Minutes

16th Annual SPCW Business Meeting

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

 

The meeting was convened at 8:00pm at Robertson Lodge at Pine Lake in New York.

 

In attendance: Lani Roberts, Jeremy Wisnewski, Jeffrey Fry, Joe Jones, Janet Donohoe, George Teschner, Ralph Ellis, David Chan, Ed Grippe, Aline Ramos, Peter Mehl, Caroline Meline, Ileana Szymanski, and Ramon Das.

 

Janet Donohoe ran the meeting as President Trudy Conway was unable to attend the conference.  Janet began the meeting by commending Jeremy for his excellent work on the 2009 conference.  All in attendance exhibited their agreement with a round of applause.

 

 

I.          Moderator Reports (Appendix A)

            Ed Grippe: Eastern Division 2008 Program in Philadelphia

            Dillon Emerick: Eastern Division 2009 Program in New York

            David Chan: Central Division 2009 Program, 2010 Program

            Travis Anderson: Central Division 2009 Program in Vancouver, 2010 Program in

 

II.        Treasurer’s Report: Joseph Orosco, in absentia (Appendix B)

 

The current balance does not reflect the payments that still need to be made for this year’s conference, nor the income from conference attendees room and board payments.

 

III.       Journal Report: Lani Roberts (Appendix C)

The journal is doing well.  It has an overall acceptance rate of 30%.   This rate rises if we include the papers that are accepted from the conference after a second anonymous review.  Then the rate is about 50%. 

 

            Lani posed three questions on behalf of Andy Fiala. 

 

            a) how can we increase visibility of the journal?

            b) is it a good idea to collaborate with other societies on journal issues?

            c) does anyone have good ideas for special issues?

 

In response to a), one suggestion for increasing visibility was indicating to accepted contributors that their acceptance was tied to getting their home library to subscribe to the journal.

 

Another suggestion was to provide free copies of the journal at APA meetings or flyers to get a free pdf sample issue of the journal.  Or even to make free pdf sample issues available via philosop or philosopUK.

 

            A third suggestion was to move to an entirely on-line journal provided for free.

           

Finally, the suggestion was made that perhaps after a lag of two years we could make the journal available on line as pdf files on our website for free.

 

In response to b) there was general agreement that working with other societies is a workable idea and Andy should feel free to pursue that as long as the other societies are like-minded to SPCW.

 

In response to c) Andy himself suggested a special issue by Dane Scott on climate change.  Members were supportive of this idea.  Members were encouraged to send other ideas for special issues to Lani and Andy.

 

IV.       Elections

 

            Director: 2007-2010.  Trudy Conway.  No election this year.  Election will be next year.

 

Secretary: Election needed.  Janet indicated a willingness to serve another term and was reelected by acclamation.  Her term will be 2009-2012.

 

Moderators:  Because two elections were held last year, we did not need to hold any elections this year.

            Eastern: Dillon Emerick (2009-2012)

            Central: David Chan (2007-2010)

            Pacific: Travis Anderson (2009-2012)

 

Treasurer: No election this year.  Joseph’s term is (2008-2011)

 

V.        Presentation on 2010 Conference Site

 

            a) Site 

Joseph sent information about Newport Beach, Oregon. (Appendix D).  Since the cost projections were based on 40 people attending the conference, reservations were voiced about our not being able to get that many people.  Concerns were expressed about the high cost being prohibitive and the lack of communal meal opportunities. 

 

Ultimately, we voted to have the conference in Oregon next year with the specific site left undetermined.  Lani and Joseph were charged with doing some more research to find a place that might work better for the needs of the society.  Joseph and Lani were elected as the conference site coordinators for the 2010 conference.

           

Future sites suggested were Warm Springs, the Maine coast, and the North Georgia mountains.

 

b) Directors or Co-directors.  Joe Jones and Ralph Ellis agreed to serve as program directors for next year’s conference.

 

c) Theme for the conference.  We decided to list 4 main themes on the call for papers for the 2010 conference with many others from previous SPCW conferences listed as possibilities much like this year’s call for papers.  The four main themes decided upon are:

            Contemporary Culture

            Democracy and Democratic Theory

            Place and Space

            Back to the Things Themselves

 

Again, it was stressed that we should make very clear that papers on any philosophical topic are welcome.

           

VI.       New Business

We took a moment to think of Trudy Conway and to wish her well in dealing with family illnesses.  We missed her presence at the conference this year.

 

We also took a moment to think of Don Poochigian who had to leave the conference early due to the death of his mother-in-law. 

 

VII.     Adjourn.

            At 9:20pm the meeting was adjourned.

 

 

Minutes respectfully submitted by Janet Donohoe, SPCW secretary.

