September 2011
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Half or Less of the 2009 Graduates of 30 Law Schools Got Jobs Requiring a JD
The details here. This was, of course, in the depths of the Great Recession, but the numbers are still grim.
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The Top 50 Law Schools in the United States, 2011
Thanks to our on-line survey of the readership (some 450 votes) from September 8-16, and the magic of Condrocet, we now know the truth: 1. Yale University (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices) 2. Harvard University loses to Yale University by 233–142 3. Stanford University loses to Yale University by 318–66, loses to Harvard University by…
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NY Times Attacks Philosophical Naturalism!
Well, actually, they got Tim Williamson (Oxford) to do it. And now Alex Rosenberg (Duke) comes to the defense. Thoughts from readers?
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In Memoriam: James Paul
James C.N. Paul, the former dean of Rutgers-Newark School of Law (1970-73) and William J. Brennan Professor of Law Emeritus at Rutgers, passed away this week. Paul, a Penn law graduate and former clerk to Chief Justice Frederick Vinson, was previously on the University of North Carolina and Penn law faculties. He was 85.
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$1.2 Million Grant to Study “The Science of Ethics” at Michigan
Details here. Daniel Jacobson (Michigan) is the leader of the project; also participating are Justin D'Arms (Ohio State) and Chandra Sripada (Michigan).
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“The Responsibility of Intellectuals Redux”
One of the better essays I've seen by Noam Chomsky recently–and it includes a link at the end to the original 1967 essay, which appeared in The New York Review of Books. (It is telling about the increasing triviality of the political commentary in the New York Review of Each Other's Books over the last…
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Michelle Bachmann is So Unqualified…
…that even the folks who really fund the Republican Party won't back her. I hope readers in civilized countries realize how bizarre this is. To be sure, France and Italy and Germany and England have their racists and crypto-fascists contending for office; but in the United States, we have candidates for the Presidency who are…
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Uploading “Letters of Recommendation,” Again
We touched on this issue last year, and with a new hiring season upon us, the issue is a live one again. A philosopher at Princeton writes: As this year's job market season gets started, I'm worried about a problem that emerged last year with some philosophy jobs. Many jobs are moving to a policy…
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Oklahoma Senator Blocks Tulsa Dean From Tenth Circuit
According to a news report from the Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn has effectively blocked the impending nomination of University of Tulsa law dean Janet Levit. The reason, according to the report? She has a background in international law. In his questioning of Supreme Court nominees, Coburn has previously shared his allergy to the use…
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Some Examples of Bad Advice to Academic Job Seekers
Reader Adam Steiner calls my attention to these apt remarks about some spectacularly bad advice apparently being given to academic job seekers by some unnamed faculty at Yale and Harvard. (Since our general reaction to Professor Bernstein is more like this, it may also amuse some readers, as it did Mr. Steiner, to find we're sometimes on…
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On Not Hiring VAPs
The issue is being discussed here, and do peruse the comments as well. The two best reasons, in my view, for having a strong presumption against hiring one's own VAPs are: (1) failure to hire the VAP may be taken by peer and many lower-ranked schools as an indication that the VAP is not that good; and (2)…
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The Right-Wing Blob and 9/11
This is quite funny, though the bits of the Blob it makes fun of are not! (Thanks to Aaron Baker for the pointer.) ADDENDUM: Edroso's personal blog is very funny too. Here's a great line: "At last night's GOP Tea Party debate, Michele Bachman attacked Rick Perry for immunizing them Texas gals agin HPV, and…
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Northwestern’s Philosophy Department…
…has a really well-done departmental newsletter, that does a nice job covering both the undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as the faculty.
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The “Liberal” Media Strikes Again
CNN invites Bernie Sanders, Dennis Kucinich and Ralph Nader to question candidates for the Democratic nomination for President. Well, not really.
In addition to many interesting points above, I wonder if welcoming AI into the research process turns off many academics…