Mark D. White

It hasn't been quite a month since my last update–slowly improving. 😉

At the college, February was dominated by personnel issues (promotion and tenure), while March promises to be all about departmental restructuring and meeting job candidates. Not having to teach this semester makes more time for writing, but it's difficult to get my mind away from school for very long at a time.

Speaking of writing:

• Work continues apace on my two current book projects–I'm tracking my word count on a day-to-day basis and trying not to fall behind. (I said "trying.") I also have a short invited journal article and a book review to complete by May, so I have to try to work those in while maintaining progress on the books (and managing the department). Luckily, one of the book deadlines is "soft," but I have book projects lined up for when these two are done, so I'm wary of starting a domino effect.
• The volume on virtue ethics and economics that I'm editing with Jennifer Baker was approved last week by Oxford University Press; we should see a draft contract this week.
• I wrote two blog posts last week connected with The Manipulation of Choice: one at Economics and Ethics commenting on Cass Sunstein's recent review of another book on paternalism at The New York Review of Books, and a post at Psychology Today on the nudge concept in general.
• Also, Palgrave has kindly made the first chapter of The Manipulation of Choice available for free.
• Finally, I wrote two posts at The Comics Professor: one on Reed Richards' unique valentine to his wife in Fantastic Four, and another (more serious) one on Superman and fascism. (I hope to start a series of posts soon on Superman in preparation for the release of Superman and Philosophy soon.)
• Speaking of which, I just noticed that Wiley has made my chapter in Superman and Philosophy available for free.

I also have a few speaking engagements coming up:

• I'm discussing Kantian ethics and economics in the Colloquium on Market Institutions and Economic Processes at NYU this afternoon.
• I'm giving a talk on libertarian paternalism and nudges in the Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law (PPEL) Speaker Series at the University of Richmond on March 28
• I'm presenting an evening lecture on Kant and economics at SUNY Fredonia on April 9.
• And I'm participating in one or two conferences in May: the Eastern Economic Association, at which I'll be a panel about teaching but not presenting a paper, and the Law and Society Association, at which I hope to talk about my current book project on law and economics. (I've yet to receive an acceptance for that one.)