A Best Books of 2013 list

From the NY Times: 6 women, 4 men.

Philosophy, life, and death-CFP

The 1st Graduate Conference at Penn State will take place on March 1st & 2nd, 2014, and the topic will be “Philosophy, Life, Death.”  The Keynote speaker will be Claudia Card, Emma Goldman Professor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The website for our CFP is: http://psu-pgso.blogspot.com/

We invite submissions from graduate students and independent scholars, regardless of tradition or historical focus. Submissions should consist of a 500 word abstract reflecting a 3000 word paper (to be presented in no more than 20 minutes), and should be prepared for blind review. Please include a separate cover sheet with your name, e-mail address, and institutional affiliation (or date and institution from which you have recently earned your PhD).

Abstract submissions should be sent no later than January 31st, 2014. Accepted papers should be submitted no later than February 21st, 2014.

Please send submissions to: pgso.psu@gmail.com

Phenomena at the margins-CFP

ANNUAL GRADUATE CONFERENCE IN PHENOMENOLOGY – UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
June 20th-21st 2014

Keynote Speakers: Ed Casey (SUNY at Stony Brook) and Tanja Staehler (University of Sussex)

We are welcoming submissions for the 5th Annual University of Sussex Graduate Conference in Phenomenology. This year the conference theme is Phenomena at the Margins. This refers to either phenomena that are usually marginalized, such as gender, orientation etc, or thematically to “margins” as such, such as in corporeality, spatiotemporality, ontology etc.

We invite abstracts from those working in, around, or critically engaging with phenomenology, broadly construed. We also encourage abstracts from those working outside philosophy departments. This is in keeping with the theme of the conference in that we hope to question the typical place and presence of phenomenological research. Priority will be given to students working towards a completion of a PhD, but we also welcome submissions from postdoctoral researchers, as well as MA students.

This conference provides graduate students the opportunity to present their work and receive ample feedback by peers and specialists in the field. It is a two-day conference, organized by graduate students for graduate students. It is organized as a single “stream”, ensuring that every speaker has the opportunity of addressing all delegates. We aim to bring together postgraduates engaging in original research on phenomenology and related branches of philosophy and to promote contemporary studies in this field.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Phenomenology and gender (inequality; subordination; heteronormativity etc)
• Phenomenology and embodiment (the sexual body; alternative bodily schemas; pregnancy; affects marking the body, such as shame, pride, wonder etc)
• Phenomenology and orientation (spatiotemporal orientation; positionality; sexual orientation; cultural orientation etc)
• Phenomenology and limit cases (sleep; unconscious; phobias; failure etc)

Submissions:

Submissions should be ready for blind-review and should consist of two separate documents containing the following:

1) The title and the abstract (maximum 300 words) of your presentation. The abstract should state and explain the topic of the presentation and the way in which the presentation contributes and relates to the theme of the conference. This document should not include your name or institutional affiliation.

2) A separate cover letter that includes: the title of your presentation; your name; institutional affiliation; current academic status, and contact information.
Submissions should be sent to submissions@sussexphenomenology.com no later than the 28th of February 2014.

Useful information:

The conference will be held at the University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 15th March 2014. Accepted papers shall be considered for online publication in the conference proceedings. Accepted speakers shall be allocated 40 minutes in total: 20 minutes in which to deliver their talk and 20 minutes for Q&A. This format allows graduate students to receive ample feedback on their work. The conference fee is £30 for each accepted speaker. This event is open to and free for the public. Further information concerning travel and accommodation, can be found at the conference website http://www.sussexphenomenology.com.

For any further inquiries please contact the Head Organizer, Christos Hadjioannou, at C.Hadjioannou@sussex.ac.uk

Publishing less

 
From The Scientist
 

… researchers from Indiana University, the University of Montreal, and the University of Quebec have looked at citations across [science]disciplines by gender and demonstrated that female scientists publish less and receive fewer citations than their male counterparts around the world. The analysis was published as a comment in Nature this week (December 11).

The team classified authorship by gender for over 27 million authors of nearly 5.5 million papers published between 2008 and 2012. They found that in the majority of countries—including the U.S., U.K., Japan, Canada, and China—women published less than half as often as men. In countries with fewer total papers, women contributed more equally. The researchers also examined collaborations and found that women did not have has many international collaborations as men did, and that papers with women as first or last author received fewer citations than papers with men as first or last author.

As they note, those with well funded large labs could expect to have a high number of publications. But the lower rate of publication for women might have other explanations. Perhaps women’s experience leads some of us to expect people are not going to be particularly interested in what we have to say. Or perhaps some of us occupy a less standard stance, which makes our work less easily acceptable. Or perhaps in philosophy women publish just as much as men do.

What do you think?

Learn How to Philosophize via Video Game

My sister just showed me this very, um, interesting video game, which actually teaches you how to engage in philosophical argument.

Play Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher here!

It’s pretty weird at times, but also pretty cool.  You play as Socrates, a middle-age an accountant living in contemporary times, and are taught philosophy by your daughter, Ari.

I haven’t gotten far, but it’s actually pretty solid at explaining the sorts of questions and statements you can make in an argument.  For instance, Ari explains that you can question a statement for clarification, for support, or for relevance.  She also reminds you, “If you say really stupid things, you’ll lose credibility with your audience.”  And if your credibility rating goes to zero, you lose the game. 

What do people think?