Leiter Report: The Birmingham Philosophy Department has performed very well in the latest edition of the Philosophical Gourmet Report, edited by Professor Brian Leiter (University of Chicago). The Leiter PGR is the most widely known international ranking of philosophy departments, and the results are based on the evaluations of over 300 leading philosophers worldwide. Birmingham only very narrowly missed making it into the UK top 15. The Department scored better than Manchester and Exeter, equal with Glasgow, and was behind Durham by only a tiny margin.
Research Assessment Exercise Results
The Department of Philosophy is pleased to announce that in the results of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) released today by the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE), 85% of its research activity in the period from January 2001 to December 2007 was rated as either 'world class', 'internationally excellent', or 'internationally recognised'. The Department submitted all of its members of staff for assessment.
The Department of Theology & Religion is pleased to announce that it has confirmed its position as one of the leading research departments in the field. Over 60% of our research output has been recognised as internationally significant or world class within the latest RAE. This level of recognition from our peers within our discipline provides an excellent foundation for us to build on into the future.
New Doctorate Launched
The Department of Theology and Religion will be offering a new doctorate in practical theology (DPT) from October 2008. The DPT is particularly aimed at part-time students who wish to do practice based research in the context of their employment or voluntary work. It is offered as part of an informal collaboration with Manchester, Anglia Ruskin and Lampeter Universities, so Birmingham students will be able to meet and work with peers and faculty from a range of different institutions at study days and an annual summer school. For more details contact: dptenquiries@contacts.bham.ac.uk or visit DPT Website
Grant: Dr. Lisa Bortolotti has been awarded an AHRC Research Leave Grant for her project entitled 'Are ownership and authorship of thoughts necessary for intentionality and rationality?'. (22 July, 2008)
Grant: Dr. Yujin Nagasawa has been awarded a grant from the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology and the Ian Ramsey Centre at the University of Oxford for his project entitled 'Anselmian Perfect-Being Theology and the Cognitive Science of Religion'. (22 July, 2008)
New Philosophy with Year Abroad degree programme: More information...
Job: One-Year Temporary Lectureship in Philosophy (Sept 2008-Aug 2009), closing date: 23 May. Applications are invited for the above position. The successful candidate will be expected to be able to teach at least two of: introductory history of modern philosophy; introductory epistemology; philosophy of mind; philosophy of psychology. They will have experience of teaching and assessment in philosophy at undergraduate level, and be expected to contribute to the administrative load and research culture of the Department. For more details, please go to please go to www.vacancies.bham.ac.uk/vacancies and enter the job reference C14632Q08. For informal enquiries, please contact Helen Beebee.
Prize: Dr. Yujin Nagasawa has been awarded the 2007 Philosophical Quarterly Essay Prize for his paper, 'A New Defence of Anselmian Theism'. (22 April, 2008)
Employability Workshop for Philosophy PhD Students, 27-28 May, 2008: This workshop is a collaboration between the British Philosophical Association, the British Postgraduate Philosophy Association, and the University of Birmingham. It is open to Philosophy PhD students in the UK who are interested in pursuing an academic career in Philosophy. The workshop will focus on 'generic' skills that are related to academic employability -- for example writing a CV, preparing for a job interview, and presenting and publishing your work. View details. (20 April, 2008)
Award: Mr. Florian Demont, an MPhil student in our department, has been awarded a prize by the organisers of the postgraduate conference accompanying the Rudolf Carnap Lectures at Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
Award: Dr. Yujin Nagasawa has been awarded the John Templeton Award for Theological Promise by the John Templeton Foundation and the University of Heidelberg. (19 December, 2007)
Grant: Prof. Helen Beebee has been awarded a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship. (11 December, 2007)
Grant: Dr. Lisa Bortolotti has been awarded an Endeavour Research Fellowship to do research at the Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science in Australia. (11 December, 2007)
Graduate Profiles: See our Graduate Students page for reflections from philosophy graduates.
'I Think, Therefore I Earn': The Guardian newspaper has published an article explaining why philosophy graduates are finding it easier to secure work. (20 November, 2007)
Dr. Lisa Bortolotti on BBC: On the 7th of October, Lisa Bortolotti participated in ‘The Big Questions’, BBC1’s new religious and ethical weekly show presented by Nicky Campbell. It travels around the UK, debating topical religious, moral and ethical questions, and each show features a number of specially invited audience guests with a particular relevance to the topics being discussed. The show was live from Birmingham and the issue debated was: ‘Do the British care too much for animals?’. (7 October, 2007)
Philosophy Students Score in University Scholarships Scheme: Two of next years Masters students have secured prestigious university scholarships: the Kirkcaldy scholarship and the Corder Clayton scholarship. The former of these includes a very comfortable allowance for living expenses. Congratulations! This adds to our excellent recent record of securing funding for research students. There are also several holders of AHRC scholarships holders in the department. (September, 2007)
Professor Alex Miller on Radio Show: Alex Miller recently appeared on Philosophy Talk, a San Francisco radio show hosted by Stanford philosophers Ken Taylor and John Perry. You can listen to the episode (1 July, 2007)
