hurry up and finish your dissertation

you have until May:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/12/20/105581/end-of-world-prediction-no-need.html

CFP: Northwestern Ethics Conference

Note that this is annual, in case you can't make this year's deadline.

SOCIETY FOR ETHICAL THEORY AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, Northwestern 
University
5th Annual Conference
May 19–21, 2011

Keynote Speakers:
Philip PETTIT (Princeton)
R. Jay WALLACE (Berkeley)

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: The deadline is February 15, 2011. We welcome 
submissions from faculty and graduate students, as some sessions will be 
reserved for student presentations. Please submit an essay of 
approximately 4000 words and an abstract of at most 150 words. Essay 
topics in all areas of ethical theory and political philosophy will be 
considered, although some priority will be given to essays that take up 
themes from the works of Philip Pettit and R. Jay Wallace, such as 
responsibility, practical reasoning, freedom, democratic theory, 
constructivism, contractualism, individual agency, and collective 
agency. Essays and abstracts should be prepared for blind review in 
word, rtf, or pdf format. Graduate submissions should be sent by email 
to leegoldsmith2012@u.northwestern.edu; faculty submissions should be 
sent by e-mail to garthoff@northwestern.edu. Notices of acceptance will 
be sent by March 31, 2011. For more information, please contact Jon 
Garthoff at the e-mail address above or visit our website: 
http://www.philosophy.northwestern.edu/conferences/moralpolitical/

cfp: graduate conference in political theory at princeton

Graduate Conference in Political Theory           

Princeton University

April 8-9, 2011

The Committee for the Graduate Conference in Political Theory at Princeton University welcomes papers concerning any period, methodological approach or topic in political theory, political philosophy, or the history of political thought.  Approximately eight papers will be accepted.

philosophers rule

yes we do:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2010/12/verbal-vs-mathematical-aptitude-in-academics/

h/t Leiter

critical reasoning for beginners

for free on itunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=387875756&s=143441&ls=1

I guess there's a lot of other stuff, too.  hmmm.

middlebury dissertation fellowship

Middlebury College invites applications for a dissertation fellowship for the academic year 2011-12. We are seeking graduate students with a clear commitment and ability to advance educational diversity, either through the nature of their scholarly work, or through their ability to model success in fields where their own backgrounds and experiences may be underrepresented. Fellows will receive teaching and research mentorship from faculty committed to excellence in undergraduate education.  Fellows will be hosted by an appropriate department or program, and will be expected to teach one one-semester course, normally in the fall semester.   Fellows may apply to extend their fellowships to a second year.  The annual stipend for the position is $30,000.  Ph.D. candidates must have completed all doctoral work except the dissertation by the end of the current academic year. For further information and application details, please visit:

   http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/administration/employment/diss_fellows

Applications are due by January 21, 2011.  Inquiries should be sent to Susan Burch at dfp@middlebury.edu .

Middlebury College is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to recruiting a diverse faculty to complement its increasingly diverse student body.

odd

http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/students-lie-on-course-evaluations-study-shows/29079

learning from mistakes

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/education/11education.html?hp

also:

“My teacher has several good ways to explain each topic that we cover in this class.”
and skillful at maintaining classroom order, but I hope that doesn't have much to do with us


of course this may be false: "'Kids know effective teaching when they experience it,' he said"
since the survey asks about what happens in the classroom, not what's effective.  they have to correlate the survey results with learning outcomes for it to be meaningful.

CFP: freedom and power

THEORIA

A Journal of Social and Political Theory

‘Freedom and Power’ Call for Papers

Ever since Livy proclaimed that ‘freedom is to be in one’s own power’, if not from a long time before, the relationship between freedom and power has been an enduring concern of political theorists. It has withstood even Berlin’s sharp distinctions between seemingly irreconcilable kinds of freedom and the subsequent diversion via debates about ‘negative, ‘positive’ and ‘republican’ freedom. With greater historical purview it is possible to see that the fault line between various competing conceptions of freedom is clearest with regard to how social and political theorists conceive of the relationship between freedom and power. While some thinkers have opposed freedom and power, arguing that liberty can only be truly attained free from power and domination (republicans) or in the absence of external impediments imposed by other human beings (liberals), others have identified a close and intriguing link between them, especially in the sphere of politics. A motley crew of radicals, Marxists and conservatives occupy the latter camp, including Livy, Machiavelli, Montaigne, Marx, Nietzsche and Foucault. Moreover, those in the former camp tend to think of freedom in formal and abstract terms, while proponents of the latter eschew this now normal tendency in political philosophy and instead think of freedom in fully substantive, concrete and even materialist terms. (Hobbes is an unusual and unique figure as his account of freedom inspires members of both parties in this debate.)

