July 2020
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The Lincoln Project makes the best anti-Trump ads
Let's make this official: it may have started as the Wuhan virus, but it's now the "Trump Virus": Somewhat more regular blogging resumes tomorrow.
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Bloomberg: Demand for Corporate Bankruptcy lawyers surges (Michael Simkovic)
See here. Large U.S. law firms are scrambling to address a ballooning need for bankruptcy and corporate restructuring expertise. The Covid-19 pandemic has unleashed an unprecedented severity and speed of corporate distress, as Chapter 11 filings pile up and fire-sale assets garner interest. Law firms are scouring the field to hire experienced restructuring attorneys, counter…
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Diamond & Cain on online vs. hybrid legal education during COVID (Michael Simkovic)
Steven Diamond and Patricia Cain discuss tradeoffs between online and hybrid legal education during the COVID pandemic and argue in favor of online based on health risks and concerns about diversity and inclusion.
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Five philosophers elected to the British Academy
The new regular Fellows (i.e., resident in the UK) are Ursula Coope (Oxford) and Katherine Hawley (St Andrews); the Corresponding Fellows (i.e., those outside the UK) are Elizabeth Anderson (Michigan), Rainer Forst (Frankfurt), and Elliot Sober (Wisconsin). Frederick Schauer (Virginia), a well-known First Amendment expert and also a legal philosopher, was also elected. I'll resume…
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An early sign about this year’s job market for law teachers
According to a widely circulated list of hiring chairs at different law schools in the U.S., 117 have already named appointments chairs, compared to 138 last year. That's not as big a drop-off as I had feared we might see. Bear in mind that last year's 138 hiring chairs yielded 88 rookie hires at 66…
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Board of Illinois Wesleyan spares Philosophy–this time
(Earlier coverage.) Other programs were not so fortunate: Anthropology, Greek & Roman Studies, Religious Studies, French & Italian are all being closed. As a philosopher at IWU wrote: "Although the Philosophy Department survived—-this time—this is *not* a day for celebration. Academic freedom and tenure have been undermined at our institution, and we will continue to…
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Academic freedom and independence of Israeli universities under threat from new Minister of Higher Education
Legal theorist Alon Harel (Hebrew U) asked me to share immediately this statement from the President of Tel-Aviv University: Download Message of the president – Significant risk to the independence of the higher education system in Israel -7.2020 (003)
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Lawyer Wendy Kaminer on the unhinged responses to the Harper’s letter about “cancel culture”
I was amazed to learn that the letter (referenced in passing earlier today) was actually controversial, albeit among the usual herd animals, who never met an independent thought they could abide. The lawyer Wendy Kaminer, who signed the letter, has a suitably stinging rebuke: ‘I rest my case’, I’m tempted to say, reviewing the unhinged…
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Several dozen Princeton faculty call for massive and systematic violation of their colleagues’ contractual right to academic freedom…
…for the holy cause of "anti-racism." ("Anti-racism" doesn't, in fact, mean opposition to racism any longer, for those who have not been paying attention. And what is the connection between an abusive cop killing George Floyd in Minneapolis and alleged racism at Princeton? There isn't any, of course.) Some portions of the letter are harmless…
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Reminder about my July blogging hiatus
MOVING TO FRONT FROM JUNE 28 Just a reminder that I'm taking a break from blogging for July (so starting Wednesday), so as to make progress on a book and deal with some other matters. I'll resume a reduced blogging schedule in August. If there's something very time-sensitive I may post something in July, but…
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A petition in support of philosophy at Illinois Wesleyan
Here. (Thanks to Aaron Garrett for creating it.)
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July blogging hiatus
I'm taking a break from the blog in July in order to make progress on a book and deal with some other matters. If there's something absolutely time-sensitive, I may put it up, but otherwise please don't send news items until very late July. Thanks, as always, for reading.
I’ve only just heard this news and am sorry to read it. I was taught as an undergrad and postgrad…