Schneider from Connecticut to Florida Atlantic
Susan Schneider, professor of philosophy and cognitive science at the University of Connecticut and current NASA-Baruch Blumberg Chair at the Library of Congress and NASA, is moving to Florida Atlantic University (FAU). (more…)
Major Videogame Developer Partners with Philosophy Department
Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, currently one of the world’s most popular video games, and Unreal Engine, a virtual 3D design tool, has partnered with the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow State University (MSU) in Russia. (more…)
Mini-Heap
Friday Mini-Heap… (more…)
Philosophy Survives at Illinois Wesleyan
Today the Board of Trustees of Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU) met to decide on their proposal, announced last month, to eliminate various programs and departments at the school, including philosophy. Not all programs survived, but philosophy did. (more…)
Philosophers, Epidemiologists & Others Call for Human Challenge Trials for COVID-19 Vaccine
125 experts in various fields have signed a letter to the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Francis Collins, calling for the U.S. government “to undertake immediate preparations for human challenge trials” for a vaccine for COVID-19. (more…)
Philosophers on Prospect’s 2020 Top 50 Thinkers List
Several scholars who work on philosophy have made it onto Prospect‘s list of “The World’s Top 50 Thinkers” this year. (more…)
To Identify as a Philosopher and ‘Insane’
To identify as a philosopher and “insane” isn’t quite oxymoronic, but it is certainly something that I didn’t want to risk until very recently. (more…)
Trump Administration Abandons Plan to Revoke Visas of International Students with Online-Only Schedules
The Trump administration has withdrawn a plan proposed earlier this month to withhold or revoke visas of international students at U.S. schools whose courses have all been moved entirely online. (more…)
Ad Hoc
María Lugones (1944-2020)
María Lugones, Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Binghamton University, has died. (more…)
Six Ways to Use Tech to Design Flexible, Student-Centered Philosophy Courses (guest post by Paul Blaschko)
As the pandemic continues, there are lots of uncertainties about how universities will function in Fall 2020, but it is likely that many courses will be taught entirely online or have substantial online elements. In this guest post*, Paul Blaschko provides some advice for making those courses go well. (more…)
Mini-Heap
New links of interest to those interested in philosophy…
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
The weekly report on new and revised entries in online philosophy resources and new reviews of philosophy books… (more…)
Discussion About Discussions Here
Since there appears to be interest in discussing the recent experiments here regarding the comments (see some of the comments on the “Illusion and Agreement in the Debate over Intolerance” post), I thought I’d open up a separate space for that. (more…)
Best PhD Programs in Philosophy (guest post by Carolyn Dicey Jennings)
The following is a guest post* by Carolyn Dicey Jennings, associate professor of philosophy and cognitive science at University of California, Merced, and the principal investigator for the project, Academic Placement Data and Analysis (APDA) (more…)
Illusion and Agreement in the Debate over Intolerance
A good number of very smart, interesting, and creative people signed onto an open letter, published in Harper’s this week, applauding “wider calls for greater equality and inclusion across our society” while lamenting “the intolerant climate that has set in on all sides.” (more…)
Metz from Johannesburg to Pretoria
Thaddeus Metz, currently at the University of Johannesburg, will become professor of philosophy at the University of Pretoria.
Mini-Heap
Mid-Week Mini-Heap… (more…)
Mind Chunks
Homeland Security To Ban International Students From U.S. If Their Colleges Adopt Online-Only Instruction
The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States. Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as tra..
The Margins of Philosophy (guest post by Peter Adamson)
“We need to understand the ‘minor figures’ to understand the ‘major figures’ adequately. But that’s not the only reason to be interested in minor figures, or to bring them to the attention of a wider audience. There is also the fact that apparently minor figures are sometimes major figures.” (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Here’s the report on new and revised entries in online philosophy resources and new reviews of philosophy books. (more…)
Visualizing the Connections among Philosophical Topics
Justin Reppert, a philosophy Ph.D. student at Fordham University, has created a fun tool that illustrates the connections between various philosophical topics, based on the “related links” sections of articles at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (more…)
Should We Continue to Honor Hume With Buildings and Statues? (updated)
(UPDATE: This post, originally published in July, has been moved to the top of the page and updated with the news that the University of Edinburgh has decided to rename Hume Tower. See here.) (more…)
Mini-Heap
New links for people interested in philosophy… (more…)
Demographic Trends in the Philosophy Major Might Be Mostly Due to Pre-College Factors (guest post)
This guest post* looks at two questions related to demographic trends among philosophy majors. First, are women disproportionately less interested in the philosophy major at the beginning of their first year of study? And second, is the recent apparent increase in interest in philosophy reflected in first-year intention to major? (more…)
An Argument to Move College Students to Follow COVID-19 Guidelines
Though the COVID-19 pandemic is strengthening in parts of the United States, many universities here are planning to reopen their doors in the fall to educate, house, feed, and entertain students. (more…)
New Editor at NDPR
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), the online journal of reviews of philosophy books, has a new editor. (more…)