list of philosophy phd programs

The APA Guide to Graduate Programs in Philosophy

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Total students, total ph.d. programs, total ma programs.

The  Guide to Graduate Programs in Philosophy , published biennially until the early 2000s, was relaunched in 2012 as an annual online resource. The guide compiles data on both doctoral and master’s degree programs in philosophy at institutions throughout the US and Canada, offering prospective students, job candidates, and other members of the profession a rich resource on post-graduate education and employment in philosophy. 

All data in the guide are self-reported by representatives of the institutions. Any changes or corrections should be sent directly to them.

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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.

2.4.4 Dissertation Seminar

Students must complete the year-long dissertation seminar. Normally this is done in the third year. Students wishing to delay it until their fourth year may do so with permission of the instructor.

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.

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As a PhD student in the Harvard philosophy program, you’ll have the opportunity to develop your ideas, knowledge, and abilities. You'll work with other doctoral students, our faculty, and visiting scholars, all in a stimulating and supportive environment. The program has strengths across a broad range of topics and areas, so you'll be able to pursue your interests wherever they may lead, especially in moral and political philosophy, aesthetics, epistemology, philosophy of logic, philosophy of language, the history of analytic philosophy, ancient philosophy, Immanuel Kant, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. In addition, students can pursue joint degrees with classics, Harvard Law School, and in Indian philosophy.

Incoming cohorts consist of five to eight students per year. You will have substantial access to our renowned faculty and all the resources that Harvard makes available. This relatively small size also gives students a sense of intellectual community.

The curriculum is structured to help you make your way towards a dissertation: graduate-level coursework, a second-year research paper, a prospectus to help you identify a dissertation topic, and then the dissertation itself. Past dissertations in the department have addressed a broad range of topics: Aristotle, Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau; contemporary moral and political philosophy; metaphysics; epistemology; and logic.

In addition to your research, you will also have the opportunity to develop your teaching skills in many different settings across the University.

You can find graduates of the PhD program in many universities. Some of our students have gone on to faculty positions at Yale University, Princeton University, Brown University, and Stanford University. Other graduates have gone on to diverse careers in, among others, the arts, the law, secondary education, and technology.

In addition to the standard PhD in philosophy, the department offers a PhD in classical philosophy in collaboration with the Department of the Classics and a coordinated JD/PhD program in conjunction with Harvard Law School.

Additional information on the graduate program is available from the Department of Philosophy and requirements for the degree are detailed in Policies .

Areas of Study

Philosophy | Classical Philosophy | Indian Philosophy 

For information please consult the Department webpage on the  graduate program overview .

Admissions Requirements

Please review admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Department of Philosophy .

Academic Background

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

A writing sample is required as part of the application and should be between 12 to 30 pages long. The sample must address a substantial philosophical problem, whether it is an evaluation or presentation of an argument, or a serious attempt to interpret a difficult text. The upload of the writing sample should be formatted for 8.5-inch x 11-inch paper, 1-inch margins, with double-spaced text in a common 12-point font, such as Times New Roman.

Applicants seeking admission to the coordinated JD/PhD program must apply to and be separately admitted to Harvard Law School and the Department of Philosophy.

Theses & Dissertations

Theses & Dissertations for Philosophy

See list of Philosophy faculty

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.

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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.

The Graduate Program in Philosophy

Graduate Degree

Stanford's graduate program in Philosophy is by any measure among the world's best. We attract  excellent students , we provide them ample access to  leading scholars  for instruction and advice, and we turn out accomplished philosophers ready to compete for the best jobs in a very tight job market. We offer both MA and PhD degrees.

Doctoral Program

Masters Program

Our  graduate students  are part of a vigorous philosophical community.

Our tradition is to treat and regard our graduate students as much like colleagues as like students. Faculty and graduate students participate in workshops, in reading groups, in colloquium discussions and in nearly all department life on an equal basis. The Department covers the cost of graduate student participation in lunches and dinners with visiting speakers. Our graduate students participate in the running of the department. Two graduate students serve as representatives at department meetings, a graduate student serves on the Graduate Studies Committee, and graduate students also serve on faculty hiring committees. Graduate students are essential to our efforts to recruit new graduate students each year.

Graduate students have a lively society of their own, the Hume Society that is responsible for a range of both intellectual and social events.

Graduate students take a mixture of courses and seminars both in our department in other departments. They also regularly take directed reading courses or independent study courses when special needs are not met by scheduled courses or when students are working directly on their dissertations.

Our  calendar  is packed with a range of philosophical events. We have a regular  Colloquia series  with visiting speakers on Friday afternoons. Our Colloquia are followed by receptions for the speakers hosted by the graduate students followed by dinner with the speaker. In addition to the regular colloquia series, every year we host the  Immanuel Kant Lectures . Our graduate students, along with other local graduate students,  organize the  Berkeley/Stanford/Davis Conference  where every year graduate students have the opportunity to present papers to an even larger philosophical community.

Many more informal reading and research groups,  including the Social Ethics and Normative Theory Workshop, the Global Justice and Political Theory Workshop, and the  Logical Methods in the Humanities Workshop , existing within the department and the university and are able to invite speakers from all across the world.

The affiliated  Center for Ethics in Society  hosts many different events including the annual lectures such as   Tanner Lectures in Human Values , the   Wesson Lectures on democratic theory and practice , and the  Arrow Lecture Series on Ethics and Leadership , in addition to a vast range of other  conferences, lectures and workshops  on ethics and political philosophy.

The  Center for the Explanation of Consciousness  (CEC) is a research initiative at  Center for Study of Language and Information  which is devoted to studying materialistic explanations of consciousness. The CEC hosts talks and symposia from a variety of viewpoints exploring the nature of conscious experience. They also sponsor reading groups during the term, led by faculty and graduate students.

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Berkeley Berkeley Academic Guide: Academic Guide 2023-24

About the Program

The Graduate Program in Philosophy at Berkeley offers a first-rate faculty, a stimulating and friendly community of graduate students, and the resources of one of the world's finest research universities.

Two features distinguish our profile from that of other leading graduate programs in philosophy:

• The department has strengths in all the main areas of philosophy, including epistemology, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, philosophy of language, logic, ethics, the history of philosophy, and philosophy of science. We aim at diversity and breadth of coverage, rather than concentration on one or two areas of philosophical activity.
• Second, the program at Berkeley is structured to give students a high degree of independence in tailoring their studies to their interests.

Those wishing to pursue graduate studies in philosophy can choose among several routes to a PhD at Berkeley:

• The Philosophy Department's graduate program leads to a PhD in Philosophy.
• Students with strong interests in Ancient Philosophy may want to take advantage of a special ancient concentration within the philosophy program.
• Students with strong interests in the History and Philosophy of Science may want to explore the special HPS concentration within the philosophy program.
• Students with strong interests in formal logic may pursue them in the Philosophy Department, in the Mathematics Department , or in Berkeley's interdisciplinary program leading to a PhD in Logic and the Methodology of Science , to which the Philosophy Department has close ties.

Visit Department Website

Admission to the University

Applying for graduate admission.

Thank you for considering UC Berkeley for graduate study! UC Berkeley offers more than 120 graduate programs representing the breadth and depth of interdisciplinary scholarship. A complete list of graduate academic departments, degrees offered, and application deadlines can be found on the Graduate Division website .

Prospective students must submit an online application to be considered for admission, in addition to any supplemental materials specific to the program for which they are applying. The online application can be found on the Graduate Division website .

