APA Names Blog Editor
The American Philosophical Association is starting a new blog later this year and has named Lewis Powell, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Buffalo, as its lead editor. In the press release, Powell says:
My goal for the APA blog is to create a forum for issues of importance to APA members, whether those issues relate to service, teaching and research, or to the state of the discipline more generally. The blog will present perspectives from a broad array of APA members, highlight the activities being undertaken by the APA, and provide a venue where the APA leadership and membership can communicate with each other more effectively.
Powell will now be looking for associate editors for the blog. For details on the position and how to apply, see here. (via Erin Shepherd)
Great news!
I fear that the APA blog will be yet another mouthpiece for “the New Consensus.” Time will tell, I suppose.
Asking a woman would have been nice. Or someone of colour.
And the first “this is just more New Consensus groupthink” complaint beats the first “another white male” complaint by a respectable 45 minutes. The lucky person who drew that time in the sweepstake wins a signed copy of the 2014 Philosophy Gourmet report.
And, too predictably, another white male immediately dismisses concerns about the appointing of “another white male.” Coming from a white male whose experience is limited to virtually segregated philosophy departments that also have had a notable underrepresentation of women, such dismissiveness is understandable. Still, such a man might exercise a bit more restraint and reflection, especially were he to work in a historically no-blacks department located in the heart of a major urban area in the States.
Perhaps Wallace can share with us why he thinks diversity in the profession’s leadership is a punch-line.
This “such a man” person must have written such a terrible comment that it got deleted. It’s obviously not me since (a) my comment is pretty obviously flippant metacommentary on the current philosophy blogosphere, rather than expressing any substantive point, and (b) I don’t work in the States at all.
@Plouffe: well, one should never explain a joke. If you don’t think it’s funny that the second and third comments on this blog were strongly-phrased objections to the appointee from diametrically opposed starting points, I don’t think I’ve got a lot to say.
It appears David Wallace is trying to discredit two viewpoints by pointing out that people hold them. A curious strategy!
Based on something that was published on this blog a few months ago (http://dailynous.com/2015/02/09/apa-looking-for-blog-editor/), it looks as though the APA didn’t ask anyone to be the editor, but only that people who were interested by the job send their application. I guess that, for whatever reason, they judged that Prof. Powell’s application was the best. It seems uncharitable to assume that they didn’t make the right choice just because Prof. Powell happens to be a white man. Even if you think that having a woman or someone of color in that position trumps any other consideration, it may be that no woman or philosopher of color applied for the job, I don’t think any of us here knows.
Lewis, if you’re taking suggestions for the name of the blog, I recommend APAplectic.
Philippe, people aren’t saying they didn’t make the right choice, but merely pointing out that the choice was yet another white man. Maybe the fact that women and minorities didn’t apply is a problem. Maybe the APA should have actively asked particular women and minorities to apply. Maybe something else should have been done.
Much like the Gendered Conference Campaign points out all-male conference lineups regardless of how those lineups were reached, people here are pointing out that we have yet another white man (in addition to Leiter and Weinberg) dictating what is and isn’t news in the profession and moderating the comments, regardless of how he got to that position.