CFP: midsouth philosophy conference

CALL FOR PAPERS

M I D S O U T H P H I L O S O P H Y C O N F E R E N C E

and Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

The University of Memphis

March 4-5, 2011

i am certain

this has nothing to do with SPEL:

bcc applied ethics conference

Third Annual Conference on Applied Ethics

                                 Broome Community College

                                            April 1-2, 2011

                                        Religion and Ethics:

                                 Conflict, Tolerance, and Promise

The Spring Conference on Applied Ethics 2011 invites papers, panels, and presentations on the topic of Religion and Ethics. 

congratulations

Daniel: M.A. defense

Shoni: ABD

next week is Regan and Brandon

public sector employees

new video from afscme:

http://www.afscme.org/stopthelies/index.cfm

is good excuse to post old video from afscme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3mw49mk_x0

whatever

http://chronicle.com/article/SUNY-May-Scale-Back-Top/125605/

colloquium reminder

SPEL COLLOQUIUM

Lewis Trelawny-Cassity

"On the Interdependence of Legislation and Theology in Plato's Laws"

commentator: Carlos Cortissoz

Thursday, December 2nd

UUW 324

11:45a-1:00p

with year-ending wine and cheese reception to follow, 1:00-2:00

nietzschean ressentiment

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/11/battered-but-not-beaten.html

see hypothesis #5, pp. 24f

it looks like plain old envy/spite rather than ressentiment, but good enough for government work

pretty pretty

just saw this online -- apparently it's not coming out till next June.

I hear the middle chapter is particularly good.

i wonder if he knows Charles

in Dharmasala with disgraced former U.S. Rep Bob Ney

http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/bob-ney-s-meditation-diet-20101119

testing

just seeing whether I can figure out how to embed a video



btw, totally on this guy's side

mitchem dissertation fellowship

Marquette University invites applications for the Arnold L. Mitchem Dissertation Fellowship Program. Mitchem Fellowships seek to help increase the presence of currently underrepresented racial and cultural groups in the U.S. professoriate by supporting advanced doctoral candidates during completion of the dissertation. The fellowships provide one year of support for doctoral candidates well into the writing stage of their dissertation work who are U.S. citizens currently enrolled in U.S. universities. 

job market

job wiki:

http://phylo.info/jobs

and the smoker:

http://philosophysmoker.blogspot.com/

Wretzel defense

BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY

FINAL ORAL DEFENSE OF DISSERTATION

JOSHUA WRETZEL

“Speaking With the

Dead: The Philosophical

Implications of Brandom’s

Interpretive Oversights”

Friday, November 19th

12:00 noon

LT – 1210

All are welcome!

I don't think they understand

what 'thinning the herd' means:

In an effort to thin the herd at doctors' offices during cold and flu season, Blue Cross Blue Shield is launching an online service to pair doctors and patients through video chat.

link

if current trends continue

there will be more computer science majors than students

http://crookedtimber.org/2010/11/16/breaking-news-humanities-in-decline-film-at-11/

and just as many philosophy majors

more on Albany

http://www.npr.org/2010/11/15/131336270/cuts-to-university-s-humanities-program-draw-outcry

http://genomebiology.com/2010/11/10/138
(really!)

http://defendartsandhums.blogspot.com/

... probably a lot more recently, too.

no no no no

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/11/15/131339850/palin-s-refudiate-is-oxford-american-dictionary-s-word-of-the-year

i was wondering why there's no caviar in the faculty lounge

and why there's no faculty lounge.

and why my 5 year old state-issued computer resides permanently at the help desk

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/there-is-no-college-cost-crisis/

kind of interesting

use of clickers in the classroom:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/education/16clickers.html?hpw

way more interesting that those articles on insidehighered.com about naked library photo shoots.

another confessional

from a writer at a term paper mill:

http://chronicle.com/article/The-Shadow-Scholar/125329/

but not nearly as good as the classic:

http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article10100801.aspx

Colloquium reminder

this Thursday, back at the usual location (UUW-324):

Alice Crary
"Minding What Already Matters: A Critique of Moral Individualism"

get the paper off blackboard.  buy the books:



       

in case you were wondering

http://jezebel.com/5687559/yes-calling-a-school-too-asian-is-racist

subsidized student loans

get rid of 'em!

and Pell grants, too.

