academic labor

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How Much Do You Referee?

How many journal submissions do you referee each year? (more…)

“We are mired in inevitably betraying and ignoble practices, obliged to pay mindless obeisance to useless cant or to perform pantomimes of actually important values made ridiculous through endless, unanswered repetition…”

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A Little Rough Data About Journal Refereeing in Philosophy

Is there a refereeing crisis in philosophy? There has been a fair amount of discussion about this over the past couple of months. What was missing from much of this discussion, though, was data. So I asked for some. (more…)

A Public Database of Referee Service (guest post)

A few years ago, Neil Sinhababu, associate professor of philosophy at the National University of Singapore, wrote about the “publication crisis” in academic philosophy in a post entitled “2,000 Spaces for 10,000 Papers: Why Everything Gets Rejected & Referees Are Exhausted.” In this guest post*, he follows up with a proposal for how to help make things better. (more..

What Professors Do

With Winter Break coming, professors, you have some time—maybe a month or so—to kick back and just relax. And let’s not forget those three months during summer when you don’t have to work. And don’t you get a fall break and a spring break, too? Sweet. (more…)

Columbia Grad Students Striking, University Striking Back (updated)

Graduate students at Columbia University went on strike last month, for the second time this year, as they attempt to negotiate a labor contract with the university. (more…)

Letter Protesting Midwestern State University’s Treatment of Nathan Jun (updated)

There’s currently an effort underway to gather signatures for a letter in support of philosopher Nathan Jun, who resigned from his tenured professorship at Midwestern State University following the university’s maltreatment of him in regard to freedom of speech and medical-related issues. (more…)

Analytic Philosophy, Inclusiveness, and the English Language

Philosophers are endorsing a set of principles “to address the structural inequality between native and non-native speakers , and to provide as many scholars as possible globally a fair chance to contribute to the development of contemporary philosophy.”

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Philosophy Professor Resigns to Protest University’s COVID-19 Plan

Jeremy Fischer, who until yesterday was a tenured associate professor of philosophy at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), resigned from his position to protest his university’s COVID-19 policies for the coming term. (more…)

Children, Academia, and the Life of the Mind

“If children take time away from a habit of intellectual activity that is bad in itself, it’s hardly a real accusation against them.” (more…)

Sounding the Alarm: 2021-2022 COVID Risks at Unprotected Colleges and Universities (guest post)

Some faculty will be teaching this fall at schools in areas with low vaccination rates, whose administrators cannot or will not require vaccinations, mask-wearing, or social distancing. What, if anything, should faculty at such places, and possibly elsewhere, do? (more…)

Sci-Hub & the Philosophy Grad Student “Pirate Queen”

You may know that Sci-Hub is a means by which to freely access academic research that normally requires a subscription or purchase. Did you know its founder, Alexandra Elbakyan, is a philosophy graduate student? (more…)

Liverpool Philosophers Object to Planned Layoffs at University, Call for Support

The members of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Liverpool have authored a letter in support of the actions being taken by their union in response to planned layoffs (redundancies) of colleagues in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences (more…)

Some Things You Always Wanted to Know about CVs and Weren’t Afraid to Ask (guest post)

“One of the many things we don’t usually teach people how to do in our profession is construct a CV.” (more…)

How Should Departments Credit Faculty for Public Philosophy?

The Department of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), will be considering a proposal about how to recognize the work its faculty do in public philosophy. (more…)

Examining the Future of Academic Events (guest post)

Following up on yesterday’s piece regarding online conferences, Heather Douglas, professor of philosophy at Michigan State University, in this guest post,* asks us to consider: “When is it worth it (in terms of financial and environmental cost) to gather together in person?” (more…)

Online Conferences: The New Default (guest post)

In the following guest post,* a group of scholars make the case that the online conferences, the recent prevalence of which has been spurred by pandemic precautions, should be “the new default.” (more…)

Can Small, Non-Mainstream Philosophy Departments Flourish?

“It has been painful to witness the end of a programme in which we invested so much of our energy and creativity, a programme that was praised by students and external examiners, that featured innovative modules and assessments, that defied being classified as either European or analytic, that was for the larger part run by two women, neither of whom identify as ‘Wh..

Specialization, Technicality, and the Production of Philosophy

Adrian Moore, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford and Tutorial Fellow at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, as well as co-editor of the journal Mind, makes some observations about academic philosophy today. (more…)

New Leadership at European Society for Analytic Philosophy

The European Society for Analytic Philosophy (ESAP) has a new president and a new steering committee. (more…)

Protesting Cuts to Philosophy Departments Can Make A Difference

Recently announced plans to cut philosophy programs at the University of the West of England at Bristol (UWE) and Adrian College in Michigan have been reversed. (more…)

Apps & Other Methods for Organizing Your Academic Life

It’s the beginning of a new academic year, and a new set of graduate students are learning about all that will be expected of them as they earn their degrees. (more…)

Philosophy Department and Others Targeted by Cuts at Canisius College

John J. Hurley, the president of Canisius College, a private liberal arts college in upstate New York, has announced that the school plans on laying off faculty, many tenured, including members of the Department of Philosophy. (more…)

Philosophy Threatened at Carthage College

John Swallow, the president of Carthage College, a liberal arts college in Wisconsin that bills itself as “widely recognized for excellence,” has announced an academic restructuring plan that eliminates the school’s Department of Philosophy and, possibly, its philosophy major and minor. (more…)

MAP Issues Statement on Anti-Black Racism and Philosophy

Minorities and Philosophy (MAP), a global graduate student-led network of organizations that aim to “remove barriers to participation in philosophy for members of marginalized groups,” has issued a statement in light of the recent wave of anti-racism protests. (more…)