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March 23, 2008 10:57 AM Subscribe
I am interested in finding a good, interesting online academic community—discussion boards, chat rooms, and the like. I am primarily interested in Literature and Philosophy. Do these places exist, or are internet fora pure lulz?
Not sure about web based communities, but here are a few of my standbys:
IATH
Driftline looks to have taken over since the demise of the Spoon Collective. While the number of mailing lists is much smaller, the archives of the old lists are there and probably useful for you.
posted by rhizome at 11:18 AM on March 23, 2008
IATH
Driftline looks to have taken over since the demise of the Spoon Collective. While the number of mailing lists is much smaller, the archives of the old lists are there and probably useful for you.
posted by rhizome at 11:18 AM on March 23, 2008
You could start with Crooked Timber and explore outwards from their links and members.
posted by Rumple at 11:37 AM on March 23, 2008
posted by Rumple at 11:37 AM on March 23, 2008
Best answer: Do these places exist, or are internet fora pure lulz?
With regard to the question of whether good subject-specific discussion boards exist, I tend to fall into the "internet fora are pure lulz" camp.
I do believe that for fairly specialized subject-matters, that are not of interest to (or not open to) a general readership, there are probably high-quality discussion boards, because there would be few if any obnoxious, opinionated amateurs intruding. For example, in law, there are numerous discussion groups and listservs open only to attorneys that have high-quality discussion.
The problem with literature and philosophy is that they attract a significant population of cranks, wack-jobs and know-nothings, who tend to overrun the discussions and ruin them for the people who actually do know something. The last decent forum for focused literary discussion that I have seen on the internet was the literature discussion groups on Usenet back in the mid-nineties.
I think the best you will do is to find specialized listservs for literature and philosophy scholars.
Some of the best discussion on the Web, I think, is to be found in the comments sections of good websites. Two sites that I read regularly are Jack Balkin's Balkinization blog (which I realize is not devoted to your areas of interest), and for intelligent arts and culture discussion I read the 2Blowhards blog. The comments sections actually have very lively, intelligent discussions.
posted by jayder at 11:53 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
With regard to the question of whether good subject-specific discussion boards exist, I tend to fall into the "internet fora are pure lulz" camp.
I do believe that for fairly specialized subject-matters, that are not of interest to (or not open to) a general readership, there are probably high-quality discussion boards, because there would be few if any obnoxious, opinionated amateurs intruding. For example, in law, there are numerous discussion groups and listservs open only to attorneys that have high-quality discussion.
The problem with literature and philosophy is that they attract a significant population of cranks, wack-jobs and know-nothings, who tend to overrun the discussions and ruin them for the people who actually do know something. The last decent forum for focused literary discussion that I have seen on the internet was the literature discussion groups on Usenet back in the mid-nineties.
I think the best you will do is to find specialized listservs for literature and philosophy scholars.
Some of the best discussion on the Web, I think, is to be found in the comments sections of good websites. Two sites that I read regularly are Jack Balkin's Balkinization blog (which I realize is not devoted to your areas of interest), and for intelligent arts and culture discussion I read the 2Blowhards blog. The comments sections actually have very lively, intelligent discussions.
posted by jayder at 11:53 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
If you asked this question over at the CHE Forums you would probably get a good response.
posted by LarryC at 12:23 PM on March 23, 2008
posted by LarryC at 12:23 PM on March 23, 2008
Best answer: I don't think there are any general forums where people discuss good academic philosophy, but there are plenty of philosophy blogs that generate good discussion in the comments sections. Here's a list for your perusal.
For literature, maybe check out The Valve. (I miss Michael Berube's blog.)
posted by painquale at 12:55 PM on March 23, 2008
For literature, maybe check out The Valve. (I miss Michael Berube's blog.)
posted by painquale at 12:55 PM on March 23, 2008
I second listservs. The best thing to do would be to google a query of the name of your favorite philosophy, writer, or specialized issue plus "mailing list" together.
posted by limon at 2:05 PM on March 23, 2008
posted by limon at 2:05 PM on March 23, 2008
I was going to suggest Crooked Timber and The Valve, so consider those seconded.
posted by languagehat at 5:07 PM on March 23, 2008
posted by languagehat at 5:07 PM on March 23, 2008
I don't think there are any general forums where people discuss good academic philosophy, but there are plenty of philosophy blogs that generate good discussion in the comments sections."
The best such blog I've seen is Philosophy, etc., which has consistently lively discussions in the comments sections on a wide range of philosophical questions. (I realize I'm a tad late to this.)
posted by Jaltcoh at 8:23 AM on March 5, 2009
The best such blog I've seen is Philosophy, etc., which has consistently lively discussions in the comments sections on a wide range of philosophical questions. (I realize I'm a tad late to this.)
posted by Jaltcoh at 8:23 AM on March 5, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
There's also AskPhilosophers. That's not a normal discussion board where anyone can say what they want. Anyone can submit a philosophy-related question, and then someone from their panel of philosophers may or may not respond on the website. I don't know if that's the kind of thing you're looking for, but there you go.
posted by Jaltcoh at 11:03 AM on March 23, 2008