Admission Requirements

The minimum graduate admission requirements are:

A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;

A satisfactory scholastic average, usually a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B) on a 4.0 scale; and

Enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in your chosen field.

For a list of requirements to complete your graduate application, please see the Graduate Division’s Admissions Requirements page . It is also important to check with the program or department of interest, as they may have additional requirements specific to their program of study and degree. Department contact information can be found here .

Where to apply?

Visit the Berkeley Graduate Division application page .

Admission to the Program

In reviewing applications, the admissions and fellowships committee looks for evidence that applicants have the training and intellectual characteristics they will need for success in a rigorous graduate program such as ours. Candidates for admission are not required to have majored in philosophy, but applicants who have not taken a considerable number of courses in the subject are unlikely to be admitted. The intellectual characteristics that the committee looks for include the ability to write clear and well organized argumentative prose, the ability to discriminate between promising and unpromising lines of inquiry, the capacity to develop independent arguments and insights, and a nuanced appreciation of philosophical problems and issues.

A complete online application would contain the following:

• Transcripts for all your undergraduate and graduate study
• Three letters of recommendation from those familiar with your philosophical work
• A representative sample of your best written work in philosophy (no more than 20 pages)
• Your results from the Graduate Record Examination (The Advanced Philosophy test is not required)
• A personal history statement
• A statement of purpose (applicants who wish to be considered for the concentration in Ancient Philosophy or History and Philosophy of Science should indicate this in their statement of purpose)

Doctoral Degree Requirements

Normative time to advancement.

Total normative time to advancement is two to three years.

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. 

Total Normative Time

Total normative time is six years.

Philosophy General Concentration

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:

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, and Kant

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 that has been approved by the graduate adviser.

In exceptional cases, students may, at the discretion of the graduate adviser, 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.

Ancient Philosophy, Joint Program

This program is offered jointly by the Departments of Philosophy and  Classics . It is administered by an interdepartmental committee. It is designed to produce scholars with a broad range of expertise both in philosophy and classics, with the intention of bridging the gap between the two subjects. It provides the training and specialist knowledge required for undertaking research in ancient philosophy, and at the same time equips students for scholarly work and teaching in either classics or philosophy. Those who complete the program will be fully qualified to work as a member of either one of these disciplines while having developed a broad competence in the other.

Students apply for admission to either of the participating departments in accordance with their qualifications and interests. They are treated accordingly as graduate students fully in either the Department of Classics or the Department of Philosophy. Graduate students in Philosophy are offered the opportunity to develop their knowledge of both classical languages, and to make a thorough study of Graeco-Roman culture. Students and faculty from the two departments meet each other frequently and regularly in seminars, reading groups and colloquia. Seminar offerings from the two departments are designed to give students, during their years in the program, the opportunity to study a wide variety of topics, including the Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic philosophy and the philosophy of later antiquity.

Those entering the program as Philosophy students will take the broad range of philosophy courses and seminars standardly required for the PhD in Philosophy. This standard set of requirements is, however, modified in the following ways:

• At least three out of the eight required courses should be in ancient philosophy.
• Students should take at least one seminar in the Classics Department.
• Students in the program will have until the end of the fourth year to pass the PhD qualifying examination.
• Two of the three topics for the student's qualifying exam will concern topics in ancient philosophy.
• Students must demonstrate, before advancement to candidacy, proficiency in Greek and Latin. This can be done in either of two ways: (i) by passing a sight translation exam; (ii) by passing (with a grade of A- or A) an upper division undergraduate translation class taught in the Classics Department.
• In addition, students must pass a reading examination in either German, French, or Italian.
• Students should declare their interest in joining the program by the beginning of their fifth semester at Berkeley.

To enter the joint program as a graduate student in Philosophy, prospective graduates should apply to the PhD program in Philosophy and mention their interest in the joint program as part of their statement of purpose. For information about entering the joint program as a graduate student in Classics, please visit the  Department of Classics website .

Foreign Language

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.

Qualifying Exams

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.

Prospectus Stage

In the semester after passing the qualifying examination the student must take two PHILOS 299  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.

Additional Requirements

Each student pursuing the PhD degree is expected to serve as a graduate student instructor for at least two semesters. In the first semester as a GSI, students must complete either PHILOS 375  (Graduate Student Instructor Teaching Seminar) or a 300-level course with another department. Other requirements for first-year GSIs are available on the GSI Teaching & Resource Center . 

Dissertation Seminar

Students in the first two years after declaring candidacy must register for  PHILOS 295  (Dissertation Seminar) 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.

PHILOS 200 First-Year Graduate Seminar 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2020 A combination seminar and tutorial, required of and limited to first year graduate students in philosophy. First-Year Graduate Seminar: Read More [+]

Rules & Requirements

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.

Hours & Format

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: Two hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.

Additional Details

Subject/Course Level: Philosophy/Graduate

Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.

First-Year Graduate Seminar: Read Less [-]

PHILOS 290 Seminar 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Advanced study in various fields of philosophy. Topics will vary from semester to semester. Seminar: Read More [+]

Grading: Letter grade.

Seminar: Read Less [-]

PHILOS 295 Dissertation Seminar 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Presentations by graduate students of dissertation research in progress. Dissertation Seminar: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Restricted to graduate students who are writing dissertations in philosophy

Formerly known as: 109

Dissertation Seminar: Read Less [-]

PHILOS 299 Independent Study 1 - 12 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Independent Study: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-12 hours of independent study per week

Summer: 3 weeks - 5-60 hours of independent study per week 6 weeks - 2.5-30 hours of independent study per week 8 weeks - 2-23 hours of independent study per week

Additional Format: One to twelve hours of independent study per week. Two to twenty three hours of independent study per week for 8 weeks. Two and one-half to thirty hours of independent study per week for 6 weeks. Five to sixty hours of independent study per week for three weeks.

Independent Study: Read Less [-]

PHILOS 301 Professional Preparation: The Teaching of Philosophy 2 - 6 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2021, Fall 2014, Spring 2014 Students will work as teachers under the guidance of a faculty member. They will attend lectures, guide classroom discussion, and participate in a workshop in teaching methods. Professional Preparation: The Teaching of Philosophy: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Appointment as a graduate student instructor

Credit Restrictions: Course does not satisfy unit or residence requirements for doctoral degree.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0-0 hours of independent study per week

Additional Format: Zero hour of independent study per week.

Subject/Course Level: Philosophy/Professional course for teachers or prospective teachers

Professional Preparation: The Teaching of Philosophy: Read Less [-]

PHILOS 375 Graduate Student Instructor Teaching Seminar 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 A hands-on training seminar for new philosophy GSIs that addresses both practical and theoretical issues. Graduate Student Instructor Teaching Seminar: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Admission to Ph.D. program

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: One 1-hour seminar per week.

Formerly known as: Philosophy 302

Graduate Student Instructor Teaching Seminar: Read Less [-]

Contact Information

Department of philosophy.

314 Philosophy Hall

Phone: 510-642-2722

Fax: 510-642-4164

[email protected]

Department Chair

Alva Noë, PhD

232 Philosophy Hall

[email protected]

Head Graduate Advisor

John MacFarlane, PhD

230 Philosophy Hall

[email protected]

Graduate Student Affairs Officer

Bill Dellinger

[email protected]

Undergraduate Student Affairs Officer

Janet Groome

[email protected]

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Philosophy PhD

The Graduate Program in Philosophy at Berkeley offers a first-rate faculty, a stimulating and friendly community of graduate students, and the resources of one of the world's finest research universities.

