How can we help you? (August 2023)

Now that it's been well over a month since our last "how can we help you?" thread, it's time for a new thread.

For those of you unfamiliar with this series, this is a chance for you to post openly or anonymously in the comments section below on anything you could use help with related to the profession. After you post your query in the comments section, I will then post new threads for readers to discuss your query.

As usual, feel free to ask questions on anything (within the Cocoon's mission) that you could use help with, including but not limited to:

• The job-market (applying for jobs, etc.)
• Issues in the profession (including issues of social justice)
• Graduate school
• Publishing
• Teaching
• Work-life balance
• Mental health & well-being
• Personal struggles
• Etc.

Ask away - we're here to help! 

Important reminder: if you submit a comment in this thread responding to someone's query, I won't post it, as this makes it difficult for me to keep track of everything in the comments section, particularly which queries I've started new threads on and which ones I have not. However, if you do post a follow-up comment, chances are good that I will post it in the new thread I start on the relevant query. So, do feel free to submit responses. Just know that they won't appear in this particular thread and might instead appear later in a new post.

Comments

[reviewer #1]

I have some questions about the norms of contacting an author after anonymously peer reviewing their work. I recently refereed a paper that I thought was great: well-argued, interesting, and from which I learned a lot. I recommended acceptance. I'd like to talk more about some of the issues in the paper with the author if they are amenable to it. Is it appropriate to ask the editor for their name after the publication processes has shaken out? Or, once the paper is out, is it appropriate to contact the author revealing to them that I was the referee? Are there norms against this sort of revelation, such that doing so would be a breach of etiquette? Any thoughts welcome!

[SlowThinker]

Are the rates of rejection - of articles from journals, of grant applications from funding bodies, of job applications from universities - particularly high in Philosophy? Is there some data about the average number of rejected papers per published papers from other disciplines? (Or a similar statistic about grant/job applications?)
Knowing this won't change anything on ground, but the (potential) solidarity with others would help feel a bit less disadvantaged (if I actually am).

[Prospective Grad Student]

I’d appreciate some advice about applying to grad school. My main interest is epistemology. It seems like I could find good supervisors in both general and HPS departments. But I’m wondering whether getting an HPS PhD can be limiting further down the road - Do general departments prefer general philosophy PhDs in hiring? And if my interests were to change, say to philosophy of language or ethics, for example, would it be particularly difficult to get a job in these AOS with an HPS PhD? Also, I’d be grateful for comments on any other relevant considerations.

[A Philosopher Named Slickback]

Is there a stigma against transfer students? I have heard people say that there is none, and nobody cares that someone is re-applying to programs (especially with a valid reason) and I have also heard from some prominent people that top programs only accept transfers under very exceptional circumstances. What do yall think?

[BigBen]

Here is a hypothetical situation: you apply for more than one postdoctoral fellowships with proposals on distinct topics, get selected in one, and accept the offer. After you join, the other fellowship, which is way better than the first (e.g., gives you more freedom to conduct your own research without interference, provides funds for conference travel and to organize workshops, etc.) comes through.
What do you do? Do you simple leave the first one for the second one, which may mean that the employer may have to go through the whole process of recruiting again, or worse, they may not hire anyone else for the position? How much do the employer's feelings matter? Are there questions answerable?

[Future New Hire?]

I have a question related to applying for TT jobs. When is it appropriate to contact faculty members of a department you're applying to? I'm planning to apply to a department where I have met one of the senior faculty. I don't know them well, but we hit it off at a small conference. Is it appropriate to reach out and let them know I'm applying? Ask for their advice? Or would this come off as tactless, presumptuous, or craven?

[PhD Student]

When it comes to getting teaching experience as an early career scholar, does it enhance your CV to have taught PHIL101 and Critical Thinking over, say, teaching a more specialized class more than once? As I start teaching, part of me feels like it would be better to get more experience teaching the courses in my AOS, but another part of me thinks having more courses listed is better (even if the courses are very basic).

