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Graduate Studies in Philosophy

    The philosophy department at the University of Kansas is comprised of 12 faculty members and about 45 graduate students. It plans to hire at least one additional faculty member in 2006-2007. The department has traditionally fostered teaching and research that reflects a number of different philosophical orientations and fields of philosophy. Courses are taught on a broad range of topics. Master's theses and dissertations have had a similarly wide range of themes. The department's chief strengths are in history of philosophy (ancient, modern, 19th century), ethics, social-political philosophy, and analytic philosophy, including philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and metaphysics. The department is in Wescoe Hall, the main humanities building. For information about applications see application information below. KU's University Relations also has the Philosophy Department Graduate Brochure available on-line under Academic Publications.

Degrees and Courses of Study

    The department offers the degrees of M.A. and Ph.D. and, in cooperation with the law school, a program leading to a joint M.A./J.D. degree. An M.A. degree requires 30 hours of graduate course work, including a first-year graduate tutorial and at least 12 hours of seminar and/or thesis work. M.A. candidates must pass a comprehensive examination over their course work or must write and successfully defend an M.A. thesis. The Ph.D. degree requires 48 hours of graduate course work, including a first-year tutorial, an intermediate course in symbolic logic, a research tutorial, and at least 24 hours of seminar and/or independent research work. Ph.D. candidates also must satisfy the departmental requirement in foreign language or other research skills, pass both a departmental examination over the research tutorial and an oral comprehensive examination, and write and sucessfully defend a dissertation. The M.A./J.D. degree combines into three years and one summer session the programs for both degrees.

Recent Time-to-Degree Statistics

    The following time-to-degree information was compiled for the National Research Council (NRC) Assessment of Research Doctorate Programs. From July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2006, nine students graduated from KU with a Ph.D. in Philosophy. All nine of the students were full-time students. Their median time to degree was 7.7 years.

Application and Admission

Requests for information and application forms should be sent to:

Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Philosophy
1445 Jayhawk Blvd Rm 3090
Wescoe Hall
The University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045

Office Phone: (785) 864-3976.

You may also contact the Director of Graduate Studies, Ben Eggleston by email at eggleston@ku.edu.

Completed application forms and application fees (current listing of fees can be found at the Graduate Studies link) should be sent directly the University of Kansas Graduate Application Processing Center, Strong Hall, 1450 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 313, Lawrence, KS 66045.

For entrance in Fall 2008, applications are due January 10, 2008 in order to be considered for all available university financial aid sources. Applications received by March 3, 2008 will be considered for the first round of Graduate Teaching Assistantships in the Department of Philosophy.

The following materials should be sent to the department:

    1. Two sets of official transcripts
    2. Three letters of recommendation
    3. Graduate Record Examination scores (verbal, quantitative, analytical)
    4. A statement of academic goals
    5. A writing sample
    6. For students whose native language is not English the following must also be included:
      1. A Test of English as a Foreign Language (see Graduate School Minimum English Profeciency Requirements)
      2. And if applying for a teaching assistantship, a minimum 50 on the Test of Spoken English (TSE) or the Speaking English Proficiency Kit (SPEAK) is required.

    To get an application follow click on the Graduate Studies link. Be advised that there are two different applications, one for domestic students and one for foreign students. The application process can be done on line or by download of whichever application is appropriate.

    Applicants are expected to have the following courses or their equivalent as preparation for graduate work: ethics, history of ancient philosophy; history of modern philosophy; symbolic logic; a course in metaphysics, theory of knowledge, philosophy of language, or philosophy of mind; a course in 19th- or 20th-century philosophy; and a course in analytic philosophy from Frege to Quine. Students may be admitted without some of these courses, but they will be expected to make up deficiencies early in their graduate careers. This can often be done in courses that receive full graduate credit.