I had a busy year in 2019!

I taught three less classes than I usually do and so I only taught 13 classes in 2019 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ‘semesters’). That is the same number as the year I was on parental leave.

I teach a lot of courses but I also get to teach a lot of different classes. Besides my typical philosophy courses (Intro to Phil, Phil Religion, Logic, Ethics) I get to teach a variety of science classes including Introduction to Neuroscience, General Psychology, and a capstone seminar that I usually do on consciousness and some aspect of science. In the Spring semester I am teaching Life in the Universe which is really cool. In addition this semester I got to co-teach a class on neuroscience and philosophy of consciousness at the Gradate Center with Tony Ro, which was awesome!

I like teaching but I feel like I would be better at it if I did less of it. And I do wish I could do more teaching at the graduate level.

I also had my paper with hakwan Lau and Joe LeDoux come out in Trends in Cognitive Science. This journal works very quickly and we spent most of early 2019 working on this paper, which came out in September 2019! The whole experience of writing that paper was intense and a bit surreal.

On the other side of the spectrum, my paper with Hakwan Lau for the Ned Block volume was written a long time ago but just came out along with Block’s response (see my response here)

In addition I wrote some book reviews, gave a couple of talks, wrote a couple of blog posts, and of course completed my second season of Consciousness Live!

Looking back further, back in December 2009 I was a newly-married Assistant Professor and was organizing the very first jam session at the Parkside Lounge (after the American Philosophical Association meeting in Times Square December 28th 2009). (I also was just realizing that the way things had been presented to me at CUNY had slightly skewed my intuitions about philosophy over-all). (In addition I was also in the middle of organizing the second Online Consciousness Conference). I recently found an old recording of one of the tunes we played. I don’t remember who was playing what, or when it was recorded (maybe sometime in 2008) but it is some combination of core-NC/DC members. Next year in December 2020 we will be coming up on the 10 year anniversary of the Qualia Fest; might the world be ready for another one?

Since that timely life has changed a lot! I don’t get to play as much music but I have been promoted to Full Professor, celebrated my 10 year wedding anniversary, welcomed two sons, bought a house, and moved out of Brooklyn. It’s been an eventful decade both personally and professionally! I wonder what I’ll be writing in 2029?