professionalism
CategoryMarquette Update: McAdams Sues, University Releases Report
John McAdams, the associate professor of political science at Marquette University who, in the fall of 2014, launched a political attack on philosophy graduate student Cheryl Abbate based on falsehoods, misleading claims, and a surreptitious recording of her, and who was later suspended from his position for it, is suing Marquette. The Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Se..
That Paper… Again?
A philosopher who prefers to remain anonymous writes in with a good question:
How often can one present a paper in progress before one is simply presenting “old work”?
When I get invited to give a talk or present at a workshop, I often will use the same 1 or 2 papers 3-4 times within the space of a year or so. These are usually papers I’m working on and I wa..
Poll: Most Preferred Means for Promoting Academic Work
A reader requested a poll to help him determine how to promote and share his work online and make contact with other academics with similar interests. Let’s do it! Which of the following would you recommend? I know one popular answer might be “all of them,” but that’s not an option. You can select two, though.
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Invitations, Under Review, and other CV Questions
Two questions about what should go on CVs have come in recently. The first is about conference invitations:
I’ve been invited to/accepted to several conferences. However, budget constraints preclude me from attending almost all of them. Here is my question: is it permissible to list these invitations on my CV—I’m an early PhD student—with a proviso that I cou..
Tips for Writing Letters for Applicants to Grad Programs
The recent spate of posts on letters of recommendation (students writing for profs, things best left out of the letters, and being asked to write your own letter) prompted a reader to send in another query about them—one we arguably ought to have started the week with:
Many of us teach philosophy at an institution without a graduate program. So while we write ..
The Social Dimension of the Professor-Student Relationship
In a comment on a previous post, Natalie writes:
I would really like to see a post/some discussion about how different people manage the socialising-with-students thing. Thinking of my own lecturers, mentors, etc, they mostly fell into one of two extreme groups—either no socialising at all, or ill-thought out (and sometimes inappropriate) socialising—and so I..
Being Asked To Write Your Own Recommendation
Yes, this is “letters of recommendation” week at Daily Nous. On Monday, there was an inquiry from a student about how to write letters in support of faculty. Yesterday, we began a discussion of what not to include in letters of recommendation. Today, we turn to the egregious practice of recommenders asking recommendees to write their own letters of recommendation, w..
What NOT to Say in Your Letters of Recommendation
Sometimes one comes across a letter of recommendation in which the author, presumably with good intentions, nonetheless says something that is bizarre, inappropriate, counterproductive, or downright creepy. In the interests of grad school applicants, job seekers, tenure candidates, etc., as well as those writing letters for them, I am opening up a thread here for ex..
On Students Writing Letters for Faculty
A graduate student in philosophy writes in with the following query:
I’m a philosophy PhD student and avid reader of Daily Nous. I particularly enjoy reading the posts that provide advice for graduate students, and I was wondering if you had considered having a post on how to write letters of support for your supervisors and/or faculty members? It’s something tha..
Guide to Online Self-Promotion
Last spring we discussed some issues regarding self-promotion in philosophy. The focus then was largely on egotistical and boorish online behavior. The current discussion of Academia.edu here has brought renewed interest to the topic, particularly on the question of how to do it well, and a request for a guide to online self-promotion in philosophy.
Online self-p..
What Kind of Jerk Are You?
Henry Shevlin, a PhD student at CUNY, has posted about the philosophy of jerks:
What makes someone a jerk? Is it merely being rude, or selfish, or is there something more subtle that underlies the behavior of the jerk? And just as important, how do you know if you’re a jerk yourself?
Following up on Eric Schwitzgebel’s prolific jerk work, Shevlin offers a situ..
“Dirty Tricks” for Seminars and Talks (guest post)
The following guest post was authored by Josh Parsons, and originally published here on June 19th, 2015. Parsons died on April 11th, 2017. At the time of this post’s original publication, he was an associate professor of philosophy at Oxford University. He described the post as “a slightly jokey collection of what I called ‘dirty tricks for seminars’ (including some..
Norms of Self-Promotion (updated)
A graduate student in philosophy who prefers to remain anonymous writes in with questions “concerning self-promotion and marketing oneself in order to move up in the world of philosophy.” He asks: “Is blatant self-promotion just a feature of the discipline now? Is doing anything necessary to sway the public opinion a necessary evil? Or should we be calling these p..