The Philosophers' Cocoon

Extended deadline: 2018 Cocoon conference

Although the original deadline for the 6th Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference was on June 1st, I am interested in potentially adding additional papers to fill out the conference program (the review process is still in progress). So, if any of you are interested in submitting a paper, I am extending the deadline to July 15th.

The conference will be held at University of Tampa on Saturday October 13th-Sunday October 14th, 2018. If you're curious about what the conference has been like in past years, see here.

Cocoon Conference - Day 2

The 5th Annual Cocoon Conference is now in the books. Thanks to everyone for making it a great conference! Here are some photos from Day 2:

Pictured: Ali Aenehzodaee (Ohio State University)

Pictured: Benjamin Lennertz (Western Kentucky University)

Pictured: Blakely Phillips (Indiana University - Bloomington)

Pictured: Evan Woods (Ohio State University)

Pictured: Joshua Blanchard (UNC at Chapel Hill)

Pictured: Liz Jackson (Notre Dame)

Pictured: Zach Barnett (Brown University) by SKYPE

Pictured: Nathan Biebel (Tulane University)

Pictured: Moti Mizrahi (Florida Institute of Technology)

Pictured: Laura Brown (University of Iowa) by SKYPE

Cocoon Conference - Day 1

The first day of the 5th Annual Cocoon Conference is now in the books. Here are a few pictures from today's talks. Many thanks to all of the speakers and participants for making a great first day!

Pictured: Wendy Salkin (Harvard University / San Francisco State University), Laura Brown (University of Iowa) on SKYPE

Pictured: Raff Donelson (Louisiana State University)

Pictured: Sahar Heydari Fard (University of Cincinnati)

Pictured: Brittney Currie (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Pictured: Samuel Z. Elgin (Yale University) by SKYPE

Pictured: Katherine Ward (Georgetown University)

Pictured: Mike Bertrand (Auburn University)

Pictured: Blakely Phillips (Indiana University - Bloomington)

Pictured: Peter Finocchiaro (University of Notre Dame)

Pictured: Juan Piñeros (Yale University)

Pictured: Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin (Sam Houston State University)

Pictured: Matthew Baddorf (University of Rochester) by SKYPE

Pictured: Happy hour!

2nd CFP: 5th Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference

This is just a quick reminder of the May 15th submission deadline for the 5th Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference at University of Tampa on October 14th-15th, 2017 (for an idea of what past years of the conference have been like see here)!

As in the past, the Cocoon conference will be unique in several respects:

1. Although conference attendance will be open to all members of the profession, paper presenters must be early-career philosophers (graduate students, post-docs, untenured faculty, independent scholars, etc.).
2. Due to travel-funding challenges that early-career philosophers often face, several sessions will be reserved for Skype presentations in which the author will be projected and field audience questions over Skype.
3. Although commentators and audience members are encouraged to present objections to papers, the conference theme will once again be "constructive engagement", where the primary intent is to help authors to improve their work (viz. by not only raising objections, but offering and discussing possible solutions).
4. Because publishing is one of the most difficult capacities for early-career philosophers to develop, the conference welcomes submissions of a typical full-length journal article (20-30 pages double-spaced). As a rule of thumb, the longer the paper, the higher the standards for acceptance to the conference. Extremely long papers are discouraged.
5. In order to defray costs of attendance (once again out of concern for the needs of early-career scholars), there will only be a small suggested (but non-mandatory) $5 registration "donation" to help pay for coffee & snacks. 
6. Submission to the conference involves an agreement to serve as a commentator on another paper during the conference should your paper be accepted and you accept your invitation to attend.

To submit a paper to present, please email the following to me at marvan@ut.edu by May 15th, 2017:

1. An anonymized paper.
2. A separate title page with the author's name, contact information, early-career status (e.g. grad student, post-doc, untenured faculty, independent scholar), and brief paper abstract.
3. A statement in your email and attached cover page concerning whether you intend to attend the conference in person or only via Skype.

