Philosophy Professor Julia Bursten: Practicing Strategic Compartmentalization

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION (BLOG) -- Julia Bursten is an assistant professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University and co-chair of the Philosophy of Science Association Women’s Caucus. Her research in the history and philosophy of science focuses on conceptual and practical challenges to theory development posed by nanoscience and chemistry. “A lot of us got into this discipline because we find philosophy uniquely positioned to reveal interesting new connections between apparently disparate parts of the world, and communicating about those connections feels very personal,” Bursten says. “But to get through paragraph by paragraph, it is way easier if you can let go of the idea that your personal identity is tied to the project. This also applies to advice I was given about the job market: do your research on programs that you’re applying to as if you’re a very highly paid third-party consultant whose job it is to provide information to the job candidate.”