SPSP cfp 2013

Now this is one conference that I couldn't possibly miss.

Open Calls for Papers: Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice, Fourth Biennial Conference

Location: University of Toronto, Canada
Event Date: 26-29 June 2013
Submission Deadline: Dec. 1, 2012
Notification of acceptance: 1 February 2013 
Main Contact: Andrea Woody at the University of Washington

Keynote speakers will include: 

Rachel A. Ankeny (University of Adelaide) 
James Griesemer (University of California at Davis) 
Arthur Fine (University of Washington) 

Please see the SPSP website for details and submission guidelines: 

http://www.philosophy-science-practice.org/abstracts/new_abstract/

The Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice (SPSP) aims to create an interdisciplinary community of scholars who approach the philosophy of science with a focus on scientific practice and the practical uses of scientific knowledge. For further details on our objectives, see our mission statement on our website (URL above). 

The SPSP biennial conferences provide a broad forum for scholars committed to making detailed and systematic studies of scientific practices — neither dismissing concerns about truth and rationality, nor ignoring contextual and pragmatic factors. The conferences aim at cutting through traditional disciplinary barriers and developing novel approaches. We welcome contributions from not only philosophers of science, but also philosophers working in epistemology and ethics, as well as the philosophy of engineering, technology, medicine, agriculture, and other practical fields. Additionally, we welcome contributions from historians and sociologists of science, pure and applied scientists, and any others with an interest in philosophical questions regarding scientific practice. 
 

FEAST 2013 cfp

I've never submitted to FEAST. Florida hasn't been appealing. Arizona is slightly more appealing, though further away from New York.

Pluralism is a potentially divisive topic, oddly enough! I think this would be open to some work on interdisciplinarity and on collaboration between philosophy and other disciplines. If I submitted it would be in that vein.

FEAST

The Association for Feminist Ethics and

Social Theory

invites submissions for the Fall 2013 conference:

Envisioning Plurality: Feminist Perspectives on Pluralism in Ethics, Politics, and Social Theory

Oct. 17-20, 2013

Fiesta Resort and Conference Center

Tempe, AZ

http://www.fiestainnresort.com/

submission deadline: February 28, 2013

Keynote speakers:

Linda Martín Alcoff, Professor of Philosophy at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center. Author of Visible Identities: Race, Gender and the Self,  Alcoff has initiated public discussions of pluralism, through both her Pluralist’s Guide to Philosophy and her 2012 NYT op-ed piece addressing Arizona’s censorship of the teaching of critical race theory in public schools.

Jennifer Lisa Vest is a mixedblood (Black/Florida Seminole/German) poet and philosopher who holds the position of Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Central Florida.  Co-author of Philanthropy in Communities of Color, her book manuscript Sovereign Wisdom: Generating Academic Native American Philosophy is under review.

Invited Sessions:

·        Viewing and discussion of film, “Precious Knowledge”

·        Invited Panel on Pluralism

FEAST encourages submissions related to this year's theme. However, papers on all topics within the areas of feminist ethics and social theory are welcome.
Description of this year's theme:
One meaning of pluralism within philosophy is that it seeks to bring
underrepresented theoretical perspectives and underrepresented groups into the philosophical mainstream, transforming philosophy as a result. Yet what is meant by "pluralism" and how to assess whether or not pluralism has been achieved remains hotly contested.

While philosophy is often depicted as the academic field most in need of pluralistic correctives, other disciplines, too, struggle with the marginalization of those whom, due to their theoretical approaches or their bodies, have been pushed to the edges of their disciplines.

This year's FEAST conference encourages submissions that challenge us to think in new ways about the boundaries, methodologies, and subject matter of academic subfields that pertain to feminist ethics, politics, and social theory, broadly construed. The program committee welcomes papers that take both theoretical and practical approaches to these issues. We aim to create a conference with a diverse group of presenters and a wide range of approaches, topics, and styles. FEAST strongly encourage members of groups that are underrepresented in academia to send submissions.

Call to submit a panel proposal (topic and speakers) for a lunch time “Difficult Conversation”

FEAST conferences typically feature a lunch time “Difficult Conversation” that focuses on an important, challenging, and under-theorized topic related to feminist ethics or social theory. Past topics include: Critical Understandings of Dependency and Disability; Are Academic Feminist Philosophies and Methodologies Still Too White?; A Difficult Conversation about Feminist Sexualities and Identities.  We hereby invite proposals for next year’s Difficult Conversation.

Submission Guidelines

A completed paper of no more than 3000 words must be submitted for individual presenters and prepared for anonymous review. Proposals for a Difficult Conversations session or for non-paper formats (e.g., workshops, discussions, etc.) must include detailed descriptions (500-750 words).

Please send your submission, in one document (a Word file, please, so that abstracts can be posted), to feast2013@csbsju.edu  by February 28, 2013.  Your document must include: paper title, abstract of 100-250 words, and your paper, with no identifying information. The word count (max. 3,000) should appear on the top of the first page of your paper. In the body of the email message, please include: your paper or panel title, name, institutional affiliation, e-mail address, surface mail address, and phone number. All submissions will be anonymously reviewed.

Note: Panel organizers, please send the panel title and all three abstracts and papers in one document, along with word counts (3,000 for each paper). Difficult Conversations and other non-paper submissions should be marked as such.

For more information on FEAST or to see programs from previous conferences, go to:  http://www.afeast.org

Questions on this conference or the submission process may be directed to the Program Chair, Jean Keller, at feast2013@csbsju.edu .

Back to School 2012

Labor Day is rolling around, and for me that always means the first day of the official academic year. Perhaps some day my university's schedulers will come to their senses and give us the national holiday off.

I didn't blog much at all last year but will seek to return to the habit with the new school year. I'll go with the shorter style posts, maybe. I suspect that Facebook has replaced the blogging world entirely. If it can't be said in 140 characters, is it worth saying at all?

What have I been thinking about?
-- The SAF conference at Vanderbilt in October
-- climate ethics
-- how to do undergraduate research with philosophy majors
-- assessment of a general education ethics requirement
-- teaching philosophy of science, and specifically teaching issues having to do with assessing evidence useful for policy decisions
-- teaching feminist theory, and the challenges that poses on my campus, with its particular student body (technical school + art school)
-- increasing interest in the philosophy major among undergraduate women

and lots more stuff than that!