 

 

 

Appendix A

Moderator Reports

 

Ed Grippe, Eastern Division Meeting 2008

 

Topic:  Relativism 

December 28   11:15-1:15

Group session: GIII-8

 

Edward Grippe, Chair

 

Speakers:

Michael Krausz [Bryn Mawr College]:                         ‘Mapping Relativisms’

David Wong [Duke University]:                                    ‘Pluralism and Ambivalence’  

Edward Grippe [Norwalk Community College]:            ‘Relativism: Possibility and Probability in Interpretation’

 

Session went well with about 16-20 attendees. Interchanges among the presenters and members of the audience were lively and informative.

 

Dillon Emerick, Eastern Division Meeting 2009

 

Well, this is my first year putting the panels together at the Eastern APA, and I had a bit of a clumsy start. However, Ed Grippe, Andrew Fiala, and Jeremy Wisnewski were extremely helpful (many thanks to them!), and it looks like we have two panels scheduled for the Eastern APA.

The first panel is as follows,

Phenomenology and Ethics (I asked the APA for a 2 hour time slot)

Speakers/Paper Titles:
Mark Sanders, University of North Carolina, Charlotte: “Merleau-Ponty and the Ethics of Engagement”
Jeremy Wisnewski, Hartwick College: “Heidegger’s Aristotelian Ethics”

Ed Grippe, Norwalk Community College: “Authenticity and Autonomy in the Ethics of Sartre and Frankl”

The second panel is a joint session with the Society for Philosophy in the Contemporary World and the International Society for Universal Dialogue. In the end, it looks like we have two speakers from SPCW and two from ISUD. Here's the panel information:

Challenges to Cosmopolitanism (I asked for the APA for a 3 hour time slot)

Speakers/Paper Titles:
Audrey L. Anton, Denison University and Ohio State University: “Collective Responsibility about Omissions”
Alyssa R. Bernstein, Ohio University: “Thomas Pogge’s Conception of Human Rights: Neither Metaphysical Nor Political”
Charles Brown, Emporia State University: “The Hobbesian Nihilism of Neoliberalism”
James Irving, London School of Economics: "Universal Confusion: Global Rights through the Prism of Self-Determination"

I sent the schedule request to the APA program coordinator, and I'm still waiting for the schedule to be finalized. Things were sent before the deadline (and I received confirmation that it was received), so I don't think there's reason to worry.

Finally, I'm thinking ahead to the 2010 APA sessions (or sessions). If the joint session with the ISUD is successful, I'm considering approaching AAPT (American Association of Philosophy Teachers) for a joint session with the possible topic: Teaching about and in the Contemporary World. That would be in addition to another, "regular" SPCW session.

 

 

David Chan, Central Division 2009 and 2010.

 

This was the second year that I served as moderator for the Central Division.  As in the previous year, I wanted to organize two sessions, one with a call for papers.  However, in May 2008, I received the news that the Central Division Meeting was switching from April to February.  Speaker names and paper titles had to be submitted by September 1, 2008.  This made it impossible to send out a call for papers in time for the 2009 meeting.  Thus, only one session with invited speakers was arranged.

 

The session held was on ‘Vengeance and Punishment in War.”  I aim to have a series of sessions on The Ethics of Killing in War, following up on the session on Double Effect and War in 2008.  In 2009, the invited speakers were Nancy Sherman (Georgetown University) and Larry May (Washington University in St Louis), both well-known philosophers working on the morality of war.  I also invited Claudia Card (University of Wisconsin – Madison) and Paul Woodruff (University of Texas, Austin), but neither of them accepted.  Thus, I volunteered as the third speaker at the session.

 

The session was held on Thursday, February 19, 2009, from 7.30 to 10.30 p.m.  Thursday was chosen to accommodate Prof Sherman, who could not make it on Friday.  This time slot had two disadvantages.  It followed earlier group sessions at 5.15 to 7.15 p.m., and it was on the first day of the APA meeting with fewer people around, compared to Friday.

 

Given the quality of the invited speakers, the papers were very stimulating.  Obviously, the audience was interested in the subject.  There were ten people in the audience, besides the speakers.  Although this is not a large number, I think it was a decent success, given the evening time.  Nevertheless, I was disappointed that the presence of two distinguished invited speakers, and the publicity flyers at the registration desk and book displays, did not manage to attract more people to listen to talks on the important subject of war.

 

I do think that the willingness of well-known philosophers to speak at sessions organized by the Society will help to make the Society’s sessions at the APA into important forums that contribute to our mission of philosophy in the contemporary world.  Thus, I plan to have another invited session on the ethics of war at next year’s APA meeting.

 

I had also put out a call for papers several months ago for a session in 2010 on the theme of Moral Reasoning.  The deadline of June 15 has just passed and I have received 12 submissions.  I will select 3 to 4 papers and will make a decision by September 1.

 

Travis Anderson, Pacific Division 2009 and 2010.

 

We had a good crowd (small room, but full), very engaged in the subject, who stayed well past the session time limit for discussion.