Two features distinguish our profile from that of other leading graduate programs in philosophy:

• The department has strengths in all the main areas of philosophy, including epistemology, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, philosophy of language, logic, ethics, the history of philosophy, and philosophy of science. We aim at diversity and breadth of coverage, rather than concentration on one or two areas of philosophical activity.
• Second, the program at Berkeley is structured to give students a high degree of independence in tailoring their studies to their interests.

Those wishing to pursue graduate studies in philosophy can choose among several routes to a PhD at Berkeley:

• The Philosophy Department's graduate program leads to a PhD in Philosophy.
• Students with strong interests in Ancient Philosophy may want to take advantage of a special ancient concentration within the philosophy program.
• Students with strong interests in the History and Philosophy of Science may want to explore the special HPS concentration within the philosophy program.
• Students with strong interests in formal logic may pursue them in the Philosophy Department, in the Mathematics Department , or in Berkeley's interdisciplinary program leading to a PhD in Logic and the Methodology of Science , to which the Philosophy Department has close ties.

Contact Info

[email protected]

314 Philosophy Hall #2390 University of California

Berkeley, CA 94720-2390

At a Glance

Department(s)

Admit Term(s)

Application Deadline

January 8, 2024

Degree Type(s)

Doctoral / PhD

Degree Awarded

GRE Requirements

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.

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Philosophy, PhD

The Penn Philosophy Department has a long and distinguished history. Philosophy has been taught at the University since 1755, and Penn was among the first universities in the country to offer the PhD degree in Philosophy, in 1882. The Department has always prized breadth, and its members are prepared to supervise advanced research in metaphysics and epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, logic, philosophy of language, ethics, social and political philosophy, philosophy of law, and the history of philosophy.

The Ph.D. program includes course work, a teaching requirement, a preliminary examination, and the preparation and defense of a dissertation.   Required coursework includes two courses in contemporary epistemology and metaphysics (including philosophy of science, mind, language, and mathematics); two courses in value theory (ethics, political or legal philosophy, aesthetics); three courses in history of philosophy, and a logic requirement.

For more information: http://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/graduate

View the University’s Academic Rules for PhD Programs .

Required Courses

The total course units required for graduation is 20.

Must include one course in ancient and one course in early modern through Kant.

One course unit must be a regularly offered Philosophy course.

The degree and major requirements displayed are intended as a guide for students entering in the Fall of 2023 and later. Students should consult with their academic program regarding final certifications and requirements for graduation.

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Doctor of Philosophy in Education

Additional Information

• Download the Doctoral Viewbook
• Admissions & Aid

The Harvard Ph.D. in Education trains cutting-edge researchers who work across disciplines to generate knowledge and translate discoveries into transformative policy and practice.

Offered jointly by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Ph.D. in Education provides you with full access to the extraordinary resources of Harvard University and prepares you to assume meaningful roles as university faculty, researchers, senior-level education leaders, and policymakers.

As a Ph.D. candidate, you will collaborate with scholars across all Harvard graduate schools on original interdisciplinary research. In the process, you will help forge new fields of inquiry that will impact the way we teach and learn. The program’s required coursework will develop your knowledge of education and your expertise in a range of quantitative and qualitative methods needed to conduct high-quality research. Guided by the goal of making a transformative impact on education research, policy, and practice, you will focus on independent research in various domains, including human development, learning and teaching, policy analysis and evaluation, institutions and society, and instructional practice.   

Curriculum Information

The Ph.D. in Education requires five years of full-time study to complete. You will choose your individual coursework and design your original research in close consultation with your HGSE faculty adviser and dissertation committee. The requirements listed below include the three Ph.D. concentrations: Culture, Institutions, and Society; Education Policy and Program Evaluation; and Human Development, Learning and Teaching . 

We invite you to review an example course list, which is provided in two formats — one as the full list by course number and one by broad course category . These lists are subject to modification. 

Ph.D. Concentrations and Examples

Summary of Ph.D. Program

Doctoral Colloquia  In year one and two you are required to attend. The colloquia convenes weekly and features presentations of work-in-progress and completed work by Harvard faculty, faculty and researchers from outside Harvard, and Harvard doctoral students. Ph.D. students present once in the colloquia over the course of their career.

Research Apprenticeship The Research Apprenticeship is designed to provide ongoing training and mentoring to develop your research skills throughout the entire program.

Teaching Fellowships The Teaching Fellowship is an opportunity to enhance students' teaching skills, promote learning consolidation, and provide opportunities to collaborate with faculty on pedagogical development.

Comprehensive Exams  The Written Exam (year 2, spring) tests you on both general and concentration-specific knowledge. The Oral Exam (year 3, fall/winter) tests your command of your chosen field of study and your ability to design, develop, and implement an original research project.

Dissertation  Based on your original research, the dissertation process consists of three parts: the Dissertation Proposal, the writing, and an oral defense before the members of your dissertation committee.

Culture, Institutions, and Society (CIS) Concentration

In CIS, you will examine the broader cultural, institutional, organizational, and social contexts relevant to education across the lifespan. What is the value and purpose of education? How do cultural, institutional, and social factors shape educational processes and outcomes? How effective are social movements and community action in education reform? How do we measure stratification and institutional inequality? In CIS, your work will be informed by theories and methods from sociology, history, political science, organizational behavior and management, philosophy, and anthropology. You can examine contexts as diverse as classrooms, families, neighborhoods, schools, colleges and universities, religious institutions, nonprofits, government agencies, and more.

Education Policy and Program Evaluation (EPPE) Concentration

In EPPE, you will research the design, implementation, and evaluation of education policy affecting early childhood, K–12, and postsecondary education in the U.S. and internationally. You will evaluate and assess individual programs and policies related to critical issues like access to education, teacher effectiveness, school finance, testing and accountability systems, school choice, financial aid, college enrollment and persistence, and more. Your work will be informed by theories and methods from economics, political science, public policy, and sociology, history, philosophy, and statistics. This concentration shares some themes with CIS, but your work with EPPE will focus on public policy and large-scale reforms.

Human Development, Learning and Teaching (HDLT) Concentration

In HDLT, you will work to advance the role of scientific research in education policy, reform, and practice. New discoveries in the science of learning and development — the integration of biological, cognitive, and social processes; the relationships between technology and learning; or the factors that influence individual variations in learning — are transforming the practice of teaching and learning in both formal and informal settings. Whether studying behavioral, cognitive, or social-emotional development in children or the design of learning technologies to maximize understanding, you will gain a strong background in human development, the science of learning, and sociocultural factors that explain variation in learning and developmental pathways. Your research will be informed by theories and methods from psychology, cognitive science, sociology and linguistics, philosophy, the biological sciences and mathematics, and organizational behavior.

Program Faculty

The most remarkable thing about the Ph.D. in Education is open access to faculty from all Harvard graduate and professional schools, including the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Harvard Kennedy School, the Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard School of Public Health. Learn about the full Ph.D. Faculty.

Jarvis R. Givens

Jarvis Givens studies the history of American education, African American history, and the relationship between race and power in schools.

Paul L. Harris

Paul Harris is interested in the early development of cognition, emotion, and imagination in children.

Meira Levinson

Meira Levinson is a normative political philosopher who works at the intersection of civic education, youth empowerment, racial justice, and educational ethics. 

Luke W. Miratrix

Luke Miratrix is a statistician who explores how to best use modern statistical methods in applied social science contexts.

