Women should self-nominate!

As a co-contributor follow-up to the post below, I want to add that the APA message that went out specifically notes something which should be of interest to our readers especially:

We have received a good number of nominations to date.  We are, however, in particular need of nominations for most of the diversity committees (Asian and Asian-American Philosophers and Philosophies, Black Philosophers, Hispanics, Indigenous Philosophers, LGBT People in the Profession, and the Status of Women).  Additionally, we are short on nominations for the committees on Academic Career Opportunities and Placement, International Cooperation, Status and Future of the Profession, Philosophy and Computers, Non-Academic Careers, and Philosophy in Two-Year Colleges.

Please consider nominating either yourself or someone else.

I can see the committee nomination page (when I log on to apaonline, then click the phrase ‘Members Only’ on the upper-right, it takes me to a page with a left-hand column including “Committee Nominations,” the sixth item under Members Only).  So if you need my help, please email me at profbigk [at] gmail [dot] com, and I will gladly nominate you!  I am rotating off of the committee on the Status of Women, and not re-upping because chairing my department in fall requires my attention.  It’s a great committee!  Please think about participating.  You’ll meet awesome people and talk about neat topics like the status of women in philosophy!

“Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains.”

Apologies to Shelley. And yet reading the emails sent around by UVa’s Board of Visitors really makes one feel despair. Great public universities can be utterly derailed by political appointees who get their attention caught up by the trivia in public media.

For the sorry mess, see here. And note the comment: one of the things cited was from a commencement addressed reprinted in the New Yorker.

But it is our APA…

Today I received a sweet, personalized, mail-merged note from the APA:

Dear Anne:

I write to remind you that June 30 is the deadline for receipt of nominations for APA committees and for receipt of APA Grant proposals.  The nominating process is available in the “Members Only” section of the APA website as is information about the requirements for grant proposals.

There are some nice features of the note. First, the online membership registration does not start until after June 30, and it takes too long for mail-in membership payment to be processed for you to get ‘member’ status before The 30th So don’t even bother to read further to the part where they say they need nominations and volunteers if you are not up to date.

But I should be up to date. And I could access quite a bit of the members only stuff. I couldn’t see anything about nominations, but I looked eagerly toward reading about available grants. And to I was surprised to see the following when I did:

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Ahhh, it’s like slipping into those old faimiliar shoes that never did fit.

<blockquote>

Masai elders vow to protect women’s rights

Dozens of Maasai elders in the Kenyan highlands, who serve as symbols and enforcers of their community’s conservative cultural traditions, have vowed to uphold an entirely new tradition: equal rights for women and girls…
The elders were initially hostile to ideas embodied in their nation’s new constitution (which was approved by Kenyan voters in 2010). But after a few weeks of earnest dialogue, they began to see the promise in allowing the women in their community equal rights. And eventually, the elders -– on their own accord -– determined that they should document their new thinking by drafting their own constitution on the issue. The document was debated in the community for weeks and adopted unanimously…
And this isn’t mere platitudes. The elders, understand that the words in their new document will change lives.

“As a chief, most of the issues I handle are family-based disagreements between a man and a woman,” continued Sange. “In the past it was difficult for me to rule in favor of the woman because of our culture and the difficulty in explaining to the man that women have a right. But now I am in better position to rule in favor of a woman. And I can articulate to the man in a way that he can understand and accept.”

Awesome.

Thanks, J-Bro!