Department Meeting Rule #10

Show up on time.  (And if you're late, you don't get to insist that the meeting be paused to that the rest of us can get you caught up on what happened before you arrived.)

Films in Class?

I was just talking to a colleague who tends to show a lot of films to his philosophy classes.  I guess this would be appropriate were one teaching a course in aesthetics or philosophy of film.  But I've never really understood the point otherwise.  In fact, showing films just strikes me as a waste of everyone's time.  At worst, it's a way for professors to eat up class time.  Does anyone out there have a good defense of the pedagogical value of showing classes (again, other than classes about film) films?  What can showing a film achieve that couldn't be achieved with a good lecture or class discussion?

Somewhere in April time, they add another hour

As you're psychologically preparing to grade all those papers, let us not forget that it's just about time to ask an important question about the coming months.... 

Here.

Everyone Gets a DVD

I can't believe that there's a Men Without Hats concert DVD.  

Here.

Dick Clark Posse

Dick Clark has a posse.

Here.

Reign in Blood Wine

Bloody hell. Slayer now has their own brand of wine. Because wine is the average Slayer fan's alcohol of choice...

Here.

Someone in Austin Needs a Guitarist

Must play metal...

Here.

New APA Executive Director

You may have recently received an email announcing the new Executive Director of the APA. There is of course nothing on the webpage about it as yet. But here's hoping the new director can indeed (in Bratman's words) "lead us in our efforts over these next years to build a preeminent learned society, one that serves all of our members and functions with distinction."

It's a tall order, especially given the dismal condition the organization is in currently...

Note to an Underegraduate Student

Dear Undergraduate Student,

I realize that you're not pursuing a career in philosophy, and that you're most likely taking a philosophy course simply because it fulfills some curricular requirement and my course in particular fit in well with the rest of your schedule. (The circumstances through which I came to teach the course you're in are not much different.)

But the fact that you're not planning to go into philosophy as a career is no excuse for cheating. Moreover, you should know that the fact that the internet makes cheating relatively easy means that it also makes cheating-detection even easier. The sentence containing a pithy aside about a figure/idea that we hadn't discussed in class simply was put into Google, and the source from which you plagiarized came up as the first hit. Good job.

Sincerely,
Spiros

Profiles in Crappy Guitar Work

Ace Frehley.

Do you know how hard one has to work to get a Les Paul to sound that bad?

APA Session Rule #1

After the session, get out of the fucking room.

Mike Wallace Posse

Mike Wallace has a posse.

Book display

What does the size of the book display say about the future of the APA?

Doom in Seattle

Let the reports of DOOM begin....