Eric Taylor

Eric Taylor studies the economics of education, with a particular interest in employer-employee interactions between schools and teachers — hiring and firing decisions, job design, training, and performance evaluation.

Paola Uccelli

Paola Ucelli studies socio-cultural and individual differences in the language development of multilingual and monolingual students.

View Ph.D. Faculty

Dissertations.

The following is a complete listing of successful Ph.D. in Education dissertations to-date. Dissertations from November 2014 onward are publicly available in the Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) , the online repository for Harvard scholarship.

• 2022 Graduate Dissertations (265 KB pdf)
• 2021 Graduate Dissertations (177 KB pdf)
• 2020 Graduate Dissertations (121 KB pdf)
• 2019 Graduate Dissertations (68.3 KB pdf)

Student Directory

An opt-in listing of current Ph.D. students with information about their interests, research, personal web pages, and contact information:

Doctor of Philosophy in Education Student Directory

Introduce Yourself

Tell us about yourself so that we can tailor our communication to best fit your interests and provide you with relevant information about our programs, events, and other opportunities to connect with us.

Program Highlights

Explore examples of the Doctor of Philosophy in Education experience and the impact its community is making on the field:

Improving the Teacher Workforce

With her research work, doctoral marshal Mary Laski, Ph.D.'24, is trying to make teaching in K–12 schools more sustainable and attractive

Building The ‘Bridge’ Between Research and Practice

Marshal Doug Mosher, Ph.D.'24, reflects on his journey to the Ed. School and the lessons — musical and teaching — learned along the way

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Graduate Program

Wiley blackwell publishes new rankings: , uc san diego philosophy department ranks in top 20 philosophy programs in the u.s..

The Department of Philosophy at UC San Diego boasts a highly distinguished faculty and an excellent PhD program, with roughly 42 full-time students in residence , in

• Science Studies (along with History, Communications, and Sociology), and
• Cognitive Science (along with Cognitive Science).

The faculty engage in research throughout a broad range of traditional and interdisciplinary topics, with special strengths in

• moral and political philosophy (metaethics, political philosophy, philosophy of law)
• history of philosophy (ancient, early modern, Kant)
• philosophy of mind and language (perception, cognitive science) and
• philosophy of science (physics, biology, ecology).

We take seriously our obligation to help produce the next generation of researchers and teachers in philosophy. Prospective students are encouraged to look over the information on faculty research and publications included under Areas of Study .

The Setting

UC San Diego is a  nationally acclaimed research university  spread out over 1,200 of the most scenic acres in America, much of it on bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. UC San Diego ranks as among the top 20 best universities in the world ( U.S. News & World Report , 2016 Academic Ranking of Wold Universities released by the Center for World-Class Universities at Shanghai Jiao Tong, and The Center for the World University Rankings). Graduate programs at UC San Diego continue to rank highly as noted in the 2016 “America’s Best Graduate Schools” guidebook. UC San Diego boasts an extraordinary array of Nobel laureates, MacArthur Fellows, and national academy members.

Diversity Statement

Our department seeks to do all it can to make philosophy an inclusive discipline. We understand the value that diversity brings to philosophical inquiry, and that the health of our profession depends on greater inclusion of under-represented groups. As a leading Ph.D. program, we play an important role in training and cultivating a diverse philosophical community. One of our most important goals is thus to recruit and sustain a diverse graduate student body .

To realize this goal, we

• encourage a full range of applicants with diverse backgrounds, for instance from two-year community colleges (especially in California), from colleges with traditionally underrepresented minorities, and from “non-elite” undergraduate institutions;
• provide financial support, academic assistance, and mentoring that reflects the diverse needs of a diverse population;
• strive for a curriculum that illustrates that a diverse group of philosophers have contributed in the past, and should contribute in the future to the richness of philosophy;
• continuously strive toward an environment of greater inclusion and respect through critical self-examination, paying due attention both to overt forms of prejudice or exclusion and to its subtler manifestations.

Graduate Class Size

In any given year, there are usually between 35 to 45 philosophy graduate students in residence, almost all of whom are full-time students.

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TA Handbook

Staff contact.

Caroline Wells Graduate Program Coordinator Hours: Contact via email Email:  [email protected]

Faculty Contact

Kerry McKenzie Director of Graduate Studies Phone: (858) 534-2566 Email:  [email protected]

Doctoral Degrees

A doctoral degree requires the satisfactory completion of an approved program of advanced study and original research of high quality..

Please note that the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Doctor of Science (ScD) degrees are awarded interchangeably by all departments in the School of Engineering and the School of Science, except in the fields of biology, cognitive science, neuroscience, medical engineering, and medical physics. This means that, excepting the departments outlined above, the coursework and expectations to earn a Doctor of Philosophy and for a Doctor of Science degree from these schools are generally the same. Doctoral students may choose which degree they wish to complete.

Applicants interested in graduate education should apply to the department or graduate program conducting research in the area of interest. Some departments require a doctoral candidate to take a “minor” program outside of the student’s principal field of study; if you wish to apply to one of these departments, please consider additional fields you may like to pursue.

Below is a list of programs and departments that offer doctoral-level degrees.

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Doctor of Philosophy

Credit requirements and transfer credit, doctoral minor requirements, courses shared between degrees, graduate non-degree coursework, continuous enrollment, continuous enrollment and incompletes, time limitation, qualifying examination, major professor, plan of study, comprehensive examination for advancement to candidacy, comprehensive examination committee, dissertation prospectus/proposal, committee appointment form, dissertation, dissertation committee, final oral defense examination, submission of the dissertation, storage and publication of dissertation, completion of requirements, second doctoral degrees.

Graduate students are responsible for knowing the graduate requirements of both the Graduate College and their academic departments. The University of Arizona offers six doctoral degrees: the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), the Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.), the Doctor of Public Health (D.P.H.), the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), and the Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.). The University of Arizona also offers a first professional degree, the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD). For information on the PharmD, please refer to the General Catalog . The UA General Catalog  also provides definitive information regarding Graduate Minors and doctoral Second Language Requirements, as well as the Academic Calendar.

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The equivalent of at least seven semesters of full-time graduate study is required for the Ph.D. A minimum of 36 units of coursework in the area of the major subject, a minimum of 9 units in the minor subject, and a minimum of 18 units of dissertation must be completed.  Most students will take more than the minimum number of units for a given degree.

All grades for Incompletes and current semester coursework must be received before the degree is considered completed. A student must have a cumulative GPA in all graduate coursework of at least 3.000 in order to graduate. 

All required units of credit counted toward the degree must be taken for graduate credit, including any courses transferred from another institution. With program approval, up to 12 graduate units taken for graduate credit only as an undergraduate may be applied towards doctoral requirements - however units used towards an accelerated masters cannot also be used towards a doctorate. With program approval, up to 12 units of professional coursework (Medicine, Law, Pharmacy, Veterinary Medicine) may be applied to graduate degree requirements. Students in an approved dual degree with Medicine, Law, or Pharmacy may be able to apply more than 12 units from that career toward their graduate degree, depending on the dual agreement.  Students admitted to their graduate program prior to Fall 2014 may be able to apply up to 6 units of 400-level credit from the University of Arizona toward their minor if not used toward an undergraduate degree (these units will not receive graduate credit or be calculated in the graduate grade-point average.)  At least 22 units (i.e. half the required coursework) on the Doctoral Plan of Study must be in courses in which regular grades (A, B, C) have been earned. Courses for which the student has earned a  D grade cannot be counted toward a graduate degree. While a grade of D or E does not earn units for a grad student, they will still figure into the GPA.   A minimum of 12 units of regular grades taken at the University of Arizona are required to establish the Grade Point Average (GPA).

