congratulations

to Karin, who finally defended her M.S. in Logic, Computation, and Methodology

to those who finished their comps recently

and to SPELblog, which is now the #1 SPELblog on the internet

my new favorite journal

http://www.math.pacificu.edu/~emmons/JofUR/

law school applications down

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/a-sign-of-the-recovery-law-school-applications-fall/?hp

this post gives two possible explanations for the decline in applicants and applications to law school:

1) because of the economic recovery
2) because of the dreadful job market for lawyers

hmmm, I wonder which it is.

did anyone realize ...

SUNY Buffalo has banned smoking on its 2+ square mile campus?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/nyregion/25smoke.html?_r=1&hpw

think swiss!

this actually seems interesting, the incomprehensibility of Schwyzerdütsch notwithstanding

ThinkSwiss has opened applications for 15 research scholarships in
Switzerland; undergraduate and graduate students in all fields are
eligible for the 2-3 month program. Participants perform research at a
public Swiss university or research institute and receive a stipend of
approximately $1,000 per month; applicants must submit a letter of
acceptance from a Swiss professor in order to be considered.  Those
accepted are required to blog about their experiences and upon return
to the U.S. agree to serve as a “student ambassador” promoting Swiss
research.

More information is available at: thinkswiss-research.blogspot.com/.

http://www.thinkswiss.org/us-swiss-exchange/research-scholarship

"Oscars ..."

... would be a great nickname for the "Award for Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching," if it weren't already taken.

also, rooting for "Gasland", the only movie ever mentioned on SPELblog

http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/the-83rd-annual-oscar-nominations/

justice summer school

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

The CEU Summer University
JUSTICE: THEORY AND ITS APPLICATIONS July 4-15, 2011
Budapest, Hungary

The problem of justice occupies a special place in contemporary political philosophy. In the words of its most influential figure, Rawls, "justice is the first virtue of social institutions". That view seems to be shared by a majority of authors and theories. However, there is no comparable agreement regarding what justice demands, from whom and to whom. These questions have utmost relevance for political philosophers. However, their importance spill over other disciplines. Given that many choices policy makers make are distributive in nature, it is not surprising that issues of justice appear in many other spheres. In addition to dealing with purely theoretical issues, the course will revise some contexts which raise important questions about justice: education, health care, environmental issues, taxation.

Applications are invited from graduate students, postdocs, young faculty in Philosophy, Political Science, Public Policy, Law and Economics, familiar with Anglo-American political theory, especially with theories of justice.
Application deadline: February 15, 2011For further academic information on the course and on eligibility criteria and funding options please visit: http://www.summer.ceu.hu/justice

Faculty:Peter Vallentyne, University of Missouri-Columbia, Department of Philosophy, Columbia, USA
Andrew Williams, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies, Barcelona, Spain
Matthew Clayton, University of Warwick, Department of Politics and International Studies, Coventry, UK
Greg Bognar, New York University, NYU Center for Bioethics, New York, USA
Janos Kis, Central European University, Department of Political Science, Budapest. Hungary
Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, Aarhus Universitat, Institut for Statskundskab, Århus C, Denmark

 

Course directors:

Andres Moles, Central European University, Departments of Political Science and Philosophy, Budapest, Hungary
Zoltan Miklosi, Central European University, Department of Political Science, Budapest, Hungary

voices of the junior faculty

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2011/1/12waldman.html

we have higher-order cognitive skills!

excerpt from Academically Adrift

http://chronicle.com/article/Are-Undergraduates-Actually/125979/

give more tests

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/science/21memory.html?hp

yay Regan

for winning the Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Teaching

Philosophy of Law job talks

top secret schedule:

January 27th: Candidate #1
February 1st: Candidate #2
February 3rd: Candidate #3
February 8th: Candidate #4

Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Research

they really need a shorter name for that.

also, Lew Trelawny-Cassity just won one.