CFP: Public Philosophy in Course Assignments

Public Philosophy in Course Assignments

The American Association of Philosophy Teachers (AAPT) and CogTweeto seek presenters for a session on Public Philosophy in Course Assignments at the AAPT-CogTweeto Teaching Hub at CogTeacho, 5-6 August, held online. The AAPT-CogTweeto Teaching Hub is a collaborative meeting space hosting a series of interactive workshops and conversations designed specifically for philosophers and created to celebrate teaching within the context of the CogTweeto workshops. The Teaching Hub aims to offer a range of high-quality and inclusive development opportunities that address the teaching of philosophy at all levels.

SESSION GOALS: Given CogTweeto’s focus on public philosophy (especially on social media) and the recent pedagogical interest in non-disposable assignments, we envision three 30-minute presentations on how philosophy instructors can integrate doing public philosophy into course assessments.

We welcome proposals on any topic related to this theme, including (but not limited to) the following:

• Having class discussion occur in public, e.g. on twitter or other social media, where ideas from the course can engage broader social issues and interested parties outside of the course.
• Creating pedagogical resources for students beyond the college level, or engaging with philosophy as a form of play through community storytelling and role playing games.
• Doing research on marginalized and underrepresented philosophers as part of a publicly available peer-reviewed scholarly resource or crafting assignments appropriate for submission to an open-access undergraduate philosophy journal.
• Using public blogs in place of reflection papers, so students can engage with each others’ work throughout and even after the term, or connect issues from the course with real-world problems of public interest.
• Requiring specific, local public engagement for applied ethics case studies, rather than pre-canned and often out of date stock topics, or other forms of philosophy as civic engagement.
• Other assignments which take philosophy beyond the classroom and treat it as a way of life.

FORMAT: Rather than a traditional paper presentation, Teaching Hub sessions are expected to be highly interactive. Proposals should indicate how audience members will participate in the session. The primary goal for the Teaching Hub is for attendees to walk away with something concrete to deploy in their own classrooms/teaching context.

What does the Teaching Hub mean by "highly interactive? This includes (but is not limited to) the following:

• Presenters focusing less time on arguments for teaching some content or teaching a particular way, and more time on what it would actually look like to teach that content or teach in that way.
• Presenters thinking of the audience as their students and themselves as the facilitator/teacher. How could you cover the same content in a way that your audience participates in active learning activities during the session time?
• Presenters offering clear, practical examples of teaching methods, classroom activities, policies, practices, etc.

DEADLINE for proposals: 14 July

SUBMISSIONS:

• Proposals should be sent to Ryan Miller ([email protected]) by 14 July, with the subject line “AAPT-CogTeacho TH 2023”.
• In the body of the email, please include your name, institutional affiliation (if any), position (if any), and email contact information.
• Attached to the email, please include anonymized submission of 500–750 words (.doc, .docx, or .pdf) detailing the following: (1) the focus of your session, (2) an overview of how you plan to use your 30-minute session time, including how you will make the session highly interactive, and (3) what you hope the audience will take away from your session
• We aim to ensure representation of a range of voices and expect to select presenters by 21 July.

Questions about this session should be directed to Ryan Miller at the above email address. For general information about CogTeacho, please visit cogtweeto.com/cogteacho and/or contact Cassie Finley, ([email protected]). For specific information about the Teaching Hub at the 2023 CogTeacho workshop, please contact co-chairs Jonathan McKinney ([email protected]), and David Concepcion ([email protected]).