PhD Program
Our Department
The PhD program is at the center of intellectual life in the Department of Philosophy at the 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳. The program is small (approximately 10 full-time faculty and 33 PhD students) and PhD students work closely with faculty. In addition to graduate seminars, there are usually a number of reading groups each semester, and a great deal of the PhD curriculum involves independent work with faculty. PhD students also serve as Teaching Assistants (TAs), and have opportunities to teach their own courses. The department maintains an active colloquium series, and the graduate students host a biennial Epistemology Conference.
The expertise of our faculty spans epistemology, ethics, the history of philosophy, logic, philosophy of mathematics, metaphysics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, and social and political philosophy. In ethics, we have experts in normative ethical theory, bioethics, metaethics, and AI ethics.
Program Requirements
The requirements for the PhD include 90 credits of course work and a dissertation in philosophy. It is designed to be completed in 5 years. Requirements as listed below can also be downloaded in PDF format - Graduate Handbook.
The specific requirements are as follows:
Foundation Courses
Six courses in philosophy at the 400-level, which must include at least one course in each:
- Logic
- History of Ancient Philosophy
- History of Modern Philosophy
Seminars
Nine courses in philosophy at the 500-level, at least six of which must be graduate seminars (as opposed to independent study courses such as PHIL 591-PhD Readings in Philosophy and PHIL 595-PhD Research in Philosophy).
Area Exams
Primary and secondary area exams in select subfields of philosophy.
- Primary Area Exam: a three-hour written exam on three questions, drawn from a list of 10-12 questions with associated readings. Two faculty serve as examiners.
- Secondary Area Exam: a one-hour oral exam on a reading list prepared by a faculty member in conversation with the student. Two faculty serve as examiners.
Writing Seminar
Completion of PHIL 560: Writing Seminar. This course culminates in an hour-long presentation (including a Q&A period) of a writing project to the department.
Dissertation Proposal
A prospective summary of a dissertation project with a reading list, to be approved by the student’s dissertation advisor.
Dissertation
A book-length project presenting a student’s original research in some area of philosophy.
Teaching
PhD students serve as Teaching Assistants (TAs) beginning in their second year and continuing through their fifth year. Each student serves as a TA for one course per semester. In addition to serving as a TA, PhD students are required to complete PHIL 581-Supervised Instruction. (Students who teach their own course are exempt from the requirement.) Teaching handbook can be downloaded here.
Sample Program of Study
Foundations Requirements:
PHIL 415: Intermediate Logic
PHIL 465: Selected Topics in Ancient Philosophy: Epistemology
PHIL 470: Selected Topics in Modern Philosophy: Beyond Dualism
PHIL 428: Public Health Ethics
PHIL 452: Philosophy of Science
PHIL 446: The Social Character of Knowledge
= 24 credit hours
Seminar requirements:
PHIL 517: Selected Topics in Ethics: Moral Responsibility
PHIL 542: Selected Topics in Metaphysics: Composition
PHIL 522: Plato
PHIL 516: Special Topics in Philosophy of Language: Impossible Worlds
PHIL 517: Selected Topics in Ethics: Metaethics
PHIL 503: Theory of Knowledge
PHIL 595: PhD Research (studying for Secondary Exam in ethics)
PHIL 595: PhD Research (studying for Primary Exam in epistemology)
PHIL 595: PhD Research (continue studying for Primary exam in epistemology)
= 36 credit hours (total of 60)
Writing Seminar:
PHIL 560 - Writing Seminar
= 4 credit hours (total of 64)
Teaching Requirement:
PHIL 581 - Supervised Instruction
= 4 credit hours (total of 68)
Electives:
PHIL 443: Theory of Knowledge
PHIL 444: Philosophy of Mind
PHIL 420: Recent Ethical Theory
PHIL 517: Selected Topics in Ethics: Social and Political Philosophy
PHIL 442: Metaphysics
PHIL 591: PhD Readings in Philosophy (2 credits, readings on perception)
= 22 credit hours (total 90)
Primary and Secondary Area Exam Prerequisites
- Primary and secondary area requirements:
- One 400-level course in epistemology
- One 500-level seminar in epistemology
Ethics
- Primary and secondary area requirements:
- Either two 500-level ethics seminars, or one 400-level course in ethics and one 500-level seminar
History of Ancient Philosophy
- Primary and secondary area requirements:
- Two 500-level seminars in ancient philosophy
History of Modern Philosophy
- Primary and secondary area requirements:
- Two 500-level seminars in modern philosophy
Metaphysics
- Primary and secondary area requirements:
- One 400-level course in metaphysics
- One 500-level seminar in metaphysics
Philosophy of Language
- Primary and secondary area requirements:
- One 400-level course in philosophy of language
- One 500-level seminar in philosophy of language
Philosophy of Mind
- Primary and secondary area requirements:
- One 400-level course in philosophy of mind
- One 500-level seminar in philosophy of mind
Philosophy of Science
- Primary area requirements:
- PHIL 452 and at least one seminar in philosophy of science (students who choose this area must declare a physics or biology area of specialized expertise; see the philosophy graduate handbook for more information)
- Secondary area requirements:
- PHIL 452 and at least one seminar in philosophy of science
Social and Political Philosophy
- Primary and secondary area requirements:
- Two graduate level courses in social and political philosophy, either two 500-level seminars, or one 400-level course and one 500-level seminar
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Funding
Students admitted to the PhD program receive a tuition waiver and a stipend of $22,500 per year for five years. The stipend carries no teaching responsibility in the first year, but after that requires students to serve as teaching assistants for one course per semester.
Some students are awarded further fellowships (for which there is university-wide competition), including Slattery Fellowship, the , , and the . Some students teach for the , and are eligible to extend funding beyond five years through the Doust fellowship.
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Application Process
See the applying page for detailed information about the PhD application process.
Contact Information
Contact Earl Conee, graduate admissions director at earl.conee@rochester.edu or Jens Kipper, graduate program director at jens.kipper@rochester.edu. Students can also contact Zeynep Soysal, the department’s graduate placement officer at zeynep.soysal@rochester.edu.