Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology
Philosophy
Overview
The MA in Philosophy is a two-year program that offers grounding in the history of philosophy. The program also provides professionalization training, either preparing applications to PhD programs or other non-academic opportunities. In addition to strengths in the history of philosophy (ancient, modern, 19th and 20th century philosophy), faculty expertise spans Continental and Analytic traditions and includes areas such as Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, Deconstruction, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Psychiatry, Philosophy of Science and Medicine, Ethics and Moral Psychology, Social and Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Race, Philosophy of Gender and Feminism, Chinese Philosophy, and Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Philosophy.
Faculty
Professors: Charles R. Bambach, David F. Channell, Pamela Gossin, David A. Patterson, Nils Roemer
Associate Professors: Kimberly Hill, Monica Rankin, Natalie J. Ring, Eric Schlereth, Whitney Stewart, Michael L. Wilson, Benjamin (Ben) Wright
Assistant Professors: Rosemary Admiral, Katherine Davies, Anne Gray Fischer, Humberto González Núnez, Songyao Ren, exl230001
Professors Emeriti: Joan Chandler, R. David Edmunds, Stephen G. Rabe
Associate Professor Emeriti: Peter Park, Gerald L. Soliday
Clinical Associate Professor: Jeffrey Schulze
* Pending approval from THECB to rename current nomenclature, Master of Arts in History of Ideas *
Master of Arts in Philosophy
33 semester credit hours minimum
Coursework: 33 semester credit hours
Thirty-three semester credit hours taken as organized graduate-level courses in Philosophy (PHIL).
Required Course: 3 semester credit hours
PHIL 6300 Professionalization Seminar
Elective Option: 3 semester credit hours
Students may submit a petition to the program head for up to one graduate course outside of PHIL to be counted toward the degree requirements
Historical Distribution Requirement:
Coursework must cover two of three of the following periods in the history of philosophy:
- Ancient Philosophy
- Modern Philosophy
- 19th and 20th Century Philosophy
Professionalization Seminar:
This seminar is taken in the fall of the second year and is designed to support students in their applications to Ph.D. programs or alt-academic career paths. Possible topics to be covered include revising and polishing a previous final seminar paper (in consultation with supervising professor) to serve as a writing sample, creating a CV, identifying relevant future opportunities (non-academic job market or doctoral programs in philosophy or other field), writing a personal statement, submitting work to conferences, preparing for interviews, etc.
Language Requirement:
Demonstrate (translation exam) or gain the equivalent of (coursework) two years of a relevant foreign language for future research. Students for whom foreign language research capabilities are not relevant may petition the program head for an exemption.