CFP: Public Reason Political Philosophy Podcast Symposium

Political Philosophy Podcast Symposium: Fall 2008 | CFP: 31 July 2008

I’d like to invite submissions for a semester-long online symposium of papers in political philosophy during Fall 2008 that I would like to host on the website. The idea is that each week a paper will be podcasted on the website by the author and receive comments in response. Symposium submissions will be subject to a process of blind review by a committee of members of the website. Papers in all areas of political philosophy and theory are welcome.

The aim of the symposium is to utilise the resources at our disposal to create a conference experience accessible to every academic in the world, both as a presenter and as a participant. Conference participation is an important part of our research activities as academics, but logistical difficulties and expenses can sometimes make conference travel impossible, especially at the international level. The function of the symposium is to create an online conference in a format designed to elicit as much feedback from fellow academics as possible whilst creating no significant financial or logistical difficulties for participants whatsoever. Those selected will be able to present their papers to an unlimited number of colleagues without having to leave their offices. The papers will be presented on a weekly basis to allow a reasonable time period for comments. The papers will be podcasted to make them as accessible as possible to a wide audience.

Selected participants will be expected to do the following:
1. Complete a full draft of the paper by 5 September 2008.
2. Download and use a podcasting application to record an mp3 file of themselves reading the paper. One such application is Audacity, which can be downloaded and used without charge.
3. Use an ftp application to transfer the mp3 file to the website.
4. Join the website as a member and publish a post on the website for their assigned day, including the mp3 podcast and a pdf of the full paper.

Although most academics may be unfamiliar with podcasting applications such as Audacity, they are actually remarkably user-friendly. As such, no-one should be inhibited from submitting a proposal because of any inexperience with the technology. There are also tutorials available online for new users. Recording a podcast can be a little tricky to get right the first time, but the difficulties pale in comparison with organising and attending a conference.

The symposium will cost nothing and will cause no environmental damage.

Although papers should be in English, Public Reason encourages submissions from academics based in non-Anglophone countries. Submissions from graduate students are also welcome. There is no strict word limit on the length of the final papers, but they should ideally be presentable within an hour. Participants are also free to include powerpoint presentations, or similar material.

Please submit a pdf file of an abstract of your paper of no more than 300 words, excluding references, to admin (at) publicreason.net by 31 July 2008. Abstracts must be prepared for blind review. Please submit only one proposal. If the symposium is a success, we hope to hold similar symposia in future semesters. If you would be willing to comment on a paper, please indicate as such in your email and submit a pdf file of your curriculum vitae, including research interests and publications in political philosophy. Notification of selections should be made by the end of August. As the symposium is entirely experimental, we may make changes to the format prior to the Fall.