The Teaching Hub at the 2019 Eastern Division Meeting of the APA

As you plan your schedule for the 2019 APA Eastern Division meeting, or if you’re still considering whether or not to attend, we hope that you will find some time to join us at the Teaching Hub.  The Teaching Hub is a two-day collection of talks and workshops at each of the divisional meetings, co-sponsored by the APA Committee on the Teaching of Philosophy (CTP) and the American Association of Philosophy Teachers (AAPT).  This year, the Hub at the Eastern is on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 8–9.  Our program includes a wide range of experiences, including:

• Talks about classroom STEM collaborations 
• A workshop for evaluating inclusion in course design 
• Table discussions on experiential philosophy
• Presentations on innovative ways to introduce students to philosophy
• Evaluations of whether and how to teach the Gettier problem

We’ll also have a session on teaching philosophy in two-year colleges; two sessions on pre-college philosophy; a poster session including faculty scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and undergraduate research; and some reflections on teaching from some senior philosophers.  

Here is our full schedule.  As you can see, there is something for every philosopher at the Eastern APA Teaching Hub this year, from grad students to grey teachers.  We’ll even have food or drink at some sessions!  

The work of philosophy teachers is vitally important to our discipline.  With humanities under attack in many unversities and philosophy departments being threatened and actually eliminated, it is essential that we make the case for our relevance and importance in the classroom.  We know from our own experiences how students can develop important transferable skills in our classrooms.  But we have to continue to make that case, to reach more students, more effectively.  Teaching is a craft that we can improve by working with others, by listening to other teachers and trying new techniques.  

It has been a delight to help organize the Teaching Hub again this year.  With such a wide range of talks, we hope you will make a point of finding the sessions that relate to your work and joining us in New York City in January.

Hub History

Since the 1970s, the AAPT has hosted a biennial workshop-conference, at which philosophy teachers share, in a collegial and engaged setting, their work.  Since many philosophers are unable to attend our meetings, the CTP wanted to bring a bit of the AAPT’s conference content and vibe to the APA.  The Teaching Hub is a genuine collaboration between the two organizations.  

The first Teaching Hub was organized in 2017.  Last year, we had Teaching Hubs at the Central and the Pacific.  This year, for the first time, we have Teaching Hubs scheduled at all three divisional meetings.  Here is the schedule for the Teaching Hub at the Central.  The schedule for the Teaching Hub at the Pacific will be posted here soon.  All three should be productive, edifying blasts, from which you come home with invigorating new ideas for your classroom.

This Sounds Great!  How Can I Help?

Do you have an idea for a session at a future Teaching Hub?  I’d bet that you have developed useful classroom tools or approaches that you could share with others.  Would you like to help organize the Teaching Hub itself?  We’re always looking for new ideas and enthusiasm about teaching philosophy.  What programs, sessions, and resources would be useful to you in your pedagogical work?  What would bring you to a Teaching Hub?  Post a comment here, or contact Alexandra Bradner, executive director of the AAPT, alexandrabradner@gmail.com; or Dave Concepcion, chair of the CTP, dwconcepcion@bsu.edu.

Russell Marcus

Russell Marcus is Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Hamilton College, specializing in philosophy of mathematics and philosophical pedagogy.  He is vice president of the American Association of Philosophy Teachers; the founder and director of the Hamilton College Summer Program in Philosophy, a two-week laboratory for pedagogical innovation; and a co-recipient of the 2020 APA Prize for Excellence in Philosophy Teaching.