William H. Miller III Department of Philosophy

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While an undergraduate major in philosophy is good preparation for graduate study in the department, applications are welcomed from students with other majors whose interests are now turning toward philosophy.

To apply, please read the information below and on the Graduate Admissions website , and complete the application online.

If applying to more than one department, please send complete application materials for each department. All application documents must be provided in English (either the original or translations of the original documents). If you are unable to secure translations to English, we recommend that you contact World Education Services .

All application materials and supporting documents should be uploaded through the online application; these include:

  • Online application
  • Application fee
  • Statement of Purpose (briefly state your area of interest at the beginning of your Statement of Purpose; upload through the online application)
  • Letters of recommendation (at least three): Letters of recommendation should be submitted and uploaded electronically following the instructions in the online application.
  • Transcripts: Unofficial transcripts must be uploaded through the online application. Applications will be ready for review with unofficial transcripts, but official transcripts will be required if an offer of admission is made
  • GRE (optional)
  • TOEFL or IELTS score (for international applicants)
  • Sample of work (the sample should reflect the applicant’s area of interest, and generally does not have to be more than 20 pages in length).

Application Deadline

The deadline for applications is 15 December. Some finalists will be contacted for short Zoom meetings prior to a decision being made. Decisions on admitted and wait-listed students will be made by the first week of February.

For questions or inquiries about the online application and supporting documents, contact the Graduate Admissions office. You may also contact Michelle Brock, the academic program coordinator for the philosophy department, at [email protected]   or 410-516-7524.

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Department of Linguistics and Philosophy

Ph.d. program.

The program of studies leading to the doctorate in philosophy provides subjects and seminars in such traditional areas as logic, ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, aesthetics, social and political philosophy, and history of philosophy. Interest in philosophical problems arising from other disciplines, such as linguistics, psychology, mathematics and physics, is also encouraged.

Before beginning dissertation research, students are required to take two years of coursework, including a proseminar in contemporary philosophy that all students must complete in their first year of graduate study. Students are also required to pass general examinations and demonstrate competence in the following areas: value theory, logic and the history of philosophy.

Interdisciplinary study is encouraged, and candidates for the doctorate may take a minor in a field other than philosophy. There is no general language requirement for the doctorate, except in those cases in which competence in one or more foreign language is needed to carry on research for the dissertation.

Below is a detailed description of the philosophy Ph.D. program. For information about applying, see our admissions page ; we have also compiled data on placement , retention, and average completion times .

1. Your Advisor

When you join the Department you will be assigned a faculty advisor who will supervise your course of study. Your advisor must approve your program at the beginning of each term, and you should keep them abreast of your progress and problems. When forming a Fifth Term Paper committee the chair of your committee becomes your advisor. Similarly, when you form a dissertation committee.

Your teachers will write comments on your performance in subjects which you complete. These comments will be placed in your file in the Department office (your file is open to you), and they will be discussed at a meeting of the faculty at the end of each term. You should see your advisor at the end of each term to review your progress.

You may change your advisor at any time. Similarly you may change the composition of your fifth year paper and dissertation committees, as well as adjust the topics of those projects. To make a change first ask the relevant faculty if they are willing, then notify the Chair of the Committee on Graduate Students (COGS).

The current composition of COGS is: Brad Skow (Chief Cog), Kieran Setiya , and Roger White .

2. Requirements

2.1 overall course requirements.

Students must pass (with a grade of C or higher) at least 10 graduate subjects in philosophy (unless you earn a minor, in which case see section 4 below ). At least 7 must be subjects at MIT.

Students may petition COGS to use undergraduate subjects at MIT to satisfy the overall course requirement (except: in the case of an undergraduate logic subject more advanced than 24.241, no petition is needed).

Students must take at least 2 subjects in philosophy at MIT during each term of their first year, and at least 1 subject in philosophy at MIT during each term of their second year. Normally, students take 4 subjects during their second year.

2.2 Teaching Requirement

All graduate students must acquire some teaching experience. This requirement is normally satisfied by serving as a Teaching Assistant in an undergraduate subject in philosophy at MIT.

2.3 Logic Requirement

The Department has a standing committee which is charged with administering the logic requirement; the requirement may be satisfied in one of the following ways:

(a) by auditing Logic I and completing the work (Logic I may not be taken for graduate credit); (b) by successfully completing a logic assessment set by the committee; (c) by successfully completing an alternative or more advanced subject in logic at MIT (for example, modal logic or Logic II) approved by the committee. (d) by being exempted from the requirement by COGS. Such exemption does not affect the overall course requirements (2.1 above).

The level of knowledge of logic expected for exemption, or tested on the examination, is what is covered in Logic I at MIT: proof procedure and semantics for first-order predicate logic with identity, and some acquaintance with standard metalogical results (for example, those concerning completeness, incompleteness and decidability).

Students are normally expected to satisfy the logic requirement by the beginning of their second year.

2.4 Distribution Requirement

2.4.1 proseminar.

All first-year students are required to complete the two-semester sequence 24.400-24.401, Proseminar in Philosophy. The first semester is an intensive seminar on the foundations of analytic philosophy from Frege to roughly 1960. The second semester is an intensive seminar on highlights of analytic philosophy from roughly 1960 to the present. The two-semester sequence counts as two subjects.

2.4.2 History of Philosophy

Students must complete two graduate subjects in the history of philosophy. For the purposes of this requirement, the history of philosophy means philosophers or philosophical schools that flourished before 1879.

A subject that spends a substantial part of, but not all of, its time on history counts toward this requirement provided the student’s term paper focuses on the history part. If there is doubt about whether a subject qualifies, consult COGS.

History subjects designed for a mixture of graduate and undergraduate students, like 100-level courses at Harvard, also count.

COGS permission is required in order to satisfy this requirement by taking two subjects on the same philosopher. (COGS will likely reject using two subjects on Descartes’ Meditations to fulfill the history requirement; COGS will likely approve using two subjects on Kant, one focused on ethics, the other on metaphysics and epistemology.)

Students wishing to fulfill this requirement by some other means should contact COGS.

2.4.3 Value Theory

Students must complete one graduate subject in ethics or political philosophy or aesthetics.

2.5 Fifth Term Paper Requirement

By the end of a student’s third term (usually fall of the second year) the student should select a paper topic for their Fifth Term Paper and form a committee to advise them on their work. The committee will consist of two faculty members (a supervisor and a second reader). The proposed topic and names of committee members should be submitted to COGS before the end-of-term meeting.

During the student’s fourth term, the student, in consultation with the committee, should assemble a reading list on the chosen topic. As a guideline, the reading list might consist of roughly twenty papers or the equivalent; the faculty recognizes that lengths of lists will vary. The final list must be approved by the committee and submitted to COGS by the end-of-term meeting.

During the fifth term, the student will write a polished paper on the chosen topic, roughly 25 pages long, in consultation with their committee. After submitting a final version of the paper that the committee deems satisfactory, the student will sit for an oral examination with the committee on both the paper and, more generally, the paper’s topic, as defined by the reading list.

The fifth term paper project is graded pass-fail. Students must pass the oral exam by the end-of-term meeting of their fifth term. After a student passes the exam their committee will write a report on the project to be given to the student and placed in the student’s file. Successfully completing this project constitutes passing the written and oral general examination requirements imposed by MIT’s Graduate School.

2.6 Petitions

A student may petition COGS to waive a requirement in light of their special circumstances.

3. Independent Studies

While in the normal case a student’s 10 graduate subjects will be seminars, students may also take an independent study with a faculty member. Students wishing to register for 24.891 or 24.892 must obtain permission from the Chief COG. After talking with the faculty member they wish to supervise their independent study, the student should write a proposal describing how often they will meet, how long the meetings will last, a tentative list of readings, and the amount of writing they will do. The Chief COG will approve an independent study only if the amount of work proposed equals or exceeds the usual amount of work in a seminar.

Students can minor in a field outside philosophy of their choosing (for example, linguistics, psychology, science technology and society, physics, feminist theory…). To earn a minor in field X a student must (i) pass 3 graduate subjects in field X, (ii) pass one graduate philosophy subject on a topic related to field X, and (iii) obtain COGS approval. (It is best to seek approval before all 4 subjects have been taken.) A student may receive no more than two minors; in the case of two minors, a single philosophy subject may (in rare cases) be used to satisfy clause (ii) for both minors.

Students who earn a minor need only pass 8, rather than 10, graduate philosophy subjects (7 must be taken at MIT). The subject used to satisfy (ii) counts as one of these 8.

Our faculty uses pluses and minuses, but the grades on your official transcript will be straight letter grades. Here are the meanings that MIT assigns to the grades:

A Exceptionally good performance, demonstrating a superior understanding of the subject matter, a foundation of extensive knowledge, and a skillful use of concepts and/or materials.

B Good performance, demonstrating capacity to use the appropriate concepts, a good understanding of the subject matter, and an ability to handle the problems and material encountered in the subject.

C Adequate performance, demonstrating an adequate understandingof the subject matter, an ability to handle relatively simpleproblems, and adequate preparation for moving on to more advanced work in the field.

D Minimally acceptable performance.

When the faculty determines the status of a student in the program, it does so on the basis of a review of the student’s total performance, which includes weighing the strengths and weaknesses of the student’s whole record. Thus it is in principle possible to redeem a weakness in one area by excellence in others.

An Incomplete (a grade of I) indicates that a minor part of the subject requirements has not been fulfilled and that a passing grade is to be expected when the work is completed. The grade I for the term remains permanently on the student’s record even when the subject is completed. In subjects in which the major work is a term paper, students may earn an I for the subject only if they submit a draft to the instructor(s) by midnight on the day before the end of term meeting. If a student does not hand in a draft by midnight on the day before the end of term meeting, the instructor is required to give the student an F. (The end of term meeting is shortly after the beginning of exam week.)

Any uncompleted incompletes on registration day of the following term will be converted to an F.

6. Ph.D. Thesis

A student is normally not allowed to begin work on a Ph.D. thesis until they have completed all of the requirements listed above. Students must complete all of those requirements by the end of their fifth term; exceptions will be made only after petition to COGS.

Once a student has completed the requirements listed above, there is the option of taking a terminal Master’s Degree instead of the Ph.D. This requires completing a Master’s thesis — students should consult COGS for more details.

The Ph.D. thesis is a substantial piece of original and independent research that displays mastery of an area of philosophy. A student may plan to write a sustained piece of work on one topic; they may instead plan to write three or more papers on connected topics. By the second month of the student’s sixth term they will submit to COGS a short (three to five pages) description of the projected thesis.

When the plan is approved, COGS will appoint a thesis committee consisting of a thesis supervisor and two additional readers, who shall be members of the philosophy faculty chosen by the student and willing to undertake the responsibility. The student will then meet with the members of the thesis committee for discussion of the material to be dealt with in the thesis. COGS approval is required if the student wants to include a non-MIT professor, or an MIT professor who is not on the philosophy faculty, on the committee. COGS approval is also required for a committee whose members include fewer than two MIT philosophy faculty (and this will be approved only in exceptional circumstances).

The student will meet regularly with their thesis supervisor throughout the writing of the thesis, and will provide all members of the thesis committee with written work by the end of each term. This requirement holds for nonresident as well as resident students.

The following rules govern completion of the thesis.

6.1 Final Term

The student will meet with their thesis committee during the first week of the term to assess the feasibility of completing the thesis during that term. The student and the committee will agree on a table of contents for the thesis, and on a schedule of dates for meeting the following requirements; a copy of the contents and the schedule should be given to COGS.

6.1.1 MIT Deadline

MIT requires that the completed thesis be delivered to the Department office by a date set by the Registrar for all Departments. (Early in January for February degrees, early in May for June degrees.) The Department regards this requirement as met by delivery to the thesis committee by that date of what the student regards as the final draft of their thesis.

6.1.2 Thesis Defense

The student will meet privately with their thesis committee to defend the thesis and to discuss any needed revisions. This meeting constitutes the official oral examination of the thesis.

The private defense must be scheduled for a date which will leave time for the student to make revisions before the MIT deadline. Once a student has completed the oral examination, and made any requested revisions, the decision whether to recommend award of the PhD is made by unanimous vote of the thesis committee.

6.1.3 Public Defense

The public defense is open to all members of the Department and their guests; it is chaired by the thesis supervisor, and normally runs for an hour, starting with a twenty-minute presentation by the student of the main results of the thesis. The public defense is the one occasion on which the entire Department has an opportunity to learn about and participate in the student’s work, and is a central part of the Ph.D. program.

The public defense is to be held after the student’s committee has voted to recommend awarding the PhD. One week before the public defense, the student should email the revised version to the chief COG, to be made available to members of the Department. A copy of the abstract should be emailed to the Academic Administrator for distribution when announcing the public defense to the Department.

6.1.4 Final Library Copy

The final library copy must be given to the Departmental representative to MIT’s Committee on Graduate School Policy (CGSP) by the day before that committee’s end-of-term meeting at which it approves the final degree list.

6.2 September Degrees

Students who will be unable to complete their theses during the spring term may wish to petition COGS for consideration for award of the degree in September. Such petitions will be granted on condition that an appropriate thesis committee can be constituted to work with the student during the summer. A schedule analogous to that described under 6.1 — including the scheduling of private and public defenses — must be given to COGS by the end of the spring term. The final library copy of the thesis must be given to the Departmental representative to CGSP by the day before that committee’s September meeting at which it approves the September degree list.

7. Policies on Satisfactory Progress and Good Standing

A student is in good standing so long as they have not fallen behind on any deadline mentioned in this document. The most salient of these is the deadline for the 5th term paper.

If a student is not in good standing, they will be unable to use their travel funds. If a student is not in good standing or has received a grade of B or lower in two classes in the previous semester, they are at risk of failing to make satisfactory academic progress.

If a student is at risk of failing to make satisfactory academic progress, the faculty will discuss the matter at the next end of term of meeting. (If any of the student’s advisors are not present at the meeting, they will be consulted before any action is taken.) The faculty will consider the work the student has produced, or failed to produce, so far, and the progress it represents. If there are serious doubts about the student’s prospects of completing the PhD, which includes writing a thesis that meets the conditions in section 6 , the student’s academic progress will be deemed unsatisfactory, and they will be issued a written notice from the Chief COG. The notice will explain how the student’s progress is unsatisfactory, what the student should accomplish in the following semester in order to avoid an official warning from the Vice Chancellor, and what steps the faculty will take to help the student accomplish these things. If a student fails to meet the conditions of the notice by the end of the following semester, as determined by the faculty, the student will receive an official warning from the Vice Chancellor. This warning will explain why the student’s progress continues to be unsatisfactory, what the student should accomplish in the following semester in order to continue in the program, and what steps the faculty will take to help the student accomplish these things. If the student is in a position to receive a terminal Master’s Degree, the conditions for doing so will be detailed. If the student fails to meet the conditions of the warning by the end of the semester, as determined by the faculty, the student will be denied permission to continue in the program.

Graduate Admissions

Application.

Stanford’s  Online Application , information about requirements and instructions for applying are available through the  Grad Admissions website . The application opens each year in Fall quarter. 

The online application is due by the following deadlines:

PhD: Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Masters: Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Knight Hennessy: No later than December 1, 2023 (per Knight Hennessy program ) 

Coterminal Masters (internal Stanford students only): end of second week of Winter quarter,  Friday, January 19, 2024

Knight Hennessy:  No later than December 1, 2023

GRE scores will not be required in the 2023-24 admission round.

Please DO NOT mail paper transcripts at this time. E-transcripts are accepted.

Transcripts

  • Please wait to mail official paper  transcripts  until we request them.
  • Official e-transcripts can be sent directly by the school or clearinghouse to  philosophy [at] stanford.edu (philosophy[at]stanford[dot]edu)
  • Please upload an unofficial transcript from each school you attended for a year or more with the application.
  • NOTE: An official transcript is one that is received directly from the issuing institution (or CollegeNET CertiFile Service (CHESICC/Educational Perspectives) that bears the seal/signature representing its validity. To be considered official, paper transcripts must be sealed and unopened.
  • Transcript information at  https://gradadmissions.stanford.edu/applying/starting-your-application/required-application-documents/transcripts-academic-records-0

Writing Sample 

  • Should be a recent writing sample on a philosophical topic
  • We recommend you send an example of your  best work
  • needs to be uploaded into the application
  • Typically samples are around 20 pages or less
  • If submitting a thesis or document longer than 20 pages, please include a note pointing to most important passages
  • Secondary samples are allowed, please mark which sample is primary if including more than one

Letters of Recommendation 

  • Please have your recommenders submit their  confidential  letter via the online application.
  • Letters from recommenders are due by the deadline. Please have them in as soon as possible.
  • The application requires a minimum of 3 recommendations.
  • If a recommender is unable to submit their letter via the online application, please let us know. We can accept email letters directly from professors. 
  • For emailed letters from professors, the applicant must also send us a note saying they waive the right to see the recommendation.
  • Please check the grad admissions website for the latest updates about required tests: 
  • https://gradadmissions.stanford.edu/applying/starting-your-application/required-exams
  • Grad admissions requires the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) for most applicants whose first language is not English. This includes US citizens as well as international students.
  • Applicants who have received a Bachelors or higher degree from a U.S. school are usually exempted from the TOEFL.
  • For test criteria, please see the international section of the  Grad Admissions  webpage.  TEST INFORMATION

GRE scores will not be required by Philosophy in the 2023-2024 admission round.

  • The GRE general test has been required in the past for Philosophy applications.  If submitting them, GRE scores must be from within the last 5 years.

Check the status of your application (e.g., letters of recommendation received, official ETS scores, etc.,) by logging into your application account Activity Log.

Knight-Hennessy Scholars cultivates and supports a highly-engaged, multidisciplinary and multicultural community of graduate students from across Stanford University, and delivers a diverse collection of educational experiences, preparing graduates to address complex challenges facing the world. Each year, Knight-Hennessy Scholars selects up to 100 students who are newly enrolling in a graduate degree program in any of Stanford’s seven schools. Knight-Hennessy Scholars participate in an experiential leadership development program and receive funding for up to three years of graduate study at Stanford. Candidates of any country may apply. Candidates must submit two applications to be considered; one to Knight-Hennessy Scholars by early October and one to the graduate degree program by its deadline. Visit  https://knight-hennessy.stanford.edu/  to learn more. 

  • Apply at  https://knight-hennessy.stanford.edu/
  • The KH application deadline is October 11, 2023, 1:00pm Pacific Time.
  • For more information on the Knight-Hennessy Scholars please see:  https://knight-hennessy.stanford.edu/
  • Applicants also need to apply separately to the department where they wish to study. 
  • The deadline for the application to the Philosophy department for consideration for the KH program is December 1, 2023.

Please do not mail paper transcripts at this time. We will request official transcripts at a later stage.

PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT Building 90 450 Jane Stanford Way STANFORD, CA 94305-2155 USA

  • Email:  philosophy [at] stanford.edu (philosophy[at]stanford[dot]edu)  
  • Phone to list for mailing address if needed: (650) 723-2547 (for fastest response, please email)
  • For problems with the application website , please check the online help in the website.

For application fee waivers, apply through:

  • Application Fee Waivers

For exam waivers, or general questons, please contact the Central University Grad Admissions office:

  • https://gradadmissions.stanford.edu/about#contact

For other questions, please contact the  Philosophy Graduate Administrator 

  • Email:  philosophy [at] stanford.edu (philosophy[at]stanford[dot]edu)
  • Phone: (650) 723-2548 (for fastest response, please email)

For a helpful  guide on getting into grad school  from the School of Humanities and Sciences, please check:

  • https://humsci.stanford.edu/prospective-students/guide-getting-grad-school

The Department of Philosophy welcomes graduate applications from individuals with a broad range of life experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds who would contribute to our community of scholars. Review of applications is holistic and individualized, considering each applicant’s academic record and accomplishments, letters of recommendation, and admissions essays in order to understand how an applicant’s life experiences have shaped their past and potential contributions to their field.

The Philosophy Department recognizes that the Supreme Court issued a ruling in June 2023 about the consideration of certain types of demographic information as part of an admission review. All applications submitted during upcoming application cycles will be reviewed in conformance with that decision.

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Program Overview

The Department of Philosophy offers programs covering a wide range of fields in philosophy. The department’s graduate program is primarily a PhD program. In addition to the standard PhD in Philosophy, the department offers a PhD in Classical Philosophy in collaboration with the Department of the Classics, a PhD in Indian Philosophy in collaboration with the Department of South Asian Studies, and a joint JD/PhD program in conjunction with the Harvard Law School. Below you will find a list of the requirements for each program. The department does not admit applicants who wish to study only for the master’s (AM) degree. The AM may be taken as a step toward the PhD after a minimum of two terms in residence.

PhD in Philosophy

Graduate advising.

The department’s arrangement for advising students is structured to correspond to four stages of a student’s progress toward the PhD. These stages include the first year, the second-year paper, reading and research toward a dissertation topic, and work on the dissertation.

  • The director of graduate studies is assigned as an advisor to all first-year students and continues to meet with all students at the beginning of each term and sign their study cards throughout their time in the program. Their advising role is particularly important during the coursework stage (generally through the second year), because they have principal responsibility for monitoring the student’s progress toward fulfilling the general requirements for the degree: the preliminary requirement, and the distribution requirement. In addition, each first-year student is assigned an informal faculty advisor.
  • At the end of the first year, students should arrange with a member of the faculty to supervise the student’s second-year paper. That faculty member will be the student’s advisor during the second year. If necessary, the director of graduate studies is available to assist a student in finding a suitable faculty member.
  • At the beginning of the third year, after the second year paper is completed, a student arranges for a faculty member to be their advisor during the process of exploring areas for a possible dissertation and formulating a topic and a prospectus. This advisor may be the same person as the second-year paper advisor but need not be. Normally, a student will continue with this advisor until the topical examination, but change is possible by arrangement among the parties involved.
  • When a prospectus is well along, the student should discuss the formation of a dissertation committee with the advisor, the director of graduate studies, and possible committee members.  Normally, this committee has three members, two of whom must be Harvard faculty as members; however, the committee may consist of only two members at the time of the topical examination.  Committees may have a fourth member, who may be, with permission of the DGS, a faculty member in another Harvard department or at another institution. This committee conducts the topical examination and, after a successful topical, will continue supervising the student’s work on the dissertation. Normally it conducts the dissertation defense when the dissertation is completed.
  • During work on the dissertation, change is possible by arrangement with the parties involved and with the approval of the director of graduate studies. At this stage, one member of the committee will be designated as the student’s advisor. The significance of this will vary as the supervision of dissertations is more collective in philosophy, for example, than in many other fields. In some cases, the advisor will be the principal supervisor, in others the role of the committee members will be close to equal and the choice of one advisor is a matter of convenience.

Preliminary Requirement

Candidates must pass at least twelve approved philosophy courses or seminars. The norm is that these course are completed during the first four terms in the department. Courses numbered 301 or above do not count toward this preliminary requirement, save that the two required terms of Philosophy 300, the First Year Colloquium, may be counted as two of the twelve. Independent Studies (Philosophy 305) may also be used to satisfy distribution requirements but not the preliminary requirement with the prior approval of the DGS. For a letter-graded course philosophy course to be considered satisfactory, the candidate’s grade in the course must be B or higher.  The average grade for all letter-graded philosophy courses taken during the candidate’s time in the program must be at least B+.

Courses taken to meet the preliminary requirement must be approved in advance by the department’s director of graduate studies. Students must take and complete Philosophy 300a plus two letter-graded courses or seminars during their first term and Philosophy 300b plus three letter-graded courses or seminars more in their second term, thus completing five letter-graded courses during the first two terms of residence.

These courses, like the rest of the twelve, should be among those designated “For Undergraduates and Graduates” or “Primarily for Graduates” in the course catalogue. At least ten of the courses must be taught by members of the Department of Philosophy (including visiting and emeritus members). This requirement can be modified for students specializing in Classical or Indian Philosophy.

All graduate students must complete two semesters of the Pedagogy seminar, Philosophy 315hf. Normally this is done during a student's third year in the program, when students begin functioning as teaching fellows. Exceptions to taking 315hf in the third year must be approved in advance by the DGS.

Students who have done graduate work elsewhere may petition the DGS to obtain credit for up to three courses, which may be counted toward the preliminary requirement. If they are in philosophy (as would normally be the case), such courses will be regarded as equivalent to those taught by members of the department.

Distribution Requirement

This requirement, intended to ensure a broad background in philosophy, is met by completing eight distribution units of work, normally before the beginning of the fourth year of graduate study. A distribution unit may be fulfilled (i) by completing an approved course or seminar (which may also be counted toward the preliminary requirement), or (ii) by writing a paper under the guidance of a faculty member, with the approval of the director of graduate studies. In the latter case the work does not count toward the preliminary requirement.

The units are to be distributed as follows:

  • Contemporary Theoretical Philosophy: Three units in core areas of twentieth- and twenty-first century metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and the like.
  • Practical Philosophy: Two units in contemporary or historical ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics, and the like.
  • History of Philosophy: The distribution requirement in history is intended to assure that students have knowledge of the philosophical tradition out of which contemporary Anglo-American philosophy has grown, as well as an ability to work though texts whose philosophical presuppositions are different enough from those of contemporary Anglo-American philosophy that careful historical and philosophical analysis is required to bring them to light.

Three sorts of courses satisfy the requirement:   A. Courses in ancient Greek, Roman, or medieval philosophy.   B. Courses in early modern European philosophy up to and including Kant.   C. Courses on the foundations of philosophical traditions other than contemporary Anglo-American philosophy. These might include courses on traditional South Asian or East Asian philosophy, 19th century Continental European philosophy, early 20th century work of Heidegger, and so on.   A student must take three history courses to satisfy the requirement; at most one of these may be in practical philosophy. Save in the most exceptional circumstances (and with the approval of the DGS), at least one of these courses must be of category A and at least one must be of category B. Students should verify (with the DGS) in advance of taking a course to satisfy the requirement that the course will in fact satisfy it.

The First-Year Colloquium (Philosophy 300a and 300b) may not be used to fulfill any part of the distribution requirement. Philosophy 299hf, the second-year paper, may be used to fulfill a distribution requirement.

Logic Requirement

Candidates for the Ph.D. are expected to have mastered the fundamentals of logic and to have an understanding of the elements of logic’s metatheory. Normally, this requirement is satisfied by successfully completing one of the Department’s 100-level courses in logic: 140 (Introduction to Mathematical Logic), 144 (Logic and Philosophy), or 145 (Modal Logic). It can also be satisfied by taking an appropriate mathematics course (for example, Mathematics 143, 144a, or 145b). The requirement may also be satisfied by an examination set by the DGS in consultation with appropriate Department members or by serving as a TF in a Department logic course.

Second-Year Paper

Students are required at the end of their second year in residence to submit a paper whose length is between 7,500 and 12,000 words including footnotes.

The expectation is not that the second-year paper should constitute a kind of Master’s Thesis; a better model is that of a journal article: i.e., an essay that sets out a focused philosophical problem, articulates its significance, and makes a significant contribution rather than a mere intervention. Given this goal, the second-year paper may under no circumstances be over 12,000 words, and generally will be significantly shorter. Students must annotate the paper with an accurate word count.

