Graduate Program Requirements

The M.A. degree in Philosophy requires 35 semester hours beyond the baccalaureate degree. Four elements are common to each concentration:

Graduate Seminars	6 hours
Concentration Requirements	6 Hours
General Electives	15 Hours
Thesis or Non-thesis Project	6 Hours
Colloquium	2 hours
Total	35 hours

Graduate Seminars

In support of the program's emphasis on pluralistic and interdisciplinary approaches, two graduate seminars cultivate the skills required for professional-quality research in diverse areas of philosophical specialization. Taken in the spring of the first year and fall of the second year, thegraduate seminars are required of all graduate students in the program and offer intensive primary-source reading and critical appreciation of significant philosophical figures and issues.

Concentrations

Concentrations offered are in the areas of Culture/History, Ethics/Practice, and Interpretation/Method. The Concentrations feature:

• multiple ways to understand the history of philosophy
• reflection on the connections between theory and practice, the conceptual and the empirical, fact and value
• interpretation and hermeneutics conceived in the broader context of general methods of interpretation, and not merely the more restricted senses identified with the continental tradition
• formalism and more stringent analysis as only some of the methods of philosophy
• a departmental culture that celebrates and practices philosophy's commitment to pluralism

CHARTING A CONCENTRATION

Choices for:	Choose at least one	Choose at least one
Culture/ History	Plato Aristotle Continental Philosophy British-American Philosophy History of Philosophy	Philosophical Analysis Phenomenology Pragmatism Philosophical Study of Religion
Ethics/ Practice	Social Philosophy Ethical Theories & Practices Metaethics	Health Care Ethics Philosophy of Law Research Ethics
Interpretation/ Method	Philosophy of Science Topics in Metaphysics Metalogic Logical Theory Semiotics	Hermeneutics Theories of Knowledge Philosophy of Expression Philosophy of Language Philosophy and Art in the Modern Age Problems in the Philosophy of Religion

 

Electives

Elective hours in the graduate program may be taken in any graduate level course, including the option of 3 hours in a discipline outside philosophy. The complete catalog of philosophy graduate courses is available on our Catalog page, and recent and future course descriptions are available on our Course Descriptions page.

Thesis

Graduate students ordinarily complete the requirements for the M.A. in philosophy by writing a thesis or by pursuing one of the non-thesis project options. The thesis offers an opportunity for graduate students to work closely with a faculty member and a faculty advisory group in order to explore a topic of the student's choice. A list of recent M.A. theses is available on our website.

Colloquium

The colloquium is a one-hour course that meets weekly to afford the graduate students an occasion to prepare for various events throughout the academic year. Considerable focus goes to the annual May 4th graduate student conference, which the graduate students organize.