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Philosophers’ Cocoon Philosophy Conference

I'm happy to report that the first annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference (PCPC) website is now live, and I'd like to encourage everyone to check it out. We have a great mix of faculty and graduate students — and a variety of interesting papers — and I'm looking forward to meeting everyone I don't already know. I'm also going to make sure that it's a great experience for everyone. Although I said in the conference CFP that there will be no food provided (so as to eliminate registration costs), my wife — who does Industrial-Organizational Psychology — has told in me in no uncertain terms that this just won't do. So, there will be plenty of coffee and homemade food for everyone to enjoy.

Also, I'd like to announce that I will be posting a CFP for the second annual PCPC — which will held sometime next summer, and which I hope will be a much larger affair — sometime in the near future. 

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2 responses to “Philosophers’ Cocoon Philosophy Conference”

  1. elisa freschi

    First of all, congratulations for making this true —and for being so good organised (I am still waiting for the final schedule of a much bigger and better funded conference I will be attending in late September)! I am sure you will have a great time and I regret not being able to listen to these interesting papers!
    Next, a few outsider-questions:
    1. I am surprised by the relative homogeneity of the papers presented (absit iniuria verbis, this is only meant as a descriptive statement). Do you think it reflects the Cocoon website’s interests or a general tendency in the US, or is it just a matter of chance?
    2. Why did you decide for two short parallel sessions instead of a longer single session? I am asking because I always prefer the latter option over the former because I like it that people can have the chance to listen to the whole thing instead of specialising in their niche. Are longer sessions just unheard of in the US (or did you want people to have more time to relax and chat outside the conference)?

    Reply
  2. Marcus Arvan

    Hi Elisa: Thanks!
    Regarding (1), I dunno – I think we have a pretty good variety of papers, but in any case, I’m not sure what the cause is. I do get the impression that ethics, political, and metaphysics are really dominating US philosophy these days, but this is really just an impression.
    Regarding (2), it was a tough call. I was guessing that people (A) like having choices (some people into M&E have little interest in value theory, and vice versa), and (B) wouldn’t want to be “locked inside” all day in such a beautiful environment (I hope the group has a lot of good philosophical conversation/socializing after the sessions). That being said, I’m thinking of the conference as “participant centered.” If for some reason everyone commented here and suggested I change the format to one talk at a time — and have a longer string of talks each day — I could always change the schedule. I guess we’ll see if people are happy/unhappy with the format!

    Reply

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