By the end of the first year, students need to have a faculty advisor who will supervise the second year paper. Together the advisor and advisee will write a plan of study for the summer and the first term of the second year, and submit it to the DGS. This plan of study will specify a schedule for submitting work and receiving feedback, and will also specify a benchmark to be met before the beginning of the second semester.

A preliminary draft of the second-year paper is to be submitted by the end of the spring vacation of the second semester, and a final draft is due by June 1st. Under extraordinary circumstances and with the written approval of both advisor and the DGS, the final version of the paper may be submitted after June 1st, but no later than August 1st.

Once the second-year paper is submitted to the advisor, the advisor forwards the paper to the DGS, who selects a faculty member to act as the paper’s reader. The author, advisor, and reader meet in a timely manner to discuss the paper, after which the examiner in consultation with the advisor awards the paper a grade. This grade will be recorded as the student’s grade for their two semesters of 299hf.

Normally, a student is not allowed to participate in a dissertation workshop until they have submitted their second-year paper.

The Third Year

In a successful third year, graduate students do two things: they acquire pedagogical skills and confidence as teachers; they make enough progress on isolating a dissertation topic that they are able, at the end of that year or by the end of the first term of the fourth year, to write a prospectus and have a successful topical exam.

Normally, at the end of a student's second year, the student's 2YP advisor and the DGS consult and then assign a pre-prospective advisor to the student. The pre-prospectus advisor need not, and often will not, be someone who specializes in the area in which a student expects to write a dissertation. Rather, the advisor is someone with whom the student is comfortable discussing philosophy and who can advise about directions of research. In many cases the pre-prospectus advisor may be the 2YP advisor, since the student has formed a working relationship with that faculty member.

The student and pre-prospectus advisor should meet before the end of spring exams. The meeting's purpose is to discuss the student's general area(s) of interest for a dissertation and, if the student is ready, to devise a tentative list of articles or books which the student will read and reflect on over the next twelve months.

G3s meet with their pre-prospectus advisor in the first days of the fall term. The aim of this meeting is to give the student a manageable set of concrete tasks to complete toward settling on a prospectus topic. In this meeting, advisor and student should decide on: a collection of at least six articles or book chapters to discuss at meetings; a schedule for meetings during the fall (the norm being a meeting roughly every two weeks); the written work the student commits to doing in advance of each meeting. This work need not be elaborate --it might, for example, be a few pages of critical summary and discussion of the reading for the meeting.

Until a successful defense of a prospectus, students register of that section of Philosophy 333 associated with their pre-prospectus advisor.

The norm is that in the fall term of year 3 students do research in the area in which they expect to write so that they can fashion a fairly specific topic for the prospectus; spring term is then devoted to writing a prospectus. Students normally aim at having a prospectus and a topical before the beginning of classes in the fourth year; the expectation is that students have done a topical by the end of the first term of their fourth year.

Students who have completed their second year paper are required to enroll each term in one of the two dissertation workshops, Philosophy 311, Workshop in Moral and Political Philosophy or Philosophy 312, Workshop in Metaphysics and Epistemology. In an academic year in which a student is actively seeking post Ph.D. employment, they are not required to enroll in a workshop.

This a requirement for the Ph.D.; it is only in unusual personal circumstances that students may fail to enroll in a workshop. Permission not to enroll in a Workshop must be granted by the director of graduate studies. G3s are not required to present more than once a year in a workshop, and it is understood that their presentations may consist of such things as (constrained) literature reviews, overviews of the particular area in a sub-discipline, or drafts or presentations of a prospectus.

Prospectus and Topical Examination

When the prospectus is complete, a candidate must pass an oral topical examination on the prospectus. The examining committee consists of at least two Philosophy Department faculty members. If the topical examination is not passed, it must be taken again and passed by the beginning of the winter recess in the year immediately following. Normally students have a successful topical by the end of their fourth year in the program.

Requirements for a prospectus are set by a student's dissertation committee and may vary with committee membership. That said, in many cases a good default model for a prospectus will simply be a list of clear, straightforward answers to the following five questions: (1) What question(s) do you intend your dissertation to answer? (2) Why do you consider these questions to be important? (3) What is a good summary of what you consider to be the most important contributions to these questions in the literature? (4) Why, in your view, do these contributions leave more work to be done? (5) What is your tentative plan of attack (including a list of sources you anticipate using)? Think of your answers to these questions as building a case for why your dissertation project needs to be done , along with a sketch of how you in particular plan to do it. Finally, limit yourself to about 5000 words.

Although called an examination, a topical (which is approximately ninety minutes in length) is in fact a conference on the dissertation topic, not an occasion on which the candidate is expected to produce a complete outline of arguments and conclusions. The conference is intended to determine the acceptability of the topic on which the candidate wishes to write a dissertation, the candidate’s fitness to undertake such a dissertation, and the candidate’s command of relevant issues in related areas of philosophy. A dissertation on the proposed topic may be submitted only if the topical examination is passed.

Application to take the topical examination must be made to the director of graduate studies at least two weeks in advance. At the same time, the candidate must submit copies of a dissertation prospectus to the director of graduate studies and members of the student’s prospective committee.

Financial Support, Travel and Research Funding, and Teaching

Beyond tuition remission, Ph.D. students receive the following financial support from the Graduate School.

· A stipend for their first two years. During this period, students do not teach.

· Financial support via guaranteed teaching in the third and fourth year . During this period, students are hired as teaching fellows; the normal workload for a teaching fellow is two sections a term.

· A dissertation completion fellowship. This includes a full stipend for one academic year.

In addition, various university fellowships (for example: Term Time and Merit Fellowships, Fellowships at the Safra Center) are available on a competitive basis.

The Department also grants each Philosophy graduate student one academic term of stipend support through Philosophy Department Fellowships and also a total of $5500 in fellowships for professional development. For details see: Funding | Department of Philosophy (harvard.edu)

Dissertation and Dissertation Defense

Once the topical exam is passed, the examining committee (which must consist of at least two faculty members of the Philosophy Department) normally becomes the dissertation advisory committee.  One member of the committee is the dissertation’s primary advisor (aka, the dissertation director).  It is expected that a student will have a committee of at least three members within a few months of the defense; the committee must have three members at the time of the defense.  It is possible, with the approval of the primary advisor and the DGS, to add a faculty member from another institution.  Normally a dissertation committee has no more than four members; larger committees must be approved by primary advisor and the DGS.

The primary advisor has primary responsibility for supervision for the dissertation.  The norm is that the student and the dissertation committee set out in advance how often students will meet with and receive feedback from advisors.  The expectation is that the committee and the student will meet as a body once a term to discuss progress on the dissertation.

At least three months before a final defense of the dissertation can be scheduled, the candidate must submit a draft of the dissertation or at least a substantial part of it to the committee.  Until this is done, a defense of the dissertation cannot be scheduled.  Assuming the committee approves scheduling a defense, the candidate completes a draft and circulates it to the committee. While it is a matter for the committee and the candidate to decide, the expectation is that the complete draft of the dissertation which will be defended will be circulated to the committee at least three weeks before the date of the defense . 

Dissertation defenses are public, and may be attended both by department members and other interested parties.  They are normally two hours in length, and normally begin with a brief summary by the candidate of what the candidate has accomplished in the dissertation, followed by a conversation between the candidate and the committee.  The purpose of this conversation is not so much to test the range and detail of the candidate’s knowledge as to judge the candidate’s skill in presenting and discussing matters considered in the dissertation as well as the candidate’s ability to meet friendly but searching criticism.

PhD in Classical Philosophy

The departments of the Classics and Philosophy collaborate in an interdisciplinary PhD program in Classical Philosophy for students registered in either department. Candidates whose major field is philosophy are expected to take the Proseminar for graduate students in the classics, as well as attend seminars or other courses in classics relevant to their interests. With the approval of the director of graduate studies, students in the Classical Philosophy program may be permitted to count an appropriate course in ancient philosophy toward the distribution requirement in metaphysics and epistemology and one (in addition to the one already required) toward the requirement in history of philosophy.

Language requirements:

Candidates who plan to write a dissertation in Classical Philosophy are expected to have learned at least one of the classical languages (Greek or Latin) before they are admitted. Depending upon the level of fluency they have reached before entering the program, they may be asked to take additional language or reading courses. If they have not previously studied the second language, they will be required to reach the level of one year of college coursework. This can be done either by taking courses or by passing a language examination. In addition, candidates will be expected to have acquired a reading knowledge of German sufficient for reading scholarly literature and to pass a departmental examination on a suitably chosen text. The rules and procedures for the dissertation will, in general, be those established for candidates in philosophy.

PhD in Indian Philosophy

The departments of Philosophy and South Asian Studies collaborate in an interdisciplinary PhD program in Indian Philosophy for students registered in either department. Candidates whose major field is Philosophy are expected to take advanced language courses in South Asian studies and pass AM qualifying examinations. Candidates whose major field is South Asian studies are expected to fulfill the requirements of students in Philosophy, including distribution and logic requirements. With the approval of the director of graduate studies, students in Indian Philosophy may be permitted to count appropriate course in advanced Sanskrit or Tibetan toward the distribution requirement in metaphysics or epistemology and one toward the requirement in history of philosophy.

Language Requirements:

Candidates who plan to write a dissertation in Indian Philosophy are expected to have learned at least one of the relevant classical languages (Sanskrit or Tibetan) before they are admitted to the program. Depending upon the level of fluency they have reached before entering the program, they may be asked to take additional language or reading courses. In addition, candidates will be expected to satisfy the specific language requirements of their home department. The rules and procedures for the dissertation will, in general, be those established for candidates in Philosophy.

For more information please see the PhD in Indian Philosophy section .

JD/PhD in Philosophy and Law

A coordinated JD/PhD in Philosophy and Law is available. Students wishing to obtain the coordinated degrees must be admitted separately to both programs. Students admitted for the coordinated degrees must begin either with the first full year of law school or the first two years of philosophy; after that they may alternate terms as they choose. The program in Law may be completed in five terms. The requirements for philosophy are the same as for regular philosophy graduate students. For more information please see the JD/PhD Coordinated Program section .

The Master of Arts (AM) in Philosophy

The Department does not admit students for degrees other than the PhD. Students who have been admitted for the PhD and who have completed all course requirements for the degree may apply to be awarded an AM in Philosophy.

Harvard PhD students from programs (such as African and African-American Studies) which require PhD students to take courses required for an AM in another program are not required to take the first year colloquium required of Philosophy PhDs. (Students from these programs who wish to the take the colloquium must consult with the DGS.) Students from these programs who have completed 10 philosophy courses which satisfy the course requirements for a PhD and who have satisfied the distribution requirements for the PhD may apply to be awarded an AM in Philosophy.

A student who is pursuing an ad hoc degree administered in part by the Philosophy Department may petition to receive a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy. To receive this degree the student must have taken a total of 10 courses in Philosophy at the level of 100 or higher. At least two of these courses must satisfy the graduate distribution requirement in metaphysics and epistemology, two must satisfy the practical philosophy distribution requirement, two the history distribution requirement, and one must be a logic course. All must be passed with a grade of B or better. Students may receive this degree only when the Department has voted to support their petition.

Secondary Field in Philosophy

Much work in philosophy speaks directly to one or more disciplines which have Harvard PhD programs --literature, physics, statistics, science, mathematics, linguistics, and economics, to name a few. A secondary field in Philosophy gives students from other disciplines an opportunity to step back and look at the big picture in their discipline, putting students from discipline X in a position to do "philosophy of X" as part of doing X, thereby helping them both to understand their field more deeply and to open a path to developing it in innovative ways.

Graduate students may apply to the Philosophy Department to do a secondary field after their first term as a graduate student at Harvard. Secondary field students normally begin the secondary field in the second or third semester at Harvard, normally taking one or two courses a semester until they have completed the secondary field requirements.

Applicants should contact the Philosophy DGS before applying to do a secondary field in Philosophy. Applications must include: a brief statement explaining what the applicant hopes to achieve with the secondary field, including a brief summary of the applicant's background in philosophy; a copy of the undergraduate transcript (this can be a copy sent from the student's home department at Harvard) and a brief letter from a Harvard faculty member of the student's home department discussing how a secondary field in philosophy would contribute to the student's work in the home department.

To complete a secondary field in philosophy, a student completes four courses in philosophy at the 100 level or higher with a grade of B+ or better. One course must be in the area of one of the Department's PhD distribution requirements: moral and political philosophy; metaphysics and epistemology; logic; history of philosophy. A second course must be in another of these areas. At least one course must be a graduate seminar. In principle, an independent study with a member of the Department may be used to complete the secondary field. A capstone project is not required. Courses are counted towards satisfying the secondary field requirements only when approved to do so by the Philosophy DGS.

A student completing a secondary field in philosophy is assigned an advisor from the Philosophy Department, normally the DGS.

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Ph.D. Requirements

I. course and distribution requirements.

Candidates for the Ph.D. in Philosophy are required to take thirteen graduate courses. These thirteen courses must be completed by the end of the term in which the Preliminary Examination is taken. Ten of the courses must be scheduled courses offered or cross-listed by the Philosophy Department. The remaining three may include independent studies, courses in other departments, and courses at other institutions participating in the Greater Philadelphia Philosophy Consortium (with the approval of the Graduate Chair). In addition to these thirteen courses, all students must complete four semesters of Phil 998, Teaching Practicum (which carries 1/2 course unit credit). Further, all students must register for the Dissertation Workshop (Phil 700) during the year in which the Preliminary Examination is taken, for one course unit of credit. Students wishing to take more than thirteen regular courses (e.g., so as to take additional courses in other departments, take additional philosophy courses) may do so with the approval of the Graduate Chair, and within the limits of their fellowship packages.

The scheduled courses in the Philosophy Department must be chosen so as to satisfy the following additional requirements:

  • Logic Requirement : Students must demonstrate competence in formal logic. This can be accomplished only by passing the departmental logic examination administered upon entrance to the program (ordinarily the day preceding the commencement of classes in the Fall Semester) or by completing 505, 506, or any more advanced logic course approved by the Graduate Chair. This requirement must be completed during the first year of residence.
  • Three courses in the history of philosophy, one treating one or more of the major figures in ancient philosophy and one treating one or more of the major figures of early modern philosophy through Kant (including but not limited to Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant). The third history course may touch on any historical period.
  • Two courses in value theory (e.g., moral philosophy, political philosophy, aesthetics), at least one of which must be in contemporary value theory;
  • Two courses in contemporary analytic epistemology and metaphysics, including philosophy of science, philosophy of mind and philosophy of language.

A student may not use one course to satisfy two different distribution requirements. Students must confirm which courses satisfy which distribution requirements with the Graduate Chair. The distribution requirements must be satisfied by the end of the student's fourth term of residence. Any petition for extension of this deadline must be submitted before the end of the fourth term.

Petitions for any other variations in the course and distribution requirements can be considered only after the completion of the first year of residence.

No course with a grade lower than B- will be counted toward the thirteen course requirement. A 3.0 gpa is the minimum required, and usually will not be sufficient for advancement toward a degree.

A total of twenty graduate course units (c.u.s) is required for the doctoral degree. The requirement of thirteen courses, plus four semesters of 998, plus Phil 700 accounts for eighteen course units. The additional two course units may be used for additional course work, or taken as Independent Studies (999) during the Third Year. By rule of the Graduate Council, a minimum of twelve of the twenty required course units must be completed at the University of Pennsylvania. PPE 475 (PPE Undergraduate Capstone Seminar) does not count as a graduate course unless it is cross-listed as a PHIL course.

A student who transfers into the Ph.D. program must take at least eight regularly scheduled graduate courses in the Philosophy Department. No decision either as to how much credit to grant a student for work elsewhere or as to what distribution requirements such work satisfies will be made until the student has been in residence for two terms and has completed PHIL 600 (if offered) and five (or six) other courses. Transfer credits that result in course load reduction and hence the expected duration of a student's program will be accompanied by corresponding reduction in the student's units of funding.  

II. Advising and Records

In their first six semesters of residence, students must consult with the Graduate Chair concerning course selection each term. Permission of the Graduate Chair is required to enroll in 699. Students are encouraged also to consult faculty in their prospective fields concerning the body of course work needed to prepare them for specialized study. Only the Graduate Chair may approve final course selection and certify fulfillment of the distribution requirement . Further, only the Graduate Chair may interpret deadlines for the satisfaction of subsequent requirements, extending into the dissertation stage. Individual faculty members, including the student's supervisor, cannot excuse students from deadlines for completing work that are established by the Graduate Group and conveyed by the Graduate Chair.

The Graduate Coordinator in Philosophy maintains graduate records and keeps copies of forms and documents. Inquire at the office of the Graduate Coordinator concerning routine matters of record keeping, or to obtain needed forms.

III. The First Year

Students must enroll in 600 (Proseminar) for each of their first two terms of residence (if offered both semesters). In addition, students must take two other scheduled courses in Philosophy the first term, and a total of four courses the second term. First-year students may not enroll in 699. First-year students may not receive Incompletes and so will receive grades for each course in which they are enrolled on the basis of the work done for the course during the term. The logic requirement must be satisfied during a student's first year of residence.

IV. Additional Course Work and Incompletes

After the first year of residence, the minimum credit load for full-time students is three courses per term. In the fifth and sixth semesters, students ordinarily enroll in one course and in one unit of independent study (999) in preparation for the Preliminary Examination . The required fifteen graded courses must be completed by the end of the third year, as must the four units of 998, Teaching Practicum. Third year students are also required to enroll in Philosophy 700, Dissertation Workshop, when offered.

A student who has not completed all the assigned work for a course and wishes to receive a grade of "Incomplete" must request such a grade from the instructor. It is within the discretion of the instructor to grant or refuse such a request. In order to be eligible for funding in a given academic year, a student must have completed all "Incompletes" from previous semesters by August 15. Individual instructors are unable to offer extensions on this rule of the Graduate Group, and in cases in which an instructor allows an extension for the purposes of his or her course, this fact has no bearing on the Graduate Group's or Graduate Division's Incompletes Rules.

Students are reminded of the Graduate Division rule that no Incompletes from the Fall Semester may be carried past August 1, and no Incompletes from the Spring Semester may be carried past December 1, on pain of loss of fellowship funding. Note that for Spring courses, the Department's rule is more stringent than the Graduate Division Rule, and it will be enforced. For Fall courses, the Graduate Division's rule is more stringent. (Neither rule abrogates the other.) Incompletes become permanent after one year and cannot be counted toward graduation.

Graduate students who are not serving as teaching fellows are expected to complete all their course work on time. In order to be in good standing at the annual review of graduate student progress, which for pre-dissertation students takes place at the end of the Spring Semester (typically before all work for that semester's courses is complete) it is necessary (but not sufficient) that: (a) a student who is receiving a non-service fellowship have no Incompletes from the first semester, and be up to date with second semester work (including finishing courses whose due dates fall before the time of the review); (b) a second-year Ph.D. student who is a TF have no more than one Incomplete from the first semester; (c) a third-year Ph.D. student who is a TF have no Incompletes from the first semester. It is in each student's interest to be able to devote the summer after the second year to preparation of and initial reading in the Prelim reading list, and to devote the entire third year to current course work, preparation for the Prelim, and composition of the Dissertation Proposal, so as to be able to commence dissertation work immediately following the third year.

V. Reviews and Qualifications Evaluation

All students are reviewed annually. The Graduate Chair may initiate a special review of the work and status of any graduate student. As a result of a departmental review, a student may be put on probationary status for one or two semesters, or advised or required to leave the doctoral program.

An especially thorough evaluation of each student's capacity to complete the doctoral program is made during the fourth semester of residence. It will serve as the Qualifications Evaluation described in the Graduate Council Rules and Regulations, which students must pass to continue beyond the fourth semester. Each student will be provided with a written report of the department's assessment of his or her work and talent on the basis of the fourth-semester evaluation.

Students are reminded that deadlines for completion of work as specified in the Graduate Chair's annual review letter (including mid-year reviews) have the force of a rule. Individual instructors, including the student's supervisor, cannot excuse the student from such deadlines.

VI. Teaching Requirement and Supervision of Student Teaching

All doctoral students must complete at least four semesters of teaching. This requirement will be met by serving as a Teaching Fellow and signing up for 1/2 c.u. of 998, Teaching Practicum, during each semester in the second and third years of study (for students in the regular Ph.D. program). Dual degree students will sign up the first and second years in which they teach, whenever these may be. The 1/2 c.u. is supervised by the teacher of the course for which the student is a TF, or another assigned supervisor (for stand-alone courses). (Instructors of Phil 998 may give letter grades or an "S" grade, at their discretion.) In addition, all students preparing for an academic career are advised to teach an independent course more than once. Only students who are making good academic progress will be eligible to teach in the Summer Session or in CGS during the academic year.

In preparation for teaching, all TFs who are teaching for the first time at Penn are required to attend a teaching workshop conducted by the College of Arts and Sciences, usually held late in August. All TFs in their first and second years of teaching are required to attend the departmental Teaching Roundtable, usually held on the last day of the College workshop.

Instructors of courses in which TFs grade or teach recitation sections will supervise the grading of student work, advising the TFs about commenting on papers as well as on grading standards. The instructor will meet with the TFs on a weekly or biweekly basis to discuss matters pertaining to both pedagogy and course content, and will visit each student's section early in the semester (by the fifth week), with follow up visits as necessary. The instructor will review the results of this visitation with the TF, offering advice as needed. The Graduate Chair will oversee fulfillment of this requirement.

Each graduate student teaching an independent course will be assigned a faculty supervisor for that course (one faculty member may be assigned to all students teaching Freshman seminar-style courses that semester, or all Phil 009s). The faculty supervisor will have the following duties: discuss and approve the design of the course and syllabus with the student; discuss appropriateness of assignments; visit one or more classes, and give appropriate advice on the conduct of the classes; review final grades; and submit a written comment on the student's teaching effectiveness for the student's file. The department Chair supervises this program. The Graduate Chair will have the task of informing graduate students teaching independent courses for the first time about graduate students still in residence who have previously taught the course concerned.

Students should expect to receive their teaching evaluation forms and summaries of student comments in a timely manner. For the Fall Semester, they should receive this material by the middle of the Spring Semester. For the Spring Semester, they should receive it prior to the end of the summer. The Department Chair oversees compilation of teaching evaluation materials. Students who do not receive their evaluation forms and summaries in a timely manner should notify the Department Chair.

VII. Philosophical Community

Graduate training extends beyond courses, exams, and dissertation work. Students should begin to participate in the broader philosophical community. The colloquium series exposes students to the range of current work in philosophy, and students are expected to attend colloquia. Other local activities include participating in departmental workshops, joining reading groups, and attending Philadelphia area events.

More generally, students should join the APA, keep up with relevant journals (several of which offer special rates to student subscribers), and consider submitting papers to conferences and journals. Students should keep in mind that not all conferences are of equal value as credentials or as venues for presenting work. In general, refereed, special-topic conferences are to be recommended. Before accepting an invitation to participate in a conference, students should seek advice from their advisor. Similarly, not all journals are equally valued as venues for publication, and students should seek advice before submitting a paper for publication.

The GDAS and the Department provide limited travel subventions for giving papers at conferences (for the SAS form, inquire to the office of the Graduate Coordinator in Philosophy; for Departmental funds, inquire to the Graduate Chair). Students who are teaching or taking courses should, in general, not expect approval of applications to fund travel that requires them to miss their own courses or their recitation sections.

More advanced students are expected to mentor younger students. To this end, and in order to promote full participation in the philosophical community of the Department, Ph.D. students are required to remain in residence in the program from the time they begin the program until they complete their degrees. (Students may petition the Department for exceptions.)

VIII. Research Skills Requirement

Philosophical research often involves skills beyond those regularly taught in philosophy courses. Such skills include advanced knowledge of foreign languages and literatures, history, logic, statistics, mathematics, computers science, experimental design, social science, and natural science. As part of the Preliminary Examination, committees may require students to demonstrate a high level of competence in one of these areas as a condition for doctoral candidacy. Students are expected to consult with the Graduate Chair and their potential committee members about what skills are necessary for their intended fields of study no later than the beginning of their second year.

All students conducting research with human subjects are required to obtain training and certification for human subjects protection.

IX. The Preliminary Examination

During the third year of residence, students in the Ph.D. program must pass a Preliminary Examination in the field of their prospective dissertation. The Preliminary Examination consists of a chapter-length paper on the dissertation topic and a 10-page dissertation prospectus, and an oral defense on the written materials. The primary purpose of this examination is to demonstrate the student's readiness to write a dissertation in his/her chosen field as part of the overall evaluation of a student's philosophical ability and competence as a condition for admission to Ph.D. candidacy. Students prepare for the exam in both the Fall and Spring Semesters, and will be enrolled in two units of Phil 999. For this work, a supervisor will be assigned by the Graduate Chair in consultation with the student and with faculty members during the fourth-semester review. Two additional members of the Preliminary Examination committee will be named no later than the start of the Fall Semester. In consultation with their prospective examining Committee, students ought to have a preliminary reading list prepared by the end of their second year so as to begin preparing for the Exam in the Summer of Year 2. The examining Committee will be formally appointed in the Fall term in year 3, and the final reading list and a two page statement of the dissertation topic are to be submitted to the committee and Graduate Chair by October 1 of that semester. During the course of work in the Fall Semester, student and supervisor should discuss the prospective dissertation topic. Students should present their initial ideas for a dissertation topic at the Dissertation Workshop, usually in November or December. Using this presentation as a basis, each third-year student must submit to the Graduate Chair a five-page dissertation proposal by the beginning of the first week of classes in January. The chapter-length paper (8,000 to 10,000 words) on the dissertation topic and the 10-page prospectus are due at noon on the first Monday after Spring Break, and the scheduled oral defense is to take place later the same week. No extension on the submission of the written work may be granted. For students in the J.D.-Ph.D. program, the written work is due on the last day of classes and an oral defense is to take place soon after. After evaluating the student's performance on both the written and oral portions of the Preliminary Examination, the examining committee will recommend for or against admission to candidacy at a meeting of the Graduate Group. The Graduate Group will determine whether the student's performance in all prior work in the program as well as on the examination has demonstrated sufficient ability and potential in philosophy as well as knowledge in the chosen field to justify admission to candidacy; completion of all required course work with an average grade of B or better as well as a satisfactory performance on the Preliminary Examination are necessary but not sufficient conditions for such admission. On the basis of its evaluation, the Graduate Group may vote to admit the student to Ph.D. candidacy, require re-examination and/or further course work, or remove the student from the Ph.D. program. No student who has not completed the thirteen required course units will be admitted to candidacy; and no student who has not been admitted to candidacy prior to the commencement of the fourth year of residence will be in good standing. The Graduate Group will inform the student in writing of the results of these deliberations. 