[Grad Student]

I have a few questions about applying for post-doctoral fellowships. I'm a soon-to-be graduating student with rather niche philosophical interests. Though I've found a few prestigious, government-funded post-doctoral fellowships I'm aiming to apply to, I can't seem to find a suitable supervisor in the country whose research interests are similar to my own. So, I'm left wondering:

(1) How similar should my research interests even be to those of a post-doctoral supervisor?

(2) How constrained am I by the subject of my dissertation when applying for a post-doctoral fellowship? Would it be acceptable if I propose to work in a research area that's only tangentially related to what I've worked on so far?

[High School Philosophy Teacher]

I teach pre-college philosophy to international students at the high school level. It is a required subject alongside any core subject. While I have free reign over the content, I would like structure for what could serve high school students if philosophy.

If you are familiar with standards-based education, I have been tasked with drafting philosophy standards for 6th to 12th grade. This will provide consistency between teachers, through any staff turnover, and will provide a scope and sequence for deeper development.

My questions are, how have pre-college philosophy (or P4C) teachers, in general, built their programs? And has anyone adopted the standards-based movement in the field of philosophy? Has anyone developed learning standards solely for the skills and content of philosophy?

[Undergrad student]

As an undergrad student, I have a question regarding grad school applications. How many grad schools do people usually apply to? And how many should I?
So far, I have found 3 grad schools that seem to fit me, but I suspect 3 are too few, given the low acceptance rate of philosophy grad schools.

[Jumping]

Landed a TT job this year in a non-ideal location, and so I plan to be very minimally (and selectively) on the market again. Do search committees frown upon seeing this sort of thing? I figure some could think it means I'll never stop jumping around, which is obviously false (location, location, location). If they do frown, do I need to say something about my rationale for applying in the cover letter? Or can I assume a charitable interpretation of my application?

[The Applicant]

I'm on the market for the first time this fall and have the following question. When a job posting lists multiple AOSs and AOCs, how seriously should one take the AOS constraints? I'm trying to read between the lines of these posts, wondering whether sometimes search committees list one thing but are in fact somewhat open to simply attracting a strong candidate in any number of areas.

Just as an example, consider this post from Holy Cross (https://philjobs.org/job/show/24034), which says AOS: Metaphysics and Epistemology; AOC: Ethics, Political Theory, or Feminism.

Suppose you do not do metaphysics or epistemology; you do ethics or feminist philosophy. Is it worth applying to this job? Is it a "long shot?" Is it a complete waste of time?

Is there a rule of thumb for this sort of thing, or respectable ways to gather information/clues about what a particular search committee might /really/ be open to?

[apa or not]

A quick question: assuming one is a faculty at a top program, should they still spend time submitting (say) to APA, given that it is nontrivial to tailor a draft to the conference requirement and that maybe there isn't much benefit in presenting in such a conference? What do you think? Are there any unwritten rules? Thanks in advance! I am especially curious about the experience of such a person, but any thought is welcome.

[ex philosopher]

I'm in a somewhat unusual position and would be very grateful for advice.

First, some background: I haven't applied for academic jobs in a few years as family commitments mean I'm not able to move even if I was offered a job. Instead, I've been a stay at home parent, doing freelance gigs on the side. However, I've continued to keep up with philosophy as a hobby and publish papers, albeit rather slowly. I currently have 12 publications (though many of those are joint papers), plus one joint paper in revise and resubmit status.

I wasn't planning to apply to philosophy jobs any more, but I came across a job posting for a tenure track position in a liberal arts college in my city and the AOS and AOC match my areas perfectly. I would love to apply, but I worry the time I've spent away from academia would instantly disqualify me. So, would applying for this position be a waste of everyone's time? And if not, should I address my unusual situation in the cover letter? Thanks!

[Fit]

I had a draft that was once rejected by a journal. I rewrote the draft entirely. The idea is similar (but not the same), but the content is very different. I checked and there was like 3-4% (mostly quotes) overlap with the original draft.

My question is: is it appropriate if I submit this new draft to the same journal? I would not do this for most of my other drafts. But this paper is in a fairly narrow area and this journal is one of a few specific journals in this area.

[recently tenured]

This is a (hopefully) easy question about applying for tenured (Associate/Full) positions. The job ad only asks for a cover letter and a CV, and I'm wondering whether to include a list of references in the CV. Is there a norm around tenured positions regarding referees? Do references no longer matter for tenured jobs?