Non-credit based requirements such as comprehensive exams, dissertations or thesis requirements, research requirements, and professionalization requirements may not be transferred from another institution.

Transfer Credit

Graduate credit earned at other approved institutions may be counted toward the requirements of a doctoral degree, but will not be included in the calculation of the University of Arizona GPA

Transferred units are subject to the following restrictions:

• The credits must be approved by the major or minor department and the Graduate College.
• The minimum grade for transferred credits must be an A or B or the equivalent at the institution where course was taken.
• Transferred units may not count toward more than one doctorate.
• No more than 12 units taken in Medicine, Law or Pharmacy Practice may be used toward a doctoral degree.
• A maximum of 30 units of transfer coursework may be used toward the Ph.D requirements.

Students who wish to transfer credit must submit a Transfer Credit form in GradPath before the end of their first year of study to have the courses evaluated for transfer eligibility.

Grades and the number of units for transfer credits may be adjusted so that they are consistent with the University of Arizona grading and credit system. Transfer credits used on a fully approved Plan of Study appear with a grade of “T” on the University of Arizona transcript and are not calculated in the University of Arizona GPA. The name of the transfer institution appears on the University of Arizona transcript with the number of transfer units from that institution that were brought in towards the graduate degree.

PhD students are required to complete a doctoral minor. A doctoral minor gives students an opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge in a cognate field of interest and to expand interdisciplinary knowledge necessary for solving complex problems and addressing grand challenges. 

Each doctoral minor program determines their own curriculum, academic requirements, and required credits. However, the minimum required credits for any doctoral minor is 9 graduate units. A comprehensive exam covering the minor is required to complete a minor. 

The credit earned toward a doctoral minor can only be counted toward the doctoral minor and not also counted toward the major (no double-dipping). Specifically, students may not apply minor course credit to both the minor and major area of study. 

The doctoral minor is a required part of the doctoral oral comprehensive exams. A written and oral comprehensive exam is required for the major degree portion of the exam; however, the minor department determines whether to require a written portion of the exam. The oral portion of the comprehensive examination must cover both the major and the minor disciplines during a single oral examination with the major and minor committee members participating.

A student considering multiple minors should talk to their faculty advisor in advance taking into consideration the additional cost, time to degree completion, and planning with regard to comprehensive exams. 

Students admitted to their graduate program prior to Fall 2014 may be able to apply up to 6 units of 400-level credit from the University of Arizona toward their minor if not used toward an undergraduate degree (these units will not receive graduate credit or be calculated in the graduate grade-point average).  

There are limits on coursework that can be counted toward more than one degree earned by the student at the University of Arizona or elsewhere.

• If a student counts credits from a UA master's degree towards a UA Ph.D., then additional transfer credit may be limited to ensure that some UA coursework is taken while in the doctoral program.  Thesis credits used for a master's degree cannot count toward the Ph.D. course credit requirements.
• Up to 30 units of credit counted toward one or more master’s degrees earned at UA or elsewhere may be counted toward the Ph.D requirements.
• No course may be counted toward the requirements for more than two plans (at UA or elsewhere).
• A student earning two UA doctoral degrees may use up to 9 units of coursework toward both doctoral degrees (as long as courses were not used toward any other degree).

Students who have completed graduate non-degree* coursework at UA may count no more than 12 units of non-degree credit toward the Ph.D requirements.

The graduate certificate is considered distinct from a graduate degree (masters or doctorate). Limits regarding the use of units applied towards a graduate certificate and a graduate degree are determined by the certificate program. Graduate certificates are exempt from the 12 unit non-degree policy above and are determined by the certificate and the degree program.

A student admitted to a doctoral program must register each fall and spring semester for a minimum of 1 graduate unit, from original matriculation until all course and dissertation requirements (including submission of the dissertation to the Graduate College) are met. A semester in which a student is enrolled for course credit will be counted toward continuous enrollment. Non-credit courses, audited courses or courses from which the student withdraws do not count toward the determination of continuous enrollment. 

Students receiving funding, such as assistantships, fellowships, loans, grants, scholarships or traineeships, may be required by their funding source to register for more than 1 unit to meet the full-time status requirement. Similarly, international students may have different requirements to maintain their visa status.  All students should check with their program advisor regarding such requirements to ensure that they remain qualified for funding and/or their visa.

Doctoral students who have maintained continuous enrollment and are taking only comprehensive exams during a summer or winter term do not have to register for graduate credit during that summer or winter session.

Doctoral students must enroll in at least 1 unit of dissertation (or Nursing DNP Project unit, or Doctoral Recital unit for students in relevant programs) in the Spring or Fall semester that they undertake their final oral defense. Doctoral students who have maintained continuous enrollment, fulfilled all their other degree requirements, as well as the 18 hours of dissertation, and were enrolled in the prior semester may defend and file for the degree in the summer or winter term without registration while they complete their dissertation. If, however, students need library privileges or plan to use other University facilities or need significant faculty time during the summer or winter session, enrollment is required. Enrollment in GRAD 922 to allow access to the Library during the summer or winter terms is available to eligible master's and doctoral students.

Unless excused by an official graduate Leave of Absence (which except under exceptional circumstances, may not exceed one year throughout the student's degree program), all graduate students are subject to the Continuous Enrollment Policy. Students requiring significant faculty time (e.g. advising, reviewing, collaborating) must be enrolled rather than on Leave of Absence. If the student fails to obtain a Leave of Absence or maintain continuous enrollment, he or she will be required to apply for re-admission and to pay the Graduate College application fee. There is no guarantee of re-admission. Tuition or registration waivers cannot be applied retroactively.

Please note that "continuous enrollment" is not the same as "full time enrollment" for financial aid purposes. Please refer to the University policy on  Full-Time Status . 

Students who have maintained continuous enrollment, fulfilled all their other degree requirements and are only completing an incomplete in coursework (a class other than 900 level) are not required to enroll while they complete the incomplete. If, however, students need library privileges or plan to use other University facilities or need significant faculty time while they complete their incomplete, enrollment is required.

Students must meet all requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy within 5 years of passing the Comprehensive Exam or risk being dismissed from the program. Programs may have more stringent time to degree requirements.  Should a student not finish within that time, the program may petition the Graduate College for an extension to time to degree. If the extension is approved, the student may be required to re-take the Comprehensive Exam before proceeding to complete requirements, e.g., the dissertation. 

A qualifying examination or diagnostic evaluation may be required to demonstrate acceptability to pursue the doctorate as well as to determine areas of study where further course work is necessary. Please review the requirements of the program for more information.

The major professor serves as the student's faculty advisor and mentor. The DGS may designate a temporary major professor (faculty advisor) for incoming students. During the first year, students should select a major professor who must be approved by the DGS. Students may change major professors with departmental approval, but are required to have a major professor in order to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress.

In conjunction with his/her major professor or faculty advisor, each student is responsible for developing a Plan of Study during their first year in residence, to be filed with the Graduate College no later than the student's third semester in residence. The Plan of Study identifies

• Courses the student intends to transfer from other institutions;
• Courses already completed at the University of Arizona which the student intends to apply toward the graduate degree; and
• Additional course work to be completed in order to fulfill degree requirements.

The Plan of Study must have the approval of the student's major professor and Director of Graduate Studies before it is submitted to the Graduate College.