(but cut the top marginal tax rate)

empirical evidence

the fulsome kind: (NYT)

Well, not exactly. The Hartford Insurance Company has twice looked at entering the long-term care insurance market and was scared off. “The experience studies were just not long enough and fulsome enough for us to have credible pricing,” said Brian Murphy, executive vice president of life insurance at Hartford.


ugh.


UPDATE:


oh well, it doesn't mean anything anymore: (Slate)


the more fulsome defense of the common procreation argument 

oh god, this is awful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5OSxKlM3iQ

(h/t Leiter)

special bonus:

http://www.bunkernewyork.com/JEEP/Jeep_V5_ONLINE.mov

(CK's favorite boat ad)

alain locke's department

see also http://www.coas.howard.edu/philosophy/
and http://savehowardphilosophy.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/welcome/
and http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-howard-universitys-philosophy-department/

________________________________________
From: The African Philosophy E-Mail List [AFRI-PHIL@LEHMAN.LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] 
Sent: 11 November 2010 05:00
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:30:45 -0500
From: Bruce Janz <janzb@MAIL.UCF.EDU>
Subject: FYI: Howard University Dept. of Philosophy

Howard University's upper administration is threatening to close the MA and BA progams in Philosophy. This is the program that Alain Locke was involved in founding. Brian Leiter has a note about this, here http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2010/10/howard-university-philosophy-department-under-attack.html 

This is an important program, with some very good people in it, and a history of producing strong thinkers. This would be a major loss to Africana philosophy, and to Howard University. The final decision gets made on Dec. 1, and the president, Dr. Sidney Ribeau, needs to understand how important this department is to Africana philosophy and to his own university. If you want to make your thoughts about this known, you can write the president, at Dr. Sidney Ribeau, President, Howard University, 2400 6th Street NW, Washington, DC 20059. Or, you can sign a petition, located here http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-howard-philosophy/sign.html

imperative of integration

my copy came today.  how did tony read the whole thing already?

philosophy day update

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/world/10unesco.html?_r=1&hp

cfp: syracuse grad student conference

CALL FOR PAPERS
2011 Syracuse Philosophy Graduate Student Conference
April 15 & 16
Keynote Speakers: Michael Forster (UChicago) & Robert Van Gulick
(Syracuse)
Paper submission deadline: Jan 15th, 2011
Send submissions to:  suphilgradconf@gmail.com

Papers should be suitable for a 25-30 minute presentation (no more
than 4000 words). SU philosophy graduate students will serve as
commentators
on papers presented at the conference.

Submissions must be prepared for blind review and sent as either a PDF
or Word file.

In the text of your email, please include your name, contact
information, and a short abstract (max 150 words).

We welcome submissions in all areas of philosophy.

Best regards,
Mike Campbell & Andy Specht

radical philosophy association

in case you're passing through Eugene this week:

http://pages.uoregon.edu/uophil/rpa/

binghamton

it just occurred to me that nowhere on this blog does the word "Binghamton" appear.

Binghamton Binghamton Binghamton Binghamton.

colloquium reminder

Colloquium this Thursday (11/11) is
Christopher Knapp, "Thoreau's Account of Prudential Value"
11:45a-1:00p

***new location, this week only: UU 252 ***

it looks like this:

online education is exploding

all across the country:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/us/05college.html?_r=1&hpw

that means there's a lot of it, or at least a lot of enrollment

(via Max)

new JFP out

here

might be a couple new listings there

p.s.: don't forget about the web updates

meme of the day

higher education

from the Chronicle:

New York's attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, has also pledged to put higher education at the center of his plans to restore the state's economy, developing policies that would help universities commercialize research and encourage more businesses to offer internships by providing tax credits to companies that employ student interns. Mr. Cuomo defeated Carl P. Paladino, a real-estate developer from Buffalo who was backed by the Tea Party. As the state's attorney general, Mr. Cuomo, burnished a national reputation as a crusader for consumers' rights, primarily through investigations into the relationships between colleges and student-loan providers.

