• HOME
• ABOUT US
• PEOPLE
  • Faculty
  • Graduate Students
  • Staff
• EVENTS
  • Colloquia
  • Conferences
  • Workshops, Etc.
• GRADUATE PROGRAM
  • About the Program
  • Placement
• UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
• COURSES
  • Department Courses
  • Course Renumbering
• NEWS
  • 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2007
  • 2006
• AWARDS
• FORMS
• EMPLOYMENT

UCR Philosophy Department News—2011

21-Oct-11: Congratulations to John Perry for his Ig Nobel Prize in Literature!

I'm Supposed to be Doing Something Else Right Now
Philosophy faculty member John Perry has introduced the concept of structured procrastination. He recently won an "Ig Nobel Prize in Literature" for writing a paper that first makes you laugh, and then makes you think. A Chronicle of Higher Education story explains the concept.
http://chronicle.com/article/10-Ig-Nobels-Awarded-/129224/

03-Oct-11: Congratulations to Patrick Todd, who has now accepted a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Innsbruck and the Munich School of Philosophy. The Fellowship is sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation, and some of the details are available here: http://www.uibk.ac.at/analytic-theology/fellowships/announcement_postdoc.html.de The Fellowship may be extended, but at this point Patrick plans to be in residence in Innsbruck and Munich from January 2012 to (approx) July 2013. The Fellowship offers extremely attractive financial support, both in terms of the salary and additional travel money, housing support, and so forth, and the opportunity to teach (minimally) and pursue research in areas related to Patrick's interests in free will, moral responsibility, agency, and philosophy of religion. It is part of a larger Templeton project to bring the resources of analytical philosophy to theology and philosophy of religion. This is a significant achievement, and a truly exciting and wonderful opportunity.

15-June-11: Congratulations to Philip Swenson, who has been awarded the David Harrah Prize in Applied Philosophy, for his paper, "Uncertainty and Abortion". The award is given annually by the Philosophy Department and comes with a cash prize of 500 dollars.

3-June-11: Congratulations to Justin White, who was just selected to be a Graduate Fellow at the Wheatley Institution (affiliated with Brigham Young University) later this summer. It comes with a stipend and a fairly generous travel/research budget that will help pay for him to attend a conference in Krakow, Poland, this June.

25-May-11: Congratulations to Dan Speak, who has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure at Loyola Marymount University!

Also, he has been made chair of the department.

24-May-11: Congratulations to Rico Vitz, who has accepted an offer by the Philosophy Department at Azusa Pacific University.

23-May-11: Congratulations to Antonio Capuano, who has been offered a position as Instructor in the Philosophy Department at Auburn University.

20-May-11: Congratulations to Michael Goerger who has been offered a one year Visiting Assistant Professor position in Ethics and Ancient Philosophy with the possibility of renewal for a second year at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA.

20-May-11: Congratulations to Jacob Affolter who has accepted a position as Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, University of Kentucky, Lexington.

29-Apr-11: Congratulations to John Fischer for his election to the Vice-Presidency of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association. His one year of Vice-Presidency is to be followed by one year of Presidency, including the Presidential Address at the Pacific Division meeting, and then one year of Past Presidency.

This is the highest honor that the Pacific Division can bestow and yet another sign that John is at the very top level of eminence in the profession. I think I can speak for the department in saying that it is an honor and privilege to have such an eminent colleague who is also such an excellent teacher, graduate supervisor, and department citizen. Plus, he's almost as funny as John Perry.

19-Apr-11: Congratulations to Samantha Matherne who has been selected as a UC Graduate Fellow in the Humanities for the 2011-12 academic year at the UC Riverside Center for Ideas and Society. 

19-Apr-11: Congratulations to Megs Gendreau for receiving two exciting offers--from Franklin and Marshall and also Bowdoin College.  Description of the positions as follows: F&M is a 2 year Andrew W. Mellon postdoc in Philosophy with a focus in Environmental Ethics. Bowdoin is a 2 year interdisciplinary Andrew W. Mellon postdoc in Environmental Studies and Philosophy.
Both are reduced teaching loads, with an expectation that the successful candidate will complete a substantial research project, as well as organizing colloquia, seminars, and panels on environmental issues.

17-Apr-11: Congratulations to Justin Coates who has been given 2 quarters of dissertation year fellowship.

17-Apr-11: Congratulations to Ben Mitchell-Yellin who has been given 2 quarters of dissertation year fellowship.

17-Apr-11: Congratulations to Monique Wonderly who has been given one quarter of the Graduate Research Mentorship Fellowship.

8-Apr-11: Patrick Todd has been accepted to a special summer seminar at Princeton University sponsored by Princeton's Witherspoon Institute: the Thomistic Seminar. The seminar will focus on the work of Peter Geach.

1-Apr-11: Congratulations to Ben Mitchell-Yellin and his wife on their new baby!

29-Mar-11: Congratulations to Patrick Todd who has won first prize in the paper competition for the members of the 2010 St. Thomas Summer Seminar (sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation). According to the director of that seminar, the competition was stiff--there were many excellent papers. Patrick will receive a check for 1000 dollars. Patrick's prize-winning paper is his "Soft Facts and Ontological Dependence".

8-Mar-11: Congratulations to Neal and Anna Tognazzini on the birth of their new baby girl!

28-Feb-11: Congratulations to Alan Moore, whose (rock-climbing) exploits are depicted in the article published by Prof. Sally Ness (UCR Anthropology Dept) in American Anthropology, a leading journal in anthropology, about bouldering in Yosemite.

26-Feb-11: Join me in congratulating Gary Watson on his new granddaugher!

3-Feb-11: Congratulations to Megs Gendreau, who received the President's Volunteer Service Award, Bronze Level, at a ceremony on Thursday February 3rd. It was given in recognition of her volunteer work at the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice in Glen Avon, CA. She began working with this organization in pursuit of her dissertation research, but continued on to help with a variety of projects.