Before admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree, the student must pass a written and an oral Doctoral Comprehensive Examination. This examination is intended to test the student's comprehensive knowledge of the major and minor subjects of study, both in breadth across the general field of study and in depth within the area of specialization. The examination, therefore, should not take place until the student has completed all, or almost all, of their coursework. The student must be in good academic standing to sit for the comprehensive exam. The Comprehensive Examination is considered a single examination, although it consists of written and oral parts. While the Graduate College sets general policies and guidelines for exams, it is expected that each program will have different ways of assessing a student's knowledge of the field and their preparation to begin the dissertation. Each program determines the format and administration of the written portion. The minor department controls the minor portion of the written examination and may waive it at their discretion.  A student will pass the written portion before sitting for the oral portion. Programs will have written policies regarding whether or not students may retake failed written exams as well as specific policies regarding second attempts of the oral. The time between the written and oral portion is determined by individual programs, but the oral portion should come early enough to allow the student to advance to candidacy in a timely fashion. Normally, the written and oral portions of the comprehensive examination should take place at least three months prior to the Final Oral Examination (defense of dissertation). The exact time and place of the oral comprehensive examination must be scheduled with the department and announced in GradPath using the Announcement of Doctoral Comprehensive Exam form before the exam can take place.

Upon successful completion of the written portion of the examination, the  Oral Comprehensive Examination  is conducted before the examining committee of the faculty. The oral portion of the examination must cover both the major and the minor. The Oral Comprehensive Examination should last for at least an hour but must not last more than 3 hours. Remote participation by one or more committee member by video or phone conference is permitted on the condition that the student and all committee members can effectively communicate.  All members must participate in the entire examination.  The oral examination is the occasion when faculty committee members have both the opportunity and obligation to require the student to display a broad knowledge of the chosen field of study and sufficient depth of understanding in areas of specialization.  Discussion of proposed dissertation research may be included.  The examining committee must attest that the student has demonstrated the professional level of knowledge expected of a junior academic colleague. The Graduate College allows no more than one re-take of the oral exam.

When the student has passed the written and oral portions of the Comprehensive Examination, and the Graduate Student Academic Services office has confirmed completion of the required courses on the approved doctoral Plan of Study, the student will advance to doctoral candidacy.  The student will be billed the graduate candidacy fees and will be notified by e-mail of the advancement and fees. The candidacy fees are one-time fees and the student will not be billed again if the reported graduation date is changed. Students required to do a terminal internship or clinical residency during their final semester (Clinical Psychology and School Psychology) may advance to doctoral candidacy while enrolled in this internship or clinical residency course. Please consult with your Graduate College Degree Counselor to confirm your eligibility.

The student is responsible for forming a comprehensive examination committee of faculty representing both the major and the minor programs. The examining committee must consist of a minimum of four members. The Major Advisor and two additional members must be members of the Graduate Faculty . The fourth member may be a member of the Graduate Faculty or an approved Special Member. Any members beyond the fourth can also be members of the Graduate Faculty, or approved Special Members.

Every student in a doctoral program needs to have an approved dissertation prospectus or proposal on file within their department.  As soon as the student has an approved prospectus/proposal on file within the department, the department's Graduate Coordinator will submit the prospectus/proposal confirmation form in GradPath on behalf of the student.

When the student has an approved doctoral Plan of Study on file, has satisfied all course work, language, and residence requirements, and passed the written and oral portions of the Comprehensive Examination, he or she must file a Committee Appointment form. Any changes to the committee should be reported to the Graduate Student Academic Services office.  Under normal circumstances, submission is expected at least six months before the Final Oral Examination (i.e., Defense).  Deadlines for the submission of paperwork pertaining to doctoral programs are available online at  Deadlines for Completion of Degree Requirements .

The Committee Appointment form reports the student’s planned dissertation committee, dissertation title (subject to change) and the expected graduation term. It requires approval from the dissertation director and the major and minor departments. The approval signature from the minor department on this form indicates both approval of the reported dissertation committee and confirmation that the student has satisfied all requirements for the minor.

All Ph.D. programs require the completion of a dissertation which meets required standards of scholarship and demonstrates the candidate's ability to conduct original research.

The structure of the dissertation varies depending upon the discipline and the program offering the degree. See the program's handbook for the details of how your program structures their dissertation requirement. A common measure of quality of the dissertation is whether it is "publishable" in disciplinarily-recognized publication venues. Note that the determination of whether a dissertation meets this criteria lies solely with scholars on the dissertation committee. Programs and committees may not require that the work actually be published. The committee cannot require that outside actors such as editors, publishers, editorial reviewer, accreditation boards, etc. make that determination for them. 

Research involving human subjects or vertebrate animals requires permission from the relevant University committee. Consult your research director and the  Office for the Responsible Conduct of Research  for details. Their telephone number is (520) 626-5515.

Research activities involving the use of human subjects require the review and approval of the  University Human Subjects Committee .

Any research involving vertebrate animals must be approved by the  Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee  (IACUC). The student must be listed on an approved IACUC protocol before they begin their animal research.

Instructions relating to the format of the dissertation and required abstracts are included in the  Dissertation Formatting Guide  (including those that include previously published papers, papers accepted for publication, and/or papers with multiple authors).

Students will form a dissertation committee by the time of advancement to candidacy. Some departments require earlier committee formulation. Individual faculty members may decline membership on committees for academic reasons. Candidates must be able to develop a proposal of sufficient academic merit and on a topic that satisfies their committee. Candidates may be discontinued from their program for failure to make academic progress if they do not have an approved dissertation chair and committee.

The Graduate College requires a minimum of three Graduate Faculty members on a dissertation committee. Fourth and subsequent members may be Graduate Faculty or Special Members. If a committee has only three members, all must approve the dissertation. In departments that require four or more members, there may be one dissenting vote. All dissertation committee members are expected to attend the entire final defense.

Upon the completion of the dissertation, the candidate must submit to a Final Oral Defense Examination. A student must be in good academic standing to schedule the defense. The examination focuses on the dissertation itself but can include general questioning related to the field(s) of study within the scope of the dissertation ( Final Oral Defense Instructions  and Final Oral Defense Instructions for doctor of Audiology ).

The date, time, and location of the final examination must be scheduled with the Graduate College in advance using the Announcement of Final Oral Defense form in GradPath. Candidates should indicate in the comments section of this form if the Final Oral Examination will be held remotely or in a hybrid format. This form should be submitted far enough in advance of the examination that all approvers can grant their approval in time for the form to reach the Graduate College one week prior to the exam.  The Graduate College will place an announcement on the UA master calendar to invite the public to attend the candidate's presentation of his or her work.  Final Oral Examinations should be scheduled during days when the university is in session and during normal business hours. Permission to hold examinations during University holiday closures or outside of normal university business hours may be granted by Graduate College.

The dissertation director presides over the examination. The initial seminar portion during which the student presents the dissertation and entertains questions is open to the public.  This is followed by a closed session with just the committee and the candidate. The committee's deliberation is closed to the public. 

There is no minimum time limit for the Final Oral Examination, but the entire proceedings may not exceed three hours. Members of the committee must be present for the entire examination. Should special circumstances require a member to attend remotely, prior permission from the Graduate College is necessary.

If the committee requires revisions, those must be done in a timely manner, not to exceed one year.  If the revisions are not completed by the dissertation submission deadline for the term when the student defends, the student will be required to register for the next semester and will graduate in the semester when the revisions are complete and approved.  If revisions are not done by the end of the time to degree period, the student will have to re-take comprehensive examinations to demonstrate currency of knowledge.

