I was thrilled by the range and quality of this year’s submissions. Not only did they draw attention to exciting philosophers and their ideas, but also they showcased students’ ability to communicate complex ideas in engaging and accessible ways. The winning entry by Zephyr Lennon Bowman was particularly impressive not just because of the careful research and translation work that went into it, but also because of the highly creative way in which they took Thiong'o’s ideas to heart.
Dr Lucy McDonald, EDI lead
12 January 2026
Celebrating Diversity in Philosophy: student video competition winners announced
The Department of Philosophy has announced the winners and runners up of the 2025–2026 Diversity in Philosophy student video competition. The competition invites philosophy students at King’s to create a short video about a philosopher who is a member of a group that is underrepresented in philosophy.
This year’s entries reflected a wide range of perspectives and allowed students to demonstrate their talents. The winning entry was by Zephyr Lennon Bowman (Philosophy and Physics). Zephyr produced a video about Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, a Kenyan postcolonial theorist who called for artists and academics to produce work in their mother tongues, as a means of resistance against imperialism. Embracing this idea, Zephyr’s video was written and presented entirely in their own mother tongue, Irish.
In addition, there were two runner up entries: a video by James Daoud (Philosophy) on Al-Kindi, and a video by Melanie Cheung (PPE) and Lucy Mac Donell (PPL) on Yang Zhu. Both videos offered clear, engaging, and well-researched insights into exciting thinkers who have been neglected in Western philosophy.
Commendations also went to Thirasak Coleman, Abbiegayle Booker, Claire Quigley, and Noureen Abbas.