The Philosophers' Cocoon

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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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  • Tattoos and the job-market?

    In our newest “how can we help you?” thread, a reader asks:

    I’m an early career (female if it matters) philosopher with several large tattoos. They are currently all easy to cover, and I’ve always kept them covered on campus visits and at most conferences. But I’m getting close to having one of my sleeves finished, and I’ve started considering having part of the design extend onto the top of my hand. I’d love to start a discussion about how such “job stopper” tattoos are perceived in the profession today. General wisdom in the tattoo community says to avoid visible ink until you’re established in your profession. I do have a TT job, but am imagining a very possible world where some circumstance puts me back on the market. How do hiring committees (and philosophers in general) feel about visible tattoos? I’d particularly be interested in hearing experiences from others with significant body mods.

    Do any readers have helpful insights or experiences to share?

    23

  • Organizing a philosophical debate in a large class?

    In our newest “how can we help you?” thread, a reader asks:

    Does anybody have experience organizing a philosophical debate in a large class (e.g., 50 people)? I’d be curious for how one might do this in a 3 hour seminar format, or perhaps divided across two classes (a portion of each seminar being dedicated to a different stage, say).

    Sounds like a neat idea if it could be done well. I don’t teach large classes, so I don’t feel well-positioned to weigh in. What about other readers?

    Any helpful tips or experiences to share?

    2

  • Journals that accept “shorter” papers?

    In our newest “how can we help you?” thread, a reader asks:

    I have a paper with around 4.5k words. I could see a version that is shorter that I can submit to Analysis, but I could also see one that is around 5.5-6k words. Are there good journals that accept shorter 5.5-6k papers? Would journals that have 8k word limits normally be happy to accept these?

    I could be wrong, but my sense is that most journals are willing to consider “shorter” papers like these. It all depends on how good the paper is. Of course, shorter papers may generally “accomplish less” than longer papers tend to do–but of course there are exceptions.

    What do readers think?

    14

  • Grading: how much (and which types)?

    In our newest “how can we help you?” thread, a reader asks:

    I am curious people’s thoughts on grading.

    We know (well, at least me and some friends) that many students do not care much about our feedback, and many of them do not even read them. And we also know that grading probably is the least interesting part of teaching (again, at least for me…).

    This semester, I am trying something new. First, I significantly reduced the amount of grading for myself. I made a lot of assignments in-class work, and as long as they were there thinking and writing, I gave them full credit. (Honestly, when I saw that they were that doing things, I cared less about what they actually did… I sometimes even did not read their in-class work… Shhh… Don’t let my students know it.) For a lower level undergraduate course, I only provide feedback for around three short writing assignments (500 words each). Second, for those short writing assignments, I ask them to do it in class and resubmit them later based on my feedback. I force them to engage with my comments.

    So far, I would say that it helped my “mental health” A LOT. I did not fall behind in grading as before, and I feel that I have more time focusing on teaching prep, so that most of my effort regarding teaching has been devoted to in-class time. I also feel that my time is more balanced, and I feel more comfortable working on my own research and doing service. Of course, this is partly because I simply have more time.

    But I do worry that if I give them too little feedback, or, if I assign myself too little grading to do. I cannot help but wonder if I am a bit too selfish. To be fair, I talk to students a lot during office hours and after class, most of whom are those who are interested in philosophy. My question is: how do you approach grading? How much grading do you think is reasonable for a course in this era (students not caring about feedback, the usage of AI, etc.)?

    What do readers think (and do)?

    10