Upon successful completion of the Final Oral Defense examination, and having gained final approval from the dissertation committee after completing any revisions needed following the defense, the candidate submits the dissertation electronically via the submission website maintained by ProQuest/UMI.  This submission must be made by the submission deadline for the desired graduation term.  The Graduate College will check the formatting of the submitted dissertation and may request changes before accepting the submission.  When the dissertation has been accepted by the Graduate College, completion of requirements has been fulfilled, and all other final items are accounted for, the degree will be awarded provided the degree conferral date for the graduation term has been reached. Please refer to the Academic Calendar for the relevant semester for the conferral date.

ProQuest/UMI catalogs and stores the dissertation and sends catalog information to the Library of Congress for distribution for depository catalogs and libraries. The dissertation will also be archived in the University of Arizona Campus Repository , where it serves as the record of the student's research.

Publication of the dissertation by ProQuest and the Campus Repository does not preclude publication by other means, and successful candidates are urged to submit dissertation material for publication in a scholarly or professional journals. Suitable acknowledgment must indicate the publication was a dissertation, or portion of a dissertation, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona.

All grades for Incompletes and courses taken in the final term must be received before the degree is considered completed. For students in the School Psychology program, completing the SERP 693 internship course on or before June 1, will enable the degree to be awarded for Spring of that year. If the candidate completes the internship after June 1, the degree will be awarded for summer. 

A student must have a cumulative GPA in all graduate coursework of at least 3.000 in order to graduate.

For dates by which requirements must be met to graduate in a particular term, please refer to our Important Deadlines .

The diploma is ordered and mailed once the degree has been awarded. Changing the name on a student's record and diploma may require that an official name change be filed with the Registrar's Office. Any outstanding financial debts with the University will prevent the student from ordering official transcripts or receiving their diploma. Please contact the Bursar's office at 621-3232 for assistance with student accounts. 

Please take our exit survey so we can provide a great student experience to future students. We need and appreciate your feedback.

The Graduate College does not generally permit a person who holds a Ph.D. to pursue a second Ph.D. Persons holding a Ph.D. who wish to expand their training are encouraged to pursue post-doctoral training, a graduate certificate, or a professional degree (e.g. MD, JD, PharmD).  In the rare case a graduate program wishes to admit a student for a 2nd Ph.D., the case must be justified by the department in a petition subject to approval by the Graduate College. The department must explain why the 2nd Ph.D. would be qualitatively different from the first.  This rule applies to cases where the first degree is from the University of Arizona or from another domestic or international institution.  Admission to a second Ph.D. will be allowed only with strong rationale from the program.  If admitted for a second doctoral degree, students will be held to all the usual degree requirements and University regulations pertaining to fees, registrations, examinations, advancement to candidacy, residency, internships, etc. Not more than 9 credits from the prior degree may be applied toward the second degree.  Applicants who already have a doctoral degree may not be given special preference for admission or for financial support.

• No credit may be counted for more than two degrees. Thus UA credits could not be used for a master’s in UA major 1, a doctorate in UA major 1, and a master’s in UA major 2.
• A student may use no more than a total of 30 credits from all master’s degrees toward a doctorate. Thus, if a student earned a non-UA master’s, up to 30 credits could be used toward a UA doctorate. In that case, none of the transfer credit nor any additional coursework toward the UA doctorate could be used toward a UA master’s in a major that differs from the doctorate because the student would have exhausted the 30 credit limit of master’s coursework that can be shared with a doctorate.

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Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

What is a phd.

A PhD is a Doctorate of Philosophy, a prestigious qualification which is the highest level of degree that a student can achieve, demonstrating talent, academic excellence and a thirst for knowledge. In a modern knowledge-based economy, highly educated and skilled people such as doctoral graduates, are in great demand. They form the most highly educated and skilled group in the UK and internationally. Many will go on to use their skills within academia or in research-intensive occupations in industry. However, there will be others who will draw on their research background and the skills gained through a doctoral degree in a wide variety of other occupations. Examples of the type of employment opportunities taken up by PhD holders can be found at Vitae: researcher careers .

What will I get from a PhD?

You will get a huge sense of personal achievement. Our doctoral training programme will help you develop transferable skills that will be invaluable in your subsequent career. The research techniques and methodologies you master will enable you to make a direct contribution to the advancement of knowledge in your particular subject area.

Successful candidates are awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and are permitted to use the title ‘Dr’.

How does it work?

The maximum registration for a PhD programme is four years with full-time study, or eight years with part-time study.

All PhD students are initially registered for a Master of Philosophy (MPhil), and the PhD registration is confirmed after the successful completion of an upgrade assessment (at the end of year 1 for full-time students and year 2 for part-time study). You will be registered for a PhD when you pass this upgrade. Your academic progress will be monitored throughout your degree studies, via formal progress reports and regular meetings with your supervisors.

You complete a body of primary, novel research and submit a doctoral thesis of up to 100,000 words, which you then defend via an oral examination (the viva) to the satisfaction of the examiners. Your thesis must meet the expectations specified in the Quality Code .

Entry requirements

Entry requirements vary according to the research topic and/or specific studentships. The normal minimum entrance requirement is an upper second class honours degree or masters degree, relevant to the proposed area of study, from a recognised higher education institution in the UK or other recognised degree-awarding body. The comparability of qualifications from outside the UK with The Open University requirements will be determined through reference to UK ENIC .

The research topic pages (within research areas ) give details of specific entry requirements, and provide contact details to discuss your suitability for the PhD.

English language proficiency

To study with us, you will need to have a good command of English. If your first language is not English, you will need to demonstrate your competence in the English Language in all four elements (reading, writing, listening and speaking). The University requires a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 with no less than 6.0 in any of the four categories (or approved equivalent). If you are an overseas student, you must have your level of proficiency certified through a provider approved by UK Visas and Immigration and provide your certificate and grade with your application.

Application closing dates

Entry may be permitted for direct registration with The Open University at the following points of year: October and February. This ensures that students benefit from development and training in peer groups. For further information on how to apply, see our Application process section. Application deadlines may differ between research topics and studentships; full details of topic application period is detailed in the topic page (within research areas ).

PhD student, Hannah Sargeant. Her research is focussed on water production from Moon rocks as part of the ProSPA instrument that will be flown to the Moon in 2025.

My PhD journey so far has been a wonderful learning experience that made me reflect upon my beliefs and stretch my thinking.

The sweetest thing about the PhD is that you’ve worked hard for it. It is an opportunity to make an original contribution to an academic area I have always found fascinating.

Your questions

For advice about applying for a research degree, or sponsoring a research student, email the Graduate School or call +44 (0)1908 653806.

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• Harvard Business School →
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PhD Programs

• Accounting & Management
• Business Economics
• Health Policy (Management)
• Organizational Behavior
• Technology & Operations Management

Students in our PhD programs are encouraged from day one to think of this experience as their first job in business academia—a training ground for a challenging and rewarding career generating rigorous, relevant research that influences practice.

Our doctoral students work with faculty and access resources throughout HBS and Harvard University. The PhD program curriculum requires coursework at HBS and other Harvard discipline departments, and with HBS and Harvard faculty on advisory committees. Faculty throughout Harvard guide the programs through their participation on advisory committees.

How do I know which program is right for me?

There are many paths, but we are one HBS. Our PhD students draw on diverse personal and professional backgrounds to pursue an ever-expanding range of research topics. Explore more here about each program’s requirements & curriculum, read student profiles for each discipline as well as student research , and placement information.