Decision emails indicating whether your paper has been accepted should be sent out around August 1st (papers will undergo peer-review).  Finally, please bear the following in mind: In order to ensure that the conference is well-attended, there will be relatively few Skype sessions -- so the probability that your paper will be accepted is higher should you state in your submission email that you can attend in person.

I look forward to receiving this year's submissions, and to another great conference! 

CFP: 5th Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference

I am pleased to announce this call-for-papers for the 5th Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference, provisionally scheduled to be held at University of Tampa on October 14th-15th, 2017 (for an idea of what past years of the conference have been like see here)!

As in the past, the Cocoon conference will be unique in several respects:

1. Although conference attendance will be open to all members of the profession, paper presenters must be early-career philosophers (graduate students, post-docs, untenured faculty, independent scholars, etc.).
2. Due to travel-funding challenges that early-career philosophers often face, several sessions will be reserved for Skype presentations in which the author will be projected and field audience questions over Skype.
3. Although commentators and audience members are encouraged to present objections to papers, the conference theme will once again be "constructive engagement", where the primary intent is to help authors to improve their work (viz. by not only raising objections, but offering and discussing possible solutions).
4. Because publishing is one of the most difficult capacities for early-career philosophers to develop, the conference welcomes submissions of a typical full-length journal article (20-30 pages double-spaced). As a rule of thumb, the longer the paper, the higher the standards for acceptance to the conference. Extremely long papers are discouraged.
5. In order to defray costs of attendance (once again out of concern for the needs of early-career scholars), there will only be a small suggested (but non-mandatory) $5 registration "donation" to help pay for coffee & snacks. 
6. Submission to the conference involves an agreement to serve as a commentator on another paper during the conference should your paper be accepted and you accept your invitation to attend.

To submit a paper to present, please email the following to me at marvan@ut.edu by May 15th, 2017:

1. An anonymized paper.
2. A separate title page with the author's name, contact information, early-career status (e.g. grad student, post-doc, untenured faculty, independent scholar), and brief paper abstract.
3. A statement in your email and attached cover page concerning whether you intend to attend the conference in person or only via Skype.

Decision emails indicating whether your paper has been accepted should be sent out around August 1st (papers will undergo peer-review).  Finally, please bear the following in mind: In order to ensure that the conference is well-attended, there will be relatively few Skype sessions -- so the probability that your paper will be accepted is higher should you state in your submission email that you can attend in person.

I look forward to receiving this year's submissions, and to another great conference! 

2016 Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference - Day 2

The second and final day of the 4th Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference wrapped up yesterday afternoon, and I happy to report that it was a wonderful weekend! I'd just like to thank everyone--particularly all of the conference participants who flied or Skyped in--for making it such a supportive, constructive event. Here are a few pictures from the final day:

Pictured speakers: Tim Loughrist (University of North Alabama) & Benjamin Yelle (Mount Holyoke) by Skype

Pictured speaker: Kevin Richardson (MIT)

Pictured speaker: Jill Cumby (York University)

Pictured speaker: Thomas Metcalf (Spring Hill College)

Pictured speaker: Gregory Stoutenberg (University of Idaho)

Pictured speaker: Samuel Kampa (Fordham)

Pictured speaker: Camille Pascale (University of Toronto) by Skype

Pictured speaker: Alexis Elder (University of Minnesota Duluth) by Skype

Pictured speaker: Haoying Liu (UMass Amherst)

2016 Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference - Day 1

The first day of the 4th Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference wrapped up yesterday evening. I'd like to thank all of the participants for making it a great first day full of wonderful talks and supportive, constructive dialogue! Here are a few pictures of the festivities:

Pictured speakers: Sander Verhaegh (Tilburg University) by Skype & Wes Siscoe (University of Arizona)

Pictured speakers: Allauren Forbes (University of Pennsylvania) & Alexis Elder (University of Minnesota Duluth) by Skype

Pictured speaker: Paul So (Texas Tech)