I just received the invite from APA to start thinking about the APA meeting next spring, but I haven't sent out a call for papers yet.  I thought I'd propose two sessions: Philosophy of Art, Film and Literature in the Contemporary World and Current Debates in Contemporary Philosophy.  If those topics meet with the board's approval (or if they have other suggestions), please let me know and I'll immediately issue a call for proposals and chairs so I can get an early start on the spring meeting.

Appendix B

Treasurer’s Report

Joseph Orosco

July 2009

 

Beginning Balace 7/08                                    $2101.00

 

Deposit from

Conference 2008:                                            $5145.50

(July 2008)

 

Payment to

Nationwide Insurance:                                    $72.78

(August 2008)

 

Deposit from

Philosophy Documentation Center:                $560.00

(August 2008)

 

Payment to

Nationwide Insurance:                                    $151.22

(September 2008)

 

Payment to

OSU Printing and Mailing:                             $1281.88

(December 2008)

 

Deposit from

Philosophy Documentation Center:                $366.00

(December 2008)

 

Payment to

OSU Printing and Mailing:                             $162.42

(January 2009)

 

Payment to

Ralph Ellis

(March 2009)                                                  $150.00

 

Deposit From

Philosophy Documentation Center:                $203.80

(March 2009)

 

Payment to

Philosophy Documentation Center:                $922.13

(March 2009)

 

Deposit From

Philosophy Documentation Center:                $2624.90

(May 2009)

 

Payment to

Nationwide Insurance:                                    $33.88

(June 2009)

 

Payment to

OSU Printing and Mailing:                             $1100.60

(June 2009)

 

Payment to

Hartwick College/Pine Lake:                          $2000.00

(June 2009)

 

Deposit From

Conference 2009:                                            $2810.00

(June 2009)

 

Payment to

Nationwide Insurance:                                    $236.12                      

 

 

Ending Balance as of July 12, 2009:            $8000.77        

 

 

Appendix C

Journal Editors’ Report

Andy Fiala, Lani Roberts

July 2008-July 2009

 

 

I.  Submissions and Acceptance Rates

 

Acceptance Rate for Normal Submission

 

  • Articles submitted: 27

 

  • Articles Accepted: 8

 

  • Articles Rejected: 12

 

  • (In Process = 9)

 

  • Acceptance Rate: 8/27 = 30%

 

Acceptance Rate Including Special Issue of Invited Papers (Vol. 15, no,. 2)

 

  • Articles Submitted: 38

 

  • Articles Accepted: 19

 

  • Articles Rejected: 12

 

  • Acceptance Rate: 19/38 = 50%

 

II. Issues published

 

  • Volume 15, Number 2, Fall 2008: Special Issue on Ralph Ellis

    • 11 articles; 163 pages
    • Published October 2008
    • Guest Editor: Charlie Harvey

  • Volume 16, Number 1, Spring 2009

    • 12 articles; 132 pages
    • Published May 2009


III. Publication, Indexing, and Subscription

                                                                   

Published through Oregon State University and distributed by the Philosophy Documentation Center.

 

On-line access through Poiesis (care of the Philosophy Documentation Center)

 

Currently indexed in:

 

  • Academic Search Premier
  • Humanities Index International
  • Current Abstracts
  • Index Philosophicus
  • International Bibliography of Periodical Literature (IBZ)
  • International Bibliography of the Social Sciences
  • Philosopher's Index.

 

 

IV.Subscription information

 

(provided by Pam Swope, Philosophy Documentation Center—July 2009)

 

64 paid copies

23 Free copies

9 comp

 

 

 

Appendix D

Conference Site Presentation for 2010

Joseph Orosco

 

 

Agate Beach Inn (Best Western Hotel)

Newport Beach, Oregon

http://www.agatebeachinn.com/indexN.htm

 

Newport Beach is located on the Oregon coast, along the famous Pacific Coast Highway 101.  It is about 2 hours from the Portland International Airport and about an hour and a half from the Eugene Airport.

 

Local attractions include: Oregon Coast Aquarium, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Yaquina State Park, and the picturesque Newport Bayfront that contains many different shopping and eating opportunities.

 

Agate Beach Inn has direct access to the beach front.  The hotel amenities include:  restaurant and bar on site, fitness center, indoor heated pool and spa, and video game room.

 

These estimates are based on approximately 40 people attending.

 

Lodging:

 

Two room types can be made available for a mid-July 2010 event:

 

1)      Oceanside rooms:  $135/ per day + 10% tax (Single or Double occupancy)

2)      Hillside facing rooms:  $99/per day + 10% (Single or Double occupancy)

 

 

Conference Facility:

 

Hotel has a room for meeting space.  If we agree to have one meal catered by the hotel, then the meeting space would be free.  Otherwise, the meeting room is $250/per day.

 

Meal costs (for breakfast or lunch, for example) would be $10-15/per person/per day, depending on the menu items chosen.  Menu options can be found in the accompanying packet.