Conferences
CategoryThe Ends and Means of a Graduate Student Conference
A graduate student in philosophy has the responsibility of organizing a graduate student conference hosted by their department, and has some questions, starting with:
1. “Why put on a graduate student conference? What should the purpose of a graduate conference be?“ (more…)
Social Media at Conferences
What are the norms for using social media to publicly discuss the conference sessions you’re attending? (more…)
Good Conferences in a Time of Pandemic—and Afterwards (guest post)
“The global pandemic has forced philosophers to develop skillsets and approaches toward the social side of our work that we otherwise would not have developed. Outside the bounds of the pandemic, that skillset can be used to help advance the profession in ways that might not have been evident to us before.” (more…)
Conference Idea: Small Sessions for Grad Students & Keynote Speakers (guest post)
In the following guest post,* Carlota Salvador Megias, a recent graduate from the MA program in philosophy at the University of Bergen, shares an interesting idea for helping graduate students get more out of philosophy conferences. (more…)
Will Conferences Recover? Should They?
With promising news of a vaccine, one might hope not just for saved lives, but a return to “normal life,” including the regular features of academic work. Among these are the typically in-person events of conferences, workshops, and talks. (more…)
Videoconferencing for Climate Practice (guest post by Colin Marshall and Sinan Dogramaci)
The following is a guest post* discussing the practice of making videoconferencing a regular component of academic conferences and the like, for the sake of the environment, by Colin Marshall (UW Seattle) and Sinan Dogramaci (UT Austin). (more…)
Accessible Conferences and Lectures
The British Philosophical Association (BPA), together with the Society for Women in Philosophy, UK (SWiP UK), have created guidelines for making philosophy conferences and lectures more accessible to people with disabilities.
APA Meetings: Time To Reconsider The Timing?
It was a great idea to hold the Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA) in Savannah, Georgia. Not only is it a beautiful little city that many people want to visit (and so a good use of location to add to the meeting’s appeal), it is also in the South, and so less likely than many other past APA Eastern sites to be affected by debili..
APA Eastern Open Thread 2018
The Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA) is currently taking place in Savannah, Georgia. (more…)
Conference Panel Proposals
A reader writes in with the following query: (more…)
Discriminatory Texas Law Prompts Philosophers To Move Conference
The Public Philosophy Network (PPN) was planning on holding its annual conference next February at the University of North Texas (UNT). It will now, instead, be held in Boulder, Colorado. (more…)
APA Pacific Open Thread
Here’s an open thread for discussion of the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA), currently taking place in Seattle.
Poll: Impact of Academic Boycott of the US on Philosophy Conferences
Over 5000 academics have signed on to a statement “pledging not to attend international conferences in the US” so long as the travel ban (which denies entry to the US by people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia) issued by Donald Trump in an executive order on January 27th is in effect. (more…)
Big Changes to the Eastern APA
The Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA) is undergoing some changes, according to outgoing Secretary-Treasurer Andrew Cullison and incoming Secretary-Treasurer Jeffrey Dunn (both at DePauw University). (more…)
APA Committee Issues Statement on Swinburne’s SCP Keynote (Updated)
The Committee on the Status of LGBTQ Philosophers in the Profession, one of the committees of the American Philosophical Association, has issued a statement in light of the controversy regarding Richard Swinburne’s keynote address at the 2016 Midwest Society of Christian Philosophers (SCP) meeting.
The statement first emphasizes that Swinburne’s talk was a keynot..
A Tale of Two Conferences (UPDATED)
Last weekend, the Society for Analytical Feminism (SAF) held its 2016 conference. This weekend, the Society of Christian Philosophers (SCP) held its 2016 Midwest conference. I did not attend either of these conferences, but I did hear about them. As one might expect, they had a lot in common with other conferences: a fair amount of anticipation in advance, a mix of ..
The Value of Conferences
The case against philosophy conferences is depressingly formidable. I say “depressingly” because I love philosophy conferences. Here are some of the considerations against them: (more…)
The Ideal Conference
Let’s figure out what the ideal moderately-sized academic conference with, say, 30 to 40 participants, would be like. There are various factors to consider, including, but probably not limited to: (more…)
Norms of Address at Conferences
A philosopher wrote into Daily Nous saying that at the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA) she witnessed several instances of a speaker or chair addressing a woman in the audience they didn’t know the name of as “young lady.”
She suggested it might be a good idea to discuss the question of how we should address each other at c..
Central APA Open Thread
The Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA) is taking place in Chicago. Are you there? Consider this an open space for comments, reports, news, feedback, etc., about the meeting.
Overheard at the Eastern
An open thread to report those funny or odd things one tends to overhear at gatherings of philosophers, for folks at the Eastern Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association.
Play nice, please.
The Future of Online Conferences in Philosophy
The following is a guest post* by the organizers of the recent online philosophy conference, Minds Online, Cameron Buckner (Houston), Nick Byrd (Florida State), and John Schwenkler (Florida State). They lay out some of the advantages of online conferences and compare them to some of the advantages of in-person conferences, share some data about their conference, and..
Poster Sessions at Philosophy Conferences
Poster sessions are normal parts of conferences in the sciences and social sciences, but rare in philosophy. So rare, that some philosophers don’t know what they are. So, by way of explanation, they are blocks of time at conferences during which participants display large posters they have made describing their projects and discuss them with other participants—mem..
The Point and Practices of Conferences
Christy Wampole (Princeton) lays out a series of complaints and concerns about conferences in the humanities, including:
We have sat patiently and politely through talks read line by line in a monotone voice by a speaker who doesn’t look up once, wondering why we couldn’t have read the paper ourselves in advance with a much greater level of absorption.
We have..
Conference Fees and Non-TT Faculty (updated)
Many philosophy conferences charge fees, with one rate for faculty and a lower rate for students. A philosopher who is an adjunct at a state university, and who at this time would prefer to remain anonymous, is trying to get conferences to recognize a third category for adjuncts, visiting lecturers, postdocs, and the like, i.e., those who would like to participate i..
World’s Largest Philosophy & Music Festival
HowTheLightGetsIn bills itself as “the world’s largest philosophy and music festival.” With 650 events, 370 acts, and 200 speakers on 9 stages over 11 days, it probably is. It takes place in the town of Hay-on-Wye, about 160 miles or so west of London. The schedule for the festival was recently released, and includes panels and debates with philosophers such as Sim..
Overheard at the Pacific
You know what to do.
Invite-Only and Cliquey Conferences
In the discussion of the “Networking and Merit” post last week there were a number of comments (including a few that did not get approved) about conferences that are invitation-only or appear to be cliquey, accepting mainly friends of the organizers or those closely connected to them.
Our standards for good journals involve anonymous review, as our recent “journ..