PhD Student Handbook
Revised July 2009
These guidelines represent the policy of the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies, Philosophy Ph.D. Program. They define general established procedures that are periodically amended. They may be varied on a case-by-case basis upon consultation with the department’s Graduate Advisor.
Table of Contents
(Click section title to go to that section)II. APPLICATION AND ENROLLMENT
1. Degree Plan
2. Foreign Language Requirement
3. Comprehensive Examination Requirement
4. Dissertation RequirementB. Curriculum
1. Departmental Course Distribution Requirement
2. Environmental Science Requirement
3. Focus Elective Requirement
4. Dissertation CourseV. COURSE LIST
VI. ADVISING
A. Dissertation Advisory Committee
VII. DISSERTATION
A. Prospectus
B. Final Oral ExaminationVIII. FINANCIAL AID
The Philosophy Ph.D. Program at the University of North Texas seeks to train students in the rigorous modes of thought and expression that characterize work in professional philosophy, and in the rhetorical and contextual skills necessary for translating philosophical insights for non-specialists. Specifically, the program is intended to offer a broad-based doctoral training which allows students both flexibility in structuring their individual programs of study and also the opportunity to focus that training in areas of departmental strength: environmental philosophy and ethics, the philosophy of science and technology studies, the history of philosophy, and philosophy of religion.
Students completing the program will be prepared to teach and to do research in philosophy in colleges and universities. This training could also be appropriately put to use in related non-teaching professional environments, such as environmental NGOs, legal practice, state and federal environmental agencies, school administration, or the ministry.
II. APPLICATION AND ENROLLMENT
Students apply for admission to the Philosophy Ph.D. Program through the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies at the University of North Texas (UNT). To apply for admission online, go to: http://www.tsgs.unt.edu/admission_to_graduate_studies.htm.
Upon admission, the student is also able to cross-register for graduate courses at our partner institution, the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), and to make use of the other academic resources available there. Students will enroll in courses at UTA as non-degree or special students. Enrollment in UTA courses is optional and contingent upon individual student interests. For online access to the Graduate School at UTA, go to: http://grad.uta.edu/.
For admission into the program, prospective students must simultaneously meet the following requirements:
- For admission into the graduate program, all applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from an accredited college or university. The applicant must have satisfactory academic standing at the previous institution attended and have at least a 3.0 GPA on the last 60 undergraduate semester hours of work prior to receiving the bachelor’s degree or a 2.8 GPA on all undergraduate work, to be considered for unconditional admission. Applicants who have already completed a Master’s degree must have at least a 3.4 GPA on the Master’s or meet the undergraduate GPA standards just listed to be admitted unconditionally for doctoral study.
- For the PhD program, the applicant should have a Master’s degree in philosophy or a related field, or be prepared to complete such a degree prior to completing the Ph.D. in philosophy. Applicants with other professional degrees are also encouraged to apply. As appropriate, such students who do not already hold a Master’s degree in philosophy, or who hold only a Bachelor’s degree may be required to take extra graduate work in philosophy as part of meeting the requirements towards the degree.
- Students seeking the Ph.D. in philosophy are required to submit satisfactory scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or another appropriate standardized examination.
- Applicants from outside the United States or other English speaking countries must demonstrate proficiency in oral and written English prior to being admitted.
- The applicant must, at a minimum, meet the requirements for acceptance into the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies at UNT.
In addition to meeting all of the requirements mentioned above, students applying for admission to the Philosophy PhD Program must submit:
1. A completed Graduate Application to the Toulouse Graduate School. http://tsgs.unt.edu/index.htm
And, directly to the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies applicantsmust submit in hard copy form by regular mail:
2. Three letters of recommendation.
3. A writing sample representative of their academic work.
4. A statement of purpose describing both their reasons for pursuing graduate work in philosophy and their specific areas of academic interest (e.g., sub-disciplinary areas of interest within the field).