interviewing

some links from around the web on the topic of the next SPEL workshop:

http://philosophy.syr.edu/graduate/_pdfs/Interviews.pdf

http://philosophysmoker.blogspot.com/2008/12/rehash-interview-questions.html

http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2008/12/advice-for-job.html

http://edgeofthewest.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/aha-interviews-redux/

http://philosophersanon.blogspot.com/2009/12/apa-interview-donts.html

update: should also have linked Melissa's APA report: oddly, the only link I can find is here

my handout is available, too, if anyone wants it

election day

vote vote vote vote vote vote

movie

GASLAND tonight at the Anderson Center.
with the filmmaker (guy w/ banjo)

free

pizza at 6, doors open at 6:30, movie at 7, fear by 7:10
sponsored by Lew

SPEL workshop on Thursday

this week it's Interviewing.

mandatory for all 2nd year Ph.D. students and anybody who might want to do a mock interview sometime soon.

ooh, the chalk

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/10/03/the_stradivarius_of_chalk/

also here:

http://mathoverflow.net/questions/26267/where-to-buy-premium-white-chalk-in-the-u-s-like-they-have-at-rims

Nietzsche Society program

taking place at SPEP

program after the jump.

from the sports pages

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/29/sports/ncaabasketball/29binghamton.html?hpw

also:

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20101028/NEWS01/10280486/Broadus-gets-1-2M-to-leave-drop-suit

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/10/29/qt#242125

http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/binghamton-u-basketball-coach-receives-1-2-million-to-resign/27988

CFP: FEMMSS

reposted from the listserv:

FEMMSS 4: Call for Proposals

Paper proposals are invited for the fourth conference of the Association for Feminist Epistemologies, Methodologies, Metaphysics and Science Studies (FEMMSS) to be held at The Pennsylvania State University, May 10-12, 2012.  For more information about FEMMSS and our past conferences see femmss.org.  

We welcome new participants and perspectives from across the academy and outside it that provide feminist discussion on any topic in epistemologies, methodologies, metaphysics, or science studies. 

'SUNY under siege'

http://sunyundersiege.pbworks.com/

CFP: philosophy and the arts // redemption

Call for Papers and Artwork

Fourth Annual Philosophy and the Arts Conference at Stony Brook Manhattan

April 1-2, 2011

Keynote Speaker – Kaja Silverman

The Masters program in Philosophy and the Arts at Stony Brook University in Manhattan centers on intersections of art and philosophy. In an effort to encourage dialogue across disciplines, we offer this conference as an interdisciplinary event and welcome participants working in a variety of fields and media to respond to this year’s topic:

Redemption

Between the familiar extremes of redeeming oneself (as in the eyes of God, or a friend) and of redeeming a coupon, the term redemption shoulders a rich range of expressive possibilities. Each sense reveals an aspect of the event of exchange of one thing, condition, or meaning for another. “Redemption” may express conversion, salvage, ransom, reparation, purchase, or liberation, and these definitions all vary in their economic, ontological, and hermeneutical hefts.

conferences

Melissa's going to the ASA.  Everyone just got back from the SAGP.  Max is off somewhere.  what else is going on?

spring registration

early registration has opened.  (for returning grad students)

we have plenty of seats for spring, but you might as well check with your advisor and sign up for classes.

bonus announcement: flu shots this week on campus.  I'm going tomorrow morning in the colloquium room.

testing

simultaneous test: how to post pix on this blog and what exactly is in the folder labelled 'backup'

graduate school advice

so you want to get a Ph.D. in the humanities (posted by Lisa):

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7451115/

and don't forget the law school one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMvARy0lBLE

and poli sci
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7469383/

I'd post the Derrida one, but this is a family blog.

Wittgenstein on twitter

http://twitter.com/WittTweets

h/t Max

Preparing professors to teach?

someone should read this or something:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/10/15/mit

CFP: GENDER JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT

Call for Papers

Ninth International Conference of the International Development Ethics Association

GENDER JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT: LOCAL AND GLOBAL

Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, U.S., June 9-11, 2011

Organized by
THE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ETHICS ASSOCIATION (IDEA)
with
Centre on Values and Ethics (COVE) at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada and Center for International Studies (CIS) and Philosophy Department at Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA


Plenary speaker
Naila Kabeer, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex and Senior Research Fellow, Department of International Development, UK

While submissions on any topic in development ethics are welcome, IDEA is particularly interested in submissions that fit the theme of exploring, understanding, and analyzing the role of gender justice in development theory and policy.