The PhD in Business Administration grounds students in the disciplinary theories and research methods that form the foundation of an academic career. Jointly administered by HBS and GSAS, the program has five areas of study: Accounting and Management , Management , Marketing , Strategy , and Technology and Operations Management . All areas of study involve roughly two years of coursework culminating in a field exam. The remaining years of the program are spent conducting independent research, working on co-authored publications, and writing the dissertation. Students join these programs from a wide range of backgrounds, from consulting to engineering. Many applicants possess liberal arts degrees, as there is not a requirement to possess a business degree before joining the program

The PhD in Business Economics provides students the opportunity to study in both Harvard’s world-class Economics Department and Harvard Business School. Throughout the program, coursework includes exploration of microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory, probability and statistics, and econometrics. While some students join the Business Economics program directly from undergraduate or masters programs, others have worked in economic consulting firms or as research assistants at universities or intergovernmental organizations.

The PhD program in Health Policy (Management) is rooted in data-driven research on the managerial, operational, and strategic issues facing a wide range of organizations. Coursework includes the study of microeconomic theory, management, research methods, and statistics. The backgrounds of students in this program are quite varied, with some coming from public health or the healthcare industry, while others arrive at the program with a background in disciplinary research

The PhD program in Organizational Behavior offers two tracks: either a micro or macro approach. In the micro track, students focus on the study of interpersonal relationships within organizations and the effects that groups have on individuals. Students in the macro track use sociological methods to examine organizations, groups, and markets as a whole, including topics such as the influence of individuals on organizational change, or the relationship between social missions and financial objectives. Jointly administered by HBS and GSAS, the program includes core disciplinary training in sociology or psychology, as well as additional coursework in organizational behavior.

Accounting & Management  

Business economics  , health policy (management)  , management  , marketing  , organizational behavior  , strategy  , technology & operations management  .

• College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
• Department of Philosophy

Graduate Program

University of Houston Agnes Arnold Hall 3553 Cullen Boulevard, Room 513 Houston, TX 77204-3004 Phone: 713.743.2412 Fax: 713.743.5162

The UH Philosophy M.A. program has consistently been rated among the top M.A. programs in the country in the Philosophical Gourmet Report and is noted in the APA grad guide as having special strengths in Cognitive Science, History of Philosophy, Ethics, and Aesthetics. Our program is designed to prepare students for the best Ph.D. programs in the country.  We offer our students a variety of placement services (provided by a faculty placement coordinator--currently Dr. Justin Coates), which includes a writing sample review and consultation, coordinated organization of recommendation letters, and advice about programs that would provide the best fit given a student’s interests.  With these placement services, our students regularly go on to top programs such as Princeton, Rutgers, Cornell, UCLA, UCSD, and Harvard.  

A current list of graduate students can be found here , and a current list of graduate courses here .

Graduate Seminars

Among their other courses, students typically take three graduate seminars per year they are in residence. Since we take turns teaching these seminars, and our interests are diverse, a student in residence for a two-year period will be exposed to a wide range of important philosophical work. Examples of past graduate seminars offered can be found here.

Our department has a course sharing agreement that allows students in our program to take graduate philosophy courses at Rice University. We are also within easy driving distance of the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University at College Station, and students often organize road trips to philosophy events and conferences in the area.

Seminars are designed to expose students to the standards expected in leading Ph.D. programs. Students are asked to investigate the latest literature on seminar topics and to develop oral and written presentations that demonstrate an ability to analyze and contribute to the latest research in philosophy. 

Through the Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies program, graduates may also obtain an interdisciplinary certificate in Women’s Studies; more information can be found here .  

Ph.D. Preparation

The department is especially concerned to mentor students in the fine art of philosophical writing. Students may choose between two tracks for developing their writing skills. One track requires a master's thesis. The other requires additional course work and reworking of what each student takes to be his or her best seminar paper; students who take this option frequently use it as their writing sample, and interact extensively with a faculty member to perfect it for Ph.D. admissions. Many of our M.A. students also work as Teaching Assistants in introductory courses, and so have experience in grading, meeting with students, and tutoring.

Students who do well in our program will be eminently qualified for competitive Ph.D. programs, often much better prepared than others entering directly from an undergraduate program:  they know what to expect, their ability and motivation to do graduate level work has been tested, they obtain more credible and informed letters of recommendation, and they have acquired a graduate level background that provides a useful head start on Ph.D. work.

Living in Houston

Houston is the best kept secret in America.  If you go by national reputation, you'd think it was all highways, sprawl, condos, televangelists, and cigar smoking oilmen.  In fact, it's the most diverse city in America (recently passing New York) with cool neighborhoods, funky bars, over 11,000 diverse and affordable restaurants, and a fairly compact "downtown" area--most faculty and graduate students live no more than a 15 minute drive away and many bike to campus from their homes (and Houston is adding bike trails by the month).  Houston also has a fantastic arts community with world class museums (many of which offer free admission times ), top-notch companies in opera, dance, theater, and symphony, and a lively alternative arts and music scene. Compared to other major metropolitan areas, it also offers a very affordable cost of living.

More information about living in Houston can be found here .

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IUPUI offers over 250 graduate degrees to students interested in pursuing a Ph.D., a professional degree, a master's degree, or a graduate certificate. Several of these degrees are not offered by any other public institution in the state.

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Ph.D. Minors

Approved ph.d. minors.

As new minors are approved, this list will be updated, so please check back often.

All other minors will be considered Individualized.

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Grapple with the insights of great thinkers from across the world and throughout history while developing skills in critical thinking, argument analysis and cultural literacy.

We prepare graduates to meet a rapidly changing world. Students will study ancient and contemporary philosophers as they engage in rigorous debate, ask the big questions and sharpen their critical thinking skills.  Students will study problems arising in contemporary movements such as analytic philosophy, existentialism and American philosophy; students will be introduced to the major subdivisions of philosophy, including logic, ethics, aesthetics, philosophy and law, philosophy of science and philosophy of religion.

Learn More:

• Department of Philosophy & Religion Website
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Request Info

The major is part of the Department of Philosophy and Religion , an academic unit within the College of Arts and Letters .

The major in philosophy empowers students to analyze diverse worldviews and value systems. In a world that is increasingly pluralistic, ideologically driven and globally connected, skills in critical thinking and cross-cultural understanding are more important than ever. Our students apply this degree to a wide variety of career fields.

Students choose from two concentrations: general philosophy and interdisciplinary philosophy. The interdisciplinary concentration allows students to count relevant courses in another field toward the major and is a particularly good fit for students choosing philosophy as a second major.

Philosophy and Religion

• B.A. in Philosophy and Religion, Major in Philosophy
• Interdisciplinary Philosophy
• Logic and Reasoning

For detailed program information and curriculum, please visit:

• Department of Philosophy & Religion website
• Undergraduate catalog

A successful career and a meaningful life is what it’s all about. Whether it’s an internship, a great first job or a top graduate school appointment, JMU Dukes make their dreams ignite. You will, too.

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• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
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Graduate schools within cal poly san luis obispo.

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College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science - Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo

College of architecture and environmental design - cal poly - san luis obispo, college of engineering - cal poly - san luis obispo, college of liberal arts - cal poly - san luis obispo, college of science and mathematics - cal poly - san luis obispo, orfalea college of business, masters programs, most popular masters programs.

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Graduate students.

• White 58.3%
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• Multiracial 4.5%
• African American 0.5%
• Native American 0.2%
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