I am thrilled to be able to share the news that, thanks in part to a gift from Don and Ann Munro, the University of Michigan will be re-establishing a tenure-track line in Chinese philosophy, to be housed jointly in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures and the Department of Philosophy. The support that the Munros have shown for the study of Chinese philosophy—in addition to Don’s distinguished career, the Munros have established the Tang Junyi Lecture Series at UM, the Munro Fund at the ACLS, and now this—is truly exemplary. Full text of the announcement follows.
Category Archives: Profession
Publishing on the History of Chinese Philosophy
The recent discussion of the scope of “philosophy” reminded me of Amy Olberding’s excellent idea that those of us with tenure, at least, should make a point of endeavoring to publish in “general” philosophy journals, at least some of the time. (Just to be clear: this is no criticsm of existing journals focused on Chinese or comparative philosophy!) I am finishing up an essay on how to understand (and translate) tian in the context of Neo-Confucianism, and thought that it might make sense to try submitting it to a general history of philosophy journal. Which to choose? I decided to do a little research. I was pretty sure that Brian Leiter’s blog would have some sort of ranking of such journals, and sure enough, it does (from 2010). What surprised me was what I found when I started looking at the journals’ websites.
Another Round on Chinese Thought as Philosophy
In case you missed it, Nicholas Tampio recently published a short piece in Aeon explaining why he thinks Confucius (among other non-Western thinkers) should not be regarded as a philosopher, with implications for the philosophy curriculum and the makeup of philosophy faculties. This is a response to the recent New York Times piece by Jay Garfield and Bryan Van Norden. Tampio and Van Norden subsequently exchanged tweets on the topic. Amy Olberding replies thoroughly and with humor here, and Ethan Mills responds on behalf of Indian philosophy here.
Where to begin?
Journal Rankings
I am not sure what exactly to make of this data, which is based on a ranking system that may make ore sense for the sciences than for the humanities, but here is the latest ranking of philosophy journals, based on rates of citation over the last three years. This certainly is not the only measure of journal quality, but perhaps something worth taking into account.
Wm. Theodore de Bary awarded the 2016 Tang Prize in Sinology
The University Committee on Asia & the Middle East (UCAME) is pleased to share the great news that the Tang Prize Committee, in a press conference from Taiwan earlier today, announced William Theodore de Bary, Professor Emeritus of Columbia University, the sole recipient of the 2016 Tang Prize in Sinology for his “pioneering contributions in Confucian studies.” Founded in 2012 by Samuel Yin who was inspired by the Nobel Prize, the award includes a cash prize of US$1.24 million, as well as a separate grant of approx. US$311,000 for awardees in each of its four categories: Sinology, Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, and Rule of Law. The inaugural winner of the Tang Prize in 2014 was Prof. Yu Ying-shih. This year’s award ceremony will take place in Taipei on September 25.
Behuniak on Van Norden on Chinese Philosophy
The following is a guest post by Jim Behuniak of Colby College. Please address any comments to Jim!
Van Norden on Chinese Philosophy in the U.S.
The recently concluded 11th East-West Philosopher’s Conference in Honolulu featured a number of sessions on the “place” of non-Western philosophy in the academy. Excellent presentations by Carine Defoort, Tao Jiang, Amy Olberding, Brian Bruya, and others, along with questions and discussion by Steve Angle, Roger Ames, Cheng Chung-ying and many others, brought the issue empirically and conceptually into focus over the ten days. This has me reflecting on Bryan Van Norden’s recent promotions of Chinese philosophy in the United States.
Department of Deviance Blog
Frustrated by many of the comments generated by recent calls for more openness in philosophy, Amy Olberding whipped up the “Department of Deviance” blog site. Enjoy!
Perkins to Hawaii
The search to replace Roger Ames, who is retiring from the University of Hawaii, has been completed with the hiring of Frank Perkins, currently Associate Professor of Philosophy at Nanyang Technological University. Frank will begin at Hawaii in January of 2017. Congratulations, Frank!
Van Norden Interviewed on APA Blog
Bryan Van Norden talks about Chinese philosophy in an interview on the APA Blog. Check it out!
Garfield and Van Norden in NYT
The latest “Stone” column in the New York Times features a provocative piece by Jay Garfield and Bryan Van Norden titled “If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is.”
