Quick question for you all: when, exactly, is it sensible to claim a new AOS (and apply for jobs in that area)? Mark Alfano writes that AOS are "areas of philosophy where you plan to do cutting-edge research in the coming years." But when exactly can one sensibly claim this to be the case? I take it that if one has published several papers in a given area, one can sensibly claim a new AOS. However, what if one has only published one paper in the area, but it is a paper that suggests many potential avenues for future research? What'cha all think?
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3 responses to “AOS Question”
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I think the question here is whether (i) your CV and materials provide enough to convince the hiring committee to consider you for an APA interview and (ii) you can give a good job talk in question that will cement the idea that your writing in the AOS will flourish.
If the paper is solidly in the new AOS and there is a story to tell about how it relates to your original AOS then that makes a better case for clearing these hurdles, I think.
If it is in a whole new area, then I suspect the publication better be in a good journal and it might still be hard to clear the first hurdle in this market – you might not make the first application cut since there will be many people who fit the bill in a straightforward way.
But you never know. There might be someone who loves the other area you work in, or wants teaching relief in that area, and who will be pushing for you even in favor of more straight ahead candidates. I say apply away, but keep in mind it might be buying a lottery ticket of sorts. -
The issue, I think, has a lot to do with what one’s expectations should be for how one will be treated with respect to a new/developing AOS. If one has one paper, a few recent conferences say, and one puts in the cover letter something about how one’s plans in this AOS are unfolding, then I think that it’s fair to say it’s an AOS. But I don’t think, in terms of the job market, that one would be considered as squarely in the AOS as other candidates. There may be some jobs where that would matter, perhaps. Though, there are other jobs, that having such an AOS would make one more competitive because one has other AOSs and AOCs that are attractive too. So, I think one can legitimately declare such an AOS, but one should be careful to expect too much.
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I would think that your Research Statement could be a useful way to convey, and also provide evidence for the claim to, a ‘new’ AOS. So, for example, explaining how a new AOS has emerged out of past AOCs or a tangential issue in an AOS, how this has led to some research output (perhaps a conference paper or two), and how it will continue to be fruitful as a research area.
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