Academic Labor

Unions, Strikes, and the Financial Satisfaction of Philosophy PhD Students

In its 2023 and 2025 surveys, Academic Philosophy Data & Analysis (APDA) asked current PhD students to rate their satisfaction with their financial situation. (more…)

Philosophy Departments as Sites of Collective Intellectual Activities: A Follow-Up to the Poll

Has there been a “marked decline” in the “meaningful presence of faculty members in both formal and informal scholarly events—those that contribute to intellectual exchange, research development, collegial support, and community-building” in philosophy departments? (more…)

Academic Equipment: Coffee at the Office

For the latest installment of the occasional academic equipment series, let’s talk coffee. (more…)

Philosophy Departments as Sites of Collective Intellectual Activities: a Decline? (guest post & poll)

Has there been “a marked decline in faculty participation in seminars, colloquia, reading groups, and other intellectual gatherings that once formed the core of academic life”? (more…)

Academic Equipment: E-Readers & Reading Apps

For the third installment of the academic equipment series (we’ve so far talked about bags and chairs) we turn to the subject of e-readers. (more…)

Publishers Want To Sell Companies the Right to Train AI on Your Books: Should You Consent?

Should authors consent to have their publishers grant licensing requests by firms and projects to allow them to train their generative AI on their books? (more…)

Surviving the “Precarious Years”

“Lassiter taught nearly 50 courses before he began a tenure-track job in 2013. He ordinarily took on three courses in Fall and Spring semesters, plus three or four courses during the summer… Similarly, before starting a tenure-track job in 2014, Atkins taught over 60 courses. As a graduate student, he would usually cover between two and five courses every year, bu..

When Your Semester Starts Without a Contract

In my inbox yesterday: “I am about to begin teaching tomorrow and I have yet to receive my contract…” (more…)

Academic Equipment: The Chair

When you sit down to do your work, on what do you sit? (more…)

A Christian University’s Unchristian Treatment of a Tenured Philosophy Professor

A tenured associate professor of philosophy who had received ratings of “excellent” in her annual reviews each year for the past decade, whose classes are always full or overloaded, who teaches extra courses, and who gets great student reviews in those courses, has been fired. (more…)

Academic Equipment: The Work Bag

This is the first in a series of occasional posts about the things academics tend to use—the tools, equipment, accessories, and other products we need (or want) for our work. (more…)

Support for Canadian Graduate Students on Strike

A Canadian graduate student in philosophy writes in about how graduate students at several institutions are “on strike for a substantive money raise because our funding is incredibly low.” (more…)

Helping Philosophy Grad Students on Strike (updated)

As we noted last week, graduate student workers at Boston University (BU) have gone on strike to demand increased stipends and improved benefits. (more…)

BU Dean Recommends Replacing Striking TAs with AIs (updated)

The actual dean of an actual college of arts and sciences at an actual university has actually recommended replacing striking instructors with artificial intelligence apps. (more…)

Zombie Plagiarism in Philosophy

Some philosophy articles might be exposed as containing plagiarized material, might have editorial notes appended to them indicating as much, or might even be retracted, yet no matter how thoroughly or how many times their plagiarism is noted, they will continue to be cited in the literature and affect the course of scholarship. (more…)

Journal of Political Philosophy Update (guest post)

The following is an update on the Journal of Political Philosophy, whose advisory board resigned following a decision by the journal’s publisher, Wiley, to fire its editor, Robert Goodin. (more…)

Is Someone Selling Your Dissertation Without Your Permission?

A lecturer in philosophy at a UK university discovered that a company has been selling his recent dissertation as a book online through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, and Blackwell’s, complete with a cover.

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That’s Not How Layoffs/Redundancies Work, Sussex

The University of Sussex is reportedly attempting to lay off a philosophy lecturer while at the same time advertising a new position to teach the very same courses he does. (more…)

Back to School Supplies — for Professors and Graduate Students

Are you ready for the beginning of the semester? Of course not. (more…)

Philosophy Colloquia: How Much Does Your Department Pay Speakers?

A philosophy professor in charge of his department’s colloquium series has asked what the norms are regarding honoraria. (more…)

Over 1000 Academics Sign Onto Pending Work Stoppage at the Journal of Political Philosophy

Over 1,000 academics have added their names to a resolution pledging that, as of the end of 2023, they will not submit manuscripts to, review articles for, or accept invitations to join the editorial board of the Journal of Political Philosophy, unless its publisher, Wiley, meets certain conditions, including rescinding its decision to fire the journal’s editor-in-c..

Rutgers Strike Suspended; Unions Accept “Framework” for New Contracts

“The leadership bodies of our three unions have voted to accept a framework for new contracts and to suspend our strike and return to work immediately.” (more…)

Rutgers Faculty on Strike; Most Philosophy Faculty Support It (Updated)

Rutgers faculty yesterday began a strike, halting teaching, research, and service activities as part of the effort to obtain pay raises, more job stability for adjunct professors, living wages for graduate student workers, increased support for caregivers, greater security in academic freedom, and other improvements. (more…)

A Norm for How Much Service Work You Should Take On

In a post about work-life balance at Crooked Timber, Ingrid Robeyns (Utrecht) writes: “it would help if we would all agree that we should do our fair share of the slack & service work, and what that would entail”. (more…)

New Academic Interview Site: “The Workbench”

The Workbench is a new site for “conversations with academic writers on their craft,” created by Nathan Ballantyne, associate professor of philosophy, cognition, and culture at Arizona State University (ASU). (more…)