5. A current curriculum vitae.
Please see the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies webpage for admission details and address information for application submission: http://www.phil.unt.edu/programs/graduate/phd/phd_admissions.php
Students who do not meet all of the above requirements may be admitted provisionally — for one semester only — pending completion of their files and satisfaction of admission requirements.
To be awarded the Ph.D. in philosophy, students must successfully complete a minimum of 60 semester credit hours (SCH) beyond the Master’s degree. Departmental requirements for the Ph.D. operate in conjunction with the Toulouse Graduate School Ph.D degree requirements. For the Graduate School requirements see: http://www.unt.edu/catalog/grad/doctoral.htm
The following table summarizes the semester credit hour requirements. Details of these requirements are indicated in the Curriculum section below (IV.B.1-4).
Type of Requirement |
SCH |
|
21 3 24 |
Total Semester Credit Hours |
60 |
IV.A.1. Degree Plan: In order to receive a degree, every UNT graduate student must have a degree plan filed with the Toulouse Graduate School. Philosophy Ph.D students will meet with the departmental graduate advisor during their first semester and map out the degree plan. Students must have a degree plan filed to the department and the graduate school by the end of their first year. Degree plans can be altered over the duration of course work as many times as the student decides. Every change in the degree plan must be filed with the department and the graduate school. A finalized degree plan must be filed when all requirements are met, in order for the student to graduate.
IV.A.2. Foreign Language Requirement: Each philosophy Ph.D. student must demonstrate a reading knowledge of at least one foreign language relevant to the student’s research interests. Students should prepare to satisfy the Language Requirement early in their careers. (See the Graduate Catalogue, Doctoral Requirements, http://www.unt.edu/catalog/grad/doctoral.htm) Language requirements are to be satisfied prior to taking the Comprehensive Examinations.IV.A.3. Comprehensive Examination Requirement: Each philosophy Ph.D. student must pass four Comprehensive Examinations. The Ph.D. Comprehensive Examinations may be taken only after all course-distribution requirements (see below) and the language requirement have been met. Students who fail one or more of their Comprehensive Examinations will be permitted to retake the failed examinations once more, after a period of time specified by the examining committees. When students successfully complete their Comprehensive Examinations, they are admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D.
History of Philosophy Sequence (student chooses two of three)
- Ancient Philosophy (Greek and Roman philosophy)
- Modern Philosophy (approximately Descartes through Hegel)
- 19th-20th Century Philosophy
Area Sequence I (student chooses one of four)
- Ethical Theory
- Social/Political Philosophy
- Philosophy of Religion
- Aesthetics
Area Sequence II (student chooses one of four)
- Metaphysics
- Epistemology
- Philosophy of Science and Technology
- Non-Western Philosophy
The Comprehensive Examinations will be administered and graded by a committee made up the student’s dissertation advisor (who is on the graduate faculty of the UNT Philosophy and Religion Studies Department) and other graduate faculty in the UNT department. Students may include graduate faculty from the UT Arlington Philosophy Department.
It is the student's responsibility to inform the Graduate Advisor of the topical exams he or she wishes to take in the Historical and two Area sequences. The student and the Graduate Advisor then generate a list of faculty members who specialize in the relevant areas; typically these will be faculty with whom the student has taken courses in the relevant areas. The faculty members who will be administering and grading the exams constitute that student's Comprehensive Examinations Committee (CEC). The Graduate Advisor and the student’s Dissertation Advisor will consult and inform the CEC to prepare for the student short lists of review topics and to compose in due course exam questions on these topics.
For each of these four exams, the respective CEC members may initially prepare a general set of eight study questions for student preparation. At each exam, the student will be presented with five questions drawn from some combination or synthesis of the eight study questions, and the student will choose to answer three questions. The exams are administered on an internet-disabled laptop in an uninterrupted setting. Each exam is given four hours time.