X. Dissertation Proposal and Supervisor

After successful completion of the Preliminary Examination, students will prepare a ten-page description of their proposed dissertation project, including a tentative schedule of work for the summer and fall. This must be submitted to the prospective Dissertation Supervisor by the end of classes in the Spring Semester. It should include a concrete statement of the problems to be addressed by the dissertation and some description of the relevant philosophical literature. The Dissertation Supervisor, who must be a member of the Standing Faculty in the Graduate Group in Philosophy, will be assigned at a meeting shortly thereafter, when the student is admitted to candidacy. Student and supervisor should meet and agree on work to be completed by the beginning of the Fall Semester.

Students work closely with the supervisor, who serves as their academic advisor and primary academic mentor. At the same time, each student's progress remains subject to review by the Graduate Group, and each student must meet requirements for good progress and degree completion as determined by the Graduate Group, Graduate Division, and Graduate Council.

Students are free to change supervisors at any time with the consent of the Graduate Chair; but even in such cases the schedule of progress described below must still be satisfied.

In a case in which a student's proposed dissertation topic does not lie in the area tested in the student's Preliminary Examination, an additional Preliminary Examination shall not ordinarily be scheduled; however, the Dissertation Supervisor must be satisfied of the student's knowledge of the area of the proposed dissertation. But the Graduate Group will retain the right to impose an additional Preliminary Examination, especially (though not necessarily nor necessarily only) in cases in which exceptional delay has intervened between the original examination and the proposed presentation of the dissertation--for instance, if a student is being re-admitted to the graduate program after an absence. Students in this position should be sure to consult with the Graduate Chair before requesting the official appointment of a Dissertation Supervisor.

XI. Dissertation Committee, Progress, and Fellowship

Early in the Fall Semester following the completion of the Preliminary Examination, students and their supervisors should review progress and agree upon a schedule for further work, taking into account Graduate Group deadlines for making good progress. By a deadline well prior to the department's review meeting in early December, students must submit a draft of at least one chapter (or the equivalent) of their dissertations to their supervisor and to prospective dissertation committee members. At the time they submit this writing, students must arrange a meeting with the supervisor and prospective committee to discuss the written work in light of the ten-page dissertation proposal and their evolving plans for the dissertation. This meeting must take place prior to the review meeting in December. At that meeting, the Graduate Chair will impanel a Dissertation Committee consisting of the supervisor and at least two other members, at least one of whom must also be a member of the Graduate Group. At this meeting, the Graduate Group will determine the eligibility of students for teaching during the following summer. Students who are not making good progress will not be assigned teaching.

By a deadline well in advance of the department's review meeting in April or early May, students must submit to their committee a second substantial piece of work (another chapter or equivalent). The same requirement obtains for each semester of the fifth year. Students who receive summer support may be expected or required to submit additional chapter equivalent pieces of writing on a schedule that will be individually determined.

Satisfaction of these requirements is necessary in order to maintain good standing in the doctoral program. If students have not completed all requirements for the Ph.D. (including deposit of the dissertation) within four years from the semester in which they pass the Preliminary Examination, they must submit to their full dissertation committee (i.e. the supervisor and two readers) a copy of all written work they have completed on the dissertation. The committee members will evaluate this material and report to the whole Graduate Group, recommending that one of the following actions be taken: (a) the student is required to retake the Preliminary Examination (if the committee believes there is a question about the continued currency of the student's research, or if the committee believes the written work provides insufficient evidence of progress toward completion of an adequate doctoral dissertation); (b) other conditions are imposed on the student's dissertation research, such as the committee believes will ensure the currency and timely completion of the student's work toward the Ph.D.; (c) the student is dismissed from the program for failure to make adequate progress toward the Ph.D. For students in joint programs (such as the M.D.-Ph.D. or J.D.-Ph.D.) who do not take the Preliminary Examination in the third year of full-time study after matriculation into the doctoral program, this review shall take place if students have not completed all requirements within three years after the semester in which they pass the Preliminary Examination.

Students who wish to be nominated for an SAS Dissertation Research Fellowship, or for any non-teaching research or dissertation fellowship funded or supported by the Department, must be in good standing and must submit to the Graduate Chair, by the beginning of classes in the Spring Semester, a five-page thesis proposal in the format required for nomination for an SAS Dissertation Research Fellowship or an SAS Dissertation Completion Fellowship.

XII. Dissertation Workshop

All dissertation students must attend the Dissertation Workshop (or other forum designated by the Department) weekly and make at least one presentation per year of dissertation work in progress. This requirement continues until the student graduates.

The Dissertation Workshop may also provide a venue for discussing issues pertaining to professionalization, conference submissions, and publication. It is the usual venue for presenting practice job talks.

XIII. Preliminary Dissertation Examination and Final Dissertation Defense

When a student has achieved a substantial, continuous draft of the dissertation it shall be subject to a Preliminary Dissertation Examination by the entire committee. The Dissertation Supervisor shall determine when a student's dissertation work has reached this stage, and will notify the other committee members and the Graduate Chair. The Graduate Chair will then appoint a Departmental Representative, who will chair the examination. During the examination, the committee will discuss needed revisions or changes with the student, and each member will provide written advice regarding such revisions or changes. It is recommended that this examination have occurred in the spring or early fall prior to the student's seeking academic employment.

When the student has completed a draft of the entire thesis, it must be submitted to the dissertation committee for evaluation. When the committee receives a draft to be considered for Final Examination and Defense, it may take up to four weeks to certify to the Graduate Chair that the thesis is ready for defense (or not). Upon receipt of this certification, the Graduate Chair will appoint an additional member of the Graduate Group as the Departmental Representative at the examination (who need not be the same as the representative at the preliminary dissertation examination) and will schedule the examination. At this time the student must deposit a copy of the draft to be examined in the department lounge. At least two weeks must elapse between the appointment of the departmental representative and deposit of the draft and the occurrence of the examination. No final thesis examinations will be scheduled between the end of the Academic Year and the start of the Fall Semester.

The final oral examination, which constitutes the "dissertation examination" specified by the Graduate Council, will be chaired by the Departmental Representative. It will consist of a presentation of the contents of the dissertation, followed by an oral examination. Any member of the Graduate Group may participate in the examination, but only members of the dissertation committee and the departmental representative may vote to accept or reject the dissertation. Except when the committee is voting, the examination will be open to the public.

A majority vote of the examination committee determines whether the student passes the examination. (The result of this vote is recorded on form 150.) The dissertation itself may be accepted unconditionally or accepted subject to revision; failure may be unconditional or revision and reexamination of the dissertation may be permitted. The Dissertation Supervisor (or other member agreed upon by the examination committee) will inform the Graduate Group Chair when the Graduate Division may be notified that the dissertation is accepted, or not (forms 152 and 153). Each student is responsible for depositing the dissertation with the Graduate Division, in accordance with the requirements of the Graduate Council .

Each graduate student must apply to the Graduate Division for graduation with the Ph.D. degree at the start of the semester in which the final examination and dissertation deposit are anticipated. Students are reminded that the Graduate Division requires continuous registration through the semester of graduation.

XIV. Seeking Employment

During the course of their studies, students should be cognizant of their aspirations beyond graduation. In addition to engaging the wider philosophical community as described above, they should consider the competencies they wish to present to prospective employers, including their areas of specialization and areas of competence. They should seek to build a body of course work, prelim work, research, and teaching experience to support their claims to these competencies.

The department will normally appoint placement officers to advise students in their search for an academic position. After consulting with their supervisors, students should inform the placement officers of their intention to enter the academic job market by the end of the Spring Semester prior to their anticipated search. These officers usually will arrange mock interviews, and they may coordinate practice job talks. Students should seek advice from their supervisor and committee in preparing a dossier paper. Students should also assemble a teaching dossier.

Letters of recommendation are a key component in the employment process. Over the course of their doctoral studies, students should seek to form intellectual relationships with several faculty members. Letter writers for a job candidate will typically be drawn from, but are not limited to, the student's Prelim and Dissertation Committees. It is not unusual to have four, five, or even more letters in a placement file.

XV. Summary of the Doctoral Program

First Year: 600 (two semesters, if offered), 6 (or 5) more regular courses in philosophy, including logic unless competency demonstrated by examination.

Second Year: 2 courses each semester (plus 999 each semester for total of 3 credit units per semester). Distribution requirements in epistemology and metaphysics, value theory, and history completed by end of fourth term. Teaching. Fourth-semester review.

Third Year: 1 course plus 1 or 2 999s first and second semesters. Preparation for and attempt at Preliminary Examination, second semester; submission of SAS Dissertation Proposal and Ten-Page Dissertation Proposal; appointment of Dissertation Supervisor. Fulfillment of language requirement. Enrollment and attendance in Dissertation Workshop. Teaching.

Fourth Year: Dissertation work. Submission of one chapter-length piece of writing each semester. Appointment of Dissertation Committee. Participation in and presentation to Dissertation Workshop.

Fifth Year: Participation in and presentation to Dissertation Workshop. Submission of one chapter-length piece of writing each semester.Completion of Dissertation work.

Total Credit Requirements:

  • 505, 506, or passing logic exam
  • Two semesters of 600 if available
  • Two courses in value theory
  • Two courses in contemporary metaphysics and epistemology
  • Three courses in history (at least one Plato/Aristotle, one early modern)
  • Additional courses for a total of 13 units
  • Four semesters of 998 (1/2 c.u. each)
  • One unit (beyond the 15) of Phil 700
  • To reach the twenty required for the doctorate, 999s may be taken.

Department of Philosophy, The University of Chicago

PhD Program Requirements

The following is a general overview of Department of Philosophy PhD program requirements. If you read through this webpage and still have questions, feel free to read the complete, definitive set of requirements .

Wollstonecraft Vindication of the Rights of Women Title Page

Throughout the entirety of their time in the program, all students will have a faculty advisor who is both responsible for giving them guidance and advice and regularly reporting to the department on their progress through the program. In the week before the official start of their first year, students will attend a mandatory orientation about the formal requirements and informal expectations governing the graduate program. Entering PhD students are assigned a faculty advisor with whom they will meet to discuss their coursework options and subsequently check in with at least once a quarter for their first two years in the program to make sure they are on track and conforming reasonably to program expectations and requirements. Students may opt to change advisors with the consent of the new faculty advisor. During their third year in the program, students will enroll in the Topical Workshop where, under the supervision of the current Director of Graduate Studies, they will be advised as to how best to prepare for their Topical Examination and will begin to meet with the various faculty members who are most likely to serve on their dissertation committee. Once a student has passed their Topical Examination and has an approved dissertation project, the chair of their dissertation committee becomes their primary advisor.

Course Requirements

All first-year PhD students enroll in the two-quarter-long, faculty-led First-Year Seminar. Its purpose is threefold: (1) to lay the groundwork for a philosophical lingua franca among the members of the first-year class, (2) to foster intellectual solidarity among the members of the cohort by stimulating the regular exchange of philosophical ideas among them, and (3) to have students undertake a series of short written assignments that introduce them to philosophical writing at a graduate level.

During their first two years in the program, PhD students are required to complete a variety of graduate-level courses. Such coursework is meant to provide students with the general breadth of knowledge that will serve as the foundation upon which they will carry out the more specialized task of writing a doctoral dissertation.

Starting with students who enrolled in the PhD program in 2022-23, students must enroll in courses for one of two different kinds of credit:

  • (Q)uality Credit: To receive a Q-credit for a course, a student must complete all the requirements for the course and be awarded a quality grade (B- or higher).
  • (P)ass Credit: The requirements for receiving a P-credit for a course are established by the instructor. At a minimum, a student must register in the class and attend regularly, but they need not be required to submit a paper for the course or do all of the coursework that would be required to assign to that student a quality grade.

This separation of course credits into Q-credits and P-credits is meant to provide students with the flexibility to construct for themselves a course curriculum that allows them to both broaden their horizons by exploring a diverse array of topics that may be of only peripheral interest to them, while, at the same time, affording them adequate time to devote focused attention to those specific courses that most directly support their main lines of research.  

PhD students are required to complete 8 courses for Q-credit, all of which must come from the Department of Philosophy's course offerings. In addition, students must complete 8 courses for P-credit, up to two of which can be awarded for classes offered in other departments (this can include courses in which the student has received either a grade of P or a quality grade of B- or higher). In a typical quarter, a student will enroll in three classes and, at some point during the quarter (the timing is flexible), will choose either one or two of those classes to complete for Q-credit. 

In addition, the courses in which a student enrolls must satisfy certain area distribution requirements. In particular, students are required to take at least one course for Q-credit in each of the following four areas: (I) Contemporary Practical Philosophy; (II) Contemporary Theoretical Philosophy; (III) History of Philosophy: Ancient or Medieval Philosophy; and (IV) History of Philosophy: Modern Philosophy (up to and including the first half of the Twentieth Century). Students must also satisfy a logic requirement, usually by taking a graduate course in logic.

Paper Revision and Publication Workshop

The aim of the Paper Revision and Publication (PRP) Workshop is to provide our graduate students with support and assistance to prepare papers to submit for publication in academic philosophy journals. Preparing papers to submit to journals for review and revising papers in response to the feedback received from journal editors and referees is an essential part of professional academic life, and students applying for academic positions with no publications to their name are at a disadvantage in today’s highly competitive job market. While students are strongly encouraged to continue to seek personalized advice about publishing from their dissertation committee members, the Department of Philosophy has determined that the need exists to  provide its graduate students with more standardized programming, in the form of an annually recurring workshop, that is specifically aimed at supporting their initial efforts to publish in academic journals. The PRP Workshop was designed with the following three aims in mind: (1) to provide students with a basic understanding of the various steps involved in publishing in academic journals and to create a forum in which students can solicit concrete advice from faculty members about the publishing process; (2) to direct and actively encourage students to submit at least one paper to a journal for review on a timeline that would allow accepted submissions to be listed as publications on a student’s CV by the time they go on the academic job market; and (3) to create and foster a departmental culture in which the continued revision of work with the ultimate aim of publication in academic journals is viewed as an essential aspect of the professional training of our graduate students and in which both faculty and students work together to establish more ambitious norms for publishing while in graduate school. 

Topical Workshop

In their third year, students will take a Topical Workshop, which meets regularly in both the Autumn and Winter Quarters, and which is taught by the current Directory of Graduate Studies. In this workshop, students develop, present, and discuss materials that they plan to use in their Topical Examination, such as dissertation project overviews and preliminary chapter drafts.  The main purpose of the Topical Workshop is to help students establish expectations for what will be required for them to advance to candidacy, to advise students on issues such as the overall direction of their research and the composition of the dissertation committee, and to initiate regular conversations between students and the faculty members who are most likely to serve as their dissertation committee chair.  While preparation for the Topical Examination may continue during the Spring Quarter and, if necessary, over the summer, at the conclusion of the Topical Workshop, students should have a clear sense of the subsequent steps that must be taken in order for them to pass their Topical Examination and advance to candidacy in a timely manner.

Foreign Language Study

There is no official foreign language requirement that all PhD students must meet. Nevertheless, many students will want to acquire competence in one or more languages other than English, depending on their area of specialization. Moreover, if it is deemed necessary, a student's dissertation committee may impose upon a student a formal requirement to demonstrate linguistic competence in a foreign language. For example, a student intending to write a thesis on Ancient Greek Philosophy or Hellenistic or Roman Philosophy will likely be required to pass the University's foreign language exam in Greek or Latin, respectively. Therefore, all students should consult with their faculty advisors (or the Director of Graduate Studies) as to which linguistic competencies may be required for their planned course of study. Students are encouraged to discuss language exam procedures and protocols with their advisors.

Topical Examination

During their third year, in connection with the Topical Workshop, students will establish, with their prospective dissertation committee chair, concrete plans for the Topical Examination. Those plans will include: (1) a determination of the faculty members who will serve on the dissertation committee, (2) the expected character of the materials to be submitted by the student on which the Topical Examination will be based, and (3) the expected date of the Topical Examination. Though the details will vary (depending on the subject matter, the state of the research, etc.) and are largely left up to the discretion of the committee, the materials must include a substantial new piece (around 25 double-spaced pages) of written work by the student. This could be a draft of a chapter, an exposition of a central argument, or a detailed abstract (or outline) of the whole dissertation.

The Topical Examination is an oral examination administered by the members of a student's dissertation committee with the aim of evaluating the viability of the proposed dissertation project and the student's ability to execute that project within a reasonable amount of time and at a sufficiently high standard of quality to merit awarding them a PhD. Students will be admitted to PhD candidacy only after they have officially passed their Topical Examination. The Department's normal expectation is that students will have advanced to candidacy by the end of the third week of Winter Quarter of their fourth year.

Required Teaching

The Department of Philosophy views the development of teaching competence as an integral part of its overall PhD program. Different types of teaching opportunities gradually prepare students to teach their own classes. The department also helps train its doctoral students to become excellent teachers of philosophy through individual faculty mentorship and the year-round, discipline-specific pedagogical events offered through (1) the mandatory and optional elements of its non-credit Pedagogy Program and (2) additional events from the Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning on campus . Here is the department’s Pedagogical Training Plan .

As part of their pedagogical training, PhD students are required to teach in the University’s undergraduate program. Normally, during their time in the program, PhD students will serve six times as an instructor—usually five times as a course assistant to a faculty instructor and once as an instructor of a stand-alone “tutorial” course. They usually complete one course assistantship in their third year and two in their fourth year. Students then lead a tutorial in the fifth year. In their sixth year, they teach twice as course assistants in departmental courses. (For further details, see the department’s Pedagogical Training Plan .)

Types of Courses Taught

The first teaching opportunities for doctoral students come in the form of course assistantships. Course assistants work with a faculty instructor, generally for College courses. Specific duties vary depending on the course but usually include holding office hours, leading discussion sections, grading papers and exams, and training in pedagogical methods. The instructor responsible for the course in which a doctoral student serves as an assistant monitors the student’s teaching progress in that course and mentors that student on the art of facilitating productive philosophical discourse and encouraging student participation in the context of their discussion sections. Students will also receive further pedagogical instruction through Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning programs and departmental workshops.

Once a PhD student has gained experience as a teaching assistant, that student is permitted to lead a tutorial. These tutorials allow undergraduate philosophy majors to work intensively on a single topic or text and to improve their oral discussion skills in an intensive discussion-format setting. Each year, graduate students teach stand-alone tutorials on a topic of their choice, typically related to their own research. This affords students an excellent opportunity to hone their ability to teach material drawn from their dissertation. In these cases, the design of the syllabus of the course is developed in consultation with a member of the faculty, who monitors the student's teaching progress over the duration of the stand-alone course and offers counsel and instruction relevant to that student’s work as a solo instructor. Prior to teaching their tutorial, students take the Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning’s syllabus design course.

Building a Teaching Dossier

Over the course of a doctoral student's career, that student together with the department will gather various materials containing the syllabi of the courses that that student has taught, written reports by faculty teaching mentors on that student’s work in those courses, and, last but not least, undergraduate evaluations of those courses. When a PhD student prepares to go on the academic job market, one of that student’s faculty recommendation letters will document and survey the highlights of her teaching career at the University of Chicago.

Pedagogy Program

Dissertation and Defense

Dissertation committees.

Dissertation committees work with PhD students to conceptualize, draft, revise, and publish their dissertation work. Each committee will have at least three members: the chair, a second reader, and a third reader. Two of these members, including the chair, must be departmental faculty members. External committee members (either outside the department or outside the university) are permitted, and may either serve on the committee in addition to the three departmental committee members, or alternatively can serve in place of a departmental faculty member as the second or third reader. For joint-degree students, the requirements of the composition of their committee will be determined by both departments in which the student is enrolled and may differ from the requirements just outlined.

Dissertation committee chairs and other committee members meet regularly with students, on an individual basis, to discuss ideas or drafts of sections or chapters. In addition, the dissertation committee as a whole meets in person at least once yearly (and often more) with the student to discuss the overall argumentative structure of the thesis, chart the intellectual trajectory of the work, and set guidelines for its completion. Writing a dissertation is an arduous process, and departmental faculty provide rigorous feedback to dissertation-phase students in order to keep them on track to graduate with their PhD in a timely fashion.

Forms of Dissertations

The PhD dissertation is the last and most important piece of writing that a doctoral student completes. Historically it has typically taken the form of a sustained argument developed over a number of chapters, running roughly between 150 and 250 pages in length. A variant form which is increasingly popular in philosophy departments in the English-speaking world is the “3- or 4-paper dissertation,” consisting of several interrelated papers developing aspects of, or perspectives on, a single theme.

The overall length and form of a dissertation should be a matter of discussion between the student and their committee. Since the dissertation is a main source for the first publications that a student will produce (either before or after receiving the degree), it is advisable for the dissertation’s chapters to take the form of pieces of work that are suitable to be turned into journal articles, both conceptually and in length (bearing in mind that many journals in the field set length limits of between 8,000 and 12,000 words, with the higher limits more typical in journals in the history of philosophy). Because the dissertation is also the primary document that will establish a student’s expertise in their area of specialization, it is important that, even if a student chooses to write a 3- or 4-paper dissertation, it should be sufficiently unified to substantiate such a claim to expertise.

Dissertation Defense

Students consult with dissertation committee members months in advance about when to schedule their defense. The defense is a public event: along with committee members, other faculty and students, family members, and the general public are welcome to attend. The exam starts with students giving a short, formal presentation about their dissertation: its major claims, intellectual aims, and intervention in the field. Then committee members, faculty, and students ask questions, and a discussion ensues. At the end of the defense, committee members give the student advice about their performance at the defense, improving the project, and publication.

After the defense, students make any necessary revisions and reformat their dissertation before submitting it to the university’s dissertation office. The final granting of the PhD degree is conditional upon the completion of these revisions and the submission of the final revised version of the dissertation to the university.

Berkeley

Philosophy Ph.D. Program

Approved by Graduate Council and Graduate Division, Nov. 10, 2008. These requirements apply prospectively beginning with those admitted for Fall 2009. Students who entered the program under the old requirements may choose either to continue under that regime or to adopt the requirements below.

The Ph.D. program is designed to provide students with a broad knowledge of the field of philosophy, while giving them opportunities to work intensively on the issues that interest them the most. During the first stage of their graduate education, students meet the Department's course distribution requirements and prepare to take the qualifying examination. This examination assesses the student's strengths in areas chosen by the student in consultation with supervising faculty. After passing the exam, students advance to candidacy and begin writing the Ph.D. thesis. A detailed explanation of the requirements for the Ph.D. in Philosophy follows.

Before Advancing to Candidacy

During the first stage of the program, students are expected to acquire a broad background in philosophy and develop their philosophical abilities by fulfilling the following requirements:

First Year Seminar

A one-semester seminar for first-year graduate students only, conducted by two faculty members, on some central area of philosophy.

Logic Requirement

The Logic Requirement has two components:

  • Completion of Philosophy 12A or its equivalent, with a grade of B+ or better.
  • Completion of 140A or 140B with a grade of B+ or better. Courses with a comparable formal component including, in most cases, courses in the 140 series may satisfy this requirement, with the approval of the Graduate Advisor.

Both parts of the requirement may be fulfilled by successful completion of equivalent logic courses before arriving at Berkeley. Whether taken at Berkeley or elsewhere, courses taken in fulfillment of the logic requirement do not count towards the eight-course distribution requirement.

Course Distribution Requirement

Before taking the Qualifying Exam the student must complete eight courses at the 100- or 200-level completed with a grade of A- or higher. At least four of the eight courses must be graduate seminars. The eight courses must satisfy the following distribution requirements:

Two of the eight courses must be in the history of philosophy: one in ancient philosophy and one in modern philosophy. The courses may be on any individual philosopher or group of philosophers drawn from the following lists:

  • Ancient: Plato, Aristotle
  • Modern: Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Spinoza, Leibniz, Kant, Hegel

Four of the eight courses must be in the following areas, with at least one course from each area:

  • Area 1: Philosophical logic, philosophy of language, philosophy of science, and philosophy of mathematics.
  • Area 2: Metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of action
  • Area 3: Ethics, political, social and legal philosophy, and aesthetics

A seventh course may be any Philosophy course in the 100 or 200 series except for 100, 195-199, 200, 250, 251 and 299.

An eighth course may be either any Philosophy course as specified above or a course from another Department which has been approved by the Graduate Advisor.

In exceptional cases, students may, at the discretion of the Graduate Advisor, meet one distribution requirement by presenting work done as a graduate student elsewhere: typically a graduate thesis or work done in a graduate-level course. Meeting a distribution requirement in this way will not count as meeting any part of the four-seminar requirement.

Language Requirement

Revised requirement approved April 4, 2022 by Graduate Council, for all graduate students who have not already passed the foreign language requirement.

Before taking the Qualifying Examination, the candidate must pass a departmental examination in a foreign language requiring the translation of 300 words in 90 minutes with the use of a dictionary. The language can be any foreign language containing a significant philosophical literature, provided that a faculty member qualified to administer the examination is available. An examination in an approved language may be waived upon approval of the Graduate Division if native ability in the language can be demonstrated through secondary school or university transcripts. A course sequence of four semesters (or six quarters), whether taken at UC or elsewhere, will be accepted in lieu of the language examination if the sequence was completed within four years of admission to Berkeley and the student earned an average grade of C or better.

The Qualifying Examination

Students should aim to take the qualifying examination by the end of the fifth enrolled semester and they must take it by the end of the sixth enrolled semester.

In order to take the examination the student must have fulfilled the department's course requirements and must have passed the language requirement.

The qualifying examination is administered by a committee of three faculty members from the department and one faculty member of another department. The members of this committee are nominated to the Graduate Division by the Graduate Advisor in consultation with the candidate.

Soon after assembling an examination committee, the candidate should, in consultation with this committee, write a 300-word description and compile a list of readings for each of three proposed topics for examination. Each topic should be centered on a major philosophical problem or question. Together the topics should reflect a balance of breadth and depth, and the Graduate Advisor must approve that they meet these criteria.

A week before the qualifying examination, the candidate should submit an overview essay of 1500-3000 words for each topic, which expands on the initial description. The essay should aim to lay out the central problem or question, to explain its importance, and to evaluate critically the attempts to resolve or answer it, with an eye to forming a view within, or about, the debate.

The qualifying examination itself will be a three-hour oral exam administered by the committee. The candidate's essays are meant to serve as a springboard for discussion in the exam. The purpose of the examination is to test the student's general mastery of philosophy. Students are expected to draw on the information, skills and understanding acquired in their graduate study and to demonstrate sufficient breadth and depth of philosophical comprehension and ability to provide a basis for proceeding toward a Ph.D.

If a student fails the qualifying examination, the examining committee may or may not recommend that a second examination be administered by the same committee. The second examination must be administered no sooner than three months and no later than six months following the first attempt. Failure on the second attempt will result in the student being automatically dismissed from the graduate program. (See Section F2.7 of the Guide to Graduate Policy .)

Students should advance to candidacy as soon as possible and they must do so no later than a year after passing the qualifying examination or the end of their sixth semester in the program, whichever comes first, to maintain satisfactory progress in the program. (An exception to the above policy will be made for those students who, having failed the qualifying exam in their sixth semester, may be granted the possibility to take it a second time in their seventh semester. In the case of a successful retake, the student must advance to candidacy by the end of the seventh semester.)

