teaching
Philosophy Major, Tenured Professors at Risk at Mills College
The Department of Philosophy at Mills College in Oakland, California is one of a few departments that the school’s administration has identified as operating at a “negative net revenue,” and as a result, the administration may eliminate the philosophy major and tenured philosophy faculty at the school may lose their jobs. (more…)
Mini-Heap
Mini-Heap: recent items from the frequently updated Heap of Links, collected in groups of 10, here for your perusal and discussion.
Visualizing The Logical Structure of Arguments: A New Platform (guest post by Simon Cullen)
The following is a guest post* by Simon Cullen (Princeton), which continues an earlier discussion of his work teaching with argument mapping techniques and software.
How We Created A Philosophy Major (guest post by Matthew Brown)
The following is a guest post* by Matthew J. Brown, associate professor of philosophy and history of ideas at the University of Texas, Dallas, about how, in an era in which it seems that a different philosophy department is under threat of closure each week, he and his colleagues were actually able to create a philosophy major at their university. Excellent news! (m..
Stats Courses For Philosophers (guest post by Joshua Knobe)
The following is a guest post* by Joshua Knobe, professor of philosophy and psychology at Yale University. It first appeared at The Brains Blog, and follows up on post from a year ago by Knobe here at Daily Nous, “Formal Methods Training for Philosophy Graduate Students.”
Mini-Heap
Mini-Heap: recent items from the frequently updated Heap of Links, collected in groups of 10, here for your perusal and discussion.
An Impressively Detailed Philosophy Paper Grading Rubric
Micah T. Lewin, a recent PhD from Stanford who is currently an adjunct professor of philosophy at Perimeter College, Georgia State University, has created an impressively detailed and helpful rubric for grading philosophy papers. (more…)
New Online Philosophical Resource: The Deviant Philosopher
There’s a new online teaching resource for those interested in incorporating into their philosophy courses material from outside the Anglo-American philosophical mainstream. The Deviant Philosopher is based on the view that
we and our students benefit from thinking about diverse philosophical traditions and perspectives, and there are many non-canonical philosoph..
APA Issues Statement On Valuing Public Philosophy
The American Philosophical Association (APA) has issued a statement supporting public philosophy and urging philosophy departments to consider recognizing work in public philosophy not just as service, but also, when fitting, as teaching or research. Here’s the statement:
Mini-Heap
Mini-Heap: recent items from the Heap of Links, collected in groups of 10, here for your perusal and discussion. (more…)
Never Trained How To Teach
I was never trained or advised how to teach. I just imitated what I liked about my own teachers… Once I said in a lecture that some philosophical problem was very hard, and nobody knew how to solve it. Such a remark would have strongly motivated me, but the look on most of the students’ faces said “So why bother us with it? Go away and solve it, then you can come ..
Mini-Heap
Mini-Heap: recent items from the Heap of Links, collected in groups of 10, here for your perusal and discussion. (more…)
Hubert Dreyfus (1929-2017)
Hubert Dreyfus, a renowned philosopher and a professor of philosophy at UC Berkeley for almost 50 years, died early Saturday morning. He was 87 years old.
An “Open Textbook” for Introduction to Philosophy (guest post by Christina Hendricks)
The following is a guest post* by Christina Hendricks, Professor of Teaching in the Department of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, about creating an “open textbook” for introductory courses in philosophy. It originally appeared on her blog, You’re The Teacher.
Philosophy Classroom Poster Sessions
Nick Byrd, a PhD student in philosophy at Florida State University, has posted about the classroom poster session that students in Marcela Herdova‘s Free Will & Science course recently took part in. He says that it “was one of the most enriching classroom experiences I’ve ever witnessed.” (more…)
Quitting A Safe Job To Pursue A Career In Philosophy (Ought Experiment)
Welcome back to Ought Experiment, the column by Dear Ida that offers personal advice for your academic life. Today’s letter is from someone considering pursuing a career in academic philosophy. (more…)
Mini-Heap
I’m trying something new here. As you may know, the Heap of Links is updated throughout the day as material comes in and as time allows. That will continue. I’ll now be adding regular posts that collate the links, about 10 at a time, to both give that material a bit more visibility and provide people a space to discuss them, should they wish to. Current rates of Hea..
University Suspends Philosopher After Lesson On Abortion (updated)
Stéphane Mercier, a visiting assistant professor of philosophy at the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, was suspended from his position, and had his classes cancelled, following a lesson he gave on the topic of abortion. (more…)
AAUP Issues Report On Adjunct Philosophy Professor Allegedly Fired For High Standards
Nathaniel Bork was an adjunct philosophy professor at the Community College of Aurora (CCA) for six years when he was fired a few weeks into the Fall 2016 semester. As reported here last November, Bork claimed that he was fired for refusing to lower the educational standards in his courses and threatening to complain about curricular changes (the “Gateway to Success..
University of Zagreb Philosophy Under Threat (Updated)
The Division of Philosophy in the University of Zagreb‘s Department for Croatian Studies is under threat of closure, according to the text of a petition circulating online. (more…)
Sexual Harassment, Assault, and Retaliation Lawsuit Against John Searle
John Searle, the Willis S. and Marion Slusser Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy of Mind and Language at the University of California, Berkeley, is being sued for sexual harassment, assault, and retaliation by a former female Berkeley undergraduate who worked for him as an assistant at the John Searle Center for Social Ontology. (more…)
Grad Student Asks: How To Switch Departments? (Ought Experiment)
Welcome back to Ought Experiment, the column by Dear Ida that offers personal advice for your academic life. Today’s letter is from a graduate student seeking advice on moving from one department to another. (more…)
A Philosopher Runs for City Council
Matt Johnson is finishing up his dissertation in philosophy at Temple University, is teaching several courses as an adjunct professor, and is now running for city council in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (more…)
Teach Everyone Logic?
Clifford argued that we are morally responsible not merely for what we do and say, but also for what we believe… When we show ourselves to be uncritical and careless with own our beliefs, we implicitly invite others to do the same. And, perhaps more obviously, we invite others to fool us. We encourage dishonesty and deception. Each time we believe something that ..
Association for Practical & Professional Ethics Moves to DePauw
The Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE), a “comprehensive, international organization advancing scholarship, education, and practice in practical and professional ethics,” will be moving from its current institutional home at Indiana University to the Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University. (more…)
The Ghost of Senator Joe McCarthy Haunts a Philosophy Graduate Student (guest post)
The following is a guest post* by Charles H. Seibert, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati. It is about his experiences as a politically-minded graduate student in the 1960s—and the professional consequences that followed. (more…)
The Quality and Reach of Philosophical Writing
In an epic interview at Emotion Researcher, Martha Nussbaum answers questions about her life and her work and philosophy. At one point, the interviewer says:
Another distinctive aspect of your philosophical work is its ambition to have practical import. In your The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics, you cite approvingly Epicurus’ claim ..
When Professors Express Intimidating Opinions
We’ve seen the following: the questioning of a professor’s ability to teach well because of the effect on his or her students of the professor’s expression of a controversial opinion. This was one element of the debate surrounding Steven Salaita’s tweets. For example, he wrote on Twitter, “If you’re defending #Israel right now you’re an awful human being.” Concerns ..