IV.A.4. Dissertation Requirement: To complete the degree requirements, all Philosophy Ph.D. students must complete a doctoral dissertation. In addition to the written product, the student must complete a final oral examination which involves a public short presentation and public oral defense of the dissertation to the student’s Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC). The DAC is made up of 3-5 graduate faculty members. The DAC members determine the merit of the dissertation defense in private, following the public defense. DAC members may include graduate faculty from the UT Arlington Philosophy Department, or “outside” faculty members upon permission of the Toulouse Graduate School. In writing the dissertation, students will work closely with their dissertation advisor who is the DAC chair, as well as with the other members of their DAC.
IV.B. Curriculum (Department Approved: February 2009)
The department curriculum constitutes course distribution requirements, an environmental science course requirement, focus elective requirement, and a dissertation course credit requirement. The current curriculum reflects the environmental philosophy strength of the department, commitment to broader philosophical training, and the opportunity for students to flexibly work towards developing multiple academic areas of expertise and competency
IV.B.1. Departmental Graduate Course Distribution Requirement
In order to achieve its specific goal of offering its students a foundational training in environmental philosophy, the history of Western philosophy, and agility in several topic areas of philosophy, students in the PhD Program in Philosophy must pass, with a grade of B or better, 21 semester-credit hours of course work from among the courses listed to satisfy their course-distribution requirement:I.) Required, both courses during the first year of graduate study, offered every year:
6 Credit Hours First Year Environmental Philosophy Sequence
(3) Credits |
PHIL 5000 Fall Semester Environmental Philosophy Proseminar |
(3) Credits |
PHIL 5010 Spring Semester Philosophy of Ecology Proseminar |
II.) Required, both courses:
6 Credit Hours Philosophical History Sequence
(3) Credits |
PHIL 5100 History of Ancient Philosophy |
(3) Credits |
PHIL 5200 History of Modern Philosophy |
III.) Required, two of the following four courses:
6 Credit Hours Philosophical Specialization
(3) Credits |
PHIL 5300 Social and Political Philosophy |
(3) Credits |
PHIL 5400 Ethical Theory |
(3) Credits |
PHIL 5500 Philosophy of Science and Technology |
(3) Credits |
PHIL 5600 Philosophy of Religion |
IV.) Required, one course:
3 Credit Hours Departmental Pedagogy Seminar
IV.B.2 Environmental Science Graduate Course Requirement:
In order to ensure an interdisciplinary strength in the Department’s primary specialty, environmental philosophy, students in the Philosophy PhD Program must pass, with of B or better, a further 3 hours of graduate course work in environmental science.I.) Required, one course:
3 Credit Hours Environmental Science (at Graduate Level)IV.B.3. Focus Elective Graduate Course Requirement:
In addition to fulfilling the department graduate course distribution requirement students must pass, with a grade of B or better, a further 24 hours of course work to be taken at the 6000-level in philosophy or in related fields that would strengthen a student’s focus of study (to be determined in consultation with graduate advisor). Student’s study focus may be designed to strengthen specific areas of environmental philosophy, other departmental strengths (e.g., philosophy of science and technology studies, philosophy of religion, history of philosophy), interdisciplinary strengths connected with the department (ie., environmental sciences, environmental literature, policy studies, etc.), or complimentary philosophical strengths offered through the UTA philosophy curriculum.I.) Required, eight courses of Focus Elective:
24 Credit Hours Graduate (6000-level) strengthening and broadening philosophical expertise.IV.B.4. Dissertation Course:
After completing all other course requirements and the special requirements of foreign language and comprehensive exams students will enroll in a minimum of 12 semester credit hours of dissertation writing.
V. COURSE LIST
(the following course numbering and descriptions will be effect fall 2009, and in printed catalog form spring 2010)
PHIL 5000. Environmental Ethics. 3 hours. An examination of the philosophical origins of environmental philosophy and the basic positions in the field of environmental ethics. Key authors in environmental philosophy are surveyed, as well as topical considerations of a variety of schools of thought with emphasis on theories of environmental value, legal and moral rights for nature, animal liberation and Western philosophical and religious traditions.
