Call for Applications
Athena in Action: A Networking and Mentoring Workshop for Graduate Student Women in Philosophy workshop will take place at Rutgers University, June 27-30, 2022. The application deadline is December 15, 2021. Thirty-five PhD students in philosophy from outside Rutgers will be selected to participate in the workshop: seven submitted papers will be selected to be discussed at the workshop; fourteen students will be selected as commentators on the papers; and fourteen more students will be selected as chairs of sessions. An additional roughly five students will be selected from Rutgers' PhD program. This will be a pre-read workshop: all participants will be expected to read the seven papers on the program in advance, and to participate fully in the workshop. In addition to seven sessions of substantive philosophy, there will be five sessions at which professional advice will be offered by fourteen faculty mentors.
Our goal is to create a workshop at which high-level philosophical conversation occurs and great advice is offered. Participants will benefit from making connections with other talented philosophy students, getting to know the faculty mentors, and hearing the mentors´ advice on thriving as a woman in philosophy.
We are committed to accommodating all participants with disabilities.
The workshop will provide meals for all students, and will provide students with shared rooms for three nights at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick. The workshop will reimburse up to $500 of each student's travel costs. Those students who will be traveling to the workshop with children will be provided with their own rooms in the hotel rather than shared rooms. The workshop will also provide information about how to find babysitters in the New Brunswick area.
This is the fifth Athena in Action workshop. The first four workshops reached more than 160 graduate students in philosophy across seven years.
Our goal is to create a workshop at which high-level philosophical conversation occurs and great advice is offered. Participants will benefit from making connections with other talented philosophy students, getting to know the faculty mentors, and hearing the mentors´ advice on thriving as a woman in philosophy.
We are committed to accommodating all participants with disabilities.
The workshop will provide meals for all students, and will provide students with shared rooms for three nights at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick. The workshop will reimburse up to $500 of each student's travel costs. Those students who will be traveling to the workshop with children will be provided with their own rooms in the hotel rather than shared rooms. The workshop will also provide information about how to find babysitters in the New Brunswick area.
This is the fifth Athena in Action workshop. The first four workshops reached more than 160 graduate students in philosophy across seven years.
Who is eligible to apply?
Philosophy PhD students are eligible to apply as long as they are planning to graduate or defend their dissertations in May 2022 or later. (If your PhD program does not require a dissertation defense, you must be planning to complete your degree requirements in May 2022 or later.)
Graduate students (from outside the sponsoring universities, Rutgers, Princeton, and Cornell) who attended a previous Athena in Action workshop are not eligible to apply to the 2022 workshop.
While the workshop may be particularly useful to women, people of any gender or gender identity are eligible to apply.
Graduate students (from outside the sponsoring universities, Rutgers, Princeton, and Cornell) who attended a previous Athena in Action workshop are not eligible to apply to the 2022 workshop.
While the workshop may be particularly useful to women, people of any gender or gender identity are eligible to apply.
How to apply:
Applicants must fill out a short online application form, submit a writing sample, and provide the name of a professor who will recommend the student.
Note that the application form asks for a 100-to-200-word statement answering the question “Why would you benefit from this workshop in particular?” (The answer must be typed into a text box within the application form.)
Recommenders will be asked to provide one paragraph, maximum 300 words, addressing the applicant’s philosophical talents and/or how the applicant would benefit from the workshop. Recommenders will receive an email with instructions on how to submit their paragraph (no later than December 18) once the applicant has submitted an application.
Writing samples must be no longer than 7,000 words, including notes and references, and must be prepared for anonymous review. Writing samples must be unpublished, and must not be forthcoming, at the time of submission. Papers on any topic in philosophy are welcome.
The application deadline is December 15, 2021.
The page for online application can be found here.
Participants at the workshop will be asked to fill out four confidential surveys at roughly the following times: May 2022, September 2022, September 2024, and September 2026. Some people who submit to the workshop but do not end up participating may also be asked to fill out some confidential surveys. These surveys will help us to assess the usefulness of the workshop and to improve the workshop for future years.
We will notify all applicants by April 30, 2022.
Note that the application form asks for a 100-to-200-word statement answering the question “Why would you benefit from this workshop in particular?” (The answer must be typed into a text box within the application form.)
Recommenders will be asked to provide one paragraph, maximum 300 words, addressing the applicant’s philosophical talents and/or how the applicant would benefit from the workshop. Recommenders will receive an email with instructions on how to submit their paragraph (no later than December 18) once the applicant has submitted an application.
Writing samples must be no longer than 7,000 words, including notes and references, and must be prepared for anonymous review. Writing samples must be unpublished, and must not be forthcoming, at the time of submission. Papers on any topic in philosophy are welcome.
The application deadline is December 15, 2021.
The page for online application can be found here.
Participants at the workshop will be asked to fill out four confidential surveys at roughly the following times: May 2022, September 2022, September 2024, and September 2026. Some people who submit to the workshop but do not end up participating may also be asked to fill out some confidential surveys. These surveys will help us to assess the usefulness of the workshop and to improve the workshop for future years.
We will notify all applicants by April 30, 2022.
What paper should you use as your writing sample?
Make your paper clear and exciting at the beginning. Let your reader know up front what contribution your paper makes. Other things equal, it is better to submit a paper that will be accessible to a wider audience. In selecting the seven papers to be discussed, we will take into account whether they would be accessible and interesting to a broad audience.
What if you aren't sure you have a paper to use as a writing sample, or are having trouble deciding what to use?
This call for applications provides a good occasion to write a new paper. Take December 15 as your deadline for the new paper. This call for applications may also be a good occasion to revise an existing paper. A paper you used as your writing sample in applying to graduate school, or a paper you wrote for a graduate seminar, could be used as your writing sample.
Other Workshops Supporting Diversity in Philosophy
Other Workshops Supporting Diversity in Philosophy