The King’s Awards are a yearly recognition of the most remarkable achievements of our staff and students.

We congratulate Mike for winning the award for ‘Most significant contribution to serving the needs and aspirations of society‘ for his Philosophy in Prison outreach project.

In 2016, the King’s Department of Philosophy piloted an 8-week philosophy course for prisoners at HMP Belmarsh. With the support of Professors Bill Brewer and MM McCabe, Mike Coxhead (PhD candidate and Visiting Research Fellow in the Department), Andy West (senior specialist at The Philosophy Foundation), and Andrea Fassolas (honorary therapist at the Guild of Psychotherapists) developed and delivered a course of discussion-based philosophy classes. Content included personal identity, freedom, time, scepticism, the ethics of belief, mental health, and topics in moral philosophy.

This year, they have delivered and evaluated two additional courses: a re-run of the pilot course, and a new course designed specifically for ESOL learners. Funding has been provided by both the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and the Evan Cornish Foundation.

Funding is currently being raised to deliver further courses in 2018, and to set up a regular philosophy club for graduates of the course.