Busy times: Emergence-fest, AAP

It’s mid-March, and we’re all gearing up for a very busy few months at UOW Philosophy. In addition to our regular schedule of visiting speakers this term, we’re hosting a two-day workshop April 12th and 13th on Emergence, Dynamics, and Cognition – aka Emergence-fest. Not all of the talks will be about emergence, but they’ll all be interesting. Participants will include Adele Abrahamsen, Bill Bechtel, Brett Calcott, Mirko Farina, Richard Menary, Jon Opie, Rob Rupert, Liz Schier, Karola Stotz, and Kellie Williamson. If you’re interested in joining in, contact Patrick.

Emergence-fest is just a warm-up for the main act this year, which is the 2012 AAP conference. The conference runs July 1st-6th, and we’re expecting a few hundred philosophers to philosophize the ‘Gong. Our keynote speakers are Rebecca Kukla, Galen Strawson, and Rob Wilson, and we’re planning a variety of activities to keep everyone busy around the conference. For instance, if you need a break from talks, you can always skydive the beach.

For more AAP info, check out the conference site, or contact the organizers at aap-2012@uow.edu.au

We’re hiring!

UOW Philosophy’s much anticipated new senior position has finally been approved. This is a level E position, equivalent to a Full Professor in North America. We’re looking for an experienced researcher/teacher who can contribute in fields such as Applied Ethics, Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind/Cognition, and/or Philosophy of Science. Applicants should also have a strong record of research leadership, with experience in winning national competitive grants.

A more detailed position description can be found at http://employment.uow.edu.au/jobapp/, position number 24094.

The closing date for applications is 31 January, 2012.

We’re a small but energetic group of philosophers looking for a colleague who’s interested in working with us to elevate UOW Philosophy a step further. We are looking for a candidate who will complement our existing strengths and help expand and develop our program.

For more information, contact Patrick McGivern, Philosophy Program Convenor at patrickm@uow.edu.au or by phone at +61 2 4221 5676

Upcoming hire

We expect to be advertising soon for a new position in Philosophy at the University of Wollongong. This will be a senior position (level E), and the main AOS will be Philosophy of Mind/Cognition. Look for more information here as soon as the ad is officially released.

Sarah Sorial book published

We’re all very happy to congratulate Sarah Sorial on the publication of her book Sedition and the Advocacy of Violence: Free Speech and Counter-Terrorism, with Routledge. Sarah is an ARC Postdoctoral Fellow here at the University of Wollongong, and she’ll be joining us as a full-time staff member in Philosophy in 2012.

Here’s the book’s own blurb:

This book employs the theoretical framework of ‘speech act theory’ to analyse current legislative frameworks and cases pertaining to sedition or the advocacy of violence and the issue of freedom of speech. An analysis of the relation between speech and action offers a promising way of clarifying confusion over the contested status of speech, which advocates violence as a political strategy. This account reflects an understanding of philosophical issues about both the nature of freedom and speech and how these issues can be applied to concrete legal problems.

Order your copies soon!

New blog for Philosophy at UOW

Welcome to the new blog for Philosophy at the University of Wollongong. Blogger is down at the moment, but when it gets going again, we’ll import all our old stuff so there’s a record of what’s been going on in the Gong (since ’09 at least). Meanwhile, have a look around to learn a bit about Philosophy at UOW.

Philosophy @ UOW ranked alongside Monash, Melbourne, UNSW and Adelaide for Research Excellence

We’re very pleased with the results from the Australian Research Council’s nationwide assessment of ‘Research Excellence for Australia’. Philosophy at UOW earned a ’4′ on the 5 point scale, putting us in the company of Adelaide, La Trobe, Melbourne, Monash, UNSW and UQ and behind only ANU and Sydney. If you’re looking to do high quality research in Philosophy in Australia, come to the Gong!