Before advancement to candidacy the student must constitute a dissertation committee consisting of two faculty members from the department and an outside faculty member from another department.

Prospectus Stage

In the semester after passing the qualifying examination the student must take two individual study courses of 4 units each with the two inside members of his or her dissertation committee for the purpose of preparing a dissertation prospectus.

The dissertation prospectus should be submitted both to the inside members of the committee and to the Graduate Advisor by the end of that semester. It should consist of about fifteen pages and outline plans for the dissertation. Alternatively, the prospectus may consist of parts of a possible chapter of the dissertation together with a short sketch of the dissertation project.

Following submission of the prospectus, the candidate will meet with the inside members of the committee for an informal discussion of the candidate's proposed research.

The Doctoral Completion Fellowship

The Doctoral Completion Fellowship (DCF) is a one-year fellowship available to graduate students who have advanced to candidacy and meet several additional conditions. Students are advised to review the eligibility requirements for the DCF .

Additional Requirements

Each student for the Ph.D. degree is expected to serve as a graduate student instructor for at least two semesters.

Dissertation seminar

Students in the first two years after declaring candidacy must register for the dissertation seminar (Philosophy 295) for at least one semester each year, during which they must present a piece of work in progress, and are expected to attend the seminar all year. (The seminar meets every other week.) All students working on dissertations are encouraged to attend the seminar.

Annual Meetings

At the end of each academic year, there will be a meeting of the student and both co-chairs of his or her dissertation committee to discuss the student’s progress over the year and his or her plans for the following year.

Philosophy | Home

Ph.D. Requirements

To earn your doctoral degree in philosophy, you must complete all course requirements, a qualifying examination paper, comprehensive examination, and successfully defend your dissertation. This page offers a summary of the Ph.D. requirements. See the full graduate handbook for greater detail.

Course Requirements

You must complete 63 units including:

  • 36 units in your major field (philosophy)
  • At least nine units in your minor field (either philosophy or an outside minor). For the philosophy minor, nine units are required. For other fields, the number of units is determined by that program.
  • 18 units of dissertation credit

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Distribution

You should complete two graduate-level courses with a grade of B or better in two of the following areas, and at least one graduate-level course in each of the remaining areas:

  • Metaphysics and Epistemology (broadly construed)
  • History of Philosophy: if taking two courses, complete one course in Ancient Philosophy and one course in Modern Philosophy (normally a course covering one or more figures from Descartes to Kant)
  • Ethics and Value Theory (including aesthetics, social, political, and legal philosophy)
  • Logic, Language, and Science  

Formal Requirement

Complete one course in an area (e.g., mathematics or Greek) that will aid in your research.

Logic Competence Requirement

This requirement may be fulfilled either by taking one course in either formal or symbolic logic (which may be satisfied by an appropriate undergraduate course) or by passing a special logic examination to be given by the department. ( Note: satisfying the logic requirement will often be sufficient for satisfying the formal requirement.)

Seminar Requirements

Of the 36 units of coursework required for the major, at least 18 units (sixcourses) must be taken in seminars. If you also minor in philosophy, an additional  three units (one course) of seminar work is required. A seminar course may not be repeated more than three times.

Transfer Credits

Students transferring from other institutions may be given up to 12 units in transfer credit toward the course requirements in philosophy, at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies.

Qualifying Examination or Paper

You may choose between two ways of qualifying to take the comprehensive examination. You can either take a qualifying examination intended to demonstrate the breadth of knowledge in a primary and secondary area of specialization or by writing a substantial, original qualifying paper. You must choose between these options by the end of the third semester in the program, in consultation with an advisor among tenure-eligible departmental faculty. Your advisor will review your choice and plan to implement it.

You must inform the Graduate Coordinator of which qualifying option you have chosen by the end of your third semester, along with the names of those who will serve on your qualifying committee. You are permitted and encouraged to qualify before completing all   coursework, though all coursework must be completed before attempting the comprehensive examination.

Comprehensive Examination

To become a candidate for the doctorate, you must pass written and oral examinations in a major and minor field (minors other than philosophy are subject to the requirements of that department). The comprehensive examination is due to be attempted before the end of end of your seventh semester. You must file a Comprehensive Exam Committee Appointment in GradPath no later than the second week of your seventh semester, and ensure that all administrative formalities are completed permitting scheduling of the examination before the end of that semester.

You should assemble (in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies) a committee of four faculty members: two with expertise in the major field; two with expertise in the minor field. At least three committee members must be tenure-track faculty at the University of Arizona. You are strongly encouraged to attempt the Comprehensive Examination before your seventh semester in the program to be eligible to apply for external dissertation fellowships.

If there are two or more negative votes, you will not pass. In such a case, the committee may permit you to repeat the examination or it may determine that the examination not be repeated, with this latter decision resulting in the termination of your eligibility for the degree and your removal from the program at the end of the then-current semester.

Dissertation

After passing the comprehensive examination and finishing coursework, you should submit a Doctoral Dissertation Committee Appointment Form (in GradPath) to verify that requirements are met. Please consult the  Graduate College Dissertation Committee Page . The committee head will act as your main advisor. This committee will often, but not always, have the same members as the major comprehensive examination committee. You will usually show dissertation material to committee members as it is produced, and consult regularly with committee members on how to proceed with, and improve, the dissertation. Once you produce a complete draft, it will be submitted to committee members, often leading to a process of revision.

Traditionally, a dissertation takes the form of a monograph. Under some circumstances, while subject to the advice and approval of your dissertation committee, an acceptable dissertation can take the form of a set of at least three thematically related papers. The substance and length of the papers (combined) should be comparable to a monograph dissertation. Except in unusual cases, the qualifying paper will not count among the papers in the minimal set of three.

Once committee members deem the dissertation appropriate for examination, an oral examination (dissertation defense) will be held. The oral examination will typically start with you delivering a brief presentation, followed by questions from committee members. At the end of the examination, the committee will choose one of three options: pass, pass pending revisions, or fail.

A complete draft of the dissertation should be submitted by the ninth semester. The oral examination should take place during the tenth semester.

Timeline for Steps to Degree

Semester 1:

  • Complete Coursework (Years 1-3)

Semester 2:

  • Responsible Conduct of Research Statement (GradPath)
  • Transfer Credit Form (GradPath)
  • Doctoral Plan of Study (GradPath)

Semester 3:

  • Choose Qualifying Option: Paper or Exam and Committee members

Semester 4:

  • Qualifying Paper Option: Draft due April 15/ Final due August 1
  • Qualifying Exam Option: Written component scheduled the week before your fifth semester / Oral component scheduled as soon after the written as feasible
  • May enroll in 3-unit Independent Study with Chair of Qualifying Committee
  • Seek out potential Dissertation Committee members

Semester 5:

  • Comprehensive Exam Committee Appointment (GradPath)

Semester 6:

  • Announcement of Comprehensive Exam (GradPath)
  • Comprehensive Exam: Written component: submit dissertation prospectus and chapter/ Oral component: presentation and Q&A on the dissertation topic and breadth of knowledge

Semester 9:

  • Dissertation Committee Appointment (GradPath)

Semester 10:

  • Announcement of Final Oral Defense (GradPath)
  • Final Oral Dissertation Defense
  • Ph.D. Requirements

Our doctoral program offers considerable flexiblity; individual programs of study are developed for each student. Students may also take advantage of cooperative program to work in the Philosophy Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Our program offers research opportunities across the areas of the history of philosophy; epistemology; metaphysics; philosophy of mind; cognitive science; moral psychology; ethics; political philosophy; Chinese philosophy; philosophy of science; philosophy of biology; philosophy of social science; philosophy of law; philosophy of mathematics; and philosophical logic.

Requirements

  • 3 History of Philosophy courses , including 1 in Ancient and 1 in Modern Philosophy
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  • 2 courses, selected from Value Theory (ethics, aesthetics, political or social philosophy, and philosophy of Law), one of which must be the ethics pro-seminar
  • 1 Logic course, satisfied by passing a logic examination or taking PHIL 250 Symbolic Logic
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Satisfactory Progress toward the PhD

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The doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree signifies mastery of a broad discipline of learning together with demonstrated competence in a special field within that discipline. In addition to the common requirements below, PhD candidates must complete additional requirements specified by their program .

Academic Residence

PhD students must register full-time until receipt of the degree, for a minimum of two years. At the discretion of the program, this requirement can be reduced up to one year (eight courses: 32 credits) if academic credit is given for work done elsewhere. A department may appeal to the Office of Academic Programs to request certification of other criteria to measure the amount of progress a student has made.

English Proficiency

All incoming Harvard Griffin GSAS PhD students must demonstrate English proficiency . Those who are non-native speakers of English and have not received their undergraduate degree from an English-speaking institution will have their English proficiency screened based on either the iBT TOEFL or IELTS academic speaking score.

Tuition and Fees

PhD students must pay two years of full tuition and two years of reduced tuition unless the time from the student’s initial registration to completion of the degree is less than four years. In years five and up, students must pay the facilities fee.

General or Qualifying Examination

In most programs, students must pass a general examination or other preliminary or qualifying examinations as determined by the program before undertaking independent dissertation research. When the nature of the field and previous preparation permit, students are expected to pass these examinations by the end of the second year of full-time academic residence.

Dissertation

Many programs require that students prepare a dissertation prospectus, which must be approved by their program. Any student wishing to present a dissertation as a published article, series of articles, book or other document, or a manuscript that has been accepted for publication must also receive the approval of their program.

Approved dissertations must be submitted to ProQuest ETD by the dates noted in the degree calendar :

  • A dissertation submitted for another degree, either at Harvard or elsewhere, may not be used.
  • Students writing their dissertations must follow Harvard guidelines.

If an approved dissertation is submitted to the Registrar’s Office prior to the registration day for a term, a student does not need to register for that term.

If a student registers for a term and then submits an approved dissertation to the Registrar’s Office by the last day to cancel registration for the term without payment of tuition, registration will be canceled and any tuition paid for that term will be refunded.

In addition to overall satisfactory progress requirements, PhD students must:

  • complete expected requirements during the first two years of graduate study
  • pass general examinations or the program equivalent by the end of the third year
  • obtain approval of a dissertation prospectus or program-defined equivalent by the end of the fourth year
  • produce at minimum one acceptable dissertation chapter by the end of the fifth year and each subsequent year during which a student is allowed to register.

Programs  may require additional and/or more stringent conditions.

PhD candidates who have not completed the requirements for the degree by their 10th year of study will be  withdrawn . Once the dissertation is complete, withdrawn students may apply for  readmission  to register for the purpose of receiving the degree. Exceptions may be made for students with special circumstances. For more information, students should contact their program, who may confer with the Office of Student Affairs to review particular circumstances.

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The online application is usually available starting in early September. But there's no strategic advantage to applying early; we review all our applications at the same time. Just make sure all your materials get to us by January 7 if you are applying for the PhD program.

The application is accessible online. The deadline for PhD admissions is January 7 (or the first business day after that), and the application must be submitted online . There is an application fee . (Some students in special circumstances are eligible for a fee waiver .)

One part of your application is the online form. In addition to the form, you will also submit several kinds of supporting material. 

You will be asked to provide:

A 1-2 page statement of academic purpose, describing past and present work as it relates to your intended field of study, and anything unusual we should know when evaluating your application.

The application will also prompt you to submit an optional personal history statement. The personal history statement is truly optional. If you do feel that there is information relevant to your application, a brief paragraph will normally suffice. It will not be held against you if you choose not to include a personal history statement.

A CV or resume

A writing sample

This should be an example of polished, substantive philosophical writing. It should display your philosophical abilities at their strongest, and will need to manifest analytical skills on a par with students already in our program. It may be the most important part of your application. A reasonable length for this is 20-25 double-spaced pages. Some applicants submit more than one writing sample; this is alright if, for example, they display very different aspects of your philosophical capacities (for example, a paper in philosophical logic and one in ancient philosophy). If they don't, we'll most likely only look at one of the papers submitted. Short 10-page papers of the sort written for a class or a tutorial rarely show us enough of a candidate's ability to be successful, and sending several of these is no better. Applications to our PhD program are intensely competitive. You're best off taking extra time to select your best philosophical work and develop it into a mature, interesting piece of writing.

Sometimes students send us sections of longer pieces of writing; this is ok in principle but what you submit should be self-contained and should be enough on its own for us to reliably evaluate you.

To enable anonymous review, author's name and other identifying information should not be included in the writing sample.

Transcripts

You are strongly encouraged to scan and submit these electronically when you submit your application (with English translations, if needed). Unofficial transcripts are acceptable but if you are admitted, you will have to submit final and official paper copies of your transcripts later.

If your school is in the US, and your GPA is not shown on the transcript, you'll need to calculate it and supply it in the application.

Here are further instructions and FAQs about transcripts.

We ask that you include all of these documents as part of your online application. 

The GRE general test is optional for the upcoming 2023-2024 cycle only. We will consider GRE test scores if they are submitted.

Either the TOEFL or the IELTS is required of all applicants who are not native English speakers or who do not have a bachelor's or master's degree from an institution where the language of instruction is English.

Finally, you'll need to ask several faculty who know you well to submit letters of recommendation to us. We ask for three letters; you can provide up to five if there are special reasons for doing so. Here are further details about letters.

In accordance with GSAS policy, we do not accept letters of recommendation from credentials services, such as Interfolio. Please have your references upload their letters directly to the online application. Additionally, we do not accept any other documents through Interfolio and other services. The statement of academic purpose should be included in your online application and not sent through them. Transcripts and translations should be uploaded to your online application, as well.

Weaker GREs or grades do not decisively exclude a candidate. Coming from a lesser-known school is not much of a handicap, if other parts of the application are strong. Letters from philosophers (or faculty in affiliated departments) are much more useful to us than any other sort of letter. Finally, the writing sample is what you have most control over.

As a matter of policy, we cannot go into further details about what makes an application successful, or how to improve your application.

In order to enroll in the Graduate School of Arts & Science (GSAS), you must have received a bachelor's degree or its equivalent from a college or university of acceptable standing. (In some countries, the equivalent degree is there called a "masters" degree.) It is not formally required that your bachelor's degree have been in philosophy. However, your application won't be successful unless we can see you have a comparable level of preparation.

There is no requirement to have done (what in the US we call) a master's degree—in some places, these are called "MPhil" or "BPhil" or "MLitt" degrees—before applying to our PhD program. You can apply directly to the PhD, and many of our applicants do. However many others, especially those with thinner undergraduate backgrounds in philosophy, have done some master's work.

If you think your background and preparation in philosophy aren't strong enough yet to get you into a competitive PhD program, doing a masters degree can help strengthen your application for the PhD. Not because we're impressed you've done the extra degree, but because it puts you in a position to give us a stronger writing sample, and gives more faculty the opportunity to see you doing advanced work, and write more useful letters of recommendation.

Some students without much formal training in philosophy have been extraordinarily talented at it and have been able to demonstrate this to admissions committees: for example, by writing papers of publishable quality. However, the overwhelming majority of untrained students aren't yet ready to enter competitive PhD programs.

Not at all. We often encourage our own students to do just this. It often gives people better lives, and makes them more ready for grad school when they get to it. At the same time, though, when you do apply we'll want to see that you've actively and recently been doing work of the sort our grad students do. If you've been outside of academia for a while, you'll need to find other ways to do that.

No, I'm sorry, we can't make specific such judgments until we formally review your application. And even if we could, we can't give feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of individual applications.

For these and other international student questions, view the FAQs for international student applicants .

The TOEFL or IELTS test is required of all applicants who are not native English speakers. The TOEFL/IELTS requirement is waived if you will have completed a bachelor or master's degree at an institution where the language of instruction is English. You don't need to do anything to inform the grad school that you're eligible for this waiver; they can determine that from your regular application materials.

For further details, review the GSAS Application Instructions  and the GSAS Testing Requirements FAQs .

The graduate school requires official test scores, sent to them directly from the GRE, TOEFL, or IELTS programs. Have them sent to New York University—GSAS, code 2596. The TOEFL requires you to list a department code; you should select the code that is most appropriate for your field of study. You may also use code 99. However, do not use code 00—we will not receive your test scores if you report 00 as the TOEFL department code. Also, do not leave the field blank. If you do, it will become code 00 and we will not receive your test scores. For IELTS scores, they must be sent directly to New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Science, New York ,NY. No code is needed for IELTS.

Often there are constraints on when you'll be able to take the GRE and TOEFL tests. You should schedule them early in the fall. Every year, some students end up scheduling them too late and then email us frantically asking what exceptions we can make for them. There's little we can do. If your test scores won't reach us until (shortly) after the application deadline, then self-report the scores on your application, or email them to us as soon as they are available. However, we may have already set your application aside as incomplete; and we make no promises to go back and reconsider it. Also, the grad school must receive your official test scores by the time we make our final decisions, or we won't be permitted to make you an offer.

We see all of your scores.

Please don't do this. It turns out to be a huge amount of work for us and for the grad school. These are things that DON'T justify sending us any update or new material:

  • you accidentally sent us the statement of academic purpose that was addressed to Columbia
  • your paper which was under consideration for ... has now been accepted, and you want to update your CV
  • you have a newer draft of your writing sample, or you accidentally sent one that left out a few changes

If you have some more compelling reason to update your application, then you can email [email protected] .

GES gets applications to us, and we begin reviewing them, in mid-January. We make no promises whatsoever to include materials submitted late in our review.

Please review your Application Status Page which has a checklist of the various parts of the application and whether we have received them or not.

Philosophy gets over 300 PhD applications each year, and are typically permitted to make fewer than 10 first-round offers, plus a small number of second-round offers, aiming to get an entering class of 4-8 students. This means we accept around 3% or fewer of our applicants. For comparison, Yale Law School's acceptance rate is around 7%, and Harvard Law School's acceptance rate is around 11%.

We aim to make all our admissions decisions by the end of the second full week of March.  Our admissions decision must be finalized with the Graduate School before applicants are informed whether their application was successful, a process which may take up to another week after the decisions have been made.  Graduate School policy does not permit us to answer individual queries about decisions.

If you're worried that an announcement hasn't reached you, the best thing you can do is make sure you update us with changes to your email address. Do so by writing  [email protected] .

There are websites where applicants say what schools they've heard decisions from. Sometimes there are phony reports of NYU decisions on these sites. I don't know why. We will attempt to get our real decisions to you as soon as we can. Decisions are not available by phone.

As stated above, we get many excellent applications and can only extend offers to a small handful of them. Many strong applications are unsuccessful. As a matter of policy, we are not permitted to discuss details regarding individual decisions.

No. The application and all materials submitted to the Graduate School become the property of NYU and will not be returned under any circumstances.

Only your GRE scores (retained for five years) and TOEFL/IELTS scores (retained for two years). Review the FAQ for Re-applying for Admission .

If you are applying for the dual-degree JD/PhD program, you need to apply separately to both NYU Philosophy and NYU Law School. Each program's decisions are made independently, on the basis of their usual standards, and they do not share application materials. The cooperative nature of the program consists in your being able to use certain coursework to satisfy some requirements simultaneously. (Here are more details .) If you're accepted to both programs, we'll gladly discuss this all further, and put you in touch with some other students who have pursued this dual-degree program. As stated above, LSAT scores cannot be substituted for the graduate school's GRE requirement.

Admission to a dual-degree program is contingent on acceptance by both programs. If one does not accept you, the other may at its discretion consider you for admission to that individual program.

Apart from dual-degree programs, GSAS policy permits students to apply for only a single program and degree in a given year. Review the policy around multiple applications .

Exceptions: Students who apply to the Philosophy PhD program and are unsuccessful can ask to be considered for the MA programs in  Bioethics , or the interdisciplinary Center for Experimental Humanities . To arrange this, let Graduate Enrollment Services (GES, they are GSAS's admissions office) know as soon as possible after getting the PhD decision. They will instruct you how to proceed.

You are allowed to apply simultaneously to multiple programs at NYU if they are in different schools, such as GSAS and Steinhardt.

Students tend to take from 5 to 7 years.

All our PhD offers come with the same standard financial aid package. No separate application is required. We will discuss the details with you when we extend an offer.

If you've won an external fellowship, be sure to let us know; this will affect the details of your financial aid.

Typically our students are able to support themselves in modest shared housing on the fellowships we offer. They don't need to take out educational loans. Opportunities for teaching are available and compensation is in addition to the fellowship offer. The terms of the fellowship (as well as student visas for international students) severely constrain your eligibility for other employment.

The university has a subsidized student housing program for first-year PhD students. Details about this will be supplied in your offer letter.

Most US graduate programs, including NYU, have signed the Council of Graduate Schools Resolution.

This promises that admitted students with financial aid offers aren't required to accept the offer before April 15 (or a later date if specified in your offer letter). However, if you're able to make a decision earlier, you are encouraged to do so. This helps students on our waiting list, and helps us better create the incoming class. But it is your privilege to take until the deadline, if you need to.

If you do accept an offer before April 15, you are allowed to cancel the acceptance at any time until April 15.

After April 15, you cannot accept an offer from another school (school #2), without first obtaining a written release from the school you originally accepted (school #1). And school #2 cannot offer you financial aid except conditional on your supplying that written release from school #1.

You can notify us by email of your decision to accept or decline our offer, but you must also follow the instructions in your offer letter, and (if you're accepting) submit a tuition deposit. The details will be spelled out in your offer letter.

In some circumstances this is possible. You have to petition for it, and your reasons for deferring should be academic.

Here are the departmental rules .

We are willing to consider applications from students seeking to transfer from other PhD programs. However, we make offers only to the most exceptional of these; our expectations are much higher than for beginning students.

Our PhD students can get some course credit for graduate-level work done previously (whether in a degree program or not). Generally this will be for up to two courses, and will be subject to approval by the Director of Graduate Studies. Please wait until we've made our admissions offers before asking us to pronounce about your individual circumstances.

Even if you don't get course credit for work done previously, you are welcome to use that work as a seed for work you'd submit here, either for a seminar or for an independent study you arrange with a member of our faculty.

Other local philosophy departments: sure! Sometimes, someone at NYU will have to nominally oversee your participation in the outside course, and approve the grade. But in practice, this doesn't make much difference.

Other departments at NYU: sure, if it's relevant to your philosophical studies. (Otherwise, your fellowship doesn't pay the tuition, and we wouldn't count it towards your degree.) In recent years, our students have attended courses in the Law School, and the linguistics, psychology, math, and physics departments. There are also some programs for language study, in NY or abroad; though this also has to be relevant to your studies, and in practice our students don't have to satisfy a separate language requirement.

One of the requirements of our PhD program is that 9 out of the 11 required courses be taken in the NYU Philosophy department (courses cross-listed in other departments count for these purposes). It's common to audit courses at other departments, even when one doesn't take them for credit.

Our PhD students do coursework for two years and only decide on their dissertation topic during their third year. A dissertation committee is formed at that time. We assign supervisors during your first years in the program, but this is just someone who talks to you about program requirements, problems you're having, and so on. There's no reason for it to be someone who's directly related to your research interests.

There is no general language requirement for the Ph.D. Language proficiency may be required for specialized research in particular areas (e.g., ancient philosophy) or topics (e.g., Kant).

See our placement record .

See our course listings .

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Ph.D. Program Requirements

The Philosophy Department follows the Graduate School regulations, listed in the Graduate School Handbook (Section 7), regarding doctoral programs. For information about a special “One-of-a-Kind” doctoral program that allows students to combine the study of philosophy with related work in other fields, see the Graduate School Handbook (Section 8). 

The following sections outline the principal requirements for the regular Ph.D. program in philosophy at O.S.U.

  • 2.1 The Logic Requirements
  • 2.2 The First Year Seminar
  • 2.3 Distribution Requirements
  • 2.4 The Course-Number Requirements
  • 2.5 The Candidacy Examination
  • 2.6 The Dissertation Prospectus Examination
  • 2.7 Dissertation Seminar
  • 2.8 Continuing Education
  • 2.9  The Final Oral Examination
  • 2.10 The Dissertation
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N.B. In what follows, there is a distinction between ‘academic level’ and ‘term-in-residence.’ ‘Term-in-residence’ refers to the number of semesters you have enrolled in the PhD program at UVa. ‘Academic level,’ by contrast, refers to your progress through the curriculum.  For students entering without an M.A., these two coincide. However, students entering with an M.A. are usually granted ‘advanced standing’ for prior graduate coursework, which accelerates their progress through curriculum by one semester.  In such cases, your first term in residence is actually the second semester of academic level one.  Where students with advanced standing are concerned, a requirement that needs to be completed by the end of the sixth semester, for example, must be completed by the end of the  fifth  term-in-residence.

Corcoran Department of Philosophy, University of Virginia

Graduate Program

I. Degree Requirements

All graduate students should be familiar with the degree requirements specified in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Record. These include requirements concerning the payment of fees, due dates for degree applications, the submission of title pages for theses and dissertations, and the submission of approved copies of theses and dissertations. In addition, there are several departmental requirements for degrees in Philosophy that are not included in the general Graduate School requirements. Students should consult the Graduate Record for further details and requirements. This and other valuable resources are available at https://graduate.as.virginia.edu . The following summarizes the main requirements for the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees.

M.A. in Philosophy

  • Two semesters of full-time residential study.
  • 30 hours of graduate-level courses.  No transfer credits are accepted. Up to 6 hours may be satisfied through Non-Topical Research.  Students who previously enrolled in courses offered through GSAS while completing an undergraduate or graduate degree program at the University of Virginia may count up to six credits of such coursework towards a master’s degree as long as those credits were not used to fulfill requirements for the prior degree.
  • Completion of one qualifying paper.  Each student must submit a qualifying paper to the Director of Graduate Studies, who will convene a committee of 2-3 faculty members to evaluate each paper.  Students are allowed two submissions, and missing a deadline will count as a failed submission.

Guidelines for qualifying papers.  The qualifying paper requirement is intended to help students transition from coursework to dissertation research by ensuring that they first undertake professional-level research projects on a smaller scale.  A successful qualifying paper will identify a promising research question; demonstrate an understanding of the current state of the literature; make a substantive philosophical contribution; and be written to appropriate professional standards.

Qualifying papers must be between 4,000 and 10,000 words in length (including footnotes and bibliography).  When determining the appropriate length for their submission, students should consider both the needs of their particular project and the typical length of published papers in the relevant subfield.

Qualifying papers are typically significantly revised graduate seminar term papers. A student considering developing a term paper into a qualifying paper should consult the instructor of the seminar for advice. (Upon initially submitting a term paper, the student may ask the instructor to read the paper with an eye towards whether it might serve as the basis for a qualifying paper.) The instructor will provide guidance as to whether the project is promising and may suggest possible changes the student might make to the paper to render it suitable. Such changes may be substantial. In addition to altering the existing argument of the paper, the instructor may suggest that the paper address works not read in the seminar; that it respond to further objections; etc. The instructor’s guidance is advisory only; following this advice does not guarantee that the paper will be accepted as a qualifying paper.