Thanks!

[Cantra]

What are some good ways for a young TT philosopher to make some extra cash on the side?

[JustApplying]

Hello everyone, I would appreciate some advice on the expected outcome for a 1-2 year Postdoc position. I am currently working on a proposal for a position that is advertised for one year with the possibility of an extension, research only with optional teaching. I want to specify the expected outcome in the proposal but I am not sure how much output is expected for a position that basically only lasts one year. It is not enough time to write an entire book (and I am not sure I want to turn my suggested research project into one), but maybe one paper would be too little? I would appreciate any experience, from "both sides" - successful appplicants as well as committee members. Thank you!

[philosopher wannabe]

What would you say to "Ph.D. from [middle-ranked uni] supervised by [prominent philosopher]"?
---
I am an undergraduate student planning to apply to philosophy grad programs. I found a prominent philosopher (perhaps almost everyone here knows) at a middle-ranked uni ( about #100-150 in QS ranking in philosophy). It would be great if I could be supervised by him/her. My concern is about job hunting: if I get a "Ph.D. from [middle-ranked uni] supervised by [prominent philosopher]", how does that work in the philosophy job market? I'd appreciate your honest opinion!

[Kirin]

I have a question about a job I'll soon apply for. I know that a few people on the committee know people at my current job. And I would really like my current job not to know I applied elsewhere. What is the best way to request that my current job not be informed (without hurting my chances of getting the new job)? Perhaps a line at the end of my cover letter?

[Big Ben]

I am an early career researcher, and soon after completing my PhD, I received invites from two journals to review submissions. However, in the past one year, I have received no such invites. (although I do not have a stellar publication record, I do have a couple of articles in reasonably recognized journals.)
I would like to review more papers, but I do not know how to get invited to review one. Can someone share some tips?
More generally, I would like to know more about the method journal editors adopt in choosing reviewers (does the submission system suggest reviewers automatically based on the interests/published papers, do editors look at the bibliography of a submission and choose names, is there a cross-journal system to rate reviewers, is there a repository where one can volunteer to review, etc.)

[Dr. Doom]

Hi all,

I'm currently a senior level academic who has learned that the university might announce plans to make massive redundancies that, if approved, would force me back on the job market. What would you recommend to someone looking for a job and seeing ads mostly for tenure track positions. If fired, I would be quite willing to start from square one, but I worry about the perception of members of the search committee and what strategy to take in trying to sell myself to a committee. (I'd try to briefly explain the situation and highlight willingness to start from square one, but I'm quite nervous that they'll assume that I'd want a better position than they're offering, that I'd try to get special treatment because of seniority, etc.)

[Worried]

It's the season of writing recommendation letters. I'd really like to have advice on how to approach writing lukewarm / weak letters of recommendation for job candidates, especially if you're junior yourself and don't have the option of declining writing the letter.

[S]

Suppose one has been on the job market for around ten years and has a publication record that compares favorably with what might be expected at the Associate Professor level. Suppose further that this person has never held a TT position. Would it be inappropriate or pointless for this person to apply for Associate Professor positions? Is it a requirement for such jobs that one already has tenure somewhere?

[Emily]

I have a question about what can be negotiated once one receives a job offer. I'm looking at the market this year, and wondering whether I should apply to jobs with high teaching loads, given that I do not want a job with a high teaching load (I put a lot of effort into my teaching, *and* I love research and want to have time for it). Some advertised jobs are one the border of what I think I could reasonably handle. So, my question: Is it ever possible to negotiate down from something like a 3/4 to a 3/3, or a 3/3 to a 2/3? Or is it not worth applying if I know I don't want to teach the advertised course load?

[Anon]

My question is for philosophers who have written trade books, as I am currently negotiating a contract: what advance amounts and/or royalty percentages were you able to negotiate for your *first* trade book contract? Did you have a strong online presence at the time your contract was negotiated (a social media following, a podcast, etc.)? I know that can matter quite a bit. Are there other factors that matter at this stage which I should keep in mind as I proceed?

If anyone else knows typical royalty percentages for projects like this, please also feel free to share!

Thanks!