The University
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.