Ph.D. in Philosophy

  • Two qualifying papers, including the qualifying paper for the M.A.  A total of four submissions will be allowed.  The first qualifying paper must be submitted by the first day of class of the 3rd semester of graduate study, and the second by the first day of class of the 5th semester.  Missing a deadline counts as a failed submission.  The qualifying paper requirement must be completed by the end of the 6th semester; to allow readers ample time to evaluate the paper, students must submit their final attempt(s) by November 15th or April 15th of their sixth semester.            Students entering the program with an MA from another university and who are provided a semester of advanced standing need write only one qualifying paper.  Two submissions are allowed.  Students with advanced standing begin the program in the second term of study instead of the first and are exempt from the first qualifying paper due the following term.  Instead, they submit their sole qualifying paper by the first day of class of the fourth semester, which is their third term in residence.  Missing the deadline counts as a failed submission.  The qualifying paper requirement must be completed by the end of the fourth term in residence; to allow readers ample time to evaluate the paper, students must submit their final attempt by November 15th or April 15th of their fourth term in residence.
  • Six semesters of full-time residential study.
  • 36 hours of graded courses at or above the 5000-level.  The department may approve counting graduate courses taken elsewhere toward satisfying this requirement (see below). The Graduate School requires 72 hours of graduate course work for the Ph.D. The 36 hours over and above the department’s requirement of 36 graded course hours can be fulfilled through PHIL 7995: see Section III.
  • Qualification for the Ph.D in four areas (see Section II).
  • PHIL 9700, the Dissertation Seminar.This non-credit course is taught every spring.It combines discussions of the central aspects of professional life with multiple opportunities for students to present and receive peer feedback on their work-in-progress.It is mandatory for all third-year students in residence, and optional for others.
  • Ph.D. dissertation proposal approved by a committee of three faculty members, including the dissertation director.  A proposal may take one of two forms: a summary or a sample chapter. Which form the proposal takes is to be determined by the student in consultation with the advisor. A summary proposal should provide an outline of what the dissertation will accomplish.  It should specify: the key questions that the dissertation will address; the scope of the philosophical literature that the dissertation will examine; the central thesis or theses that the dissertation will advance; and at least one of the main lines of arguments that will be used to advance these theses. Dissertation proposals of this type must be no longer than 2500 words (excluding bibliography).  Proposals of the second form must consist of a substantive sample chapter. This chapter cannot be a student’s Qualifying Paper. In either case, approval is given upon successful completion of an oral examination of the proposal by the committee.  Dissertation proposals should be approved by the end of the sixth semester. The committee will be formed by the DGS, in consultation with the student and the dissertation director.  Committee members are expected to read and examine the proposal, and to be involved with the writing process from that point on.    
  • Ph.D. dissertation and successful oral defense of the dissertation.  The Examining Committee for the oral defense will normally consist of four faculty members:  the dissertation director, the other two members of the dissertation proposal examination committee, and an examiner from outside the philosophy department.

*Students who entered the program in or before AY 2015-2016 may choose to have their proposals examined by the entire department if they wish.  Students who entered the program in AY 2016-2017 have until September 15 of their 7th semester to have their proposals approved.

Degree credit for graduate courses taken elsewhere . A student entering the Ph.D. program with an M.A. from another university may be allowed to count up to 12 hours of coursework for the M.A. toward the 36 hour total. All students must complete at least 24 hours of graduate courses at the University of Virginia in order to receive the Ph.D.

Degree credit for graduate courses taken in other departments. Students are sometimes allowed to count graduate courses offered by other departments at the University of Virginia in the 24 and 36 hour totals required for the M.A. and Ph.D. A maximum of 6 hours of outside coursework may be counted toward the M.A. requirement, or 9 hours toward the Ph.D., provided the student is able to demonstrate (to the Director of Graduate Studies) the relevance of these courses to his or her philosophical pursuits.

II. Qualifying for the Ph.D.

1.   Qualifying in Metaphysics and Epistemology, Ethics, and History of Philosophy.

For each of these three areas, a student must qualify in the area by achieving an average grade of at least B+ in two courses in that area. No more than one course in each of the following areas can be counted towards satisfying the requirement in History:  Ancient Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Modern Philosophy. The Director of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the faculty, will determine the areas that courses fall under. There will be no double counting; a course can be used to satisfy only one area requirement. Courses taken at the University of Virginia outside the Philosophy Department cannot be used to satisfy area requirements.

For students entering the program with an M.A. from another university, no more than one of the two courses in each area may be from the student’s course work for the M.A.; the Director of Graduate Studies determines whether a course taken outside the University of Virginia satisfies a distribution requirement. The requirement for a B+ average applies only to courses taken at the University of Virginia.

2.   Qualifying in Logic. 

Students are expected to demonstrate qualification in logic by achieving a grade of at least B in PHIL 2420, a grade of at least B on the final exam of PHIL 2420, or a grade of at least B- in PHIL 5420. 

Students must qualify in Metaphysics and Epistemology, Ethics, History of Philosophy, and Logic by the end of their sixth semester.

Special Note about Incompletes : Course instructors may (but need not) allow students to receive a grade of “incomplete” in a course. Missing work for incompletes from Fall courses must be submitted by January 15th; missing work for incompletes from Spring courses must be submitted by June 30th. Instructors may impose earlier deadlines. The department strongly encourages students to avoid taking incompletes (grades of IN) in their courses. A student with two or more outstanding incompletes on his or her record at the beginning of a semester will not be allowed to register for classes, to teach, or to receive funding.

III. Special Courses

PHIL 7500 (First-Year Seminar): This seminar, offered in the fall, is required for (and ordinarily limited to) entering students. The course involves frequent, short writing assignments intended to develop students’ skills in writing philosophy papers. From year to year, different courses will be designated as ‘first year seminars’.

PHIL 7530 (Readings in Philosophy): With the permission of the instructor, a student may arrange to take an undergraduate course for graduate credit under this designation. The student would attend lectures and cover the subjects of the undergraduate course, but would do additional reading and/or written work; the student’s work in the course would be graded on a scale appropriate for graduate course work.

PHIL 7995 (Supervised Research): This course has variable credit (more than three hours can be taken in a given semester) and can be taken in successive semesters. PHIL 7995 is in effect a ‘dummy course’: one is not expected to do any work in the course, but it is a credit course which counts towards the Graduate School’s 54 hour requirement. (Students should consult with the Director of Graduate Studies before enrolling in PHIL 795; see Appendix 2 for more information on research courses.)

PHIL 8995 (Supervised Research):  Students may arrange with a willing faculty member to take a course of directed research on some philosophical topic. This allows students to do course work in areas (or approach topics in ways) not covered in regular graduate seminars. The instructor for each such course will set the schedule and requirements which the student must satisfy. Supervised Research courses count for regular degree credit.

PHIL 8998, 8999, 9998, 9999 (Nontopical Research): These are non-credit research courses and may not be counted toward the 24 or 36 hours degree requirements. Their purpose is to allow the student to do supervised or unsupervised research toward a degree, without the restrictions or requirements of ordinary course work. Generally, a student will take more hours of Nontopical Research as he or she spends more time on the preparation of a thesis or dissertation.

PHIL 9700, the Dissertation Seminar.  This non-credit course is taught every spring.  It combines discussions of the central aspects of professional life with multiple opportunities for students to present and receive peer feedback on their work-in-progress.  It is mandatory for all third-year students in residence, and optional for others.

IV.  Reviews of graduate student progress.

The department as a whole meets to assess graduate student progress.  Thorough reviews are conducted

  • at the end of the first year of study,
  • at the end of the second year of study, and
  • when a student has either completed her qualifying paper requirement or exhausted all attempts without passing.

Reviews are intended both to provide constructive feedback and to determine whether the student should be allowed to continue in the program.  Graduate students are informed of the results of their review by the DGS.

Reviews are holistic, taking into account course grades, performance in seminars, qualifying paper submissions, professional engagement, performance as a teaching assistant, and any other relevant factors.

PHIL Department of Philosophy

  • Ethics Minor
  • Declare a Major or Minor
  • Satisfying the BA Language Requirement
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  • Ex Animo Undergraduate Philosophy Journal
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  • Resources for Undergraduates
  • Auditing a Course
  • How to Apply
  • Frequently Asked Questions About Our Graduate Program
  • M.A. Degree Requirements

Ph.D. Degree Requirements

  • Graduate Student Funding
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Quick View PhD Progress-to-Degree Checklist

This page provides detailed information on the requirements for the Ph.D. degree in the Philosophy Department with guidance on various stages of the degree. Please consult with the Director of Graduate Studies and your faculty adviser for further details. Here you will find information on:

The PhD degree requires a minimum of 81 credits of graduate-level course work, of which 18 must be in Dissertation ( PHIL 603 ). Students must complete a logic requirement, demonstrate proficiency in a second language, complete course distribution requirements, and pass two comprehensive examinations each of which takes the form of an extensive research project — one in the history of philosophy and one in the student’s areas of intended dissertation specialization. Most students finish their doctoral degrees within 5 to 6 years (note that the department commits to only 5 years of funding). The graduate school imposes a limit of seven years for completion of the PhD degree.

Time Table for Completing the PhD

  • Logic Requirement: by the end of year 2
  • Language Requirement: by the end of year 3
  • Distribution Requirements: by the end of year 2
  • History Paper Proposal: by the end of fall term of year 3
  • History Paper: by the end of winter term of year 3
  • Literature Review: by the end of fall term of year 4
  • Prospectus: by the end of winter term of year 4
  • PhD Dissertation: by the end of spring term of year 5

PhD Requirements (Effective Fall 2021)

Students must complete at least 81 graduate credits, of which at least 18 must be dissertation research credits. As part of the requirements for completing the PhD, students must also take at least twelve 4-credit graduate courses within the department of philosophy.

Students must complete course distribution requirements by receiving a mid-B or better in the areas listed below, demonstrate proficiency in a second language and pass two comprehensive examinations, which in our program are extensive research projects — one in the history of philosophy (the ‘history paper’) and one in the student’s intended area of research specialization (the literature review).

Course Distribution Requirements : The PhD Program in Philosophy at the University of Oregon is based upon three pillars: (1) Philosophical Traditions in a pluralistic sense; (2) Emerging and Engaged Philosophies ; (3) the History of Philosophy .

Four Philosophical Traditions : (1) American, (2) Analytic, (3) Continental, (4) Feminism. In each of these four traditions either an Advanced Introductory Course must be completed (offered as a 500-level course) or, if the requirement for the introduction course is waived for a tradition (by approval of the Director of Graduate Studies), then at least one graduate course within that tradition must be completed.

Emerging and Engaged Philosophies : Students must explore emerging and engaged areas of philosophical work, as this work not only challenges more established traditions but also puts into question the prevailing ways in which a tradition is understood. Students must also explore how such work bears upon real-world issues. This requirement helps inform both the teaching and the research of our graduate students. Students must complete two courses in Emerging Philosophies, such as Critical Race Theory, Latin American Philosophy, Native American Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy and LGBTQ philosophy. Students must also complete one course that focuses on how these various philosophical traditions and strands are engaged with lived experiences and problems. Some examples include Environmental Philosophy, Biomedical Ethics, Animal Ethics, and Data Ethics.

History of Philosophy : One course in each of following three historical periods must be completed: Ancient, Modern, 19th Century.

Note on Criteria for Multiple Fulfillment : Graduate courses may be listed as counting toward the simultaneous fulfillment of multiple categories of distribution simultaneously, though this is possible for only some of the categories. A course may count toward one Historical Period while also fulfilling a Philosophical Tradition or a course in Emerging and Engaged Philosophies. Courses may count toward either a Philosophical Tradition or the Emerging and Engaged requirement, but no course may count toward both of these requirements at once. For example, a course in nineteenth-century feminist philosophy can count toward either the requirement in the Feminist Tradition or in Emerging and Engaged Philosophies (but not both) and at the same time fulfill a requirement for Historical Periods. When a course is listed so as to provide an option for fulfillment of either the Traditions or Emergent & Engaged requirements, students must choose which requirement the course is to fulfill.

Transfer Credits for Distribution Requirements : Subject to approval by the Director of Graduate Studies, a student may use transfer courses (i.e., graduate courses taken at another university) or graduate courses taken outside the Philosophy Department, as follows: (1) one course in emerging or engaged philosophies; (2) one course toward the history of philosophy requirement; (3) two courses may be used under the traditions requirement. Each transfer course must be approved using the following Approval Form. Click here for Approval Form for Transfer Courses (pdf) .

Logic : One course in advanced symbolic logic must be completed (undergraduate or graduate). A student must satisfy the logic requirement in one of four ways (note that courses taken for logic credit under 2.- 4. below must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies):

1. Earning a grade of B or higher in PHIL 526 (Advanced Logic); 2. Earning a grade of B or higher in an advanced undergraduate logic course taken before entering the doctoral program; 3. Completing (with a B or higher) an appropriate 4-credit reading and conference course (PHIL 605) in logic within the Philosophy Department; or 4. Earning a grade of B or higher in a logic course offered by another UO department (e.g., mathematics or computer science).

Pedagogy Seminar (Teaching Philosophy Seminar) : In the first year of employment as a GE, graduate students must also complete the sequence of all three terms of the professionalization pro-seminar on pedagogy and teaching (for a total of 4 credits). Thus, all PhD students are required to complete three terms of this course as part of their graduate requirements. ( Note for MA students offered GEs : you are required to successfully complete the pedagogy seminar for any term you are scheduled to teach, provided you have not completed it previously in that same term of the year [for example, if you previously completed the teaching seminar in winter term, you would still be required to register for the seminar if chosen for a fall or spring GE assignment, but not to repeat the winter seminar if you receive another winter assignment].)

Language Proficiency: To graduate with an advanced degree in Philosophy from the University of Oregon, students must demonstrate proficiency in a second language equivalent to two years of study in that language at the college level. The language must be approved by the student’s advisor and should be relevant to the student’s philosophical interests. Proficiency may be demonstrated by:

1. providing an official transcript which shows a passing grade in second- year language coursework (normally the 201, 202, 203 sequence; although second-year competency may also be demonstrated by passing a 300-level language course for which 203 is a prerequisite).

2. successfully testing out (for more information on second-year language tests, contact the UO Testing Center [email protected] or 541-346-3230).

Literature Review Guidelines and Procedures: Registration for PHIL 601 Graduate Research; After having constituted a committee, a student will register for PHIL 601: Research for up to nine credits in PHIL 601: Research with the topic “Literature review” with the advisor. The credits will be graded based on work completed during the term.

  • Independent Study Agreement Form ( 601  Research or  605  Reading)
  • Independent Study Policies

Prior Field Distribution Requirements for Students Entering Before Fall 2021

For students entering prior to Fall 2021, the field distribution requirements are as below (plus the logic, language, and teaching seminar requirement). A single course may count toward each of three categories, but no more than once in a single category. For example, a course may count in a sub-disciplinary field such as metaphysics, and, at the same time, apply to both the history requirement and the traditions requirement. Field satisfaction will be determined by the Director of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the faculty member teaching the class, and this information will be posted in advance:

1. Philosophical Traditions Two courses from each of the four philosophical traditions that ground the diverse philosophical perspectives of the department (for those entering Fall 2009 and thereafter, one of the two courses in each of the traditions will be a pro-seminar — tradition offerings alternate years — taken within the first two years of graduate study)

  • Continental Philosophy
  • Analytic Philosophy
  • American Philosophy
  • Feminist Philosophy

2. Historical Periods One course from each of the four historical periods:

  • ancient and medieval
  • modern (16th, 17th and 18th century philosophy)
  • 19th century philosophy
  • 20th and 21st century philosophy

3. Subdisciplinary Fields Two courses in each of three sub-disciplinary fields listed below.

  • Society and Value – courses in aesthetics, social and political philosophy, and ethics.
  • Knowledge, Rationality and Inquiry – courses in epistemology, philosophy of science, and philosophy of language.
  • Metaphysics – courses in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of religion.

4. ARNL: Asian, Race, Native American, Latin American For those entering in Fall 2009 or thereafter, one course in one of the four ARNL requirement areas:

  • Asian Philosophy
  • Philosophy of Race
  • Native American Philosophy
  • Latin American Philosophy

MA on the Way to PhD

When PhD students have completed both the distribution and language proficiency requirements, they are eligible to apply for an MA and are encouraged to do so. The Philosophy MA requirements for PhD students are the same as those for MA students, except that a PhD student is encouraged to apply for the MA as soon as possible after the MA requirements have been met (the Graduate School has a policy of not granting MA and PhD degrees at the same time, i.e. when the student has completed the Ph.D). Begin the “Application for Advanced Degree” process at http://gradschool.uoregon.edu/node/152 .

NOTE: the deadline for applying for the advanced degree is the second Friday of the expected term of graduation. Please also note that PhD students doing a master’s in passing are no longer required to submit the old “Permission to Re-Register” form.

Comprehensive Exams (Research Papers)

The comprehensive examinations are passed by completing two substantial research papers— the History Paper and Literature Review—under the supervision of faculty. Students are eligible for advancement to candidacy the term after completion of the comprehensives. Within two weeks of the student passing these examinations, the home department and the student must submit a report to the dean of the Graduate School recommending advancement to candidacy.

Registration for the History Paper, Literature Review, and Prospectus Students working on the History Paper, Literature Review, or Prospectus may register for up to 9 research credits (PHIL 601) P/NP per term for work on the requirement and add the requirement as the ‘name’ of the class (e.g., PHIL 601: Research: History Paper). Research credits will be graded based upon the work accomplished during the quarter as assessed by the faculty member serving as instructor for the credits.

History Paper

A paper in the history of philosophy constitutes half of the comprehensive examination requirement of the Graduate School.

The purpose of the history paper is to provide students with the opportunity to deepen and broaden their knowledge of and approach to main topics in the history of philosophy, and to produce a paper as an independent research project. Papers should be approximately 7000 words in length and make appropriate use of secondary literature (25 pages not counting bibliography and endnotes, 35 pages inclusive is the maximum).

History Paper Procedure :

  • Forming a Committee: After completing their coursework, students will be asked to form a committee of two philosophy faculty members, one of whom will serve as chair of the committee.
  • History Paper Proposal: Students will submit to their committee for approval a research project in the history of philosophy. The proposal should be no more than five pages long.
  • Registration for PHIL 601 Graduate Research: Following approval of the proposal, a student will register for Phil 601: Research for up to nine credits in PHIL 601: Research with the topic “History Paper.” The credits will be graded based on work completed during the term. Once the proposal is approved, the student will work independently to complete a final draft of the paper. Students may register more than once for history paper research credits.
  • Completion: Students should complete their history papers in no more than two terms.
  • Submission of the Paper: When the paper is complete, it will be submitted to the examining committee and reviewed.
  • Evaluation of the Paper: The committee will consult with the student to provide an evaluation of the paper. The paper will be accepted, accepted pending revisions, or rejected. If it is accepted pending revisions, the revised version of the paper will be evaluated again by the committee and accepted, accepted pending revisions, or rejected. If the paper is rejected at any point, then upon consideration by the Graduate Studies Committee and a two-thirds vote of the Faculty, the student will be asked to leave the PhD program.
  • Upon Completion of the History Paper the student will collect email approvals from committee members and fill out the completion form linked at the the Resources for Graduate Students page.
  • Topic Guidelines: The purpose of the paper is to lead students to deepen and broaden their knowledge of and approach to main topics in the history of philosophy. To that end, the paper will provide occasion for coming to an understanding of the development of philosophical traditions in their historical and cultural settings.Papers will consider some philosophical question formulated and debated in major works prior to 1980, or the work of one philosopher whose major works were published before 1980. Students should consider the intellectual—historical context of the philosopher or question and current relevant secondary literature. The paper can take a single tradition as its primary focus, but it should establish and assess this tradition’s interaction with other philosophical traditions as part of its historical development. Students may adopt a comparative approach (comparing figures or traditions with respect to a sufficiently precise topic), a broad intellectual historical approach (e.g., discerning the broader intellectual historical background for a problem shared by otherwise divergent traditions or figures) or a bridge-building approach (e.g. showing how a particular philosophical topic is addressed by tools and methodologies drawn from diverse philosophical traditions, figures, and/or periods). Depending on the topic, it may be important also to consider what it means to read philosophy in an historical context. The chosen topic may be, but need not be, related to the student’s planned area of specialization and field of dissertation research, though it should not be narrowly focused on the topic of the dissertation. History Paper Examples .

Literature Review

The Literature Review is the second comprehensive examination. The purpose of the review is to prepare students for their dissertation research in a particular area by studying and reviewing the literature in that area.

Committee : The committee evaluating the Literature Review shall be constituted under the same guidelines and rules as the dissertation committee (see below) and include three members: the adviser and two “core” members (the fourth member–the institutional representative–is not required for the evaluation of the Literature Review). In most cases, the members of the Literature Review committee will continue as the dissertation committee, but this is not required.

Bibliographical Sources : The students should work with their committee members to develop a list of 50-100 sources that will be important to their dissertation projects. Once this list is approved, the student will write a review of the literature.

Literature Review Guidelines and Procedures :

  • The completed literature review should be no more than 50 and no less than 30 pages long, double-spaced, 12 pt. font.
  • The review should be written in narrative style (i.e. the student should avoid simply handing in an annotated bibliography, though he/she may well complete such a bibliography in preparation for writing the literature review).
  • Each work that is addressed in the literature review should be discussed in terms of its relation to an articulated philosophical question or problem related to the area of the dissertation project, rather than simply summarized.
  • When the review is finished and the committee reads it, the student may be asked to do additional work on the review before it is deemed completed.
  • Upon final approval of the Literature Review the student will collect email approvals from committee members and fill out the completion form linked at the Resources for Graduate Students page.

Advancement to Candidacy for the PhD

PhD students are eligible for advancement to candidacy the term after they have completed their comprehensives (i.e. after successfully completing the distribution requirements, history paper, and literature review). Within two weeks of the student passing these examinations, the home department and the student must submit a report to the dean of the Graduate School recommending advancement to candidacy.

Selection of Dissertation Adviser and Formation of Dissertation Committee

The selection of the dissertation adviser should be made with the following considerations in mind: First, the adviser should have a research focus in the central area of the proposed topic. Second, the adviser should be someone that the student can work with. Third, the adviser has the responsibility for the reading and evaluation of initial drafts of the dissertation.

The membership of the committee should be formed in consultation with the dissertation adviser, who can provide suggestions about the selection of core members and the institutional representative. Typically, other committee members will read a draft of (or parts of) the dissertation when the thesis adviser considers them to be ready for other committee members to see them and comment.

Dissertation committees in the Department of Philosophy are proposed by the student and approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. The dissertation committee typically consists of four members: The adviser and two “core” members who are regular members of the department, and one “institutional representative” from a department in the University other than the philosophy department. With approval according to the processes described below, and in accordance with the Graduate School’s Dissertation Committee Policy (( http://gradschool.uoregon.edu/committee-policy ), committees may include advisers or core members from departments other than philosophy or core members from outside the university.

When the proposed committee is to include (1) a chair from the University of Oregon whose appointment is outside the Department of Philosophy, or (2) a University of Oregon faculty member not appointed to the Graduate Faculty, or (3) a “core” member from outside the University of Oregon, the member will be reviewed by the Department of Philosophy tenure- related faculty. If the proposed member meets the Graduate School guidelines and is approved by the Department faculty in light of departmental guidelines, then the Department Head will forward the recommendation to the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School for final approval.

Any member of the University of Oregon Graduate Faculty, including Department of Philosophy affiliate faculty, may serve as “core” committee members without review of the Philosophy Department faculty (in accordance with the Graduate School’s Dissertation Committee Policy). Process for approving UO faculty not appointed to the Graduate Faculty: University of Oregon faculty in the Department of Philosophy who are not appointed to the Graduate Faculty (e.g., non-tenure track faculty with “career” appointments) may request nomination to the Graduate School by submitting a letter of interest and a current curriculum vitae to the Department Head. The Department Head will forward the request and curriculum vitae to the department’s tenure-related faculty who will consider the request. Qualifications for nomination to the Graduate School include a PhD in philosophy, a record of ongoing and recent research in the field, and successful teaching. If the request is approved by a majority of the tenure-related faculty, the nomination will be forwarded to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for review. (See the Graduate School procedures for NTTFs ). Once approved as a member of the Graduate Faculty in Philosophy, the nominee is permanently eligible to serve on dissertation committees following the graduate school guidelines.

Process for approving dissertation chairs outside the Department of Philosophy or “core” members from another university: If a student wishes to request that a member of the UO graduate faculty outside the Department of Philosophy serve as chair of her or his dissertation committee or if the student wishes to include a faculty member from another university as a “core” member of her or his committee, the student will propose the committee to the Director of Graduate Studies. The DGS will contact the relevant nominated member and request a letter of interest confirming the person’s willingness to serve on the committee and a current curriculum vita. The DGS will present the nominee to the tenure-related faculty for consideration. If the nominee is approved by a majority of the faculty, the Department Head will forward the nomination to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (following the Graduate School procedures ).

In general, the faculty will approve a proposed dissertation committee member if she or he (1) meets the Graduate School guidelines, (2) has demonstrated philosophical expertise in an area relevant to the proposed dissertation, and (3) has confirmed an interest in serving on the committee.

Dissertation Prospectus

The Prospectus and Prospectus Examination is a key step towards earning a Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Oregon. A student should register for PHIL 603 Dissertation once they have advanced to candidacy (i.e., completed both the History Paper and the Literature Review). This means they should be registered for PHIL 603 while they are working on, and after they have defended, the Dissertation Prospectus.

After preliminary discussions with a thesis advisor, students should prepare a draft of the Prospectus and submit it to the thesis advisor.

1. When the advisor and student agree that the Prospectus is ready for submission to other members of the Ph.D. committee, a version of it should be presented to them. Committee members may request revisions of the Prospectus, and students should allow time for these revisions (in order to be in compliance with Departmental expectations).

2. A Prospectus Examination should be scheduled (for 60-90 minutes) in consultation with the thesis advisor and other members of the committee. The Examination is expected to be attended by the candidate and all of the members of the dissertation committee. It should be held only when the advisor and the committee members believe that there is a workable project, something they determine after their evaluation of a submitted draft of the Prospectus. The Examination provides an opportunity for all of the members of the committee, including the outside member, to share their views of what needs to be done to strengthen the project; how it might need to be expanded or, as is more likely, narrowed in its focus. The committee will consider whether, and how, the proposed dissertation addresses a problem that can be handled adequately by the candidate in a reasonable amount of time. By accepting the Prospectus the committee agrees that the Prospectus presents a project suitable in content and scope for a dissertation. Upon successful defense of the Prospectus the student will collect email approvals from committee members and fill out the Prospectus Approval Form linked at the the Resources for Graduate Students page.