Pictured speaker: Jason Chen (St. Louis University)

 

Pictured speaker: Jared Riggs (University of Toronto)

Pictured speaker: Robert M. Farley (Hillsborough Community College)

Pictured speaker: Meagan Phillips (Northern Illinois University)

Pictured speakers: Derek Shiller (Independent Scholar) & Adam Thompson (University of Nebraska Lincoln) by Skype

Pictured speaker: Daniel Tippens (NYU)

Pictured speaker: Mary Beth Willard (Weber State University)

Pictured speakers: Landon Elkind (University of Iowa) & Joanna Luc (Jagiellonian University) by Skype

Pictured speaker: Laura Matthews (University of Georgia)

Pictured: Good times together! :)

CFP: 4th Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference

I am pleased to announce a call-for-papers for the 4th Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference (PCPC), which is provisionally scheduled to be held at University of Tampa from Saturday October 8th to Sunday October 9th, 2016. If you're curious about what the conference has been like in past years, see here!

As in the past, this year's conference will be unique in several respects:

1. Although conference attendance will be open to all members of the profession, paper presenters must be early-career philosophers (i.e. anyone who doesn't have tenure--grad students, post-docs, Assistant Profs, independent scholars, etc.)
2. Due to travel-funding challenges that early-career philosophers often face, several sessions will be reserved for Skype presentations in which the author will be projected, and field audience questions, in real time over the internet (note: this has worked very well in past years!).
3. Although commentators and audience members are encouraged to present objections to papers, the conference theme will be "constructive engagement", i.e. helping authors to improve their work (e.g. by not only raising objections, but offering and discussing possible solutions).
4. Because successfully navigating the publishing world is one of the most difficult capacities for early-career philosophers to develop, the conference welcomes submissions of a typical full-length journal article (20-30 pages double-spaced) -- the aim being to help early-career philosophers develop full-length papers into publishable quality. As a rule of thumb, the longer the paper, the higher the standards for acceptance to the conference. Extremely long papers are discouraged.
5. In order to defray costs of attendance (once again out of concern for the needs of early-career scholars), there will only be a small suggested (but non-mandatory) $5 registration "donation" (to help pay for snacks), and consequently no official banquet, etc. (though there will be snack!). Tampa is awesome, and there are many affordable places to meet, eat, and congregate around the university.
6. Finally, please note that submission to the conference involves an agreement to serve as a commentator on another paper during the conference should your paper be accepted and you accept your invitation to attend.

To submit a paper to present at the PCPC, please email the following to me at marvan@ut.edu by May 1st, 2016:

1. An anonymized paper,
2. A separate title page with the author's name, contract information, and brief paper abstract.
3. A statement in your email and attached cover page concerning whether you intend to attend the conference in person or only via Skype.

Decision emails indicating whether your paper has been accepted should be sent out around July 1st (yes, papers will undergo peer-review!).  Finally, please bear the following in mind: In order to ensure that the conference is well-attended, there will be relatively few Skype sessions -- so the probability that your paper will be accepted is higher should you state in your submission email that you can attend in person.

I look forward to receiving some great submissions, and to another great conference! (This CFP is also listed here at Philevents).

Day 2: The 3rd Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference

The 3rd Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference wrapped up yesterday afternoon, and I'd like to thank all of the participants for making it such a fun, constructive weekend!

Here are a few pictures from Day 2:

Speaker: Kathleen Whipple (University at Albany)

Day 1: The 3rd Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference

I'm happy to report that, a few brief technical issues aside, this year's Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference kicked off yesterday with a diverse variety of great talks by early-career philosophers, and some wonderfully constructive, supportive Q&A sessions. 

Here are some pictures from the first day:

Call for referees

So the good news is that submissions to this year's annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference are up almost 200% compared to the last two years. The less exciting news is that it means I could really use some additional referees! :) If there are any of you out there who didn't submit to the conference are willing to lend a helping hand to review a paper or two, I would be very appreciative. I wouldn't ask for a referee report, just a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down." If you'd like to volunteer, please either comment below or email me at marvan@ut.edu with your name, academic position, affiliation, and AOS. Thanks in advance to everyone who volunteers!

