Teaching Philosophical Writing

Teaching Philosophical Writing

The American Association of Philosophy Teachers (AAPT) and the APA Committee on the Teaching of Philosophy (CTP) seek presenters for a session on “Teaching Philosophical Writing” at the AAPT-APA Teaching Hub at the 2025 APA Eastern Division meeting, January 8–11, 2025, in New York, New York. The AAPT-APA 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 APA divisional meetings. 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: The aim of this session is to introduce a variety of pedagogical techniques to address the perennial problem of teaching philosophical writing to students who are new to the conventions of our discipline. Any philosophy instructor will be familiar with the two-step process to philosophical writing: Students must first be disabused of those practices they have been taught by their high school English teachers before they can be taught anew to write in accordance with our disciplinary style. This session invites teachers to provide interactive ways of engaging students as they learn to understand, engage with, and produce high quality philosophical writing.

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

• Strategies for scaffolding, or short, buildable assignment exercises to introduce students to philosophical writing style
• Activities to help students “unlearn” habits like writing broad introductory paragraphs, using passive voice, or avoiding the use of first person
• Tactics for demonstrating meta-cognition, or how philosophers think about writing philosophy papers (paired with activities, where students practice the skill modeled)
• How to handle writing assignments in the age of AI, with specific attention to ChatGPT and TextSpinners
• How to offer feedback that is both useful for the student and manageable for the instructor 

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: August 1, 2024

SUBMISSIONS:

• Proposals should be sent to Brynn Welch ([email protected]) by August 1, with the subject line “Teaching Philosophical Writing: AAPT-APA TH 2025.” 
• 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) describe the focus of your session, (2) an overview of how you plan to use your session time, including details on how you will make the session highly interactive, (3) what you hope the audience will take away from your session, and (4) if you have a strong preference for how much time you’d like. Depending on the number of acceptances and other factors, presentations typically range from 25 to 50 minutes. (Feel free not to mention this if you’re happy to tailor your timing to the session overall.)
• We aim to ensure representation of a range of voices and expect to select presenters by August 21. 

Questions about this session should be directed to Brynn Welch at the above email address. For general information about the AAPT-APA Teaching Hub, please visit the Teaching Hub page. For specific information about the Teaching Hub at the 2025 Eastern APA meeting in New York, please contact co-chairs Savannah Pearlman ([email protected]) and Chris Blake-Turner ([email protected]).