The Philosophers' Cocoon

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

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  • BPA’s “Resources for Early Career Philosophers”

    In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader drew my attention to the British Philosophical Association's Resources for Early Career Philosophers page.

    It contains a lot of really helpful stuff, including tip sheets for the job-market, applying for grants and fellowship, publishing, grappling with mental health challenges, and starting a new job, along with a number of sample job-market materials and resources for pursuing alternative, non-academic career paths.

    It looks like a really great resource!

    3

  • Viewing likes/recommendations on PhilPapers?

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

    Me and some fellow Philpapers users have long wondered about this:

    On the Philpapers page of any specific paper, how do I view the full list of people who "liked" or "recommended" that paper? For papers that have many "likes," the button only shows the first five (random?) names and a sixth line of "and 20 more," but there does not seem to be a way to expand on that "20 more."

    Maybe those who run the (immensely helpful) site can illuminate.

    No idea! Anyone have any insights?

    1

  • Job-market strategies for R2 jobs?

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

    Are there any special job-market strategies for placement at R2 institutions? They're not quite elite R1s, but neither are they teaching institutions. They're somewhere in between.

    My guess is that it is probably best to treat them like R1s, and follow much of the advice in the Job Market Boot Camp Series accordingly: https://philosopherscocoon.typepad.com/blog/2019/07/tailoring-your-job-market-strategy-to-your-situation.html

    Marcus defines them "roughly as research universities without philosophy PhD programs" here: https://philosopherscocoon.typepad.com/blog/2015/03/job-market-boot-camp-part-2-building-a-good-cv.html

    I don't think I quite defined R2's properly in that earlier post (as they do have PhD programs), but in any case I suspect it's best to treat them like R1s due to their focus on research.

    What do readers think? Are there any special "strategies" to position oneself particularly well for them?

    8

  • Undergraduate philosophy conferences?

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

    Several undergraduate students in my Plato seminar wrote very interesting papers, and I want to suggest some venues where they might present their work. So far, I have identified the following annual undergraduate philosophy conferences:

    – Cornell University’s Norman Kretzmann Undergraduate Philosophy Conference
    – University of Toronto’s Undergraduate Philosophy Research Conference
    – Pacific University's Undergraduate Philosophy Conference
    – Eastern Michigan University's Undergraduate Conference in Philosophy

    Are there any other undergraduate philosophy conferences I should know about or that you would recommend? Thank you!

    Do any readers have any tips?

    5