The University
Chartered
in 1789 and formally opened in 1795, The
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was the first state university
to admit students. Located in the Research Triangle, the university
enjoys not only the resources of a first-rate university, but also the
benefits of having both Duke University
and North Carolina State University, as
well as the National Humanities
Center, close by. The result is an unusually rich intellectual and
cultural environment, in a part of the country that is stunningly beautiful,
economically healthy, and exceptionally hospitable.
Philosophy
at Chapel Hill
The philosophy
department maintains a congenial, cooperative, and vital atmosphere.
Faculty and graduate students alike have offices in Caldwell Hall and
the vast majority spend a great deal of time working and talking in the
department. With a graduate enrollment of about fifty students and a
full-time faculty of twenty (plus visitors), the philosophical community
is substantial, yet seminars are small and close faculty-student association
is common. To complement the course offerings, people regularly organize
informal discussion groups on various topics (e.g., ancient philosophy, set
theory, modal logic, philosophy of mind, connectionism, truth and objectivity,
feminism, moral epistemology, continental political theory). The department
provides an extensive program of speakers throughout
the year, with an average of one talk every two weeks. Last year's speakers,
for instance, included Ned Block, Tom Christiano, Robert Fogelin, Susan
Hurley, Frances Kamm, David Lewis, Ruth Millikan, Martha Nussbaum, Eleanore
Stump, and Paul Teller, among others. Every fall, the Chapel Hill Colloquium
brings together a large number of philosophers for three days of papers
and discussion. In addition, the National Humanities Center brings several
distinguished philosophers to the area for the year, while Duke, North
Carolina State, and UNC/Greensboro each sponsor active speakers' programs
and specialized conferences.
The Graduate
Program
The department
offers a large number of seminars each year along with extensive opportunities
for intensive work on individual research projects. The graduate program
is designed to take five years to complete. In the first year everyone
takes an advanced logic course and then an intensive proto-seminar (taught
by two faculty members). In the second semester of the second year students
work closely with a small committee on their M.A. theses. The department
does not set comprehensive exams; instead, students take, in their third
year, an exam on their chosen area of specialization. And there is no
program-wide language requirement. Students are, however, required to
satisfy various distribution requirements, and competence in specific
languages is expected of those working in some areas (Greek if working
in Ancient Philosophy, Latin if in Medieval, German if on Kant...). A
synopsis of the graduate
program requirements is available.
Thanks to
a cooperative program with Duke University, graduate students registered
at either UNC or Duke University are able to enroll in courses offered
at the other school. And Duke faculty are available to serve on the
dissertation committees of UNC students. The Duke faculty are: Robert
Brandon (philosophy of science); Allen Buchanan (ethics);
Fred Dretske (philosophy of mind); Michael Ferejohn (ancient
philosophy); Owen Flanagan (moral theory and philosophy of mind);
Martin Golding (philosophy of law, ethics); Güven Güzeldere
(philosophy of mind); Andrew Janiak (modern philosophy);
Elizabeth Kiss (ethics); Edward Mahoney (late ancient, medieval,
and renaissance philosophy); Alexander Rosenberg (philosophy of
science); Tad Schmaltz (modern philosophy); Brian Cantwell Smith
(philosophy of mind); Susan Sterrett (philosophy of science and
philosophy of mathematics); Martin Stone (ethics, philosophy of
law, Wittgenstein); Jeremy Sugarman (medical ethics); Benjamin
Ward (existentialism and aesthetics); David Wong (ethics, metaethics).
Placement
The department makes
every effort to find its graduates suitable employment, with significant
success. Detailed information about placement and dissertation
topics is available HERE.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Director of
Placement, Professor Jay Rosenberg, via email at: jfr@email.unc.edu.
Financial
Support
Virtually
all students receive full financial support for five years. Our students
have done very well, too, in securing national fellowships once here.
A variety of Chapel Hill fellowships and assistantships are available,
some from the Graduate School, others from the Department. This
support currently carry stipends ranging from $13,000 to $17,000. Those
who wish to be considered for fellowships from the Graduate School should
have their have their applications in by January 1. In any case, the
Department strongly recommends that applications be postmarked by January
15, although applications postmarked after that date may be considered.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Director
of Admissions, Professor Jesse Prinz, at: jesse@subcortex.com.
Admissions
All applicants
should send (i) copies of their undergraduate transcript(s), (ii) Graduate
Record Examination results, (iii) letters of recommendation from former
teachers, (iv) a personal statement concerning their philosophical interests,
and (v) an example of their best work in philosophy. Application materials
are available, on-line, HERE.
To request for information
about our graduate program, please click HERE
(or send a request via email using our Philosophy
Department E-Mail). Alternatively, requests can be sent via regular
mail with letters addressed to
Prof. Jesse
Prinz, Director of Graduate Admissions,
Department of Philosophy, CB #3125 Caldwell Hall ,
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599;
(919) 962-7291.
Research
and Graduate Teaching Interests of the Faculty
Epistemology
-- Bar-On, Hofweber, Long, Lycan, Neta, Prinz, Resnik, Rosenberg,
Sayre-McCord.
History of Philosophy
-- Garrett, Hill, Neta, Postema, Prinz, Reeve, Resnik, Rosenberg,
Sayre-McCord, Simmons.
Metaphysics
-- Garrett, Hofweber, Lang, Long, Lycan, Neta, Prinz, Reeve, Resnik, Roberts,
Rosenberg, Sayre-McCord, Simmons.
Moral Theory and
Political Philosophy -- B. Boxill, J. Boxill, Garrett, Hill, MacLean,
Postema, Reeve, Sayre-McCord, Simmons, Wolf.
Philosophy of Language
-- Bar-On, Long, Lycan, Munsat, Prinz, Rosenberg, Simmons.
Philosophy of Mind
-- Bar-On, Long, Lycan, Neta, Prinz, Rosenberg, Simmons.
Philosophy of Science
-- Lange, Lycan, Roberts, Rosenberg.
