News
CategoryFund Legal Help for Fired Professors
A GoFundMe site has been created to collect donations for Thane Naberhaus and Edward Egan, the two professors recently fired from Mount Saint Mary’s University by the university’s president, Simon Newman. The story has been summed up well by a fellow philosopher’s comment about Newman: “He wanted to use a fraudulent mental health survey to target students for elimin..
APA Issues Letter In Response to Mount St. Mary’s Firings
The officers of the American Philosophical Association (APA) today sent the following letter to the president and Board of Trustees of Mount St. Mary’s University regarding the recent firing and demotion of faculty there:
Dear President Simon Newman and Members of the Board of Trustees:
The APA board of officers is deeply troubled by reports that two Mount St…
Philosophy Professor To Stand Trial in Turkey (Updated with Statement from Professor Öymen and Additional News)
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A philosophy professor says he will stand trial next week on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for suggesting in an article that the Turkish leader should go on trial over a range of claims, including alleged corruption and the violation of the constitution.
Orsan Oymen said Wednesday he fac..
APA Endorses Letter of Concern for Scholars & Universities in Turkey
In response to the recent persecution of academics in Turkey who had objected to the Turkish government’s treatment of its Kurdish population (previously here and here), a “coalition of 20 higher education networks and associations from around the world” issued a letter to Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, calling for an end to the persecution, for protectio..
Philosophers Detained in Turkey (updated)
As reported the other day, academics in Turkey are at risk of investigation and prosecution by the Turkish government for signing a petition calling for “the state to abandon its deliberate massacre and deportation of Kurdish and other peoples.” There were several dozen philosophers among the signatories.
According to one source, two philosophers from one univers..
Persecution of Academics in Turkey (updated)
Academics in Turkey are facing official accusations of ““terrorist propaganda,” “inciting people to hatred, violence and breaking the law,” and “insulting Turkish institutions and the Turkish Republic” for signing a petition calling for peace and objecting to their government’s treatment of citizens in the country’s Kurdish provinces. In part, the petition reads:
..
Trump’s Rhetoric and Frogs in Warming Water
Princeton University Press has begun an “Election 2016: Hot Button Issues” series at its blog and its inaugural post, “Donald Trump and Mass Incarceration” is by Jason Stanley (Yale). In the post, Stanley argues that Trump’s articulation of xenophobic, Islamophobic, racist, and harshly retributivist views is problematic not only because his campaign success so far r..
Judge Dismisses Kaufman Lawsuit Against Colorado
Last March, University of Colorado associate professor of philosophy Dan Kaufman filed a lawsuit against the university “alleging the school both discriminated and retaliated against him because he has a disability,” following his being banned from campus by the administration. Yesterday, a federal judge dismissed these claims, reports the Daily Camera. In exchange ..
College of St. Rose Cuts Philosophy BA
The College of St. Rose, a Catholic liberal arts college in Albany, NY, is eliminating 27 programs, including philosophy, and 23 faculty positions, according to an article at Inside Higher Ed. IHE reports: “Many faculty members are speaking out against the cuts, saying that the plan was made without sufficient faculty input and questioning the elimination of the job..
The Ethics of Honoring
The recent wave of student protests in the United States have focused on a range of issues related to the status and treatment of racial minorities and other vulnerable parties on campus. One issue that has come up on several occasions are the ways in which universities have decided to honor various historical figures—for example, by naming buildings after them, o..
Paris Attacked
France has declared a national state of emergency and tightened borders after at least 120 people were killed in a night of gun and bomb attacks in Paris. Eighty people were reported killed after gunmen burst into the Bataclan concert hall and took dozens hostage. The siege ended when security forces stormed the building. People were shot dead at bars and restaurant..
Georgetown Philosophy Dept Supports Student Protestors (Updated)
Students at Georgetown University have staged a sit-in at University President John (“Jack”) DeGioia’s office, calling for, among other things, a frank discussion of how Georgetown benefited from slavery, as well as the renaming of a building currently called Mulledy Hall. Christina Cauterucci at Slate writes:
At the center of the students’ grievances is Mulledy ..
Univ. of Illinois Settles with Salaita / Update: Statement from UIUC Philosophy
The University of Illinois will pay $875,000 to settle the Steven Salaita case. From the press release from Salaita’s lawyers:
Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and co-counsel Loevy & Loevy announced the settlement of Professor Steven Salaita’s case against the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) for firing him from his tenured posit..
Missouri Philosophy Issues Statement on Controversy over Racist Incidents (two updates)
The University of Missouri’s governing board is holding a meeting this morning to decide how to respond to calls by students and others for its president, Tim Wolfe, to resign. The calls for Wolfe’s resignation follow a number of racist incidents at the university over the past few months and are a response to the perceived lack of a satisfactory response to these i..