PHIL 5010. Philosophy of Ecology. 3 hours. Traces the evolution of ecology from its roots in 19th-century natural history to the present with an emphasis on the prominent paradigms and conceptual trends, such as organicism, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, disturbance and flux . Also explores the sociocultural contexts in which ecology emerged and now exists, including the so-called second scientific revolution and the two-culture split.
PHIL 5100. Topics in Ancient Philosophy. 3 hours. A concentrated examination of some major problem areas in ancient Western philosophy - for example: concepts of nature, concepts of the character and function of knowledge, concepts of the nature and extent of value. Major thinkers normally covered include the historiographical study of Pre-Socratic figures, Plato and Aristotle.
PHIL 5200. Topics in Modern Philosophy. 3 hours. A concentrated examination of some major problem areas in modern Western philosophy - for example: concepts of nature, concepts of the character and function of knowledge, concepts of the nature and extent of value. Major thinkers covered can include Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Hume and Kant.
PHIL 5300. Social and Political Philosophy. 3 hours. A focused examination of the relation between philosophical ideas and community, natural right, justice, political freedom and authority. Exploration of historical and contemporary figures and schools of thought, may include Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, and Mill, as well as Rawls and his critiques, feminist political thought, and critical race theory
PHIL 5400. Ethical Theory. 3 hours. A focused examination of a variety of metaethical and normative theories of moral philosophies, such as virtue ethics, utilitarianism, deontology, emotivism, and care ethics. Explorations of historical and contemporary philosophical ethics may include feminist ethics, and canonical figures such as, Aristotle, Kant, and Mill.
PHIL 5500. Philosophy of Science and Technology. 3 hours. A focused examination the relationship between science and technology, the role of experiment and instrumentation in scientific practice, the social construction of scientific knowledge and technical artifacts, the nature of technology in human perception and experience, and the broader social impacts of science and technology.
PHIL 5600. Philosophy of Religion. 3 hours. A focused examination of the concepts, belief systems, and practices of religions. Topics include religious experience, faith and reason, arguments for God’s existence, the problem of evil, religious language, life after death, miracles, religion and science, and the conflicting claims of different religions.
PHIL 5700. Departmental Pedagogy Seminar. 3 hours. An examination of philosophies of education and pedagogical techniques and problems. Includes instruction, advising, and preparation for professional development for academic careers, troubleshooting in the classroom, course preparation, university policies on teaching and student responsibilities, and teaching demonstrations.
PHIL 5900-5910. Special Problems. 1-3 hours each. Prerequisite(s): consent of department.
PHIL 5950. Master's Thesis. 3 or 6 hours. To be scheduled only with consent of department. 6 hours credit required. No credit assigned until thesis has been completed and filed with the graduate dean. Continuous enrollment required once work on the thesis has begun. May be repeated for credit.
PHIL 6100. Epistemology. 3 hours. Examines the nature of knowledge and justification. Issues include the relationship between knowledge and opinion, skepticism and the possibility of knowledge, the nature of truth and meaning, the roles of perception, social construction, and gender and ethnicity in knowing and believing.
PHIL 6150. Metaphysics. 3 hours. Examination of problems that arise from attempts to give an account of reality and its manifestations: possibility and necessity, causality, the nature of events, mind-body, substance versus property dualism, and universals.
PHIL 6200. Existentialism. 3 hours. An examination of the place of humanity in the world and its relations to problems of self, authenticity, freedom, and anxiety; Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre. Seminar may be a survey of philosophers or single-philosopher oriented.
PHIL 6250. Aesthetics. 3 hours. An examination of the theories of the beauty of nature and art in the history of philosophy as found in the visual arts and literature to understand the nature of aesthetic experience, artistic expression, the sublime, and the relation of art to nature, truth, ethics, and culture.