Content of Prospectus: There are certain ingredients that a Prospectus must contain. Most importantly, there should be a problem that the Prospectus identifies and explains. To this end, the introduction to the Prospectus should include some motivation for addressing the problem, as well as an attempt at explaining, illustrating and clarifying what the problem is. The Prospectus also should try to make clear how the candidate intends to address that problem. It is not sufficient for the Prospectus to indicate that certain claims will be defended or attacked; it must be made clear how the candidate proposes to establish these claims or to illuminate them. To this end, a synopsis of each chapter is needed together with an indication of how the chapters are linked, why one chapters leads into another. A Prospectus should not be overly long, somewhere from seven to ten pages, not including the bibliography.

Prospectus Bibliography: Not only is the dissertation expected to be an original piece of work, something that would be reflected in what it has to say about the problem it addresses, but it is also expected to demonstrate the candidate’s familiarity with the relevant literature and his or her competence in providing critical readings of this literature. The candidate is expected to know the more influential and important writings on the problem the thesis is to address, and the Prospectus should reflect the fact that the candidate has plans to acquire that knowledge. To this end, the candidate should provide an extensive Bibliography appended to the end of the Prospectus.

Dissertation

All candidates must submit a dissertation based on independent and original research. The dissertation must contribute significantly to knowledge, show a mastery of the literature of the subject, be written in acceptable literary style, and conform to the standards outlined in the University of Oregon Style and Policy Manual for Theses and Dissertations . Preparation of the dissertation usually requires the greater part of one or two academic years.

Defense of Dissertation: A formal, public defense must take place at the University of Oregon at a date set by the committee chair and approved by the Graduate School. Tentative approval of the dissertation by the committee is recommended prior to formal defense. This evaluation is based on copies of the final manuscript, which the candidate provides for the dissertation committee at least seven weeks before the Dissertation Defense Date, unless all members of the committee approve of an alternative submission date. The dissertation must be approved by the committee as suitable for oral defense at least three weeks before the formal defense. Four copies of the dissertation abstract (350-word maximum) must also be filed with the Graduate School at this time. The time and place of the defense must be publicly noted. The dissertation committee must be present at the defense, and the chair of the committee must certify to the Graduate School within two weeks following the defense that the defense was held as scheduled.

Completion of Dissertation: Within two weeks following the defense of the dissertation but before the dissertation is submitted in duplicate to the Graduate School, each member of the dissertation committee must confirm in writing either approval or disapproval of the final version. Approval requires a unanimous vote.

Scheduling Note: The “Application for Final Oral Defense” and “Confirmation of Agreement to Attend Final Oral Defense” forms at https://gradweb.uoregon.edu/main/mainStudent.asp must be filed by week 5 of the expected term of graduation and no less than three weeks before the Dissertation Defense date. For additional information, see see http://gradschool.uoregon.edu/policies-procedures/doctoral/defense .

Leaves of Absence

Doctoral students are eligible for a maximum of six academic terms of On-Leave status, regardless of reason, throughout the doctoral degree program. The on-leave request form must be submitted on or before the last day of finals week in the term for which leave is requested: On-Leave Request Form for Doctoral Students (log in to GradWeb first). The request will then be reviewed and approved or denied by the department’s Director of Graduate Studies. If approved, the request will be then be reviewed by the Graduate School. If approved, the student will not register for credits during the approved leave term(s). If not approved, the student must register in order to maintain continuous enrollment ( https://gradschool.uoregon.edu/academics/policies/general/continuous-enrollment ).

The time limit for program completion is not extended for an approved On-Leave request when taken for the following reasons:

  • Family emergencies
  • Independent research

An approved On-Leave request will automatically extend your time limit for program completion by the same number of terms of approved leave (e.g., an approved leave of one term will extend the time limit by one term) only for the following reasons:

  • The student’s serious health/medical condition
  • Parenting needs during the 12 months immediately following a child’s birth or placement in the home

Criteria Used to Assess Satisfactory Progress

The criteria used to assess satisfactory progress toward a graduate degree in Philosophy are detailed above: fulfilling requirements within the time-frame stated above. Deviation from the timeline should be discussed with the Director of Graduate Studies, who will generate and approve an academic plan toward retaining or restoring satisfactory progress and good standing.

  • (1) Maintain a GPA of 3.3 or better (the GPA will be computed for course work meeting the requirements of the graduate degree);
  • (2) at any one time, a student shall have no more than 7 credit hours of incomplete course work;
  • (3) the number of courses taken toward the graduate degree on a P/NP basis shall not exceed 21 credit hours (excluding Thesis, Dissertation, Research and Reading credits).
  • Assessing Satisfactory Progress: The process for evaluating satisfactory progress toward graduate degree is as follows. The Faculty Committee will evaluate all graduate students for satisfactory progress toward degree annually in the spring term. This evaluation will be based on information provided by the Director of Graduate Studies, the Graduate Advisor (student’s thesis or dissertation director) if applicable, and other faculty who have taught or supervised the student.
  • Failure to make satisfactory progress toward the graduate degree: Failure to make satisfactory progress toward the graduate degree jeopardizes the Graduate Employee position and places a block on future registration. Procedure to remedy will be implemented upon discussion between the student, the Graduate Advisor (if applicable), and the Director of Graduate Studies. Upon regaining satisfactory progress status, the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with the student’s Graduate Advisor (student’s thesis or dissertation director if applicable) will provide a written statement of recommendation about strength of work already completed and of support for the student’s new timetable for advancement and completion. Failure to remedy will result in disqualification from the department’s degree program.

The Graduate School has additional requirements for satisfactory and unsatisfactory progress .

Graduate School Requirements

In addition to specific Philosophy Department requirements, doctoral candidates must satisfy all Graduate School requirements, as specified in the Graduate Catalog and on their website. Students need to take particular notice of the Graduate School residency requirement:

For the PhD degree the student must complete the equivalent of at least 81 quarter credits of graduate-level work over the course of at least three years. At least one academic year–the residency year–must be spent in residence at the University of Oregon after the student has been classified as a conditionally or an unconditionally admitted student in a doctoral program.

During this year of residency the student is expected to make progress toward the degree by completing course credits and satisfying doctoral degree requirements. The residency year consists of three consecutive terms of full-time study, with a minimum of 9 completed graduate credits a term in the student’s major.

A doctoral candidate may fulfill the residency requirement during the period in which he or she works toward a master’s degree at the University of Oregon as long as the student has been officially awarded the master’s degree, the doctoral degree program immediately follows the master’s degree program, and both the master’s degree and the doctoral degree are in the same discipline.

Students working toward a PhD or professional doctorate must register for a minimum of 18 credits in Dissertation (( PHIL 603 ). Credit for Dissertation is recorded P/N (pass/no pass).

philosophy phd requirements

  • Guide to Applying for Graduate School

The process of preparing for and applying to a PhD program can be overwhelming. The University of Pennsylvania has created this webpage to help prospective PhD students think through the process so you can put together a strong application.

A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the highest degree one may obtain within a particular field of study. This ranges from studies in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields; Social Science fields such as Education, Economics, Political Science, and Sociology; as well as Humanities fields such as English, History, Music, Philosophy, and more. The PhD degree aims to prepare people to think critically, develop research, and produce scholarship that may be used for further research or implementation. The PhD historically prepared students to take on faculty roles in colleges and universities, and that is still the goal for many students pursuing the PhD. However, today the PhD is a sought-after degree in many other industries including pharmaceutical research, arts organizations and other nonprofits, publishing, government policy, big tech, finance, and more.

  • Who can apply to a PhD program?  PhD education is available to people from various educational, occupational, socioeconomic, and demographic backgrounds.
  • Who should get a PhD?  People interested in uncovering new ideas, solutions, processes, etc. within a specific area of study through conducting independent research.
  • Why is it important for diverse candidates to become PhD holders?  Our world thrives on heterogeneous ideas and experiences, which is why it is indispensable to include students with diverse perspectives in our PhD programs. These students will generate important and original research.

Most PhD programs are fully funded, meaning that for a specific number of years, the program will pay for your tuition and fees and health insurance, as well as provide you with a stipend for living expenses. The structure of this funding varies by field. Below is an outline of general funding information as well as trends according to field of study.

  • Funding packages provided by educational institution.
  • Funding packages provided through faculty research grants: Many STEM fields fund students through research grants awarded to faculty. In these cases, students perform research alongside the faculty. 
  • Teaching Assistantships or Research Assistantships: Part-time service that provides teaching and research training opportunities within your area of study.
  • Fellowships: Internal or external merit-based funding. Some fellowships require an application while others are given via nomination. Educational institutions typically have a resource listing fellowship opportunities. Winning a competitive fellowship looks good on your resume.
  • Grants: Requires an application with supporting materials of either your grades, scholarly work, and/or anticipated research. These are available through internal and external means. Grants greatly vary so be sure to always understand the requirements. Educational institutions typically have a resource listing grant opportunities. Winning a competitive grant looks good on your resume.
  • Employment: For example, serving as a residential advisor, on-campus jobs, etc. Some PhD programs restrict additional employment, so be sure to check before applying for jobs.
  • The funding opportunities described here often can be combined.

Choosing a school or program that provides the most potential funding may be a challenging decision. The value of the same amount of funding will differ depending on the cost of living in different geographic locations. Admitted applicants should investigate cost-of-living tools (available on the web) and be sure to understand how their funding will be structured. Ask questions when you are admitted, such as: 

  • Could you share more about your program’s funding mechanism?
  • For how long is funding guaranteed? How does that compare to the average time-to-completion? Historically, what percentage of students have received funding beyond the guaranteed funding package?
  • Does funding cover tuition, fees, books, etc.?
  • Does the funding rely on teaching, research, or other service? How much and for how long? 

Choosing a program for your studies is a personal decision that should reflect not only your research interests, but your work style, and interests outside of the classroom. Here we have identified five key tips to consider when selecting schools. 

  • Ask about which programs are strong in your area of interest, which have high completion rates, which have career outcomes that align with your goals, etc. 
  • Conduct a general internet search with terms related to your research interest.
  • Determine your geographic and personal preferences. Does the area meet your community needs? Is it important that the university aligns with your sociopolitical values? Do you prefer a large city or a smaller/college town? Is there a particular region(s) that has better access to resources needed to conduct your research?
  • Access your current or former university career center. These services are often still available for former students!
  • As you narrow your choices, try to identify at least 3 faculty in the programs of interest with whom you’d like to study. Also note how many of them have tenure. If relevant, research which of those faculty are taking on advisees in your year of matriculation.
  • Read articles from faculty with similar research interests.
  • Note the number of awards, publications, and service activities of faculty.
  • Identify research opportunities funded by both your program and university at large.
  • Connect with current and former students in the program for informational interviews.
  • Connect with campus Diversity Offices.
  • Whenever possible, before submitting your applications, make an appointment to visit the campuses and department(s) that interest you.
  • Use  LinkedIn  to see what graduates of your program are doing and how they are involved in their communities.
  • Estimate your feasible cost of living by geographic location and compare to the funding package offered.
  • Consider availability of health insurance, childcare, housing, transportation, and other fringe benefits.
  • Connect with a local bank or your prospective university’s financial services office for budgeting, savings, and other financial wellness advice.
  • Your First Year in a Ph.D. Program
  • What Does Academic Success Mean and How to Achieve it?  (STEM)
  • Pathways to Science  (STEM)
  • 7 Advantages PhDs Have Over Other Job Candidates  (Industry)
  • During your undergraduate/master’s education, you should pursue coursework and/or research that will prepare you for the higher expectations of a PhD program; for example, taking a research methods course, pursuing a summer research experience, or conducting research with a professor at your home institution.
  • Identify instructors who could write a letter of recommendation. Ask them to write letters even if you do not intend to apply to PhD programs immediately. Their letter will be stronger if they draft it while their memory of you is fresh.
  • Experiences outside of higher education can also strengthen your PhD application. These may range from project management to volunteer work.
  • Develop soft or hard skills. A soft skill that is most useful from the first day of your PhD program is networking. This is necessary not only for meeting other students but also to find collaborators with similar research interests and selecting faculty for your dissertation committee. Learning how to negotiate will also serve you well when approaching collaborative projects. Hard skills related to your field might include learning statistical analysis software, economic theory, a foreign language, or search engine optimization. In short, identify a few soft and hard skills that you can familiarize yourself with prior to your program’s start date.
  • Finally, prepare by identifying leading researchers and practitioners in your field, exploring peer-reviewed literature and/or publications, and gain familiarity with research methods.
  • Be sure to address all the specific questions/topics in the personal statement prompt. 
  • Clearly state why you want to pursue a PhD.
  • Propose your research interest.
  • Identify the faculty you’d like to study under. 
  • Discuss the unique qualities/experiences you offer to the program/school.
  • Outline what you hope to do with your degree.
  • Ask for recommendation letters early in the process, at least 2-4 weeks before the deadline. A good letter takes time to write!
  • Provide recommenders with your resume, information about the program, your personal statement and/or information about your research interests and research goals.
  • Consider your current/former instructors, supervisors, colleagues. These should be people who can speak to your work ethic, academic abilities, and research interests.
  • Test scores (i.e. TOFEL, GRE, GMAT, etc.) may or may not be required.
  • All transcripts including those for coursework completed abroad and transfer credits. Some programs require official transcripts, which take longer to procure.
  • Writing sample (field dependent): Include a graduate-level sample and update any statements, statistics, etc. as needed. It is highly encouraged that you edit your previous work.
  • Diversity statement: Many institutions offer an optional short statement where students can expand on their diverse backgrounds and experiences that may contribute to the diversity interests/efforts of the school.
  • Typically, PhD applications are due 10-12 months in advance of the program’s start date (i.e. apply in November to start the following September). A good rule of thumb is to begin your application process 6 months before the deadline. 
  • The availability of reduced application fees or fee waivers varies and sometimes depends on financial status and/or experiences (AmeriCorps, National Society of Black Engineers, attending certain conferences, etc.). If you are interested in a reduced fee or waiver, reach out to the program coordinator for details.
  • Dress professionally, even if the interview is virtual. You don’t necessarily need to wear a suit but dress pants/skirt and a blouse/button down shirt would be appropriate.  
  • Develop an engaging elevator pitch, a 30-60 second summary, of your research interests and what you hope to gain by becoming a student at that particular university. Practice your pitch with friends and ask for honest feedback.
  • Prepare 2-3 questions to ask during the interview. These could include questions about program expectations, the experience and success of their PhD students, and (academic/financial/mental health) support for PhD students.
  • Some interview programs will include multiple activities including a social event. Be sure to maintain a professional attitude: do not drink too much and keep conversation on academic/professional topics.
  • This is also your opportunity to decide whether this campus is a good fit for you.
  • Academia Insider  is a good resource. 

Unlike undergraduate and master’s level education, coursework is just one component of the degree. A PhD comes with additional expectations: you must independently conduct scholarly research in your field of study, train in specific activities such as teaching or lab/field research, pass “milestone” requirements along the way, such as comprehensive exams, and complete the process by writing a dissertation. Furthermore, some fields require you to write multiple articles (number varies by field/program) for conference presentation and/or peer-reviewed publication.

There are other important elements as well:

  • Student/Advisor relationship. This is one of the most valuable relationships you can have as a PhD student. Your faculty advisor not only assists you with learning how to approach your research topic, but also typically serves as the lead supervisor of your dissertation research and writing, and ideally mentors you throughout the PhD experience. The selection process of choosing your advisor varies so be sure to know what is expected of you as a student and what is expected of the faculty member. Whenever possible, it is important to align your personality and work style with that of your faculty advisor. Many universities publish expectations for the PhD student/faculty advisor relationship;  AMP’ed  is Penn’s guide.
  • Other relationships: Your faculty advisor is far from the only important person during your PhD career. Other faculty members will also serve on your dissertation committee and be potential mentors. Other students in your program can also provide good advice and guidance along the way.
  • Coursework: Most programs have a number of required courses all students must take regardless of research interests. Once you have finished this requirement, the classes you choose should closely align with your research topic. Choose courses that will help you learn more about your dissertation topic and research methods. It is a good idea to discuss elective course selection with your advisor. 
  • The dissertation is a large-scale, written document that explores a narrow research topic of your choice. It is the final step before receiving your degree and must be presented and “defended” to your dissertation committee (made up of faculty members) for approval. Defending means that you have to answer in-depth questions about your topic. While this might sound daunting, the dissertation is simply a demonstration of all the knowledge and expertise you have acquired through your PhD education. 
  • Networking comes in many forms and includes connections with your fellow classmates, faculty members, and scholarly community. Formal networking events typically take place at academic conferences, where scholars and students present research. Increasing your academic circle will not only allow you to have study buddies, but offer you the opportunity to collaborate on articles or even gain employment. Your school’s career center can provide best practices for effective networking. 

Explore  graduate programs at the University of Pennsylvania  and click on the programs that interest you to learn more about admissions and academic requirements.

Upcoming Penn recruitment events include:

  • Fontaine Fellows Recruitment Dinner (by invitation only): Friday, March 22, 2024
  • IDDEAS@Wharton  (Introduction to Diversity in Doctoral Education and Scholarship): April 18-19, 2024. Deadline to apply is January 31.
  • DEEPenn STEM  (Diversity Equity Engagement at Penn in STEM): October 11-13, 2024. Application opens in March 2024.
  • DivE In Weekend  (Diversity & Equity Initiative for Mind Research): Fall 2024

National conferences to explore:

  • The Leadership Alliance  supports students into research careers
  • McNair Scholar Conferences
  • SACNAS , the largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity event in the U.S.
  • ABRCMS , the annual biomedical research conference for minoritized scientists
  • The PhD Project  for students interested in business PhD programs

Ph.D. Program Requirements

The Doctor of Philosophy program at the College of Education prepares students for careers of research or scholarly inquiry and teaching at the college/university level. The program consists of: (1) continuous research and faculty discussion inquiry, (2) courses in education and related fields designed to develop a comprehensive academic basis for future work in research and teaching, and (3) teaching and other related experiences tailored to individual needs and career goals.

Table of Contents

  • Enrolling in First & Second Year Courses
  • Research & Teacher Preparation
  • Advancing to Prospective Candidacy 
  • Forming a Supervisory Committee
  • Research and Inquiry Conference
  • Eligibility
  • General Exams
  • Completing the Oral General Exam
  • Dissertation Credits
  • Preparing the Dissertation Proposal
  • Forming the Reading Committee
  • Conforming to Stylistic Standards
  • Completing the Final Exam (Dissertation Defense)
  • Submitting Your Dissertation to the Graduate School
  • Maximum Allowable Time

1) Enrolling in First & Second Year Courses

Upon admission to the Ph.D. program, you are designated "Post-Master's," meaning that you have been assigned to an adviser, but do not yet have a doctoral Supervisory Committee. The goal of the post-master's phase is to arrange research/inquiry experiences and coursework that will qualify you for Prospective Candidacy. You are assigned a first-year adviser whose research and scholarly activities are in your field of intended specialization. During the first year of study, your adviser will be a central figure, helping you plan academic life.

Working with your adviser, you will: (1) identify a research topic and secure ways and means for participating in the selected project, (2) select first-year courses, and (3) prepare documentation for advancement to Prospective Candidacy. Although the role of faculty advisers is designed to assist you in completing the Ph.D. degree, it is your responsibility to follow all procedures of the Graduate School and College of Education.

In the College of Education's LSHD program, post-bachelor's students may be admitted to work toward a Ph.D. without formally completing a master’s degree program. Post-bachelor's applicants to the Ph.D. track are expected to have research experience and/or research potential, as well as research interests that align with faculty expertise. Post-bachelor's students in the LSHD Ph.D. program may choose to complete an M.Ed. along the way.  Those who would like to complete their M.Ed. along the way must meet the minimum 45 credit Graduate School requirements for the LSHD M.Ed. program. The 45 credits include a minimum of 21 credits in EDPSY coursework, 18 minimum numerically graded credits at the 400 or 500 level, and 18 minimum credits at the 500 level or above.  

If you are a post-bachelor's student working within the prospective Ph.D. track and plan to obtain your M.Ed. along the way in LSHD, you will complete a qualifying paper no later than the quarter in which you complete 45 credits. The qualifying paper is designed to be the equivalent of a master’s final exam or thesis in quality, and must be evaluated by two members of the graduate faculty. This paper must be separate from your R&I paper.

2) Research & Teacher Preparation

A number of useful methods exist for inquiry into educational problems and issues. You will need to develop an appreciation for the diversity of options available. Initial preparation consists of studying the fundamental differences and similarities among various approaches to inquiry in education through the required Educational Inquiry Seminar Series (EDLPS 525 and 526; see the General Catalog for course details). Please note that these courses are sequential; EDLPS 525 is the prerequisite for EDLPS 526. You should complete this sequence as early in the program as possible, preferably in your first year.

Additionally, you will be required to complete a minimum of four additional 500-level courses (combined total of no less than 12 credits) relating to methods of educational inquiry; in these four courses, you must earn a grade of at least 3.0 (or written verification that you would have received a 3.0 in courses that are offered C/NC). You are strongly encouraged to select coursework representing at least two broad approaches to inquiry (quantitative, qualitative, philosophical, historical, etc.) offered both inside and outside the College of Education. The final selection of appropriate courses will be made with the advice and consent of your adviser. The required Inquiry series must be completed prior to your advancement to Prospective Candidacy; two of the four additional research courses must be completed prior to your Research and Inquiry Presentation.

Each Supervisory Committee will design experiences to promote excellence for students who will seek teaching positions. The nature of these experiences will vary according to your prior experience. Some students come to programs in education with substantial experience as teachers, and for them, fewer graduate school experiences may be required.

For some students, the annual Research and Inquiry Presentation will be enough to polish their instructional skills and to demonstrate mastery of instructional approaches. Other students may need to serve as teaching assistants, either formally or informally. Your Supervisory Committee will see that you have appropriate, supervised experience as needed to promote effective teaching skills.

The advancement to Prospective Candidacy process--including the materials and discussions involved in it--is an opportunity for students, advisers, and the broader faculty to evaluate the student’s progress up to that point and to plan for future course taking, committee member selection, and dissertation interests.

You may be considered for advancement to Prospective Candidacy after completing 24 credits of study, including the Inquiry Seminar Series if required (EDLPS 525 and 526) and a minimum of nine credits within your chosen field(s) of study.  Individual programs may require additional coursework, and your adviser will inform you of any additional requirements early in your first quarter of study.  

Once you meet the minimum requirements, your adviser will help you prepare documents for presentation to the faculty. Those documents include (1) a course of study form (including grades received in each course), and (2) a revised goal statement.  You will revisit and revise the goal statement you wrote when you applied for your program to reflect your current thinking and goals.  Your adviser may require other materials, such as a curriculum vita or a paper from a course.  Check with your adviser to see if additional materials are necessary.  Together, the student and the adviser are required to meet to discuss the materials and to make any appropriate changes before the adviser presents the student’s case to the larger faculty for consideration.  Advancement to Prospective Candidacy needs to be completed before you can do your R&I.

The faculty in your program will review your work, judge the adequacy of your progress, offer suggestions about future course taking, and make a recommendation on Advancement to Prospective Candidacy to the Graduate Program Coordinator (the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs).  While we encourage as much faculty input as possible, a minimum of one faculty member besides your advisor will take part in this review. Advisers are then required to meet with the student to provide a summary of the collective input gathered from the larger program faculty meeting. 

Once you have advanced, you should initiate the  Prospective Candidacy Form  to notify the Office of Student Services about completing this milestone.

A summary of the process is below: 1. Meet minimum requirements for advancing to prospective candidacy. 2. Prepare course of study, revised goal statement, and whatever materials your advisor or program requires. 3. Meet with advisor to go over documents and revise as needed. 4. Advisor meets with program faculty and presents the student’s case for consideration. 5. Faculty in program review work, judge adequacy of progress, offer feedback, and make recommendation on advancement. 6. Advisor meets with student to give feedback and decision of the faculty. 7. Student initiates the  Prospective Candidacy Form  online. Once signed by the faculty advior, the completed form is then automatically submitted to the Office of Student Services.

Probationary language: If, after reviewing the student’s case, the program faculty decides that the student will not be Advanced to Prospective Candidacy, the student will be warned or placed on probationary status per the Graduate School's policy on Unsatisfactory Performance and Progress. At that time, the advisor must call a meeting with the student, one other faculty member, and the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs.  This group may require additional materials (i.e. course papers), and the student may offer additional materials as well.  The meeting should take place no later than the second week of the following academic quarter.  At this meeting, the faculty members and student will discuss what is necessary to lift probationary status. Examples might include: improving grades, revising the goal statement further, and requiring certain courses. 

4) Forming a Supervisory Committee

Once you have been advanced to Prospective Candidacy, you should direct your attention to forming a Supervisory Committee. In concert with your adviser, you should explore which members of the graduate faculty would be willing to serve on your Supervisory Committee. Each member of a Supervisory Committee will devote substantial time to working with you and should formally indicate willingness to serve. The chairperson of the Supervisory Committee, who must be a graduate faculty member from the College of Education, should express the willingness and availability to supervise a dissertation, since this is normally the most time-consuming responsibility.

Supervisory Committees will be formed in accordance with Graduate School policy

  • A minimum of four voting faculty (at least three with graduate faculty appointments) must represent, respectively, your (a) specialization within their broad areas of study, (b) first cognate, (c) second cognate, and (d) specialization outside of the College of Education (definitions of broad area, specializations, and cognates can be found ( here ).
  • No more than two voting faculty from your broad area may be on the committee.
  • An additional graduate faculty member, the Graduate School Representative (GSR), must also serve on the committee. GSRs must be members of the graduate faculty with an endorsement to chair doctoral committees, and must have no conflict of interest (such as budgetary relationships or adjunct appointments) with the College of Education. Members of Supervisory Committees representing students’ specializations outside of the College of Education may also serve as GSRs, provided they are qualified to serve in both roles.

Once you have identified appropriate graduate faculty who are willing to serve, their names should be submitted to the Office of Student Services using the Committee Formation Request Form .  Your faculty adviser must approve the form to indicate their approval.

NOTE: The Graduate School requires each doctoral student who is forming a committee for the first time to submit a Use of Animal and Human Subjects Form to the Office of Student Services.

You should form a Supervisory Committee no later than the quarter prior to your General Exam. It is not imperative that the Supervisory Committee be formed before your Research and Inquiry Presentation. It is necessary, however, for you to have arranged for a group of faculty to evaluate your Research and Inquiry work.

The next task is to meet with your Supervisory Committee to develop a research program for the Research and Inquiry Presentation and to plan a course of study in preparation for the General Exam. Between Supervisory Committee meetings, your chairperson is responsible for serving as your adviser.

The Supervisory Committee may recommend against continuation in the program if your progress toward the degree is unsatisfactory. This may include, but is not limited to, an excessive number of course withdrawals or incompletes, a grade point average of less than 3.0, unsatisfactory performance in field placements, or unsatisfactory performance on the General Exam.

5) Completing the Research & Inquiry Presentation

Research preparation is the foundation of the Ph.D. program, as research will play a paramount role in students’ professional careers. Training to be an effective researcher requires (a) concentrated focus to learn the various methods of inquiry and practice, and (b) employment of these methods in various research projects while pursuing your degree. You will begin research activities during the first year of the program, and will continue to develop skills by conducting various research projects, culminating with a dissertation. The Research and Inquiry milestone consists of two major components: A major product of your research preparation effort is the R&I paper and presenting at the Research and Inquiry Conference annually during autumn quarter.

