A Letter from the Executive Director

Dear APA members and stakeholders,

I  am delighted to be on board as the new executive director of The American Philosophical Association.

For more than a century, The American Philosophical Association has worked toward its mission of promoting the exchange of ideas among philosophers, encouraging creative and scholarly activity in philosophy, facilitating the professional work and teaching of philosophers, and representing philosophy as a discipline. As we move into a new era of the APA, I am honored to be a part of this historied organization. 

We face significant challenges, to be certain. The global economic crisis has taken its toll on academic funding, and humanities departments are threatened with reduction or elimination all too often. Philosophy as a discipline is sorely undervalued in the public arena. The APA’s web presence and use of technology have not kept up with the times. And while the discipline has made great strides toward inclusiveness, philosophy still faces a troubling lack of diversity in comparison to other academic fields. 

But these challenges are not insurmountable. With the leadership of the APA’s board of officers, the efforts of the committees and task forces, the dedication of the national office staff, and support from you, our members, I am confident that the APA can move forward in new and exciting directions. 

We have ambitious goals. We are committed to modernizing the APA with a more intuitive, functional, and attractive website, including new online tools and resources for members and the public alike. We aim to better communicate with members as well as the public by creating a presence for the APA in online social networks, and we will increase and improve our member services and take on new publication initiatives. We will fight to protect philosophy, the humanities, and the academy as a whole from attacks against tenure and cuts in funding, as we have successfully done several times in recent years. We will work to more clearly demonstrate the value of philosophy both within and outside the academy. And we will launch new projects to measure and increase diversity within the discipline.  

Much of this work is already underway. For example, within weeks we will launch a new Jobs for Philosophers site with new search, sort, and bookmarking capabilities. Further, along with the new JFP, we’ll be offering our job-seeking members free access to Interfolio’s dossier service for job candidates, and APA members will also be eligible for one year of free access to Interfolio’s services for hiring committees. You will receive more information on these services very soon. 

But we cannot accomplish any of these goals without your support. In the coming months, as we at the APA work hard to provide better member services and communication, we hope that you will participate in these efforts to improve the organization by encouraging your colleagues to become APA members (or becoming one yourself if you are not already), serving on a committee, or participating in APA meetings and conferences. 

I look forward to meeting many of you at the divisional meetings and collaborating with you over the coming years. Together, we will strengthen the discipline of philosophy and build the APA into a modern and preeminent learned society.

With gratitude,

Amy E. Ferrer
Executive Director