interviews
TagNew Video Archive of Mid-to-Late 20th Century British Philosophers
“Philosophy in the Open” is a new archive of philosophy videos from Open University. (more…)
Philosophy in “Lesser-Studied Languages”
An interview project “devoted to exploring the philosophical richness of lesser-studied languages from across the world” has published four interviews so far, with more on the way.
New Academic Interview Site: “The Workbench”
The Workbench is a new site for “conversations with academic writers on their craft,” created by Nathan Ballantyne, associate professor of philosophy, cognition, and culture at Arizona State University (ASU). (more…)
36 Answers to “What Is the Value of Philosophy?” (updated)
Friction, a philosophy channel featuring interviews of professional philosophers, recently released a supercut of three dozen thinkers answering the question “What is the value of philosophy?” (more…)
Unusual Academic Job Interview Questions
Over at The Philosophers’ Cocoon, Trevor Hedberg (Arizona) is soliciting examples of unusual questions asked of candidates for academic philosophy positions. (more…)
Should Philosophy Grad Programs Interview Applicants?
Recent updates posted at the Grad Cafe by prospective graduate students in philosophy have mentioned the scheduling of admissions interviews at certain departments. Not many departments, it seems, conduct interviews as part of the application practice, but some do. What’s the extent of this practice, and what are its advantages and disadvantages? (more…)
New: Washington University Review of Philosophy
Washington University Review of Philosophy is a new, open-access journal featuring articles by and interviews with professional philosophers, edited by undergraduate students. (more…)
A Big List of Philosophy Podcasts (updated)
How many philosophy podcasts are there? (more…)
Conversations with Philosophers about the Pandemic
Over the past few months, Sahana Rajan (University of Delhi) and Alan Nelson Isaac have been conducting interviews with philosophers, with a focus on “exploring the philosophical dimensions of pandemic situation.” The result is In Limbo Conversations. (more…)
Closer to Truth & Philosophers (guest post by Robert Lawrence Kuhn) (updated)
“Philosophy has novel opportunities to expand its share of the contemporary zeitgeist…” (more…)
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…)
Richard Marshall’s Interview Series Will Continue
3:AM Magazine, which was shut down by its editor Andrew Gallix this past Wednesday amid controversy over his decision to retract an interview of Holly Lawford-Smith by Richard Marshall, will return, and the hundreds of interviews Marshall has conducted with philosophers will again be available; however, the interview series, which will continue, will have a new onli..
Richard Marshall Resigns from 3:AM Magazine (Updated)
Richard Marshall, who has conducted astonishingly rich interviews with hundreds of philosophers for 3:AM Magazine, has resigned from the publication over its editor’s decision to remove one of his interviews from public view.
Should We Stop Interviewing Job Candidates?
Recent research suggests that job interviews not only provide potential employers with irrelevant information, but actually “undercut… the impact of other, more valuable information about interviewees,” according to Jason Dana (Yale), in a recent column in The New York Times. How, if at all, should the hiring of philosophers be affected by these findings? (more…)..
New Philosophy Podcast on Politics and Public Discourse
Why We Argue is a new, interview-based podcast “that explores the triumphs and disasters of American political conversation.” It is hosted by Robert Talisse, professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University and is part of the Humility and Conviction in Public Life project directed by Michael Lynch, professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut. (more…)..
New Site Interviews Philosophers With Non-Academic Careers
Phil Skills is a new site featuring interviews with people who’ve had graduate training in philosophy and pursued careers outside of academia. The site was created by Eleni Manis, a former philosophy professor who received her PhD at Michigan and who is currently a research analyst and acting director of communications at the Office of the Nassau County Comptrolle..
Caspar Hare AMA Interview Today; Others Scheduled
The moderators of the /r/philosophy board at the discussion site Reddit have released their Fall 2016 schedule of “ask me anything” interviews with philosophers. First up is Caspar Hare (MIT), today, at 1pm Eastern Standard Time. (more…)
“Free Range Philosophers”: A New Site
Free Range Philosophers is a new website about and for “people with advanced training in philosophy who are either working outside of traditional academic jobs or engaged in philosophical outreach or other philosophical activities outside of the academic classroom.” (more…)
On Campus Visits: A Job Candidate’s Critique (guest post)
Below are critical suggestions from a graduate student, who’ll go nameless, who was on the market this past season. The suggestions are for departments, in regard to how they arrange and manage campus visits. We’ve discussed some flyout horror stories before, but there seems to be no lack of resourcefulness in how departments can make things lousy for job candidates..
Applying for Jobs You Won’t Take
A graduate student in philosophy asks:
“In today’s job market climate is it immoral to apply for a job and go deep in the interview process when one knows (not just reasonably foresees) that one will not take the job if offered it? Or is this practice, common among senior philosophers to increase their salary at their current institution, just a shrewd career str..
The Job Market: Shifts in the Schedule?
With the increased use of video calls in place of first-round conference interviews, as well as the inauguration of the January scheduling of the Eastern Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association, some philosophers on the market are curious about how this has been affecting the timing of the process. We discussed some aspects of this back in August,..
APA’s Best Practices for Interviewing
Interview season is creeping up on us. Interviewers and interviewees may wish to check out the new edition of the American Philosophical Association’s Best Practices for Interviewing. It includes an overview of the typical stages of the interviewing process, along with advice for those hiring.
For example:
Members of the hiring committee should confine themsel..
What’s “Core” and What’s “Peripheral” in Philosophy—and Why?
It’s pretty bizarre, when you think about it, that someone who spends their time wondering whether tables are real is considered to be working on a foundational area of philosophy, but someone who wonders whether races are real is doing something we consider a niche, ‘applied’ topic. Likewise, someone who tries to figure out how words like ‘might’ work is doing some..
What It’s Like to Be Josh Knobe
A new interview is up at What Is It Like To Be a Philosopher?, this time with Joshua Knobe (Yale). Interviewer Clifford Sosis (Coastal Carolina) asks Knobe a range of questions about his life and ideas.
Some interesting excerpts:
On the job market:
I lived pretty far from campus and hardly ever came in. As a result, I was woefully ignorant about just about ..
The Job Market in the Post-APA Eastern Era
Over the past several years we have seen an increased use of video calls (e.g., Skype) as a replacement for in-person first-round interviews at the Eastern Division meeting of the APA. Though there may be some holdouts (for various reasons), the trend seems likely to continue. What have been the effects of this change, so far, on the job market? And are they saluta..
Mary Louise Gill Interviewed
Clifford Sosis continues his very interesting series of interviews with philosophers with Mary Louise Gill of Brown University. There’s a lot in this one, which Sosis helpfully sums up:
She talks about reading Gone with The Wind in secret at home (it was forbidden), being required to read J Edgar Hoover’s Masters of Deceit in the 6th grade, her father, John Glanv..
What Is It Like To Be A Philosopher?
What Is It Like To Be A Philosopher? is the new project of Clifford Sosis (Coastal Carolina). What’s it all about? He says:
I decided to start What Is It Like To Be A Philosopher? because one of the things I like most about conferences, and hanging out with philosophers generally, is learning about the people who do philosophy. How we are similar. How we are diff..
Paying Their Own Way For Job Interviews
A junior job candidate reports that twice this season she has been invited for on-campus interviews but told that the inviting departments would not be able to pay for her travel to the campuses. At all. This is like being invited over for dinner but then told that you will have to bring all of the food and drink. It’s like being taken out for a night on the town bu..