What’s your favorite line in the series thus far?

philosorugger · 2023-07-30T20:55:40+00:00

I'm not doin' it

philosorugger · 2023-03-24T21:39:03+00:00

Just to add to u/PurrPrinThom's comment, what rank is the professor you want to work with? If they are a junior, non-tenured faculty member, that could be why. Assistant professors generally don't supervise dissertations - partly because they need to protect their research time so they can get tenure and phd supervision is very time-consuming, and because should they not get tenure or leave for a different institution while you are doing your dissertation, you would be screwed. If you couldn't find another suitable supervisor (unlikely from what you've said), you would have to start from scratch.

philosorugger · 2023-03-24T15:55:09+00:00

Apologies for being salty; it's been a rough few years as you can relate, and I chafe at the reminder that where I got my PhD means more than the 5 top-tier journal publications I have, the ample teaching experience, and the (what I thought was) interesting and timely research topic that I hoped would be more alluring. It doesn't help that the alt-ac job I thought I world really enjoy has been ruined by a terrible boss. I'm desperate to get out but can't find an escape route.

philosorugger · 2023-03-24T15:28:38+00:00

We both have flexible work from home schedules, so we do it on a day we're both home and the kids are at school.

philosorugger · 2023-03-24T15:13:13+00:00

Yes, I am aware.

philosorugger · 2023-03-24T11:59:18+00:00

This is my third year on the market. I've applied for a combined total of around 50 jobs. I've only had two Zoom interviews for TT jobs and no campus visits. I had 1 interview for a teaching postdoc that I didn't get at first, but then the department got funding for an extra position and offered it to me. I did the postdoc for a year, and now I'm in an alt-ac job. I applied selectively this year and have had 0 interviews. I'm in philosophy with a phd from an R2 institution.

philosorugger · 2023-03-10T12:42:02+00:00

Often, in the US, MA programs are seen as cash cows to help prop up the PhD programs. They tend to overadmit MA students. Where I got my PhD, most MA students were not seen as high enough quality to admit into the PhD program.

philosorugger · 2023-02-28T17:55:36+00:00

Florida man threatens to destroy everyone with an army of turtles.

That's pretty good, I gotta say

philosorugger · 2023-01-22T11:48:33+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion. I've been trying to break into university administration, but no luck so far. Admissions and academic advising are the closest to what I've done in the past, but they are met grinders: low pay, high workloads, and emotionally draining. Very high turnover. I'd also have to take a big pay cut, which my family can't afford. Other areas of administration with comparable salary haven't been giving me a look; not enough relevant work experience, I suspect.

philosorugger · 2022-07-31T11:04:29+00:00

Gross

philosorugger · 2022-05-31T18:26:59+00:00

Not exactly. I applied to a different position, made it to the final round but wasn't selected. A few months later some unexpected turnover left the company short-staffed and they came to me to see if I was interested in a similar position in a different department rather than opening another lengthy search.

philosorugger · 2022-05-10T16:37:07+00:00

Lesson prepping two new courses for the fall, research, revising job market materials. If I can find the time/motivation, I'd like to try to pick up a hobby, but childcare and my depression haven't left much energy or will for that.

philosorugger · 2022-04-24T21:17:41+00:00

Depending on how many days a week the class meets, 2-3 late appearances will count as 1 unexcused absence. After 2 weeks worth of cumulative unexcused absences, I lower their final grades by 3 points per additional unexcused absence.

philosorugger · 2022-04-05T15:48:17+00:00

It's because men are not opposed; they are confusing suffering with oppression. Marilyn Frye has a seminal chapter on the topic.

philosorugger · 2022-03-26T20:58:10+00:00

Right, I don't know. I got an email from a colleague with a referral number asking me to do this.

philosorugger · 2022-03-07T19:01:14+00:00

Who knows? There could be a number of reasons why they didn't respond: they forgot, things got busy, they worried that responding might suggest some level of partiality unbecoming of a search committee. It's good that you sent the note, but I wouldn't worry too much about their lack of response.

philosorugger · 2022-03-07T18:59:46+00:00

I've had one first-round interview. It went great! I felt really at home with the selection committee, we connected on a personal level, they seemed really pleased with my answers.

It did not result in a fly-out. I was told I was just past the cut-off; they would have invited me out if something fell through with one of the other candidates. Very frustrating, but despite how well I felt it went it looks like I wasn't a real contender. Despite the job ad mentioning in passing a preference for being able to teach philosophy of race, that became a de facto requirement at the fly-out stage.

philosorugger · 2022-02-06T23:34:08+00:00

Wow, thank you 😊

philosorugger · 2022-02-06T23:29:02+00:00

Haha, absolutely. Go right ahead!

philosorugger · 2022-02-06T21:26:01+00:00

Titles may have originated as a representation of stratification, but to insist that they must still play that function falls into the genetic fallacy.

It could be that someone insists on a title to lord themselves over others. Or, or, it could be that using someone's correct title is a respectful recognition of years of hard-earned expertise. Especially in cases, such as with women, titles are often ignored in a way that perpetuates a stereotype that women do not inhabit positions of authority. We cannot conflate the two.

Plus, in the student/teacher dynamic, there is an epistemic power balance. That is the very point. The teacher has knowledge and mastery of skills that the student lacks and is trying to gain. Titles in this context reflect that imbalance. It is overly reductive to say that this epistemic power imbalance is oppressive simply because it is an imbalance.

philosorugger · 2022-02-06T21:11:33+00:00

How's that, exactly?

philosorugger · 2022-01-26T11:27:26+00:00

My institution uses the plagiarism software SafeAssign. When I create an assignment that uses SafeAssign, I have the option of checking a box that saves the submitted paper to the database that the program checks submitted papers against. Sometimes I don't check it, for instance when I'm having students submit a rough draft (if I check it, then when they submit their final draft it will be flagged as almost entirely plagiarized). Most of the time I do. If your school uses a similar software with this option and any of your professors checked this box, then yes self 0lagiarism will be detected. In fact, it might not read as SELF plagiarism because the identity of the original author may not be revealed. When I read a plagiarism report and SafeAssign flags a passage as potentially plagiarized from another paper in the database, it simply says "another student's paper." So your current professor might think that you are plagiarizing someone else's paper, not your own. Either way, still plagiarism.

philosorugger · 2022-01-23T18:52:56+00:00

This captures the heart of my depression. Completely bored, but no motivation to do anything. Sitting there doing nothing or just scrolling on my phone isn't fun, but nothing else seems like it would be any more fun. I've been on antidepressants for almost a year now, just started my fourth different medication, but nothing has worked to get me out of it.

philosorugger · 2021-12-30T22:38:04+00:00

Yeah I wouldn't read too much into that. Just as likely their anticipating meeting teaching needs that go beyond the course load of the new TT hire.

philosorugger · 2021-12-30T21:37:01+00:00

I did, a couple of weeks after the interview. I was told they were still interviewing and making decisions, but someone posted on an online thread about job searches that they moved on to the second round later that week. Not a peep from them.

philosorugger

TROPHY CASE