I Don’t Read Enough
Steve: I don’t read enough. This thought plagues me. I don’t know how much reading would constitute enough, but I feel certain that I...
The Ancient Practice of Rest Days
They say Wall Street never sleeps, but that’s not entirely true. A more accurate idiom is,“Wall Street never rests.” Some people sleep. As a...
Finding Meaning in Moving: My Experiences as an Aussie Grad Student
Whether I would pursue graduate education was never a question for me, it was always more of a question of what subject I would...
Philosophers at the CIA? An Insider’s Account
Congratulations!
You’ve finally completed the requirements for the PhD, including dissertation and oral defense, and graduation is only a few weeks away. Your folks will...
Teaching with Sci-Fi Stories: Empathic Imagination and Meta-reflection
If you know you will divorce your partner and your daughter will die at a very young age in the future, would you still...
The Trials and Triumphs of a Single Parent in Grad School
Completing a doctoral program is sufficiently difficult on its own. Now add to that parental responsibilities for a newborn child. But if that’s not...
Anxiety
“I only have a day left to send off this draft.”
“Why can’t I think of a question to ask?”
“I wish people would just stop...
Philosophy and Work: Helping Students Conceptualize Their Careers
Ask a student why they’re in college and their answer will most likely include something about securing a well-paying job, expanding their career options,...
Building Community and Trust During a Graduate Student Strike
There is this passage from Camus’s The Rebel that I taught to my students a couple of years ago and has stuck with me...
Doctoral Program Attrition
Anyone who has earned a philosophy PhD in the US or Canada knows that not everyone who enters doctoral programs completes them. Even students...