August 2018
-
Virtual Dissertation Groups
Philosopher Joshua Smart (Ohio State) asked me to share the latest announcement: Virtual Dissertation Groups VDG is a free service that connects graduate students to provide feedback on dissertation work. Members are grouped with two others working in the same general area of philosophy. About once a month, one member sends some work (3-6K words)…
-
An interview with Yitzhak Melamed…
…about the police brutality in Bonn earlier this summer.
-
MLA President issues statement on the infamous Butler letter in defense of Ronell
A colleague elsewhere forwarded it: Dear Colleague, As many members know, a letter written in support of a New York University faculty member accused of sexual harassment was signed by Judith Butler, who was identified as the 2020 MLA president. The letter, written without authorization from the Executive Council, runs counter to aspects of the…
-
Which law school’s alumni are in the first FAR?
This sometimes includes LLM and SJDs, as well as laterals: 1. Harvard University (28) 2. New York University (25) 3. Yale University (20) 4. Columbia University (15) 5. Stanford University (12) 5. University of Michigan (12) 7. University of California, Berkeley (11) 8. University of Chicago (9) 9. University of California, Los Angeles (8) 9. …
-
In a USNews.com world, don’t confuse citation counts with quality
I assume this is obvious, but just in case let me say it: citation counts have a very imperfect correlation with quality. But in a world where law faculties are ranked by Bob Morse, an ignorant non-academic looking to make a living, we need alternative metrics that reflect what we in the legal academy actually…
-
Should scholarly journals permit use of the word “TERF”
There's a cogent case against permitting use of the word, along with a reply from the editors of Philosophical & Phenomenological Research. I think the PPR editors are wrong on the first point–TERF is obviously now nothing more than a term of abuse, meant as a conversation-stopper and device of exclusion–but are correct on the…
-
Amartya Sen documentary
Amazon Prime members can, it appears, get immediate access. (Thanks to Jerry Dworkin for the pointer.)
-
Pretend to be perfect?
Philosopher Julia Staffel (Colorado) comments.
-
An incisive piece on Lisa Duggan, Jack Halbertsam, and other Ronell apologists
I found this to be genuinely illuminating close reading all building towards this conclusion: Senior queer scholars—Jack Halberstam, Lisa Duggan, Juana Maria Rodriguez—have closed ranks on Twitter. Their friends and colleagues and students and admirers have either joined them or are compelled to keep quiet because there are professional consequences for going against senior scholars. This…
-
10 Most-Cited Tax Faculty in the U.S. for the period 2013-2017
Based on the latest Sisk data, here are the ten most-cited tax faculty in the U.S. for the period 2013-2017 (inclusive) (remember that the data was collected in late May of 2018, and that the pre-2018 database did expand a bit since then). Numbers are rounded to the nearest five. Faculty for whom 75% or…
-
The New Yorker piece on the Ronell case
Thanks to many readers who have been sending it to me, starting less than thirty minutes after it appeared, thanks to its description of this as a "conservative philosophy blog" (another Halbertsam moment). Ms. Gessen, the author, was apparently travelling, but she did indicate she had asked for a correction, which has now appeared, much…
-
Great moments at the foundations of rock ‘n’ roll: Robert Johnson, a selection of his songs
I will conclude my summer series on some of the great African-American blues musicians and composers who laid the foundation for all the best rock 'n' roll with probably the most famous of them all: Robert Johnson (1911-1938). We'll start with the "Cross Road Blues" from 1936, made famous for a later generation by Cream:…
-
Letter from Ronell’s lawyer to the NY Times (that the Times declined to publish)
It's here, probably the first useful thing that this otherwise ludicrous and allegedly pro-Ronell site has published. It does not contain anything particularly new, but it is a cogent statement of her defense.
-
John Rawls…socialist?
An interesting review essay on Georgia State philosopher William Edmundson's new book. (Philosopher David Zimmerman [Simon Fraser], who kindly sent this essay to me, quipped: "A propos the latest screed from a 'Theory' folk that you quote…. I would never have thought to send this message to you if I believed for a moment that…
My former colleagues at another university in Middle East have also been moved to online teaching indefinitely, with the students…