PHIL 6300. Symbolic Logic and Metamathematics. 3 hours. Review of the history, development and present status of symbolic logic and metamathematics, including a consideration of the problems encountered in the philosophical interpretation of logical concepts.
PHIL 6350. American Philosophy. 3 hours. An examination of the development of pragmatism and American philosophy in the central philosophical works of Pierce, James, Dewey, and Mead; as well as philosophical contributions of later pragmatism
PHIL 6400. Philosophy of Technology. 3 hours. An examination of the nature of technology as well as the effects and transformation of technologies upon human knowledge, activities, societies, and environments. The aim of philosophy of technology is to understand, evaluate, and criticize the ways in which technologies reflect as well as change human life, individually, socially, and politically.
PHIL 6450. Bioethics. 3 hours. Examines the historical development and contested nature of bioethical inquiry in relation to the history of philosophic ethics more generally. Explores topics within bioethics, including clinical ethics, ethics of research and emerging technologies, the relationship with policy and politics, and the relationship with environmental ethics.
PHIL 6500. Cultural Criticism. 3 hours. A transdisciplinary analysis of culture, popular culture, politics, subjectivity, and everyday life. Topics may include Marxism and critical theory, power and knowledge, deconstruction and literary theory, semiotics and psychoanaltyic theory, post-colonial discourse and globalization theory.
PHIL 6550. Religion and Science. 3 hours. An examination of the complex historical and contemporary relationship between sciences and religions. Historical elements focus on the rise of modern science and “the Galileo Affair.” Typologies of the relationship between science and religion as well as theoretical similarities and differences between the disciplines will also be studied. Contemporary issues include religion and ecology, intelligent design, and the expansion of theories of science and religion to include non-Western religious traditions.
PHIL 6600. Topics in Judaic Religion and Philosophy. 3 hours. Philosophical examination of a wide range of Judaic texts— biblical, medieval and modern—which address Jewish law, history and thought from diverse points of view. Topics may include contemporary controversies over Judaism’s teachings concerning environmental ethics.
PHIL 6700. Philosophy of Water Issues. 3 hours.
An examination of water issues at the interface of science, policy, philosophy, art and culture. Philosophical approaches include ethics, aesthetics and ontology of water, epistemological analyses of water conflicts, local and global governance theories.
PHIL 6710. Ecofeminism. 3 hours. Examines the merger of feminism with environmental ethics and its subsequent evolution. Subject matter includes the analysis of patriarchy, gender issues and multicultural perspectives within the larger framework of ethical and philosophical responses to ecocrises.
PHIL 6720. Comparative Environmental Ethics. 3 hours. An exploration of resources for environmental philosophy in non-Western traditions, focusing on South and East Asian traditions.
PHIL 6730. Western Religion and the Environment. 3 hours. A historic and contemporary overview of Euro-American religious thought concerning the environment, including investigation of the ancient Western religions, Judaism, Christianity and Native American religions.
PHIL 6740. Environmental Ethics and Public Policy. 3 hours. This course will investigate the policy turn in environmental philosophy, exploring ways to make environmental ethics/philosophy more relevant to decision-makers, public agencies, and stakeholders groups.
PHIL 6750. Environmental Justice. 3 hours. This course represents an effort to critically engage the Environmental Justice Movement (broadly construed) by studying its histories, the terms and concepts evolving from the movement, the philosophical implications of the movement, and the struggles of people shaping the movement. Examines the underlying notions of environmental goods and harms, the perspectives of environmental law and policy, and the politics of environmental identities.
PHIL 6760. Topics in Environmental Philosophy. 3 hours. A focused examination of the perennial or emerging topics in environmental philosophy, such as the intrinsic value of nature, monism versus pluralism, ecophenomenology, holism versus individualism, and non-Western explorations of environmental ethics and philosophy.