The purposes of R&I are to:

  • Immerse you in issues of content and method directly pertinent to your chosen specialization.
  • Provide you with practical experience in the use of methods and the application of content learned in coursework.
  • Convey aspects of substance and method that characterize the topic studied, but are not taught in general method or content courses.
  • Afford an opportunity for you to present research to a professional audience and for the audience to learn about the research.

The design, implementation, and presentation of the R&I research shall be under the supervision of your chair and at least two additional faculty members or your Supervisory Committee. At least three faculty members must approve a thoroughly developed research papers prior to taking the General Exam.

In general, your R&I paper should hold substantial promise of contributing to preparation for a dissertation, and at its inception should have a good chance of being publishable in a juried journal. At each meeting, members of the Supervisory Committee will reassess the extent to which your R&I activities are contributing to stated goals, and will provide advice in accordance with their assessment. Between committee meetings, the chairperson will assume primary responsibility for advising and assisting you with preparation of your R&I plan.

After successful completion of the written portion, Students will be required to present at the annual CoE R&I Conference held in autumn quarter. 

5.1) Research and Inquiry Conference

The R&I Conference is a half-day event where students will present their research in two types of session formats. All formats provide a means for grouping related papers into sessions, with different opportunities for moderators and audience participation. Students, with the approval of their advisor, determine which format is optimal for future preparation. Successful participation of in the Research ad Inquiry Conference is required prior to defending a dissertation.

The purposes for R&I conference:

  • To mentor student research experience.
  • To support professional practices toward becoming part of a community of scholars.
  • To build community in the College

Session format options: 

Panel presentations  typically group together 2-5 student presenters with similar topics for a shared presentation and discussion opportunity. Each student will present an abbreviated version of her/his R&I paper, followed by summarizing comments from the moderator and then facilitated audience discussion and questions. A typical structure for a session allows approximately 5 minutes for the moderator’s introduction to the session, 10 minutes per presenter, another 5 minutes for moderator comments and summary, and finally 15 minutes for audience discussion. Individual presenters must be attentive to the time allocation for presenting their work in paper sessions.

Structured poster sessions  combine the graphic display of materials with the opportunity for individualized, formal discussion of the research. Depending on how many individuals plan to participate and how many intellectual areas will be presented, there could be anywhere from 1- 4 individuals in a 60 minute session. These sessions begin with attendees viewing poster presentations, then move into brief oral presentations to the audience gathered as a group, followed by direct discussion with poster presenters. Posters are linked conceptually in terms of education research issues, problems, settings, methods, analytic questions, or themes. 

5.2) Eligibility

To be eligible to participate in the R&I Presentations, you must meet the following requirements:

1.  You must be registered as a graduate student at the University of Washington during the quarter of the R&I Presentation. 2.  You must have completed the following research course requirements: six credits of the Inquiry series (EDLPS 525 and 526), plus two additional research methodology courses at the 500-level.   3.  You must have been advanced to Prospective Candidate status through your academic area.

4.  You must have identified a group of faculty who have agreed to evaluate your R&I work. In some cases, this group will be your Supervisory Committee; it is not imperative, however, that you formally establish your Supervisory Committee before R&I. As an alternative, a group of three faculty members can agree to evaluate your R&I work. 

5.  Some papers might require might need Human Subjects Form approval. If you and your advisor have determined you need this, you must have a Human Subjects Form approved prior to starting the research if the investigation is conducted with human subjects. See Louise Clauss in 115J Miller hall if you have questions regarding Human Subjects applications.

6.  The final copy should be submitted to the faculty evaluators and the Office of Student Services with the approval of three faculty members (or instructors). Instructions on completing the R&I submission process can be found on the Graduate Student Forms page . Please keep in mind that the faculty members have other time constraints. It is to your benefit to submit your research paper for evaluation as early as possible.

6) General Exams

When both you and your Supervisory Committee concur that you are prepared and have completed all course requirements (except the dissertation) — including the completion at least 60 credit hours of coursework, per Graduate School requirements (or 30 hours if you already completed a master’s degree that will be less than 10 years old at the time of graduation from the UW) — your Course of Study and research activities will be evaluated through Written and Oral Exams conducted by the Supervisory Committee.

The General Exam is given in two parts. The first part is written and examines content area in your broad area, specialty areas, and cognates. Upon satisfactory completion of the written portion of the General Exam, the oral portion may be scheduled. During the Oral Exam, members of the graduate faculty may ask any questions they choose. By majority vote, the Supervisory Committee will rule on whether you pass.

7) Completing the Oral General Exam

You are responsible for scheduling the oral portion of the General Exam (locating an adequate room, determining a date and time that is acceptable to all members of the Supervisory Committee, etc.), as well as submitting a Request for General Exam to the Graduate School. You should submit the request after forming your Supervisory Committee (see above) and at least three weeks prior to the date of the General Exam by using the Graduate School’s online process. During the Oral Exam, members of the graduate faculty may ask any questions they choose. By majority vote, the Supervisory Committee will rule on whether you pass. Once you have passed, the Office of Student Services will convey the exam results to the Graduate School. This will result in Candidacy being awarded at the end of the quarter in which you pass your Oral Exam.

8) Candidacy

After successfully completing the General Exams, you enter the Candidacy stage of your program. The main tasks of this phase include preparing a dissertation proposal, completing dissertation research, writing the dissertation, and conducting your final defense.

9) Dissertation Credits

When you and your adviser determine that you are completing dissertation-related work, you may register for dissertation credits (EDUC 800).   The Graduate School requires a minimum of 27 dissertation credits for degree completion, and these credits must be taken over a minimum of three quarters. 

10) Preparing the Dissertation Proposal

Upon successful completion of the oral portion of the General Exam, you and your Supervisory Committee will shift attention to the dissertation proposal. The purpose of the dissertation proposal is to provide you with constructive criticism from the entire Supervisory Committee prior to the execution of your dissertation research. The written dissertation proposal should be approved unanimously by the Supervisory Committee members; approval will be indicated by completing the Dissertation Proposal Form . Approval does not guarantee that the Supervisory Committee will approve the dissertation at the Final Oral Exam, but it does guarantee that the committee may not later disapprove the dissertation on the grounds that the research was poorly conceived. The approved proposal becomes the working paper for conducting your dissertation research.

Once the proposal receives Supervisory Committee approval, you will likely need to submit an application for review and approval by the Human Subjects Division. On its website, the College of Education has summarized some of the most important aspects of the Human Subjects Review Process . You should also consult the website of the UW’s Human Subjects Division .

For additional information about the process, the type of review suitable for a given project, application forms, and general assistance, contact Louise Clauss at [email protected] or 206-616-8291.

11) Forming the Reading Committee

The Reading Committee will be composed of a minimum of 3 members of your Supervisory Committee members, including the chairperson. It is also advisable to include a member who is knowledgeable in the chosen research methodology. The Reading Committee will read and review your dissertation in detail and make a recommendation to the larger Supervisory Committee about readiness to schedule the Final Exam. Once you identify appropriate graduate faculty who are willing to serve on the Reading Committee, their names should be submitted to the Office of Student Services using the Committee Formation Request Form on the Graduate Student Forms page .

12) Conforming to Stylistic Standards

It is your responsibility to ensure that your dissertation meets current Graduate School formatting requirements. You may find information about these requirements on the Graduate School Dissertation page .

13) Completing the Final Exam (Dissertation Defense)

You are expected to pass the Final Exam. The final defense of the dissertation is intended as an opportunity for all involved to celebrate the good results of their work during your career in the College of Education.

You should schedule the Final Exam after submitting your dissertation to the Supervisory Committee. You are responsible for scheduling the Final Exam (locating an adequate room, determining a date and time that is acceptable to all members of the Supervisory Committee, etc.), as well as submitting a Request for Final Exam to the Graduate School. You should submit the request after forming the Reading Committee and at least three weeks prior to the date of the Final Exam by using the Graduate School’s online process. You should also note that you must be enrolled for credit hours during the quarter of the Final Exam. If your Final Exam occurs during a period between academic quarters, then the Final Exam will be considered to have taken place the following quarter, and you must register for that quarter.

The Final Exam will cover your dissertation and related topics, and it may also cover other areas deemed appropriate by the Supervisory Committee. While the committee alone votes on acceptance of the dissertation, any member of the graduate faculty may participate in the Final Exam.

14) Submitting Your Dissertation to the Graduate School

Once you pass the Final Exam and complete any revisions requested by the Supervisory Committee, the remaining step is to submit your dissertation to the Graduate School.

In preparation for submitting your dissertation, you should keep the following Graduate School policies in mind:

  • If you wish to submit your dissertation in the same quarter as your Final Exam, make note of the submission deadlines established by the Graduate School.
  • You may submit your dissertation up to two weeks after the end of a quarter without having to register for the following quarter by using the Registration Waiver Fee . The Registration Waiver Fee option is available to a student who has completed all other degree requirements except submission of the dissertation. You will then be permitted to graduate the following quarter by paying a $250 fee in lieu of registering for credit hours.
  • Submission of the dissertation is done electronically and involves several steps. You should carefully review the degree completion information  available from the Graduate School. All Reading Committee members must approve the dissertation online and you must also complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates .

Specific questions about the electronic submission of dissertations should be directed to Graduate Enrollment Management Services (GEMS) at 206-685-2630.

15) Maximum Allowable Time

In planning your program of study and timeline, keep in mind that all requirements for the Ph.D. must be completed within a 10-year time limit.

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Graduate PhD Requirements

Category A: Logic . PHIL 641, its equivalent, or a higher level logic course

Category B: History of Philosophy . Students are required to take TWO courses from the History of Philosophy. Courses that fulfill this requirement are:

PHIL 611, Ancient Philosophy PHIL 614, Medieval PHIL 616, Modern Philosophy PHIL 620, Contemporary Philosophy (through 19th century) PHIL 623, American Philosophy PHIL 661, Seminar in History of Philosophy (through 19th century) PHIL 682, Philosophical Authors (when author is figure before 20th Century)

Contemporary Traditions

ONE course from each of the following categories:

These areas don’t have a fixed list of courses. Each semester, professors teaching graduate courses other than the ones mentioned above will decide which of the following areas their course will fulfill.

Category C: Analytic Philosophy: Metaphysics and Epistemology.  This area encompasses work within the analytic and related traditions on metaphysics, epistemology, and similar topics. This should be read broadly to include topics like philosophy of science, language, or mind as well as others.

Category D: Analytic Philosophy: Value Theory.  This area includes courses whose principal focus is work in ethics (theoretical or applied), social and political philosophy, and aesthetics that is done within the analytic and related philosophical traditions.

Category E: Continental Philosophy.  Courses in this area focus principally on 20th Century European thought, and may include such themes as phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, deconstruction, post-structuralism, or critical theory.

Category F: New Perspectives on the Canon or non-European Philosophy.  Courses in this area may focus on critical perspectives on traditional approaches to philosophy or examine philosophical traditions and authors that have traditionally not been represented in Analytic or Continental thought. Themes for these courses may include critical race theory, post-colonialism, black existentialism, Feminism Thought, and Latin American philosophy.

Restrictions: Only 6 hours of 685s may be used toward Electives; 685s may not be used for Area Requirements. Students wishing to take 685s or courses in other departments may do so under the auspices of the ‘Other’ category of credits.

Logic                                           3 hrs Area Requirements                18 hrs Teaching Practicum               1 hr Electives                                   15 hrs Supporting MA                30-36 hrs Research                                  15 hrs

Total                               96 if earning MA at TAMU 64 if entering with MA

SUPPORTING DEGREE

  • A thesis option master’s at Texas A&M requires 30 credit hours and non-thesis option requires 36 credit hours.
  • The supporting degree must be in a field other than philosophy, and must supplement the student’s research and teaching interests in philosophy.
  • All supporting degrees must be approved by the department’s Graduate Program Advisory Council (GPAC), which must also approve the use of a master’s degree earned at another university.

EARLY MODERN STUDIES OPTION

  • The Early Modern Studies option requires 24-27 hours of approved non-philosophy graduate courses, of which no more than four courses (12 hours) are in the same academic department.
  • Students must complete a publishable-quality piece of original work (as determined by their interdisciplinary committee of advisors) that incorporates aspects of their interdisciplinary studies. Students may take 3 hours of research in order to complete this requirement.
  • All Early Modern studies plans must be approved by the department’s Graduate Program Advisory Council (GPAC).

DISSERTATION RESEARCH

Students writing their dissertation will normally complete a total of 24 hours of PHIL 691, Research.

ADVANCED EXERCISES

Ph.D. students are also required to complete at least two advanced exercises assigned by their Advisory Committees. Committees will design these exercises, in consultation with the student, in order to best serve that student’s professional development. Examples of possible advanced exercises include written and/or oral exams based on reading lists, the submission of an article-length essay to a group of faculty who will judge whether it is of publishable quality, additional coursework in philosophy or another field, or a study abroad experience.

DISSERTATION & PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

  • Students must complete and successfully defend a doctoral dissertation demonstrating the ability to make original contributions to a recognized area of philosophical research. The process of completing a dissertation begins with the formation of an Advisory Committee, composed of at least four members of the graduate faculty. A majority of the Committee, including the chair, must be a member of the Philosophy Department, and at least one member must be from some other department.
  • The Advisory committee is responsible for administering a written and oral preliminary examination of the student on the area in which the student’s dissertation proposal has been written, approval of the proposal itself, and conducting the student’s final oral defense of the dissertation.

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT

There is no departmental language requirement for the Ph.D.. The student’s Advisory Committee will determine what language requirement, if any, is appropriate for the dissertation project the student wishes to undertake.

FINAL EXAMINATION

Satisfactory completion of an oral defense of the dissertation is the final step required for the Ph.D. degree. This examination must be scheduled in advance with the Office of Graduate Studies, and may be held only after the dissertation is in substantially final form, and all members of the student’s Advisory Committee have had sufficient time to review it.

CREDIT FOR WORK DONE AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS

  • University regulations permit students to receive credit toward the PhD for courses taken at other institutions, provided those courses were not used as credit for another degree. Whether such credit may be counted as part of a student’s degree plan will be determined by the student’s Ph.D. Committee, subject to approval by the Department of Philosophy Graduate Program Advisory Committee and the Office of Graduate Studies.
  • Students who already have a Masters degree in Philosophy from another institution may petition the Graduate Program Advisory Committee to allow some of these courses to count towards area requirements in the Texas A&M Philosophy Ph.D.
  • The minimum hours required for a Ph.D. at Texas A&M is reduced to 64 for students already holding a master’s degree, so a student entering with the supporting master’s degree in hand can expect to finish up to two years earlier.

Review the  Graduate Student Handbook  (LINKED TO STUDENT RESOURCES) for additional policies governing the graduate programs.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

The Doctor of Philosophy program in the College of Education prepares students for careers in research or scholarly inquiry and teaching at the college level. The program consists of: (1) continuous research, (2) courses in education and related fields designed to develop a comprehensive academic basis for future work in research and teaching, and (3) teaching and other related experiences tailored to individual needs and career goals. Each student works closely with an advisor and a faculty Supervisory Committee to select courses, topics of research and inquiry, and teaching experiences. These three areas will combine to: (1) convey deep scholarly knowledge of education and a specialty outside of education (2) promote a broad understanding of various methods of inquiry in education and develop competency in several of those methods, (3) impart broad knowledge of theory and practice in two supportive cognates, and (4) promote excellence as a college teacher. Our Ph.D. alumni have positions at national research universities, at region and local universities, in community colleges, K-12 school settings, laboratories, foundations, agencies, and private businesses.

Culturally Sustaining Education

Educational policy, organization and leadership, language, literacy and culture, leadership in higher education, learning sciences & human development, measurement and statistics, school psychology (ph.d.), science or math education specialization, social and cultural foundations, special education doctoral, teacher education and teacher learning for justice.

Religious Studies

Doctor of philosophy in religious studies, earn your phd in religious studies.

The doctoral program in the Department of Religious Studies trains students to become advanced practitioners of the study of religion—researchers, scholars, teachers, and facilitators of informed public discourse.

It can prepare a person to become a college professor or to bring a nuanced, critical understanding of religion and its influences to such careers as medicine, nursing, law, diplomacy, ministry, social advocacy, journalism, counseling, and informatics.

It is the expectation that PhD students will complete their studies in six years (five for those who come into the program with an MA and transfer credit).

For additional information on the PhD program, including requirements, see the PhD degree program book .

Gwendolyn Gillson presenting at the American Academy of Religion Conference, Nov 2019

Departmental documents and forms for the PhD

  • PhD program book
  • Mutual expectations
  • Benchmarks and guidelines for PhD success
  • Guidelines for dissertation prospectus  (from Department of Comparative Studies, Ohio State University)
  • Guidelines for the doctoral dissertation  (from The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
  • Graduate College Manual of Rules and Regulations
  • Selection criteria for courses taught by graduate students
  • Bibliographies (under development)
  • Request for change of advisor
  • Planned course schedule
  • Annual progress report  (pre-comp)
  • Annual progress report  (post-comp)
  • Travel request form
  • Request for change of status to the MA (Workflow form)*
  • Early program plan for the PhD in Religious Studies
  • Departmental program of study   (For fourth semester students to pass candidacy)
  • Doctoral plan of study summary form (To be done just prior to comprehensive exams)*
  • Request for/report of the doctoral comprehensive examination*
  • Application for degree  (through MyUI)
  • Graduate College graduation checklist

*Graduate College forms to be completed by departmental administrator and advisor

Create your academic path

You'll find degree overviews, requirements, course lists, academic plans, and more to help you plan your education and explore your possibilities.

Current course list

The MyUI Schedule displays registered courses for a particular session and is available to enrolled students. The list view includes course instructors, time and location, and features to drop courses or change sections.

For specific inquiries about the PhD program , please contact the Director of Graduate Studies:

Portrait of Jenna Supp-Montgomerie

Jenna Supp-Montgomerie

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Join our Postgraduate Open Day - Wednesday 20 March

Global Ethics PhD (On-Campus or by Distance Learning)

Annual tuition fee 2024 entry: UK: £4,778 full-time, £2,389 part-time International: £21,840 full-time; £10,920 part-time (distance learning only) More detail .

  • Visit an Open Day
  • Request a prospectus
  • Course details
  • Entry Requirements
  • Employability

Undertake research in the Department of Philosophy, home to world-leading researchers exploring the foremost ethical issues of our time.

As a postgraduate researcher in the Department, you will benefit from its interdisciplinary approach and diverse range of expertise in justice and development, environment and health, gender justice, and conflict and security. Our researchers cover a variety of topics, from climate change to migration, and our students have very varied backgrounds. Postgraduate researchers will be encouraged to participate in seminars, conferences, and reading groups in the Philosophy department.

Virtual Chat: Postgraduate opportunities in Philosophy - 28 April 2020 11:00-12:00

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Take part in our online chat where Dr Nick Jones will be answering your questions about postgraduate study.

Find out more and register

AHRC funding for PhD students

philosophy phd requirements

The University of Birmingham is part of the Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership (M4C), offering Arts and Humanities Research Council PhD studentships for campus-based programmes. These include a number of Collaborative Doctoral Award opportunities. Each studentship includes research fees, a substantial maintenance grant and additional research training support. Applications are open until 12:00 (noon), 13 January 2021.

Find out more

Postgraduate scholarships available

The College of Arts and Law is offering a range of scholarships for our postgraduate taught and research programmes to ensure that the very best talent is nurtured and supported.

Learn more about our scholarships

You can study in traditional PhD format, or through our PhD by Papers  option. Rather than writing a single book-like thesis examining a single topic, a PhD by Papers gives you the choice of writing a thesis comprising of several separate (though thematically unified) papers, in the style of philosophy journal articles.

You can study our Global Ethics PhD full-time or part-time, on campus or by distance learning. The College of Arts and Law is experienced in delivering high-quality distance learning to students all over the world. Find out more on our  distance learning website .

At Birmingham, Postgraduate Taught and Postgraduate Research students also have the opportunity to learn graduate academic languages free of charge, to support your studies.

  • Graduate School Language Skills

philosophy phd requirements

Academically, you are given the trust and freedom to discover your own voice, while my supervisors have been very supportive. The postgraduate community at our department is friendly and constructive, with the postgraduate seminars being a wonderful place to receive feedback on your work Kash

Why study this course?

  • World-leading research : The Department of Philosophy was ranked 1st in the UK in the Research Excellence Framework exercise 2021 based on Grade Point Average (Times Higher Education)
  • Employability skills : Birmingham’s Philosophy postgraduates develop a range of skills that are highly desirable in the job market, including: articulacy; precise analytical thought; clarity; rigour in formulating complex problems; and the ability to analyse and construct sound arguments.
  • Staff expertise : The Department is home to an expanding, energetic and friendly community of philosophers that address the practical and theoretical issues raised by globalisation. Our staff produce world-leading research in all core areas of contemporary philosophy in this area
  • Postgraduate community : Our postgraduate students play a very active role in the life of the Department and the atmosphere among students and staff is lively, friendly and supportive. They are important contributors to our on-going research activities, including our Research Seminars and Events, such as our weekly speaker series and various workshops and conferences throughout the year.

The postgraduate experience

The College of Arts and Law offers excellent support to its postgraduates, from libraries and research spaces, to careers support and funding opportunities. Learn more about your postgraduate experience .

We charge an annual tuition fee. Fees for 2024 entry are as follows:

  • UK: £4,778 full-time; £2,389 part-time *
  • International: £21,840 full-time; £10,920 part-time (distance learning only)

The same fees apply to both campus-based and distance learning study. The distance learning programme also includes one fully-funded visit to campus in the first year of study.

The above fees quoted are for one year only; for those studying over two or more years, tuition fees will also be payable in subsequent years of your programme.

* For UK postgraduate research students the University fee level is set at Research Council rates and as such is subject to change. The final fee will be announced by Research Councils UK in spring 2024.

Eligibility for UK or international fees can be verified with Admissions. Learn more about fees for international students .

Paying your fees

Tuition fees can either be paid in full or by instalments. Learn more about postgraduate tuition fees and funding .

How To Apply

Application deadlines.

Postgraduate research can start at any time during the year, but it is important to allow time for us to review your application and communicate a decision. If you wish to start in September 2024, we would recommend that you aim to submit your application and supporting documents by 7 May 2024.

If the programme has a Distance learning option then students will usually attend a residential visit in September or January, and those students wishing to attend the September residential are also encouraged to apply by 7 May 2024. The visit will take place at the end of September/beginning of October and you will receive further details once you have accepted your offer.

Six easy steps to apply for a postgraduate research course in the College of Arts and Law

Six steps to apply for our Postgraduate Research courses

Do you have an idea for an interesting research project? You can follow our six easy steps to apply to study for our postgraduate research courses . These include guidance on identifying funding opportunities and writing your research proposal .

Please also see our additional guidance for  applicants to the PhD Distance Learning study mode .

Please note: While our PhD programmes are normally studied in three years full-time or six years part-time, and Masters-level research programmes one year full-time or two years part-time, many programmes have a longer length listed in course or funding applications. This is because the course length is defined as the maximum period of registration, which includes a period of supervised study plus a thesis awaited period. The maximum period of registration for a full-time PhD is four years (three years supervision plus one year thesis awaited). For a full-time Masters-level research programme, it is two years (one year supervision plus one year thesis awaited). For part-time programmes, the periods are double the full-time equivalent.

Making your application

  • How to apply

To apply for a postgraduate research programme, you will need to submit your application and supporting documents online. We have put together some helpful information on the research programme application process and supporting documents on our how to apply page . Please read this information carefully before completing your application.

Our Standard Requirements

Our requirements for postgraduate research are dependent on the type of programme you are applying for:

  • For MRes and MA by Research programmes, entry to our programmes usually requires a good (normally a 2:1 or above) Honours degree, or an equivalent qualification if you were educated outside the UK, usually in a relevant area.
  • Applicants for a PhD will also need to hold a Masters qualification at Merit level or above (or its international equivalent), usually in a relevant area.

Any academic and professional qualifications or relevant professional experience you may have are normally taken into account, and in some cases, form an integral part of the entrance requirements.

If you are applying for distance learning research programmes, you will also be required to demonstrate that you have the time, commitment, facilities and experience to study by distance learning.

If your qualifications are non-standard or different from the entry requirements stated here, please contact the admissions tutor.

International students

IELTS 6.5 with no less than 6.0 in any band is equivalent to:

  • TOEFL: 88 overall with no less than 21 in Reading, 21 Listening, 22 Speaking and 21 in Writing
  • Pearson Test of English (PTE): Academic 59 in all four skills
  • Cambridge English (exams taken from 2015): Advanced - minimum overall score of 176, with no less than 169 in any component

Learn more about international entry requirements

International Requirements

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a GPA of 14/20 from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of the Licenciado or an equivalent professional title from a recognised Argentinian university, with a promedio of at least 7.5, may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. Applicants for PhD degrees will normally have a Maestria or equivalent

Applicants who hold a Masters degree will be considered for admission to PhD study.

Holders of a good four-year Diplomstudium/Magister or a Masters degree from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 2.5 will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students with a good 5-year Specialist Diploma or 4-year Bachelor degree from a recognised higher education institution in Azerbaijan, with a minimum GPA of 4/5 or 80% will be considered for entry to postgraduate taught programmes at the University of Birmingham.

For postgraduate research programmes applicants should have a good 5-year Specialist Diploma (completed after 1991), with a minimum grade point average of 4/5 or 80%, from a recognised higher education institution or a Masters or “Magistr Diplomu” or “Kandidat Nauk” from a recognised higher education institution in Azerbaijan.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a GPA of 3.0/4.0 or 75% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with a CGPA of 3.0-3.3/4.0 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Students who hold a Masters degree from the University of Botswana with a minimum GPA of 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/5.0 (70%/B/'very good') will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.

Please note 4-year bachelor degrees from the University of Botswana are considered equivalent to a Diploma of Higher Education. 5-year bachelor degrees from the University of Botswana are considered equivalent to a British Bachelor (Ordinary) degree.

Students who have completed a Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.

A Licenciatura or Bacharelado degree from a recognised Brazilian university:

  • A grade of 7.5/10 for entry to programmes with a 2:1 requirement
  • A grade of 6.5/10for entry to programmes with a 2:2 requirement

Holders of a good Bachelors degree with honours (4 to 6 years) from a recognised university with a upper second class grade or higher will be considered for entry to taught postgraduate programmes.  Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised university will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a good post-2001 Masters degree from a recognised university will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students with a minimum average of 14 out of 20 (or 70%) on a 4-year Licence, Bachelor degree or Diplôme d'Etudes Superieures de Commerce (DESC) or Diplôme d'Ingénieur or a Maîtrise will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.

Holders of a bachelor degree with honours from a recognised Canadian university may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. A GPA of 3.0/4, 7.0/9 or 75% is usually equivalent to a UK 2.1.

