The Philosophers' Cocoon

A safe and supportive forum for philosophers.

Owned & Moderated by Marcus Arvan (University of Tampa)

Contact: marvan@ut.edu

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Job-Market Reporting Thread (2025-26)
Job-Market Discussion Thread (2025-26)

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  • How can we help you? (July-August 2025)

    Now that it's a couple of months since our last "how can we help you?" thread, it's time for a new one.

    For those of you unfamiliar with this series, this is a chance for you to post openly or anonymously in the comments section below on anything you could use help with related to the profession. After you post your query in the comments section, I will then post new threads for readers to discuss your query. 

    As usual, feel free to ask questions on anything (within the Cocoon's mission) that you could use help with, including but not limited to:

    • The job-market (applying for jobs, etc.)
    • Issues in the profession (including issues of social justice)
    • Graduate school
    • Publishing
    • Teaching
    • Work-life balance
    • Mental health & well-being
    • Personal struggles
    • Etc.

    Ask away – we're here to help! 

    Finally, a quick reminder of the following RULE: Please do not submit replies to other comments in this thread. It makes these threads unwieldy and difficult for me to keep track of which queries I've posted new threads on. If you'd like to respond to a comment in this thread, please wait until I dedicate a new post to the person's query myself and comment in that thread instead!

    44

  • Discussing AI-related strategies in teaching statement?

    In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

    Thanks to AI, I'm fairly convinced that we cannot assign term papers or out of class writing assignments anymore. Online classes probably have no value whatsoever. In-class writing assignments and other AI mitigation strategies will be a part of any course I teach in the future. My question concerns whether and how I ought to express this in my teaching statement. Will search committees expect to see AI mitigation strategies somewhere in our application materials? Perhaps in our teaching statements? My inclination is to use part of the teaching statement to say something about this, but I am unsure what it should look like.

    These are really good questions, but I'm not sure what the answers are. From what I can tell from online and offline discussion, it seems like many faculty have strong views about how to handle AI in teaching. Some seem to feel strongly that AI usage should be banned altogether, whereas others think students should be able to use it or be taught to use it in various ways. So, there may be some risk in discussing one's strategies in a teaching statement. Then again, it might be very strange in this day and age to say nothing about it in a teaching statement or to not explain how one deals with it. So I'm really not sure what is advisable here.

    What do readers think?

    10

  • Paper stuck at “decision in process” stage?

    In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

    I've got a paper that has been stuck in "Decision in Process" status in Editorial Manager for over a month now. What gives? Is it worth emailing Springer/Elsevier/whatever to ask them to gently remind the editors?

    I'm not sure, but maybe they could be waiting on an editorial board meeting? In any case, I think this has happened to me on a few occasions, and I just waited it out.

    What do readers think? 

    5

  • Journals that publish critical notices?

    In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

    I wrote a critical-notice-style piece of a recent book. After submitting it to Analysis Reviews, I was told that AR had already solicited a critical notice on the same book from another author. Now I'm wondering where else I might submit my piece. Which journals publish pieces in the style of critical notices or discussions? (What I've written is not really a book review, but an extended discussion of some of the book's main claim.)

    Do any readers have any tips?

    5