pandemic
TagPhilosophy Professor Claims To Be Threatened With Dismissal for Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine
Julie Ponesse, a philosophy professor at Western University’s Huron College, says in a video that she is facing “imminent dismissal” by the university for her refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19. (more…)
University to Faculty Concerned about Covid: “Beg”
“We are discouraged from “sharing Covid data that is not related to the course.” Presumably, nattering on about the state’s overburdened hospitals, worn-down physicians, and increasing death counts might constitute “pressure,” and faculty “should not pressure students to get vaccinated or wear a mask.” The most we can do is “encourage.” In practice, these guidelines..
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…)
Academic Freedom & COVID-Related Topics
How are universities regulating how faculty may discuss COVID-related topics such as mask wearing and vaccinations with students? (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…)
Good Conferences in a Time of Pandemic—and Afterwards (guest post)
“The global pandemic has forced philosophers to develop skillsets and approaches toward the social side of our work that we otherwise would not have developed. Outside the bounds of the pandemic, that skillset can be used to help advance the profession in ways that might not have been evident to us before.” (more…)
Junior Yearly Progress Reports in Pandemic Times
A junior faculty member has questions about the assessment of faculty on the tenure-track over the past year, particularly regarding how such faculty should, if at all, discuss how the challenges of the pandemic affected their progress. (more…)
Philosophy Threatened at Baker University
The administration of Baker University in Kansas has decided that in order to address the financial difficulties it is facing owing to the pandemic, its students should no longer be able to major in philosophy. (more…)
Have Philosophy PhD Programs Received More Applications for 2021?
Recently, an undergraduate applying to Ph.D. programs in philosophy wrote with an anxious query about a possible increase in the number of people doing so this year, in comparison to previous years. (more…)
A Pandemic Ethics Book Club with the General Public (guest post by Jesse Hamilton)
“If philosophy is to thrive, it must be sensitive and responsive to the world it is meant to engage with. The non-philosophers in our reading group shed light on a world that may be difficult for us philosophers to see and point out aspects of lived experiences that we may not have access to.” (more…)
Philosophy Graduate Admissions Spreadsheet
There’s an open-access spreadsheet all about philosophy graduate program admissions, including relevant links and information about application deadlines, fees, requirements, funding packages, and which departments have suspended admissions for the next academic year. (more…)
How Should We Grade Students During a Pandemic? (guest post by Wes Siscoe)
How, if at all, should instructors grade their college students this coming term? In the following guest post*, Wes Siscoe, a postdoctoral fellow at Florida State University and the Mellon Course Design Coordinator for the Philosophy as a Way of Life Project at the University of Notre Dame, offers some suggestions.
Yes, There’s Still Time to Design an Excellent Fall Course (guest post by Paul Blaschko)
It’s almost August (sorry!). Do you know what you are doing in your courses this fall? Don’t panic. Paul Blaschko is back with another guest post* to explain how you still have time to put together a great course. (more…)