Happy new year, everyone! I hope you have all had a happy holiday season, and wish you all the best in the year to come. Now that a new calendar year is upon us, I thought I might express a personal wish for the Cocoon. Long-time readers may (or may not!) have noticed that things have slowed here a bit recently. We don't quite have the same amount of active contributors as in years past, and my own rate of posting has slowed considerably for a variety of reasons, among them a much higher workload these days, as well as some growing uncertainty about my voice as a blogger. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. My plan is to keep on keeping on with Cocoon as long as we have a good number of readers, and as long as people seem to find the site helpful.
However, on that note, I'd like to humbly express a small wish for the new year: that some of our readers consider joining us as contributors! The Cocoon's Mission, at least as I always envisioned it, was to serve as a safe-and-supportive group blog: a place where early-career members of the philosophy profession (as well as others interested in early-careerish issues) could come together to share their work and ideas, struggles and successes, and discuss ways to improve our profession, in a spirit of mutual support. While we have had greater and lesser numbers of contributors over the years, my biggest wish for the blog has always been that it might grow beyond what it is and take on a greater life of its own, spurred on by a larger, more diverse variety of voices. Perhaps this wish will never be realized quite a bit as I wish, and if so, that's okay. The longer I live, the more accustomed I've had to become with things not going quite as I wish. 😉 Still, I am, for better or worse, an eternal optimist, and hope that in the new year, more of you will consider joining the blog as contributors.
So, then, do any of the following apply to you?:
- Are there things you are struggling with as an early-career philosopher, such as graduate school, the job-market, your current job, pursuing alt-ac opportunities outside of the academy?
- Are there things about the profession that you have concerns about, would like to see improved, and have ideas you think might be helpful?
- Could you use or helpfully share tips about succeeding and flourishing as a philosopher? (whatever this means to you, whether it is research, teaching, etc.)
- Are you itching for a place to share your newest work or otherwise "talk shop" in a supportive atmosphere?
If so, please do consider joining us. Because I recognize that many consider blogging publicly a risky activity, I am more than happy to have contributors blog anonymously under pseudonyms. All you have to do to become a contributor is email me at marvan@ut.edu. I hope to hear from some of you, and in any case look forward to another year here with you all!
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