Forida State University Combined BA and MA in Philosophy

I just recently ran across this somewhat strange but very innovative Philosophy program. 

 "The combined bachelors/masters degree programs provide academically talented students an opportunity to complete a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in a shorter time span".

 This seems like a great way for students to ease themselves into graduate student life. I know that my letters of recommendation and writing sample would have been better if I had another year in UCSC. 

It seems to me what this program really does is let the GREAT candidates go off to Phd's, but offers the decent candidates the opportunity to hone their skills in an academic environment.

Some information about this philosophy program HERE

Blogs as a Teaching Tool in Philosophy

A interesting essay on how to effectively use blogs as a teaching tool for undergraduate students. The author suggests that implementation of blogs encourages students to use "I" in their philosophical writing as well as creating discussion.

About Philosophical Counseling

A quite entertaining summery of philosophical counselling from a fellow blogger over at Rationally Speaking.

The idea seems pretty straightforward and uncontroversial to me, but it has – perhaps predictably – run into strong opposition from a variety of parties, including philosophers themselves! Some psychiatrists accuse philosophers of practicing medicine without a license, as if wanting to talk to someone about your thoughts is an as yet undiagnosed but dangerous medical condition that ought to be treated with the latest drug from Pfeizer. Some psychologists are afraid that they'll lose clientèle if people decide that a bit of rational thinking might actually do as much good as getting in touch with one's own emotions. And some academic philosophers think that dispensing philosophy for money is an undignified way of going through life (apparently unaware that they are paid, often with public money, to deliver their lectures and to write their papers about Wittgenstein).

http://rationallyspeaking.blogspot.com/2006/06/philosophical-counseling-anyone.html

Experimental Philosophy of Free Will Boot Camp

Just a quick note to let people know about the upcoming Experimental Philosophy of Free Will Boot Camp. The boot camp is designed to help philosophers get the skills they need to do cutting-edge work in experimental philosophy. So social psychologist David Pizarro will be providing hands-on training in experimental design and statistics, and attendees will have an opportunity (purely optional) to present their own ideas for possible projects and get feedback from the group as a whole.

Applications are due May 4.

[A big thank you to Al Mele whose Big Questions in Free Will project made this whole event possible!]

http://experimentalphilosophy.typepad.com/experimental_philosophy/2011/04/experimental-philosophy-of-free-will-boot-camp.html

CFP: Philosophy of Sport?

Here is a call for papers on the philosophy of sport. Philosophy of sport is rather new and was started in the 1960's. I have been seeing philosophy of sport mentioned quite a bit on the internet lately but am very ignorant of it's nature myself.  The philosophy of sport definition from Penn State:

Public Philosophy

This seems interesting, I have noticed that quite a few schools are doing something along these lines. It seems that this is a great way to give back to the community. It also forces our ivory tower to be able to relate to the "folk" which seems like a good thing.  Information on the public philosophy network in this post.

Feel free to comment

Philosophy and Medicine - Pre-med

It seems what a department wants, is to have a flourishing local community of philosophers as well as interactions with philosophers at other universities. So, more philosophy students means more funding/positions, creating a more flourishing community. Developing "tracks" which utilized the tools we have in philosophy, but lead out side of philosophy, would be beneficial to the profession on many levels, while not making it more competitive than it already is.
Check out this pre-med track flyer.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/120887/Philosophy%20Handouts/Philosophy%20Major/Philosophy%20and%20Medicine.pdf

Commission on the Humanities - Helping Philosophy?

A new blue-ribbon commission has been assembled in a bid to put the humanities and social sciences on an equal footing on the public agenda with science, technology, engineering and mathematics.The commission's effort to bolster the humanities and social sciences also takes place amid hard times for those disciplines.  The commission’s 41 members represent a broad range of disciplines and backgrounds, including Kwame Anthony Appiah, professor of philosophy at Princeton University.

 Will this help philosophy by creating more positions?

Peer Review for Open Access Textbooks

Three reasons/options why/how philosophy text books could be published as open access.  

Open Access Philosophy

This is an interesting movement, any ideas?

"Why are there still hard copy philosophical journals and books?  Why is so much on-line philosophy hidden behind subscription walls?  Why are universities, students and researchers being forced to pay for access to information authors would happily give away for free?"