Holders of the Licenciado or equivalent Professional Title from a recognised Chilean university will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Applicants for PhD study will preferably hold a Magister degree or equivalent.

Students with a bachelor’s degree (4 years minimum) may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. However please note that we will only consider students who meet the entry guidance below.  Please note: for the subject areas below we use the Shanghai Ranking 2022 (full table)  ,  Shanghai Ranking 2023 (full table) , and Shanghai Ranking of Chinese Art Universities 2023 .

需要具备学士学位(4年制)的申请人可申请研究生课程。请根据所申请的课程查看相应的入学要求。 请注意,中国院校名单参考 软科中国大学排名2022(总榜) ,  软科中国大学排名2023(总榜) ,以及 软科中国艺术类高校名单2023 。  

Business School    - MSc programmes (excluding MBA)  

商学院硕士课程(MBA除外)入学要求

School of Computer Science – all MSc programmes 计算机学院硕士课程入学要求

College of Social Sciences – courses listed below 社会科学 学院部分硕士课程入学要求 MA Education  (including all pathways) MSc TESOL Education MSc Public Management MA Global Public Policy MA Social Policy MA Sociology Department of Political Science and International Studies  全部硕士课程 International Development Department  全部硕士课程

  All other programmes (including MBA)   所有其他 硕士课程(包括 MBA)入学要求

Please note:

  • Borderline cases: We may consider students with lower average score (within 5%) on a case-by-case basis if you have a relevant degree and very excellent grades in relevant subjects and/or relevant work experience. 如申请人均分低于相应录取要求(5%以内),但具有出色学术背景,优异的专业成绩,以及(或)相关的工作经验,部分课程将有可能单独酌情考虑。
  • Please contact the China Recruitment Team for any questions on the above entry requirements. 如果您对录取要求有疑问,请联系伯明翰大学中国办公室   [email protected]

Holders of the Licenciado/Professional Title from a recognised Colombian university will be considered for our Postgraduate Diploma and Masters degrees. Applicants for PhD degrees will normally have a Maestria or equivalent.

Holders of a good bachelor degree with honours (4 to 6 years) from a recognised university with a upper second class grade or higher will be considered for entry to taught postgraduate programmes.  Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised university will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a good Bacclaureus (Bachelors) from a recognised Croatian Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 4.0 out of 5.0, vrlo dobar ‘very good’, or a Masters degree, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a Bachelors degree(from the University of the West Indies or the University of Technology) may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. A Class II Upper Division degree is usually equivalent to a UK 2.1. For further details on particular institutions please refer to the list below.  Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Masters degree or Mphil from the University of the West Indies.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree from a recognised institution with a minimum overall grade of 6.5 out of 10, or a GPA of 3 out of 4, and will usually be required to have completed a good Masters degree to be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a good Bakalár from a recognised Czech Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 1.5, B, velmi dobre ‘very good’ (post-2004) or 2, velmi dobre ‘good’ (pre-2004), or a good post-2002 Magistr (Masters), will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree from a recognised institution with a minimum overall grade of 7-10 out of 12 (or 8 out of 13) or higher for 2:1 equivalence and will usually be required to have completed a good Masters/ Magisterkonfereus/Magister Artium degree to be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of the Licenciado or an equivalent professional title from a recognised Ecuadorian university may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. Grades of 70% or higher can be considered as UK 2.1 equivalent.  Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Magister/Masterado or equivalent qualification, but holders of the Licenciado with excellent grades can be considered.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a GPA of 3.0/4.0 or 75% from a recognised institution. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a good Bakalaurusekraad from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 4/5 or B, or a good one- or two-year Magistrikraad from a recognised university, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students who hold a Masters degree with very good grades (grade B, 3.5/4 GPA or 85%) will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. 

Holders of a good Kandidaatti / Kandidat (old system), a professional title such as Ekonomi, Diplomi-insinööri, Arkkitehti, Lisensiaatti (in Medicine, Dentistry and Vetinary Medicine), or a Maisteri / Magister (new system), Lisensiaatti / Licenciat, Oikeustieteen Kandidaatti / Juris Kandidat (new system) or Proviisori / Provisor from a recognised Finnish Higher Education institution, with a minimum overall grade of 2/3 or 4/5, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters/Maîtrise with a minimum overall grade of 13 out of 20, or a Magistère / Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies / Diplôme d'Etudes Supérieures Specialisées / Mastère Specialis, from a recognised French university or Grande École to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a Magister Artium, a Diplom or an Erstes Staatsexamen from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 2.5, or a good two-year Lizentiat / Aufbaustudium / Zweites Staatsexamen or a Masters degree from a recognised university, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students who hold a Bachelor degree from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2.1) with a minimum GPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/5.0 Students who have completed a Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good four-year Ptychio (Bachelor degree) with a minimum overall grade of 6.5 out of 10, from a recognised Greek university (AEI), and will usually be required to have completed a good Metaptychiako Diploma Eidikefsis (Masters degree) from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

4-year Licenciado is deemed equivalent to a UK bachelors degree. A score of 75 or higher from Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC) can be considered comparable to a UK 2.1, 60 is comparable to a UK 2.2.  Private universities have a higher pass mark, so 80 or higher should be considered comparable to a UK 2.1, 70 is comparable to a UK 2.2

The Hong Kong Bachelor degree is considered comparable to British Bachelor degree standard. Students with bachelor degrees awarded by universities in Hong Kong may be considered for entry to one of our postgraduate degree programmes.

Students with Masters degrees may be considered for PhD study.

Holders of a good Alapfokozat / Alapképzés or Egyetemi Oklevel from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 3.5, or a good Mesterfokozat (Masters degree) or Egyetemi Doktor (university doctorate), will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with a 60% or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of the 4 year Sarjana (S1) from a recognised Indonesian institution will be considered for postgraduate study. Entry requirements vary with a minimum requirement of a GPA of 2.8.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a score of 14/20 or 70% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree from a recognised institution, with 100 out of 110 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Students who hold the Maitrise, Diplome d'Etude Approfondies, Diplome d'Etude Superieures or Diplome d'Etude Superieures Specialisees will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees (14-15/20 or Bien from a well ranked institution is considered comparable to a UK 2.1, while a score of 12-13/20 or Assez Bien is considered comparable to a UK 2.2).

Students with a Bachelor degree from a recognised university in Japan will be considered for entry to a postgraduate Masters degree provided they achieve a sufficiently high overall score in their first (Bachelor) degree. A GPA of 3.0/4.0 or a B average from a good Japanese university is usually considered equivalent to a UK 2:1.

Students with a Masters degree from a recognised university in Japan will be considered for PhD study. A high overall grade will be necessary to be considered.

Students who have completed their Specialist Diploma Мамаң дипломы/Диплом специалиста) or "Magistr" (Магистр дипломы/Диплом магистра) degree (completed after 1991) from a recognised higher education institution, with a minimum GPA of 2.67/4.00 for courses requiring a UK lower second and 3.00/4.00 for courses requiring a UK upper second class degree, will be considered for entry to postgraduate Masters degrees and, occasionally, directly for PhD degrees.  Holders of a Bachelor "Bakalavr" degree (Бакалавр дипломы/Диплом бакалавра) from a recognised higher education institution, with a minimum GPA of  2.67/4.00 for courses requiring a UK lower second and 3.00/4.00 for courses requiring a UK upper second class degree, may also be considered for entry to taught postgraduate programmes.

Students who hold a Bachelor degree from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2.1) with a minimum GPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/50

Holders of a good Postgraduate Diploma (professional programme) from a recognised university or institution of Higher Education, with a minimum overall grade of 7.5 out of 10, or a post-2000 Magistrs, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a score of 16/20 or 80% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a Bachelors degree from a recognised university in Libya will be considered for postgraduate study. Holders of a Bachelors degree will normally be expected to have achieved score of 70% for 2:1 equivalency or 65% for 2:2 equivalency. Alternatively students will require a minimum of 3.0/4.0 or BB to be considered.

Holders of a good pre-2001 Magistras from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 8 out of 10, or a good post-2001 Magistras, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes

Holders of a good Bachelors degree from a recognised Luxembourgish Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 16 out of 20, or a Diplôme d'Études Supérieures Spécialisées (comparable to a UK PGDip) or Masters degree from a recognised Luxembourgish Higher Education institution will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students who hold a Masters degree will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees (70-74% or A or Marginal Distinction from a well ranked institution is considered comparable to a UK 2.1, while a score of 60-69% or B or Bare Distinction/Credit is considered comparable to a UK 2.2).

Holders of a Bachelors degree from a recognised Malaysian institution (usually achieved with the equivalent of a second class upper or a grade point average minimum of 3.0) will be considered for postgraduate study at Diploma or Masters level.

Holders of a good Bachelors degree from the University of Malta with a minimum grade of 2:1 (Hons), and/or a Masters degree, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students who hold a Bachelor degree (Honours) from a recognised institution (including the University of Mauritius) will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.  Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2:1).

Students who hold the Licenciado/Professional Titulo from a recognised Mexican university with a promedio of at least 8 will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.

Students who have completed a Maestria from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree, licence or Maîtrise and a Masters degree, with a score of 14/20 or 70% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Students with a good four year honours degree from a recognised university will be considered for postgraduate study at the University of Birmingham. PhD applications will be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with 60-74% or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a good Doctoraal from a recognised Dutch university with a minimum overall grade of 7 out of 10, and/or a good Masters degree, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students who hold a Bachelor degree (minimum 4 years and/or level 400) from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.  Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2.1) with a minimum GPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/5.0

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree from a recognised institution with a minimum GPA of B/Very Good or 1.6-2.5 for a 2.1 equivalency, and will usually be required to have completed a good Masters, Mastergrad, Magister. Artium, Sivilingeniør, Candidatus realium or Candidatus philologiae degree to be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with a CGPA of 3.0/4 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a Bachelors degree from a recognised university in the Palestinian Territories will be considered for postgraduate study. Holders of Bachelors degree will normally be expected to have achieved a GPA of 3/4 or 80% for 2:1 equivalency or a GPA of 2.5/4 or 70% for 2:2 equivalency.    

Holders of the Título de Licenciado /Título de (4-6 years) or an equivalent professional title from a recognised Paraguayan university may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. Grades of 4/5 or higher can be considered as UK 2.1 equivalent.  The Título Intermedio is a 2-3 year degree and is equivalent to a HNC, it is not suitable for postgraduate entry but holders of this award could be considered for second year undergraduate entry or pre-Masters.  Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Título de Maestría / Magister or equivalent qualification, but holders of the Título/Grado de Licenciado/a with excellent grades can be considered.

Holders of the Licenciado, with at least 13/20 may be considered as UK 2.1 equivalent. The Grado de Bachiller is equivalent to an ordinary degree, so grades of 15+/20 are required.  Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Título de Maestría or equivalent qualification.

Holders of a good pre-2001 Magister from a recognised Polish university with a minimum overall grade of 4 out of 5, dobry ‘good’, and/or a good Swiadectwo Ukonczenia Studiów Podyplomowych (Certificate of Postgraduate Study) or post-2001 Magister from a recognised Polish university with a minimum overall grade of 4.5/4+ out of 5, dobry plus 'better than good', will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a good Licenciado from a recognised university, or a Diploma de Estudos Superiores Especializados (DESE) from a recognised Polytechnic Institution, with a minimum overall grade of 16 out of 20, and/or a good Mestrado / Mestre (Masters) from a recognised university, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree from a recognised Romanian Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 8 out of 10, and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree/Diploma de Master/Diploma de Studii Academice Postuniversitare (Postgraduate Diploma - Academic Studies) or Diploma de Studii Postuniversitare de Specializare (Postgraduate Diploma - Specialised Studies) to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a good Диплом Специалиста (Specialist Diploma) or Диплом Магистра (Magistr) degree from recognised universities in Russia (minimum GPA of 4.0) will be considered for entry to taught postgraduate programmes/PhD study.

Students who hold a 4-year Bachelor degree with at least 16/20 or 70% will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.   

Students who hold a Maitrise, Diplome d'Etude Approfondies,Diplome d'Etude Superieures or Diplome d'Etude Superieures Specialisees will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. A score of 14-15/20 or Bien from a well ranked institution is considered comparable to a UK 2.1, while a score of 12-13/20 or Assez Bien is considered comparable to a UK 2.2

Students who hold a Bachelor (Honours) degree from a recognised institution with a minimum GPA of 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/5.0 (or a score of 60-69% or B+) from a well ranked institution will be considered for most our Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees with a 2:1 requirement.

Students holding a good Bachelors Honours degree will be considered for postgraduate study at Diploma or Masters level.

Holders of a good three-year Bakalár or pre-2002 Magister from a recognised Slovakian Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 1.5, B, Vel’mi dobrý ‘very good’, and/or a good Inžinier or a post-2002 Magister from a recognised Slovakian Higher Education institution will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a good Diploma o pridobljeni univerzitetni izobrazbi (Bachelors degree), Diplomant (Professionally oriented first degree), Univerzitetni diplomant (Academically oriented first degree) or Visoko Obrazovanja (until 1999) from a recognised Slovenian Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 8.0 out of 10, and/or a good Diploma specializacija (Postgraduate Diploma) or Magister (Masters) will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students who hold a Bachelor Honours degree (also known as Baccalaureus Honores / Baccalaureus Cum Honoribus) from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most Masters programmes will require a second class upper (70%) or a distinction (75%).

Holders of a Masters degree will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a Bachelor degree from a recognised South Korean institution (usually with the equivalent of a second class upper or a grade point average 3.0/4.0 or 3.2/4.5) will be considered for Masters programmes.

Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study on an individual basis.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with 7 out of 10 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with 60-74% or a CGPA 3.30/4.0 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a good Kandidatexamen (Bachelors degree) or Yrkesexamen (Professional Bachelors degree) from a recognised Swedish Higher Education institution with the majority of subjects with a grade of VG (Val godkänd), and/or a good Magisterexamen (Masters degree), International Masters degree or Licentiatexamen (comparable to a UK Mphil), will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a good "PostGraduate Certificate" or "PostGraduate Diploma" or a Masters degree from a recognised Swiss higher education institution (with a minimum GPA of 5/6 or 8/10 or 2/5 (gut-bien-bene/good) for a 2.1 equivalence) may be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a GPA of 3.0/4.0, 3.5/5 or 75% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a good Bachelor degree (from 75% to 85% depending upon the university in Taiwan) from a recognised institution will be considered for postgraduate Masters study. Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.

Students who hold a Bachelor degree from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.  Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2.1) Students who have completed a Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.

Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for entry to our postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a good Masters degree or Mphil from a recognised university will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students with a Bachelors degree from the following universities may be considered for entry to postgraduate programmes:

  • Ateneo de Manila University - Quezon City
  • De La Salle University - Manila
  • University of Santo Tomas
  • University of the Philippines - Diliman

Students from all other institutions with a Bachelors and a Masters degree or relevant work experience may be considered for postgraduate programmes.

Grading Schemes

1-5 where 1 is the highest 2.1 = 1.75 2.2 = 2.25 

Out of 4.0 where 4 is the highest 2.1 = 3.0 2.2 = 2.5

Letter grades and percentages 2.1 = B / 3.00 / 83% 2.2 = C+ / 2.5 / 77%

Holders of a postdoctoral qualification from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.  Students may be considered for PhD study if they have a Masters from one of the above listed universities.

Holders of a Lisans Diplomasi with a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0/4.0 from a recognised university will be considered for postgraduate study at Diploma or Masters level.

Holders of a Yuksek Diplomasi from a recognised university will be considered for PhD study.

Students who hold a Bachelor degree from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most Masters programmes will require a second class upper (2.1) or GPA of 3.5/5.0

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree / Диплом бакалавра (Dyplom Bakalavra), Диплом спеціаліста (Specialist Diploma) or a Dyplom Magistra from a recognised Ukrainian higher education institution with a minimum GPA of 4.0/5.0, 3.5/4, 8/12 or 80% or higher for 2:1 equivalence and will usually be required to have completed a good Masters degree to be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

The University will consider students who hold an Honours degree from a recognised institution in the USA with a GPA of:

  • 2.8 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) for entry to programmes with a 2:2 requirement 
  • 3.2 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) for entry to programmes with a 2:1 requirement 

Please note that some subjects which are studied at postgraduate level in the USA, eg. Medicine and Law, are traditionally studied at undergraduate level in the UK.

Holders of the Magistr Diplomi (Master's degree) or Diplomi (Specialist Diploma), awarded by prestigious universities, who have attained high grades in their studies will be considered for postgraduate study.  Holders of the Fanlari Nomzodi (Candidate of Science), where appropriate, will be considered for PhD study.

Holders of the Licenciatura/Título or an equivalent professional title from a recognised Venezuelan university may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. Scales of 1-5, 1-10 and 1-20 are used, an overall score of 70% or equivalent can be considered equivalent to a UK 2.1.  Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Maestria or equivalent qualification

Holders of a Bachelors degree from a recognised Vietnamese institution (usually achieved with the equivalent of a second class upper or a grade point average minimum GPA of 7.0 and above) will be considered for postgraduate study at Diploma or Masters level.  Holders of a Masters degree (thac si) will be considered for entry to PhD programmes.

Students who hold a Masters degree with a minimum GPA of 3.5/5.0 or a mark of 2.0/2.5 (A) will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.   

Students who hold a good Bachelor Honours degree will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. 

The Department is an international hub of interdisciplinary research, which focuses on justice and development, environment and health, gender justice, and conflict and security.

We welcome enquiries from students interested in doctoral research. Please contact a staff member working in your area of interest in the first instance by browsing  find a supervisor in global ethics . 

Your degree will provide excellent preparation for your future career, but this can also be enhanced by a range of employability support services offered by the University and the College of Arts and Law.

The University's Careers Network  provides expert guidance and activities especially for postgraduates, which will help you achieve your career goals. The College of Arts and Law also has a dedicated  careers and employability team  who offer tailored advice and a programme of College-specific careers events.

You will be encouraged to make the most of your postgraduate experience and will have the opportunity to:

  • Receive one-to-one careers advice, including guidance on your job applications, writing your CV and improving your interview technique, whether you are looking for a career inside or outside of academia
  • Meet employers face-to-face at on-campus recruitment fairs and employer presentations
  • Attend an annual programme of careers fairs, skills workshops and conferences, including bespoke events for postgraduates in the College of Arts and Law
  • Take part in a range of activities to demonstrate your knowledge and skills to potential employers and enhance your CV

What’s more, you will be able to access our full range of careers support for up to 2 years after graduation.

Postgraduate employability: Philosophy

Birmingham's Philosophy postgraduates develop a range of skills that are highly desirable in the job market including articulacy, precise analytical thought, and the ability to analyse and construct sound arguments.

Due to the transferable nature of these skills, Philosophy postgraduates traditionally enter a wide range of employment areas, from teaching and lecturing to social work. Employers that graduates have gone on to work for include BBC, Friends of the Earth, Birmingham Children's Hospital, Highways England, Ministry of Justice and University of Birmingham.

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IMAGES

  1. PhD in Philosophy

    philosophy phd requirements

  2. Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy

    philosophy phd requirements

  3. How to get a PhD: Steps and Requirements Explained

    philosophy phd requirements

  4. PhD meaning and its tale

    philosophy phd requirements

  5. How to get a PhD: Steps and Requirements Explained

    philosophy phd requirements

  6. Masters Vs PhD: The Difference Between Masters & PhD/Doctorates 2023+

    philosophy phd requirements

VIDEO

  1. You Will Misunderstood What a PhD Is

COMMENTS

  1. Philosophy

    Applicants to the program in Philosophy are required to have a solid undergraduate background in philosophy, indicating that they have a good grounding in the history of philosophy, as well as familiarity with contemporary work in ethics, epistemology and metaphysics, and logic. Standardized Tests GRE General: Optional Writing Sample

  2. Doctoral Program

    PhD Requirements Courses fulfilling Distribution Requirements PhD Minor Interdisciplinary Study Funding Program Characteristics Our program is well known for its small size, streamlined teaching requirements, and low average time to degree.

  3. PhD Admissions

    TOEFL or IELTS score (for international applicants) Sample of work (the sample should reflect the applicant's area of interest, and generally does not have to be more than 20 pages in length). Application Deadline The deadline for applications is 15 December. Some finalists will be contacted for short Zoom meetings prior to a decision being made.

  4. Ph.D. Program

    Students must pass (with a grade of C or higher) at least 10 graduate subjects in philosophy (unless you earn a minor, in which case see section 4 below ). At least 7 must be subjects at MIT.

  5. Graduate Admissions

    Application Stanford's Online Application, information about requirements and instructions for applying are available through the Grad Admissions website. The application opens each year in Fall quarter. Apply Now Deadlines The online application is due by the following deadlines: PhD: Tuesday, January 9, 2024 Masters: Tuesday, March 19, 2024

  6. Admissions

    Student Qualifications Background in Philosophy: The Department requires that applicants have the equivalent of a solid undergraduate background in philosophy, so that they have a good grounding in the history of philosophy, as well as familiarity with contemporary work in ethics, epistemology and metaphysics, and logic.

  7. Program Overview

    PhD in Philosophy Graduate Advising The department's arrangement for advising students is structured to correspond to four stages of a student's progress toward the PhD. These stages include the first year, the second-year paper, reading and research toward a dissertation topic, and work on the dissertation.

  8. PhD Program

    Admission All applications for admissions must be submitted electronically, through the Graduate School for Arts and Sciences (GSAS) website. Phases of Study Fellowship Information Teaching Timely Degrees Registration Degree Requirements

  9. Ph.D. Requirements

    Candidates for the Ph.D. in Philosophy are required to take thirteen graduate courses. These thirteen courses must be completed by the end of the term in which the Preliminary Examination is taken. Ten of the courses must be scheduled courses offered or cross-listed by the Philosophy Department.

  10. PhD Program Requirements

    In particular, students are required to take at least one course for Q-credit in each of the following four areas: (I) Contemporary Practical Philosophy; (II) Contemporary Theoretical Philosophy; (III) History of Philosophy: Ancient or Medieval Philosophy; and (IV) History of Philosophy: Modern Philosophy (up to and including the first half of t...

  11. UC Berkeley

    Philosophy Ph.D. Program. Approved by Graduate Council and Graduate Division, Nov. 10, 2008. These requirements apply prospectively beginning with those admitted for Fall 2009. Students who entered the program under the old requirements may choose either to continue under that regime or to adopt the requirements below.

  12. Philosophy

    The graduate program in philosophy is designed to equip promising students for careers as philosophers and teachers of philosophy. To that end, the program provides broad general training, an opportunity for specialized research in the major areas of philosophic inquiry, and experience in undergraduate teaching. ... The requirements for the ...

  13. Ph.D. Requirements

    You must complete 63 units including: 36 units in your major field (philosophy) At least nine units in your minor field (either philosophy or an outside minor). For the philosophy minor, nine units are required. For other fields, the number of units is determined by that program. 18 units of dissertation credit Find current classes Distribution

  14. Ph.D. Requirements

    1 Logic course, satisfied by passing a logic examination or taking PHIL 250 Symbolic Logic Language Requirement - if needed for dissertation work Future Research Statement and Oral Examination Preliminary Examination Dissertation Dissertation Defense

  15. Doctor of Philosophy

    Doctor of Philosophy. The doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree signifies mastery of a broad discipline of learning together with demonstrated competence in a special field within that discipline. In addition to the common requirements below, PhD candidates must complete additional requirements specified by their program.

  16. FAQs from Prospective PhD Applicants

    Philosophy gets over 300 PhD applications each year, and are typically permitted to make fewer than 10 first-round offers, plus a small number of second-round offers, aiming to get an entering class of 4-8 students. ... One of the requirements of our PhD program is that 9 out of the 11 required courses be taken in the NYU Philosophy department ...

  17. Ph.D. Program Requirements

    Ph.D. Program Requirements. The Philosophy Department follows the Graduate School regulations, listed in the Graduate School Handbook (Section 7), regarding doctoral programs. For information about a special "One-of-a-Kind" doctoral program that allows students to combine the study of philosophy with related work in other fields, see the ...

  18. PhD Requirements

    Guidelines for qualifying papers. The qualifying paper requirement is intended to help students transition from coursework to dissertation research by ensuring that they first undertake professional-level research projects on a smaller scale.

  19. PhD Requirements

    Area requirements (i) and (ii) are typically satisfied by completing the Proseminar sequence. Each student must also complete three graduate seminars in the history of philosophy, including at least one in ancient philosophy and at least one modern/19th century philosophy. No two of these seminars can cover the same historical figure.

  20. Ph.D. Degree Requirements

    The Philosophy MA requirements for PhD students are the same as those for MA students, except that a PhD student is encouraged to apply for the MA as soon as possible after the MA requirements have been met (the Graduate School has a policy of not granting MA and PhD degrees at the same time, i.e. when the student has completed the Ph.D). ...

  21. Requirements for the PhD

    In addition to the minimum degree requirements of the Graduate School, the following are required: A. Seminars. Seminar coursework will be required from the three following areas: history of philosophy, interface studies, and contemporary philosophy.

  22. Guide to Applying for Graduate School

    A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the highest degree one may obtain within a particular field of study. This ranges from studies in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields; Social Science fields such as Education, Economics, Political Science, and Sociology; as well as Humanities fields such as English, History, Music, Philosophy, and more.

  23. PhD Requirements

    The requirements for the PhD in Philosophy are designed to provide broad knowledge of the main areas of philosophy and to develop the ability to do philosophical research. Students should be able to finish the program in five years. Graduate Program Requirements. Course Requirements

  24. Ph.D. Program Requirements

    The Doctor of Philosophy program at the College of Education prepares students for careers of research or scholarly inquiry and teaching at the college/university level. The program consists of: (1) continuous research and faculty discussion inquiry, (2) courses in education and related fields designed to develop a comprehensive academic basis for future work in research and teaching, and (3 ...

  25. Graduate PhD Requirements

    Students are required to take TWO courses from the History of Philosophy. Courses that fulfill this requirement are: PHIL 611, Ancient Philosophy PHIL 614, Medieval PHIL 616, Modern Philosophy PHIL 620, Contemporary Philosophy (through 19th century) PHIL 623, American Philosophy PHIL 661, Seminar in History of Philosophy (through 19th century)

  26. Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

    Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) The Doctor of Philosophy program in the College of Education prepares students for careers in research or scholarly inquiry and teaching at the college level. The program consists of: (1) continuous research, (2) courses in education and related fields designed to develop a comprehensive academic basis for future ...

  27. Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies

    Earn your PhD in Religious Studies. The doctoral program in the Department of Religious Studies trains students to become advanced practitioners of the study of religion—researchers, scholars, teachers, and facilitators of informed public discourse. It can prepare a person to become a college professor or to bring a nuanced, critical ...

  28. PhD/ PhD by Distance Learning Global Ethics

    Rather than writing a single book-like thesis examining a single topic, a PhD by Papers gives you the choice of writing a thesis comprising of several separate (though thematically unified) papers, in the style of philosophy journal articles. You can study our Global Ethics PhD full-time or part-time, on campus or by distance learning.