The Philosophers' Cocoon

This is the eleventh installment of The Cocoon Goes Global, a series that give a sense of what the philosophy profession looks like outside of the Anglophone West. This guest contribution is a fully collaborative, co-authored piece by two scholars in Mexico: 

When you think about Mexico, probably the first thing that comes to your mind are wonderful beaches, great food, friendly people, and Mayan ruins. Also, given the vast cultural and artistic opportunities that Mexico City has to offer, it’s not surprising that it was selected as a top destination to visit in 2019 according to the New York Times. However, it’s not likely that many people think about Mexico when it comes to academic life in general, and Philosophy in particular. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to encounter the more or less implicit assumption that very little interesting philosophical work is done beyond the US, Australia, Canada, the UK and a few other parts of Europe. We think that this is strongly misguided—that’s why we work here! Such an implicit assumption is partially explained by the lack of information, of which we have some responsibility. We would like to take this opportunity to share with you some thoughts on what it is like to do (analytic) Philosophy in Mexico.

It is true that the analytic tradition in Philosophy is still very much underrepresented in Latin America. However, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM) and, more specifically, the Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas (IIFs) stands out as one of the very few centers in the region that cultivate and foster work in this tradition. More importantly, contrary to what many people might think, UNAM ranks in Philosophy above many well-known American and European institutions (just go and check your favorite World Universities Ranking). But these are just statistics.

As researchers of the IIFs who have studied and/or worked in the UK, Europe and the US, we think that, comparatively speaking, one of the great advantages of UNAM is that it offers an excellent balance between academic excellence and quality of life; a balance, moreover, that it is difficult to find elsewhere. Academic positions at the IIFs are research oriented so teaching load is very low (1/1); there is huge academic freedom, and the administrative duties are reasonable and not so onerous compared, for example, to the UK. We are required to supervise probably more graduate students than most institutions. However, being sensitive to the overall needs of the University, there is quite flexibility in choosing who and how many of them. There is also a very lively academic community and academic life. There are 42 full-time researchers working in a really wide variety of areas of philosophy—all of which hold PhDs from prestigious institutions (including Harvard, Stanford, Rutgers, Cambridge, Oxford, Barcelona, etc.)—and around four new postdoctoral researchers each year. There are multiple research seminars taking place every week and we receive constant academic visits from all over the world. While our salary is not competitive with top institutions in the US, it is indeed comparable with what academics make in many places in Europe—with the advantage that Mexico City is less expensive than some of these places. More importantly, the salary allows for a very comfortable living which increases over the years.

UNAM is a state university with a social educational mission and a substantial social impact. It is free of charge, which makes it possible for students from every social background to access a very high level of education. Also, given that UNAM is a very prestigious institution in Latin America, we receive many students from all over the continent. In terms of teaching, this entails huge challenges as well as rewards. On the one hand, you get very heterogeneous classroom groups, with students of very different educational backgrounds, capacities and learning levels. It is challenging to pitch the level and content of the courses, and to attend the different needs of students. On the other hand, your teaching has substantial social impact and you do have a clear sense that you’re doing something valuable for society.

In terms of job opportunities, it might be useful to consider that the IIFs has hired 10 philosophers (tenure track position) over the last 7 years, and this tendency is expected to continue during the upcoming years. Although job offers don’t explicitly mention that speaking Spanish is a requirement, candidates who speak the language are normally favored (notice that this is not necessarily the case for postdoc positions). The reason for this is that, despite the fact that some postgraduate courses are taught in English, undergrad courses are in Spanish. Moreover, you are also expected to undertake admin roles and duties and, for this, language skills are a must. The IIFs also offers two one-year postdocs (renewable for a second year) every semester. In the last few years we’ve received postdocs from NYU, MIT, University of Michigan, Stanford, Harvard, University of Barcelona, UCL, Warwick, or the University of Buenos Aires. This is definitely an excellent opportunity for early career researchers, and this program also contributes a great deal to enrich the diversity and quality of the research at the Institute.

Finally, a recurrent question we get when people get to know we live and work in Mexico is: do you feel safe? Mexico gets a terrible bad press in the international media outlets. This is obviously not gratuitous; crime and violence are severe problems in this country. However, the country is huge, and the majority of the crimes you read in the media do not happen in Mexico City. As a (very) big and complicated city as it is, Mexico City is not entirely safe, but its criminality rate is not higher than many cities in the US (another link) that people visit on a regular basis without worrying so much about crime. As in many big cities you should be cautious and take some security measures, but none of us feel substantially less safe or more at risk than when we’ve lived in other cities like Philadelphia, London or Barcelona. So, next time that you think of Mexico, think also of its philosophical scene and dare to know the work that it is done here. There are plenty of opportunities to come to know the IIFs and the UNAM as a visiting scholar or participating in some of the many academic events that we organize. Moreover, you will also have the opportunity to know wonderful beaches, great food, friendly people, and gorgeous ruins.