as one of the events hosted by Philo. What is a Solistimum?
Solistima are Philo events geared especially towards what we call the "Philaspirants"—or, in other words, prospective members. Usually informal gatherings, these get-togethers were designed to allow current Philos and prospective members to get to know each other. It is highly recommended that any applicant attend at least one of the Solistima offered by the Society.
11. Q. How can I find out more about Philo?
There are a variety of ways of finding out more about Philo. The easiest might be browsing through this website. Philo also hosts a plethora of events every semester, and attending any of those—and particularly General Meetings—would give you an idea of what Philo is. Talking to Philos is an excellent way to find out more about the Society, although this presumes that you know the members (and the best way to get to know them is to attend our events). Lastly, the major source of information regarding membership is the First Censor of the Society, Kyle Sirianno, who is reachable at firstcensor AT philomathean.org.
If you are interested in our history, you may also want to check our page in the University of Pennsylvania Archives.