PHIL 6770. PHIL Natural History and Philosophy of Rivers. 3 hours. Ecological, geological and philosophical history of arid watersheds of the western United States. Extended field trip required to study interactions of geology, fauna, flora, environment, cultural development and environmental ethics. Prerequisite(s): consent of instructor. (Same as BIOL 5670)
PHIL 6900-6910. Special Problems. 1-3 hours each. Research by doctoral students in fields of special interest. Prerequisite(s): consent of department.
PHIL 6950. Doctoral Dissertation. 3, 6 or 9 hours. To be scheduled only with consent of department. 12 hours credit required. No credit assigned until dissertation has been completed and filed with the graduate dean. Doctoral students must maintain continuous enrollment in this course subsequent to passing qualifying examination for admission to candidacy. May be repeated for credit.
PHIL 6960. Seminar in Problems of Philosophy. 3 hours. Intensive analysis of major philosophical issues against the background of classical and contemporary investigations. May be repeated for credit as topics vary.
In the initial stages of study in the program, program students will be advised primarily by the departmental Graduate Advisor at UNT. The current Graduate Advisor is Dr. Robert Figueroa. Student supervision and advisement in the more advanced stages of study will be the responsibility of the student’s Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC), headed by the dissertation advisor or DAC chair.
Graduate students assume full responsibility for knowledge of all Toulouse School of Graduate Studies and University of North Texas rules, regulations, and deadlines published in the Graduate Catalog and of all departmental and program requirements concerning their degree program.
VI.A. Dissertation Advisory Committee
The student’s Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC), is made up of 3-5 graduate faculty members. DAC members may include graduate faculty from the UT Arlington Philosophy Department, or “outside” faculty members upon permission of the Toulouse Graduate School. In writing the dissertation, students will work closely with their dissertation advisor who is the DAC chair, as well as with the other members of their DAC.
VII. DISSERTATION
The written work of the dissertation is to be the product of original philosophical research based on the critical examination and evaluation of primary sources and appropriate secondary materials.
VII.A. Dissertation Prospectus
The timing of the dissertation prospectus will vary, but it should be presented to the student’s DAC before the actual writing of the dissertation begins. Students should consult with their dissertation advisor on timing. The prospectus should readily convey even to a non-specialist the nature and import of the student’s project. The prospectus should include a brief description and statement on the significance of the project, an overview of the state of current research, a plan of research and statement on methodology, a preliminary outline of chapters and a preliminary bibliography, all within 8-10 pages (approximately 2500 words). The student should meet with his/her DAC for preliminary dissertation advising shortly after the prospectus has been submitted.VII.B. Final Oral Examination
When students are ready to schedule the oral defense of their dissertation (also known as the final oral examination) they must notify their DAC and arrange a date and time for the defense. Students must also notify the Graduate Advisor to arrange for a room and to ensure that the necessary paperwork will be available on the day of the defense.The DAC then administers the final oral examination. In addition to the written product, the student must provide a brief public presentation; usually this is a short lecture (15 minutes) on the main findings of his/her dissertation and its relation to the philosophical research area to which it contributes. The presentation is immediately followed by public oral defense in the form of responses to questions from the DAC. The DAC members determine the merit of the final oral examination in private, following the public defense.
There is some financial support for program students in the form of teaching and research assistantships. The usual teaching load for a graduate assistant is two three-hour sections for both fall and spring semesters. Research assistantships are usually tied to individual faculty members sponsored research. Currently teaching assistants receive $14,000 per academic year. To be considered for financial support by the Department’s Admissions Committee, applications must explicitly indicate a request for departmental funding consideration, and applications must be submitted by January 1st.
IX. THE DALLAS-FORT WORTH AREA
Both UNT and UTA are located in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area has over five million inhabitants, a mild climate, and extensive cultural resources. There are a number of other major universities in the immediate area, as well as several colleges and junior colleges. The Metroplex is served by a major international airport and a national airport.