News and Events

Hey everyone, I hope your summers have been pleasant and continue to do so for the time that remains. I just want to post a few news items that might be of some interest.

First, the RAE results were released not too long ago and while La Trobe overall had mixed results (we were ranked 18th out of 41 by the Australian, 3rd in Victoria), our department did well. We, along with 6 other departments, were given a ranking of 4 out of 5, which means above world standard. Only Sydney and ANU were awarded the rank of 5. This is a great result, and we should use this to our advantage from funding requests to party smalltalk.

Second, Monash will be hosting this year's Australasian Postgraduate Philosophy Conference on April 29-May 1. As we won't suffer from any financial burden for airfare (as far as I can tell, the conference is free with catered lunches), I think we should try to have a strong showing to represent our department. The deadline to submit an abstract is March 15th and the conference is not for another 2 months so there is plenty of time to either work out something new or polish up an existing piece. It'll be a good opportunity to try out your ideas on new ears and maybe meet others with similar interests.

Third, I will be running this year's postgrad reading group with the first semester topic of meta-ethics (second semester to be determined). I chose this topic not only because of my own interest in the topic but also because we have quite a few students who are working on topics within the normative sphere of philosophy. In particular, we will be dealing with the question of the objectivity of moral properties and the realism/anti-realism debate. Hopefully, this may also be of interest for those who are of a more theoretical bent. Meetings are tentatively scheduled for Friday so that some who are interested in the topic can attend though this may change as our semester schedules are finalized. The first reading will be handed out at the first postgrad colloquium. If you have a specific article that you'd like to be discussed just let me know.