(Image Description: Cultivating Underrepresented Students in Philosophy. Penn State's Department of Philosophy is hosting our Fall CUSP Workshop, October 17-20, 2021, for students planning to apply for graduate school for Fall 2021. For more details including eligibility, please visit: https://sites.psu.edu/cusp)

March 26, 2021, 3:35 pm CDT (UTC-6)

A Category Theoretic Framework for Physical Representation
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Sarita Rosenstock (Philosophy, Australian National University)Abstract: It is increasingly popular for philosophers of physics to use category theory, the mathematical theory of structure, to adjudicate debates about the (in)equivalence of formal physical theories. In this talk, I discuss the theoretical foundations of this strategy. I introduce the concept of a “representation diagram" as a way to scaffold narrative accounts of how mathematical gadgets represent target systems and demonstrate how their content can be effectively summarized by what I call a “structure category". I argue that the narrative accounts contain the real content of an act of physical representation, and the category-theoretic methodology serves only to make that content precise and conducive to further analysis. In particular, one can use tools from category theory to assess whether one physical formalism thus presented has more "properties", "structure", or "stuff" than another according to a given narrative about how they both purport to represent the same physical systems.
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webinar link: https://z.umn.edu/IPDFMar21

First batch application deadline: March 5, 2021
Application form: ​https://forms.gle/VuS6ihdHowX7Tq3i8

Program description

Marginalized graduate students often face many obstacles navigating graduate school, and often left with inadequate support from within their own department. The faculty of their home department might not be familiar with the needs of minority graduate students to know how to best support them. In some cases, the graduate student body of their home department might not be sufficiently diverse, such that marginalized graduate students might have the need to find an external community in addition to their cohort in the department.

The purpose of this peer mentorship network is to build a support network by connecting marginalized graduate students in philosophy from different departments together. Getting perspectives from someone in similar situations but external to the department can provide a good source of support and guidance while they navigate this stage of their career. 

Participants will have a non-judgmental space to meet people with similar experiences as a minority graduate student in philosophy academia. This network will enable participants to get perspectives on how students in other departments deal with issues affecting minority students, and to share and learn new languages and strategies to deal with concrete personal experiences.

Application and placement

The program is open to anyone who identifies as a marginalized student, is currently enrolled in a philosophy graduate program (MA or PhD), and will remain enrolled by March 31, 2021. There is no geographical restriction and you do not need to be in the US to apply. The program is not selective, and we strive to place everyone who applies into the program.

Each peer mentorship group consists of 6-8 students, ideally with a mix of participants in various stages of graduate school, as well as a mix of institutions represented. Placement in the groups will be determined by applicants’ response to a questionnaire in the application. Applicants will be asked about what factors they would like the administrators to consider when matching them with other participants into a group, including their racial or gender identity, disability status, international student status, and many others.

We will attempt to disperse students from the same institution into different groups. Ideally, for each group, there will be no more than one graduate student from the same department. This is for confidential reasons, and also to encourage students to use the network as a way to step out of the insular environment of their home department.
We will have several batch deadlines, approximately every two months. The first deadline will be March 5, 2021. Subsequent deadlines will be announced. Participants will be notified via email about their placement.

Structure and commitment

Participants will receive an email about group placement once they have been admitted. Group members are encouraged to meet with each other over video chat to clarify their expectations of the group, and to establish a communication plan.

Afterwards, there will be two parts to the network’s regular functioning:

• Each group will have a private channel on the MAP International Slack workspace as their communication channel. There will also be a private Slack channel for all the participants in the MAP Inter-Campus Peer Mentorship Network, as an avenue for more connection and feedback.
• Every month, the group will meet on zoom for a check-in to discuss issues that group members have brought up in the Slack channel.

Norms for engagement

• The network is a place for you to raise concerns or issues you have faced and would like external support, and also a place for you to help out others. Try to be welcoming and helpful for your groupmates, if you expect them to be so to you.
• Please respect the privacy of your groupmates. If someone shares some experience or some issue that they do not want to be discussed outside of the group, please do not share it beyond the group.
• Be aware that power imbalance in "progressive" spaces still exists. It is important that this mentorship network is a space for mutual support. Networking and furthering your own career interests should not be your main incentive for engaging with others in your group. 
• No sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, etc. 
• Those who repeatedly violate the norms will be warned and might be removed from the group.

Feedback

• The program will end after six months, after which MAP will send out a survey to all participants to collect feedback and decide on whether and how to continue with the program.

 Workshop Details:

A small group of applicants will meet twice over the course of 2021, first on May 7-8, and then again in late June. The aim of the workshop is to inspire a cohort of socially oriented philosophers to engage more closely with experimental work by giving them an opportunity to design and conduct their first philosophically significant experiment.
 
The May workshops will begin with a panel on experimental and empirical methods in philosophy, as well as the intersection between feminist philosophy, broadly construed, and x-phi. Confirmed panelists are Serene Khader (CUNY) and Jesse Prinz (CUNY). Jordan Wylie (CUNY) will also run a crash course in experimental design, with a special focus on survey studies. The second day will be dedicated to workshopping participants' ideas into full-blown experimental designs.
 
The workshop in June will be dedicated to data interpretation, and will give participants an introduction to the kinds of statistical analyses required to work their studies up into publishable papers. Between workshops, participants will are invited to join the CUNY Graduate Center's bi-monthly X-Phi Lab, organized by Jesse Prinz and currently running online.
 