Disability Studies Quarterly Is Reviewing Stubblefield’s Articles
A philosophy professor who wishes to remain anonymous wrote to the editor of Disability Studies Quarterly in the wake Anna Stubblefield’s conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a severely disabled man requesting that the journal issue a retraction of an article purportedly co-authored by Stubblefield and her victim. From that letter:
Earlier this month, phi..
Ludlow Resigns
Northwestern University’s Vice President for University Relations, Alan K. Cubbage, has released the following statement:
Peter Ludlow, a Northwestern University professor of philosophy, resigned his position effective Monday, Nov. 2, 2015, and he is no longer employed by the University.
Northwestern University had initiated proceedings to terminate Ludlow’s e..
The Ludlow Hearing: Some Questions
The hearing to determine whether Peter Ludlow will be fired from Northwestern University (previous posts) has been underway over the past month or so but is currently on hold. According to documents related to the hearing provided to Daily Nous, a number of complaints about whether the hearing is being conducted fairly and in accordance with Title IX guidelines have..
U.S. Politics with Logical and Factual Annotation
This is a great public service and a great idea.
Stefan Schubert, a visiting philosophy professor at the London School of Economics, and Spencer Greenberg, a mathematician and entrepreneur who started Clearer Thinking, a site aimed to help people “avoid thinking traps and make improved decisions, to better achieve the goals they value most,” are producing videos ..
Grad Student Sues U. Miami, Colin McGinn, and Edward Erwin
The University of Miami graduate student who previously complained of sexual harassment by Colin McGinn has now filed a federal lawsuit against the university, McGinn, and McGinn’s former colleague, Edward Erwin. The Huffington Post reports:
She’s claiming the school violated its Title IX responsibilities by failing to fully investigate her sexual harassment clai..
Stubblefield Convicted of First-Degree Aggravated Sexual Assault
Anna Stubblefield, a professor of philosophy at Rutgers-Newark, was found guilty of two counts of felony first-degree aggravated sexual assault for raping a mentally disabled man she was introduced to in order to help him learn to communicate (previously). NJ.com reports:
The jury… convicted the 45-year-old philosophy professor of sexually assaulting a 34-year-..
Did This Monkey Intentionally Take A Selfie?
Some monkey business is raising questions in philosophy of action, philosophy of language, legal theory, and animal ethics.
British photographer David Slater traveled to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, came across some macaque monkeys, and set up a camera with a tripod. One of the monkeys, Naruto, reportedly pressed the button on the camera, with the result be..
Yogi Berra (1925-2015)
Baseball player Yogi Berra — whose birth name was Lawrence Peter Berra — died yesterday. Normally announcements of this sort on Daily Nous are reserved for academic philosophers, but I thought it would be appropriate to note the death of someone who is well known for sayings that have provoked the public to thoughts of puzzlement and paradox — and in such an amu..
Fire at University of Chicago Philosophy Department
This past Sunday, a fire broke out in Stuart Hall at the University of Chicago, home to the school’s Department of Philosophy. No one was injured.
While information is at the time a bit tentative, current reports are that a shredder motor overheated, starting a fire which moved down the Department of Philosophy’s hallway. No foul play is suspected. I am told that..
Japan’s Education Ministry vs. Humanities and Social Sciences
Times Higher Education reports:
Many social sciences and humanities faculties in Japan are to close after universities were ordered to “serve areas that better meet society’s needs”. Of the 60 national universities that offer courses in these disciplines, 26 have confirmed that they will either close or scale back their relevant faculties at the behest of Japan’s..
Judge Rejects Ludlow’s Amended Claim Against NU
From the Cook County Record:
A federal judge has rejected a Northwestern University professor’s amended claim against the school, ending another chapter in a complex legal battle centered around his relationships with female students. About six months after U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis rejected the Title IX discrimination claim of Northwestern philosophy pro..
Renewed Call to Reinstate Salaita
Kirk Sanders of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign passes along the following:
A group of forty-one Executive Officers and campus leaders from across the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has released an open letter to Acting Chancellor Barbara J. Wilson and President Timothy Killeen. In the letter, the forty-one chairs, directors, and heads ..
Holy %#&! They Made a Real Brain in a Vat
An almost fully-formed human brain has been grown in a lab for the first time, claim scientists from Ohio State University… Though not conscious the miniature brain, which resembles that of a five-week-old foetus, could potentially be useful for scientists who want to study the progression of developmental diseases… The brain, which is about the size of a pencil..
Philosophers On Prostitution’s Decriminalization
This past Tuesday, Amnesty International representatives from 60 countries voted on which stance the influential non-governmental organization should take regarding the legal status of prostitution, ultimately deciding to support its full decriminalization, including both the selling and buying of sex.
The position is highly controversial—particularly the decri..