To its credit, the Department of Philosophy at National University of Singapore, in a timely manner, emailed some applicants to its recently advertised open rank position to inform them that they were no longer being considered for the job. Unfortunately, the email addresses of all of the recipients of the rejection letter were visible in the “cc” section of the message. The result was that over 200 people were exposed as having applied to the position. For some, this is no big deal, for others, it is. It’s a kind of privacy violation, but as one reader of Daily Nous put it in an email, the error also puts some “scholars in precarious positions at risk, since many do not want their employers to know that they are applying elsewhere,” for fear of upsetting them, or giving them reason to not renew their contracts. Once notified of the error, the search committee member responsible for it wrote to the affected candidates to apologize.
philosophy job market
David Bronstein, previously lecturer in philosophy at the University of New South Wales, last fall became Senior Research Fellow/Associate Professor at the Institute for Ethics & Society at The University of Notre Dame Australia in Sydney. Dr. Bronstein works in Ancient Greek philosophy, and has interests in ethics, epistemology, philosophy of science, logic, and metaphysics in Plato, Aristotle, and beyond. He was recently awarded a 2023 Future Fellowship by the Australian Research Council. Valued at $777,019 over four years, the grant will support his research on “Virtue with Aristotle: Recovering an Ancient Ethical Theory for Our Time” The project aims to show how Aristotle’s theory of virtue can guide our individual and collective attempts to live good human lives in challenging times. You can learn more about Dr. Bronstein’s work here and here.
Sven Nyholm, currently associate professor of philosophy at Utrecht University, will be joining the Faculty of Philosophy at LMU Munich, where he will be Professor of Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Professor Nyholm works in applied ethics (especially the ethics of technology), ethical theory, and the history of ethics. You can learn more about his work here and here. He takes up his new position at LMU Munich this summer. (via Christian List)
Katharina Kraus, previously associate professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, is now, as of this term, associate professor of philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. Professor Kraus works in the history of modern philosophy, especially Kant. She is the author of Kant on Self-Knowledge and Self-Formation: The Nature of Inner Experience (2020), along with several other works. You can browse her writings here and here. (via Steven Gross)
Rachel Fraser, currently associate professor of philosophy at Oxford University, has accepted an offer from the Dianoia Institute of Philosophy at Australian Catholic University. Dr. Fraser works in epistemology, feminist philosophy, and philosophy of language. You can learn more about her research here. At the Dianoia Institute, she will be associate professor of philosophy. Additionally, the Dianoia Institute has hired Tushar Menon, currently a postdoctoral fellow at Cambridge, as a research fellow (equivalent to an assistant professor position). Dr. Menon works in philosophy of science and physics. Professors Fraser and Menon will take up their new positions in mid-2023. (via Stephen Finlay)
How has the 2022-23 philosophy job market looked so far? In the following guest post, Charles Lassiter (Gonzaga) takes a look at the data, sharing information about trends in the number and types of jobs on offer, and about which areas of specialization are most sought after by hiring institutions. (A version of this post previously appeared, in two parts, at Professor Lassiter’s blog.) The 2022-23 Philosophy Job Market So Far by Charles Lassiter Hey friends. We’re going to take a look here at the primary cycle (July 1 – December 30). This is when most job posting happens. Here’s a look at postings across all job types: Remember 2020? Oof da that was a rough year. Anyway, we’re trending a bit higher than usual on junior posts relative to previous years. In fact, the trend for junior posts over the last seven years has been more jobs. Open rank, postdoc, and senior posts are down slightly but still within a normalish range historically. Visiting fellowships are up slightly, but still within a normal range.
Luciano Floridi, currently Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford and Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication at the University of Bologna, has accepted an offer from Yale University to become the founding director of its Digital Ethics Center and professor in its Cognitive Science Program. Professor Floridi is known for his work in philosophy of information, digital ethics, the ethics of artificial intelligence, and philosophy of technology, publishing several books and hundreds of articles on these topics, which you learn more about here. He has also consulted for Google, advised the European Commission on artificial intellligence, chaired a Parliamentary commission on technology ethics, to name just some of his non-academic work and service. Last year, he was awarded the highest honor the Italian government bestows, the Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana.
Jennifer Frey and Christopher Frey, both currently associate professors of philosophy at the University of South Carolina, will be moving to the University of Tulsa. Jennifer Frey is known for her work in moral philosophy, particularly moral psychology and virtue. In addition to her academic work, she also has written for various popular media and is the creator and host of the philosophy, theology, and literature podcast, Sacred and Profane Love. At the University of Tulsa, she will be the inaugural dean of the university’s new Honors College, which will have a general education curriculum that is focused on philosophical texts and questions. Regarding the Honors College, she says: By studying classical texts of the liberal arts tradition within a community of learners who seek truth as a common end, TU Honors College students will confront the most profound and enduring questions of human existence, as explored by some of the most influential thinkers in our inherited intellectual tradition.
Johanna Thoma, currently associate professor of philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, has accepted a senior offer from the University of Bayreuth. Professor Thoma works on practical rationality and decision theory, ethics and public policy, and economic methodology. You can learn more about her work here and here. At Bayreuth she will be full professor of philosophy. She will also be an external member of the Munich Centre for Mathematical Philosophy. She takes up her new position on March 1st, 2023.