CFP: 3rd Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference

I am pleased to (finally!) announce this call-for-papers for the 3rd Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference (PCPC), which will be held at University of Tampa on Saturday November 14th and Sunday November 15th, 2015.

As was the case for the past two conferences, the 3rd Annual PCPC will be unique in several respects:

• Although attendance at the conference and participating as session chairs or commentators will be open to all members of the profession, paper presenters must be early-career philosophers -- basically, anyone who doesn't have tenure (e.g. graduate students, post-docs, VAP, TT Assistant Profs, independent scholars, etc.)
• Due to the kinds of travel-funding issues that early-career philosophers often face, several paper sessions (the exact number of which will be determined later) will be reserved for Skype presentations in which the author will be projected, and field audience questions, in real time over the internet (these went very well this year!).
• Although commentators and audience members are encouraged to present objections to papers, a guiding aim of the conference will be constructive criticism, i.e. helping authors to improve problems (e.g. by not only raising objections, but offering and discussing possible solutions).
• Because successfully navigating the publishing world is one of the most difficult capacities for early-career philosophers to develop, and typical conference-length papers are too short (3,000 words) to publish, we will welcome submissions the length of any typical journal article (20-30 pages double-spaced) -- the aim being to help early-career philosophers develop full-length papers into publishable quality. As a rule of thumb, the longer the paper, the higher the standards for acceptance to the conference. Extremely long papers are discouraged.
• In order to defray costs of attendance (once again out of concern for the needs of early-career scholars), there will be no registration fee, and consequently no official banquet, snacks, etc. Tampa is awesome, and there are many affordable places to meet, eat, and congregate around the university.
• Finally, please note that submission to the conference involves an agreement to serve as a commentator on another paper during the conference should your paper be accepted and you accept your invitation to attend.

To submit a paper to present at the PCPC, please email the following to me at marvan@ut.edu by August 1st, 2015:

1. A blinded (i.e. anonymized) paper,
2. A separate title page with the author's name, contract information, and brief paper abstract.
3. A statement concerning whether you intend to attend the conference in person or only via Skype.

We have had great lineups the past two years, with graduate students, post-docs, and early-career faculty presenting and commenting!

Decision emails indicating whether your paper has been accepted should be sent out around September 1st, 2014 (yes, papers will undergo peer-review!).  Finally, please bear the following in mind: In order to ensure that the conference is well-attended, there will be relatively few Skype sessions -- so the probability that your paper will be accepted is higher should you state in your submission email that you can attend in person.  

It's a Wrap! The 2nd Annual PCPC

The 2nd Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference is now in the books, and I'm happy to report that it was a wonderful weekend. Great talks, great people, and all around great times. I'd also like to thank everyone who took part. It was wonderful to meet those of you I didn't already know, and to see again those of you I did. You all made the conference what it was. 

Anyway, here are just a few pictures, so that those of you who didn't attend can see what you missed out on, and which will hopefully motivate you to submit a paper to next year's conference! ;)

Presenter: Brian Fiala (University of Arizona)

Presenter: Lourdes Ortiz Bautista (UC Santa Cruz)

Presenter: Elizabeth Grossman (University of Michigan)

Presenter: David Killoren (Coastal Carolina University)

Presenter: Greg Lusk (University of Toronto) by SKYPE

Presenters: Katherine Ward (Georgetown University), and Mary Salvaggio (Rutgers University) by SKYPE

Pictured: Fun

Thanks again to everyone for such a great weekend!

The 2014 Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference

Our 2nd annual conference's website and program is now up!

Final CFP: Second Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference

This is just a quick reminder that the deadline for submitting papers to the Second Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference (PCPC) is just a couple of weeks away (March 15th). Don't forget to submit! Click here for conference details and submission instructions.