academia
TagSexual Harassment in Philosophy (guest post by Janice Dowell and David Sobel)
The following is a guest post* by Janice Dowell and David Sobel, professors of philosophy at Syracuse University. It is also posted at PEA Soup.
Gender, Topics, and Publication: Clues from Political Science?
A new study in political science provides evidence for an explanation of why “women are more likely to leave the profession than men” and why “those who stay are promoted at lower rates.” (more…)
APA Is Surveying Philosophers on Priorities and Services
The American Philosophical Association (APA) is conducting a survey to determine which issues confronting professional philosophers it should prioritize, and which of its services and programs professional philosophers find valuable. (more…)
Flourishing with Controversy: How Philosophy of Race Does It
One of the popular narratives about higher education is that the discussion of and disagreement over controversial ideas is imperiled, owing to the dominance of political correctness on college campuses. (more…)
“The problem is not that humanities jobs are disappearing”
In an interview at Inside Higher Education, Jason Brennan (Georgetown) and Phillip Magness (American Institute for Economic Research), answer a question from interviewer Scott Jaschik about their view that universities are admitting too many PhD students. (more…)
Game of Thrones Quotes for Academic Contexts
Game of Thrones, a well-acted and beautifully filmed sprawling television fantasy of political ambition, royal lineage, revenge, zombies, surprising deaths, random magic, and dragons—entertaining and big but also silly and superficial—is ending tonight. People can’t stop talking about it.
Campus Visit Horror Stories II
In 2015 I asked readers to share bad experiences they had while visiting campuses during their job searches. I would bet, alas, that the past four years did not go by without such incidents. (more…)
The Making of the Disaster at the University of Tulsa (Updated)
Last week, I reported on the proposal of the administration of the University of Tulsa (TU) to reorganize the school, reorient it towards vocational training, and eliminate departments and majors in philosophy and other disciplines. It turns out that the making of this disaster was itself pretty disastrous. (more…)
What You Wish Someone Had Told You About the Academic Philosophy Job Market
What do you wish you had known about finding a job in academic philosophy, but didn’t, when you were a graduate student preparing to do so? (more…)
Publishing Your Philosophy Book with Open Access
Some academic publishers offer authors of monographs an “open access” option. For a fee, the publisher will make a version of the text available online, free to anyone. (more…)
Etiquette & Strategy for Switching Jobs and Outside Offers
A philosophy professor writes in with questions about when to let one’s current institution know one may be pursuing employment elsewhere, being recruited by other schools, and fielding offers. (more…)
When Academics Receive Threats of Violence and Death
“This week several of my colleagues in my department and faculty have received anonymous death threats and antisemitic hostility because they politely protested a student group’s invitation to Jordan Peterson.” (more…)
Political Interference in Humanities Grants in Australia
The previous Australian Minister of Education, Senator Simon Birmingham, quietly vetoed Australian Research Council (ARC) funding recommendations over the past two years, denying 11 peer-reviewed humanities projects AU$4.2 million in funding, according to reports. (more…)
Hypatia and other Journals Successfully Tricked Into Accepting “Fake” Papers (Updated)
Three writers, working as a team and using pseudonyms, produced and submitted to academic peer-reviewed journals 20 “fake” papers—papers written with the intent to spoof certain areas of research and trick or embarrass editors and reviewers working in those areas. Seven of the papers were accepted, and four have already been published. (more…)
Baylor: Dougherty Responsible for Violating Sexual Harassment and Interpersonal Violence Policy (Several Updates)
An investigation at Baylor University has determined that Trent Dougherty, a philosophy professor there since 2009 who specializes in philosophy of religion, violated the school’s Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment and Interpersonal Violence Policy. Dougherty resigned from the University earlier this week, though according to a philosophy faculty member, “tenured m..
Advice for Mental and Physical Self-Care
A reader has requested “a post about soliciting physical and mental health tips for overworked early career scholars (or any scholar, really).” (more…)
Generosity and Kindness in Academia
“Generosity is not impossible in today’s precarious times. It can be embedded in the small acts we perform every day and in the behaviors we model across the profession.”
The Difference Between Snowflakes and Champions of Free Speech
What is the difference between those accused of being whiny, coddled, politically correct snowflakes and those who are considered brave champions of free speech? (more…)
What Is the Best Type of Open Access for Philosophy and Other Humanities Disciplines? (guest post by Roberta Millstein)
The following is a guest post* by Roberta L. Millstein, professor of philosophy at the University of California, Davis. (more…)
Job Candidate Mentoring Program for Women
The Job Candidate Mentoring Program for Women in Philosophy is currently recruiting both mentors and mentees for the upcoming job market season. (more…)
Fawning Sycophancy Is Unprofessional, Gross, and if Ongoing, the Professor’s Fault
“I only now your beautiful and exquisite message… I thank you for your infinite understanding and sensitivities which are always beyond measure.” (more…)
“Physics Envy” and Some More Light Verse
The following are three poems from Felicia Nimue Ackerman, Professor of Philosophy at Brown University. (more…)
Should PhD Students Embargo Their Dissertations?
Most universities offer PhD students the option to embargo their dissertations, usually for up to two years. During the embargo, access to the official dissertation is restricted. Its content is not placed online, and if someone wanted to read it, they would likely have to go to the library of the university at which the degree was earned and view the hard copy whil..
A Note On Making Discussions Here Better
We often have vigorous and contentious discussions in the comments here at Daily Nous, and this past week—with its focus on philosophizing about transgender issues—was no exception (see here and here).
Bullshit Jobs in Higher Ed
“The degree to which those involved in teaching and academic management spend more and more of their time involved in tasks which they secretly—or not so secretly—believe to be entirely pointless” is a hot topic on academic social media this week, owing to an article about it by anthropologist David Graeber (LSE) in The Chronicle of Higher Education. (more…)..
Philosophy Has High Rate of Uncited Publications
A discipline-by-discipline analysis of data from Elsevier’s Scopus database concering over 10,000 pieces of research published between 2012 and 2016 shows that a massive amount of scholarly work goes uncited, according to a report in Times Higher Education. (more…)
AAUP Releases Report on Faculty Salaries
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has released its Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2017-18.
Media Reports on Campus Free Speech “Out of Kilter with Reality”
“The press accounts of widespread suppression of free speech are clearly out of kilter with reality,” says a new report on free speech at universities by the UK Parliament. “Any inhibition on lawful free speech is serious, and there have been such incursions, but we did not find the wholesale censorship of debate in universities which media coverage has suggested.” ..