Prospective applicants will be graduate or undergraduate students with a background or interest in feminist philosophy, broadly construed, who also have an interest in x-phi but little to no experience in with empirical methods. Special consideration will be given to students from underrepresented groups in philosophy.
 
For more information, including how to apply, see www.feministxphi.com/workshop.
For questions and inquiries, contact sbrick@gradcenter.cuny.edu or tzyglewicz@gradcenter.cuny.edu
 
Why Apply???

• Participants will add new quantitative methods to their methodological repertoires. This will help them engage meaningfully with the sciences in their research, as well as make them more competitive candidates for non-academic jobs.
• Participants will gain skills that will help them engage critically with other empirical work relevant to philosophy, like psychology and the social sciences.
• Participants will gain ability to teach x-phi as part of an introductory course in philosophy.
• Upon completion of the workshops, participants can expect to have a publishable experimental study.

 

At the Central APA in February 2021, MAP International will be running a Group Session on Public Philosophy and Activism. We are inviting submissions for brief, 5-10 minute presentations on the topic of public philosophy and activism. The session is scheduled for Saturday, February 27, 10:10am-1:10pm Central Time, and will take place virtually. The session keynote is Olufemi Taiwo (Georgetown).

Speakers have the option to present live at the session, or to pre-record their presentations (giving speakers the opportunity to incorporate video footage, music, and other media into their presentations). Possible topics for presentation include but are not limited to:

• The importance of public philosophy
• Strategies and formats for public philosophy and community engagement
• The unique role that philosophy can play in activism
• Experiences in public philosophy and activism
• How public engagement can inform the practice of philosophy

Submissions can be made using this Google form. The application is not intended to be selective -- we plan on accepting as many speakers as our session time allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, January 15. We will notify speakers by January 25.

Please send any questions and comments to mapforthegap@gmail.com. We look forward to reading your submissions!

Next installment of Sustainability in Philosophy Forum on Climate Change and Racial Justice will be held on Zoom on Monday, October 19. In the midst of heartbreaking and outrageous racial injustice around the world, this year presents a big opportunity for all of us to stand against racism, environmental and otherwise, and to merge environmental efforts with movements for racial justice more effectively than has been done so far. This forum will be a chance for us to come together as philosophers around these issues, and to think together about what we can do as philosophers within and outside our field. The forum will be at 10:30am-noon Eastern USA & Canada time; this somewhat earlier than usual time makes it more feasible for philosophers in Asia to join.

At the beginning of the forum, Olúfẹmi Táíwò, Gisele Secco, and Nora Mills Boyd will each speak for several minutes about their recent efforts and experiences related to climate change and racial justice, and/or about what they think would be good for philosophers to think about and do in the context of climate change and racial justice. We'll then invite any philosophers of color who are present and have not yet spoken to speak briefly if they would like to. And then we'll have open discussion for the rest of the forum. 

If you have time, we suggest taking a look at these optional short pieces to get discussion going: one on colonialism as cause of environmental crisis, a recent Sierra Club statement, and our own statement of solidarity with racial justice movements.

If you would like to join, please send an email to philosophersforsustainability@gmail.com, mentioning that you are a MAP member.

Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) will be hiring two organizers to help run MAP International. MAP is a collection of students in philosophy departments that aims to examine and address issues of minority participation in academic philosophy. It is currently comprised of over 140 chapters worldwide and continues to grow and expand.

The role of International Organizers is largely to facilitate the success of MAP chapters and oversee the development of the larger organization. Thus, responsibilities include: meeting regularly with the other International Organizers (roughly twice a month), making decisions regarding the growth of MAP regions and projects, coordinating with outside organizations (like the APA and funders), responding to chapter funding requests, updating the website and social media pages, advertising events, collating lists of chapter activities, touching base with chapter organizers, and more. 

Additionally, MAP International Organizers work on projects meant to set the agenda for important interventions on behalf of marginalized groups in philosophy (such as our project on service work in 2019-2020). In this capacity, Organizers have substantial freedom to propose and take up specific cause areas and are expected to be proactive. Some of the responsibilities associated with this dimension of the role include: collecting resources, running surveys, collecting input from MAP members, writing reports and blog posts, producing and distributing infographics and other social media materials, and hosting APA Group sessions (and sessions at other conferences). Organizers receive a modest honorarium for their work.

We especially encourage Black, Indigenous, and people of color to apply to these positions.

Criteria for applying:

• Must be a current graduate student
• Will be able to be an active organizer for two years 
• If you are entering your fourth year, you may still apply, but your statement should address your plans for the next two years, as MAP organizers must be current graduate students
  • Though the default term is a two-year term, organizers are appointed for a year at a time with the option to renew after review by the Board of Trustees and the (co-)Director(s).
• Must have previous organizing experience relevant to MAP, including but not limited to MAP chapter involvement Additional organizing experience (e.g. in non-profit and non-academic organizations, departmental service, union organizing, etc.) is a plus.

To apply, complete and submit this Google Form by July 31, 2020.

We will notify all applicants by August 10, 2020. Start date is approximately September 1, 2020. If you have any questions, please contact us at mapforthegap@gmail.com. 

The PPE Society, Marc Sanders Foundation, and Hi-Phi Nation are hosting a Zoom panel discussion on Protesting Police and Policing Protests. The panelists are Ekow N. Yankah, Michele Moody-Adams, Brandon del Pozo, and Jason Brennan. 

June 17, 6:00-7:00pm EDT 

Register at https://ppesociety.org/protesting-police-and-policing-protests