News

Congratulations to Jeff Malpas and Jacqui Broad on their election to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Humanities. Congratulations also to Pamela Tate on her election to the Honorary Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Humanities.

MEDIA RELEASE

Australasian Association of Philosophy response to revelations of Ministerial Interference with Humanities Research

The Australasian Association of Philosophy is gravely concerned by the political interference with Australian Research Council (ARC) recommendations uncovered during Senate Estimates by Senator Kim Carr. 11 Humanities and Social Sciences research proposals, which had been recommended by the Australian Research Council for funding, were rejected by Minister Birmingham in 2017 and 2018.

The proposals – 6 Discovery Projects, 3 Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards and 2 Future Fellowships – were rigorously reviewed by expert peer reviewers, including international experts, and were deemed to be both eligible under the ARC funding rules and of outstanding quality before being recommended for funding. No reasons for the rejection of the recommendations were given. On what basis would the Minister be able to determine that these 11 proposals did not merit funding? It is unthinkable that the Minister would intervene in a similar way with proposals assessed by experts in physics or chemistry. Why would a Minister claim to be better able to assess the merits of humanities and social sciences proposals than the peer reviewers and panel experts in these fields?

This interference with the ARC’s independence and its robust processes is a direct threat to Australian higher education, to research, to intellectual freedom and to our community, given that the outcomes from research inform public policy and our understanding of ourselves as a nation and our place in the world. Researchers accept that governments shape the funding priorities of funding bodies, like the ARC and NHMRC. Nonetheless, they rightfully expect that political interests should not impede the robust and independent peer review process. Such interference threatens the core of academic research, independent peer review.

The impact of such interference on the careers of researchers whose proposals have been rejected after recommendation for funding from the ARC significant. DECRA and Future Fellowships support career-establishing and -sustaining projects undertaken by Australia’s brightest researchers. At least one of the DECRA applicants whose proposal was rejected has left Australia; a direct loss of research capacity for what was once hailed as a Knowledge Nation.

The Australasian Association of Philosophy is dismayed by the arbitrary and unjust actions of the Minister.

Professor Graham Oppy

Chief Executive Officer, Australasian Association of Philosophy

pdf to download 

The 25th World Congress of Philosophy will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in July 2023. It will be hosted by the Australasian Association of Philosophy. 

The decision to bring the World Congress to Melbourne was made at the General Assembly of FISP (the International Federation of Philosophy Associations), during the 24th. World Congress of Philosophy, held in Beijing in August 2018.

The AAP wishes to express its appreciation to the Melbourne Convention Bureau -- and, in particular, to Marko Sanovic -- for support for the Melbourne bid. It also acknowledges the hard work of the members of the Local Organising Committee: Alan Hajek, Stuart Brock, Tan Sor Hoon, Karyn Lai, and Monima Chadha.

More details about WCP25 will be made available in the coming months, including the precise dates. Please do put this into your calendar.

Applications for the AAP Postgraduate Fund will open in September.

The AAP Postgraduate Conference Fund is created to support conferences,
workshops, seminars, and other similar events on philosophical topics that
are organised by postgraduate members of the Association.  Such events can
be directed at an audience of philosophers or at a wider public.

Applicants must submit a proposal to the Association which includes a
description of the proposed conference, a draft budget, Department
declaration of support and nomination by a Faculty sponsor. In addition,
Faculty sponsors should provide a brief confidential evaluation of the
proposed conference. A Faculty sponsor will often be the applicant’s
supervisor, but need not be.

Applications will be evaluated and ranked by an Evaluation Panel on their
philosophical merits, and funding from the Fund will be distributed in line
with these rankings. The total fund in 2018 is AUD4000 - no successful
proposal will be allocated more than 50% of the Fund.

Full details and Eligibility here: https://aap.org.au/conference-fund

A seperate call for proposals will go out when applications open in
September.
Deadline for applications: Tuesday 16th October 2018

Congratulations to Jennifer M. Morton, Winner of AJP Best Paper 2017

“Reasoning under Scarcity”, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 95(3): 543-559

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00048402.2016.1236139

Congratulations to Jennifer Windt, Monash University, 
Winner of the 2018 Annette Baier Prize! 

View citation

"Predictive brains, dreaming selves, sleeping bodies: how the analysis of dream movement can inform a theory of self-and world-simulation in dreams"

Synthese 195.6 (2018): 2577-2625.

Congratulations to Helen Ngo Deakin University, of Deakin University. 
2018 Annette Baier Prize Commendation.
"Simulating the Lived Experience of Racism and Islamophobia: On ‘Embodied Empathy’ and Political Tourism"
Australian Feminist Law Journal (2017) 43:1, 107-123, DOI: 10.1080/13200968.2017.1321090

Congratulations to Talia Morag, of Deakin University. 
2018 Annette Baier Prize Commendation.
"The Tracking Dogma in the Philosophy of Emotion"
Argumenta 2, 2 (2017) 343-363

Read our newsletter here:

aap.org.au/newsletters2018

CALL FOR TENDERS TO HOST THE 2018 AUSTRALASIAN POSTGRADUATE PHILOSOPHY CONFERENCE

The Postgraduate Committee to the AAP is welcoming proposals from postgraduates from any institution in Australia, New Zealand, or Singapore with a postgraduate philosophy programme to organise and host the 2018 Australasian Postgraduate Philosophy Conference (APPC).

ABOUT THE APPC

The APPC is an annual conference that provides an opportunity for postgraduate students from Australasia to present their work, debate their ideas, receive feedback from peers and form collaborations across institutions. The conference is usually three days and includes a variety of sessions including standard talks, pre-read paper discussions, career and publishing workshops, and more. The conference environment is laid back and can be a great introduction to conferences for new graduate students.  Recent conferences have been held in Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Sydney and Auckland.

WHY HOST AN APPC?

Hosting the conference provides the opportunity to gain valuable experience in conference organisation and committee management, both of which are important skills for successful academic philosophers. Hosting the APPC is also a great way of promoting your university's philosophy program (including to prospective graduate students). Last, but not least, organising a conference can be a lot of fun and is a great way to give service back to the profession while making contacts and friends, both within your institution and within the broader Australasian philosophy community.  

ABOUT BIDS

A successful bid will justify a selection for the conference dates and contain a budget with an indication of expected funding sources, a conference planning timeline, and brief details of why your university would make a good site for the conference. Bidders are encouraged to be both realistic and creative with their bids. Our comprehensive APPC Hosting Guide can sent on request, and we are happy to assist organisers with any further questions that they might have. Bids for the 2018 APPC close January 31st 2018. Bidders are not restricted to groups from a single university and may be interdisciplinary. It may be helpful in terms of funding and organising resources to join forces with another institution in your local area or discipline/department at your university.

CONTACTS

If you are interested in hosting the 2018 APPC, or would like any further information about hosting an APPC or a copy of the hosting guide, please contact Toby Solomon (toby.solomon@anu.edu.au).