Scholars and activists in development are increasingly using the concept “gender justice” to replace the terms “gender equality” and “gender mainstreaming”. Many now hold that describing situations using the latter terms fails to address adequately the ongoing gender-based injustices from which women suffer. However, there is no single definition of gender justice and much disagreement among local, national, and international power-holders about what constitutes gender injustice and how to alleviate or eliminate it.

IDEA invites submissions that could include discussions of gender as it relates to any of the following list of topics.
Gender and
• concepts of equality, justice, rights, capabilities
• concepts of agency, empowerment, freedom, autonomy
• concepts of democracy, citizenship, constitutionalism
• concepts of the law, judicial reform, access to justice
• intersections of race, class, ethnicity, other factors of discrimination
• intersections of local/national and global
• economic globalization, global economy, markets, labor
• the family, community, nation, global
• reproductive health, health care, population
• education, religion, culture
• concepts of poverty, measuring inequalities
• the environment, climate change, public health
• feminisms, movements, activism
• post-colonialism, imperialism, transnationalism
• power, knowledge, institutional structures
• care ethics, values and ethics in general
• migration, global in the local
• violence, conflict, war, terrorism
• Human Development Reports, Millennium Development Goals, measurements, standards
• local, national, and global institutions and NGOs

Papers could examine these issues from diverse theoretical and conceptual perspectives including philosophical argument, empirical analysis, examinations of policy, and action strategies. Papers could consider how and to what degree the concrete experiences of women in specific contexts can and should inform theory, practice, and activism at local and global levels. The conference will engage scholars and practitioners from around the world and from a wide variety of disciplines and activities (including philosophy and other humanities, social sciences, policy studies, development, social work, NGOs, local and global agencies and organizations, government officials and policy makers). IDEA particularly welcomes submissions from scholars and practitioners in South countries.

Submission of Abstracts.
Proposals should be submitted by email to Christine Koggel at ckoggel@brynmawr.edu and should include:
1. An abstract of 500 words
2. Name, affiliation, and contact information on a separate page
3. A biography of under 100 words (for the conference program)

The conference will be conducted primarily in English. There may be some presentations in Spanish, depending on the availability of volunteers to give informal translations. Proposals for presentations in Spanish should be sent to Daniela Gallegos at danielagallegos@yahoo.com.

Important dates:
• December 17, 2010: deadline for proposals
• February 18, 2011: notification of acceptance
• May 1, 2011: deadline for submission of complete papers

Program Co-Chairs:
Jay Drydyk, President of IDEA and Director of COVE
Christine Koggel, Co-Director of CIS and Board Member of IDEA

hey, who knew ...

it was World Philosophy Day.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/world/middleeast/25iht-educLede25.html?hpw

more from the mailbox ....

... a way for you to get your own philosophy spam, some of which is actually Useful and Important:

Dear DGS,

Would you please circulate this invitation to join Philosophy Updates to your graduate students?  PhilUpdates is a mailing list for jobs, conferences, calls for papers, and other action items, both worldwide and in North America; it currently has 4,000 members.  They can join by sending an email to wmuphilgrad@gmail.com or by going here:

 

http://groups.google.com/group/philosophy-updates

 

Much thanks!

 

Best,

Fritz

really, you should sign up for this -- and philosop and the Liverpool listserv and maybe FEAST-L and Journolist, too. it might make a big difference in your life, or just keep you up to date with what people you don't know are doing.

disclaimer

by the way, this is the completely unofficial blog by some guy named "bob" and only happens to mention things of possible relevance to the graduate program known as "SPEL", to which this blog has no official connection.


oh, and buy this book.  even though the price is not very compassionate.

Saba Fatima on video

from the e-mails--

Saba gives a talk at Ohio Wesleyan:

http://stream.owu.edu/broadcasts/lecturesEvents/100927_sagan.html

now, how do I monetize this blog, anyway?

this is a test

... been wondering whether there's enough post-worthy stuff to sustain a blog.  probably not, but I have a cold and the Yankees are losing.