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Nousletter 2015 Department of Philosophy Noûsletter Number 21 - Summer 2015 No. 21 · Summer 2015 noûsletter Page 2 Table of Contents Peter Hare Outstanding Assistant Awards .............. 45 Letter from the Chair ................................................................... 3 Hare Award for Best Overall Essay .............................. 46 From the Director of Undergraduate Education ........... 7 Hourani Award for Outstanding Essay in Ethics .. 46 Faculty of the Department of Philosophy ......................... 7 Perry Awards for Best Dissertation ............................. 46 In Remembrance ............................................................................ 8 Steinberg Essay Prize Winners ...................................... 46 William Baumer (1932 —2014) ....................................... 8 Whitman Scholarship Winner ........................................ 46 Newton Garver (1928 – 2014) .......................................... 9 Confucian Institute Dissertation Fellowship .......... 46 Anthony Fay (1979-2015) ................................................ 11 The People Who Make It Possible ..................................... 47 Faculty Updates ........................................................................... 12 The Peter Hare Award ........................................................ 47 Introducing Alexandra King ............................................. 12 The Hourani Lectures ......................................................... 47 Introducing Nicolas Bommarito .................................... 12 The Steinberg Award........................................................... 48 Introducing Ryan Muldoon .............................................. 13 The Romanell Award ........................................................... 48 Faculty Interview: Barry Smith ...................................... 13 The Perry Award ................................................................... 48 Faculty Interview: Jorge Gracia ...................................... 18 The Whitman Scholarship ................................................ 49 Current Philosophical Work ................................................. 30 Alumni Updates ........................................................................... 50 Continental Philosophy ...................................................... 30 Notes from our Alumni....................................................... 50 More Faculty Updates ......................................................... 31 Sam Maislin’s Speech at the 2013 Graduation ....... 54 Faculty Reading Groups ..................................................... 32 Alumni Interview: Adam Taylor .................................... 56 Department Updates ................................................................. 32 Recent Events ............................................................................... 62 SUNY Buffalo Philosophy Website ................................ 32 Departmental Colloquia ..................................................... 62 Graduate Student Lounge.................................................. 33 Logic Colloquia ....................................................................... 62 Family Updates ............................................................................ 33 Department Parties .............................................................. 63 Student Updates .......................................................................... 35 PANTC First and Second Annual Conferences ....... 63 New Students of 2013 ......................................................... 35 Annual X-Phi Conferences ................................................ 64 New Students of 2014 ......................................................... 35 2013 Samuel P. Capen Chair Seminar......................... 64 Graduates of 2013-2014 .................................................... 35 2013 Hourani Lectures – David Oderberg ............... 64 Student Publications ............................................................ 36 Philosophy Debate Series ................................................. 64 Regents’ Lecture Series ...................................................... 37 Other Conferences and Events ....................................... 65 Student Reading Groups .................................................... 37 Upcoming Events ........................................................................ 66 Student Interview: The UB Death Panel .................... 38 Blameless Buffalo? Conference ...................................... 66 Student Awards ........................................................................... 45 PANTC Conference ............................................................... 66 Peter Hare Department Citizenship Award ............. 45 Poster: Who Has A Degree In Philosophy ...................... 67 No. 21 · Summer 2015 noûsletter Page 3 Introduction seven years. Ken Shockley chaired an incredibly successful ethics search committee. Ken undertook this project soon after he was named the director of The Sustainability Academy and also while serving on Letter from the Chair the Interdisciplinary Studies Hiring Committee. The latter committee happened to hire our own Ph.D., It has been a year of dramatic Susan Smith. Ken was instructed to find us a freshly changes in the Philosophy minted Ph.D. working in ethical theory that we could Department. Faculty departed employ as an assistant professor. He actually found and two new philosophers us a pair to hire! Alexandra King and Nicolas Bom- were hired. The most notable marito are two very promising young philosophers change was the devastating who became partners while pursuing doctorates in loss of Professor William philosophy at Brown University. The Dean generous- Baumer after over fifty years ly allowed us to pursue both. Despite having offers of service to the department and university. Bill took from the University of Toronto and Florida State, they ill at the end of the 2014 spring semester with stroke- accepted UB’s offers. While still in graduate school, like symptoms. Letters from members of the depart- they published papers in good journals like Ratio, ment, the College of Arts and Sciences Dean and Philosophical Studies and The Philosophical Review. University President poured into his hospital room. I Alex will be joining us this fall. Her ethics seminar is was barraged with inquiries from people all over the already the most heavily enrolled of any of our grad- university who worked with Bill. I visited him and uate courses. Nic will be delaying his arrival one year observed that while his body was failing and his as he pursues a prestigious Bersoff post-doc at NYU. speech halted, his mind was sharp. While in the hospital, his wife read him the papers from his World There have been many significant events at UB the Civilizations class and he graded them in an intensive past year, but the highlight was that we hosted the care unit! That story sums up Bill very well. He was a International Society for Chinese Philosophy Confer- trooper who died with his boots on. So great was ence. Our own Jiyuan Yu was the president of the Bill’s service to university that it wouldn’t be unrea- prestigious organization and brought the conference sonable for me to ask the Dean for two or three hiring to Buffalo. The Dean of the College of Arts and Sci- lines to replace him. Bill’s wake and funeral were ences and the Vice Provost for International Educa- attended not only by family and colleagues, but the tion made introductory remarks, as did Jiyuan and University President, a Vice-Provost, the CAS Dean myself. The conference was a huge success and really and an Assistant Dean. Even the economics depart- has put UB on the map as an elite institution to study ment sent flowers in memory of the time he had been Chinese thought. The philosopher/journalist Carlin placed in charge of their department after a period of Romano was in attendance on an assignment from turmoil. The Philosophy department hosted a memo- the Chronicle of Higher Education. He wrote a very rial service for him this spring. Check our department flattering article. I don't think we have ever before web page for the details. An obituary is printed on hosted an event of that magnitude nor one that was page 8 of the Nousletter. A humorous and revealing the flagship conference of a major society. The con- interview with Bill can be found in the last Nouslet- ference was like a mini-regional American Philosoph- ter, available online on our website. ical Association conference with four concurrent sessions over a number of days with a half dozen Prior to Bill’s passing, things were looking very good plenary addresses, concluding with an impressive for the department. We underwent a very successful roundtable discussion on comparative philosophy external evaluation. An external review occurs every involving the giants of the field. No. 21 · Summer 2015 noûsletter Page 4 Three UB faculty members presented papers. Profes- more impressed or prouder of a UB philosophy de- sor Kah-Kyung Cho gave a wide ranging but very partment production and that includes the five con- accessible talk to a packed and enthralled room of ferences that I have co-organized. philosophers. Jiyuan Yu and Jorge Gracia displayed Two months later, the department hosted its annual immense erudition in their roundtable talks on com- Hourani lectures. David Oderberg was the speaker. parative philosophy at the
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