Any political philosophy MAs in the US?

[Skandrino]

Hi all,

 

I am doing a bachelor's degree in Philosophy and have finished a master's degree in Political Science in the Netherlands. Now, I would like to pursue a terminal master's degree in political philosophy & ethics in the US, with a focus on distributive justice (social inequality) and modern theory, preferably for one year. There are several of such programs in the UK, but I have been unable to find any in the US.

 

In the US, most universities either have only bachelor's (undergraduate) and PhD programmes without a terminal MA (e.g. Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Berkeley/Uni of Chicago/Rutgers), or the MA in philosophy requires you to do courses in all philosophical subfields rather than allow me to specialize in political philosophy (e.g. Tufts, Northern Illinois). From the others listed on http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/maprog.asp , I cannot really figure out which MAs are suitable for following with only political philosophy and ethics courses because the course descriptions are vague and vary each year. (University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and Brandeis look interesting though; anyone with knowledge of these?)

 

I would really like to hear if you know of any universities that fit my interests!

[Establishment]

MA programs aren't about specialization, so you're going to be taking a broad list of courses no matter where you go. The best you can probably do is find a program with faculty strength in political philosophy and make use of that, in which case, Milwaukee seems like a good program.

[Kantianisms]

Georgia State also seems to be strong in political philosophy.

[Gnothi_Seauton]

I don't know of any terminal MA programs in the US that allow exclusive specialization in political philosophy (or any other area of philosophy, for that matter).  Moreover, just about any terminal MA program in the US is going to be a two-year program.  That said, if you'd be willing to go through two years with broader coverage in philosophy, I think Georgia State and Tufts are both excellent choices for work in political philosophy (Georgia State, in particular).  UW-Milwaukee would also be a solid choice.  

 

One good program in the UK, which satisfies all your requirements, is the LSE's Philosophy and Public Policy program.  It allows you to focus more or less exclusively on moral and political philosophy, and it only takes one year.  

[philstudent1991]

Georgia State also seems to be strong in political philosophy.

Georgia State is very strong in political philosophy and if that's your interest I'd recommend applying there. However, you cannot specialize in only political, at GSU or anywhere else. While you can take several courses in it, and do your thesis on it, you will have to take courses in history, M&E, and probably logic as well. You also are not likely to find a one year MA. Almost all programs will take two years.

[Monadology]

As a heads-up, Julius Sensat at UW Milwaukee is retired (or will be soon, I'm not sure). That's a knock against it as far as political, though it still has Blain Neufeld, Andrea Westlund and Stan Husi. 

[bob311]

You can do such a thing at St. Andrews in the UK in just one year. Im currently doing a Mlitt in Moral, Political and Legal Philosophy specifically. Shoot me a pm if you want.

[Skandrino]

Thanks for all your comments. One of the reasons I want to specialize is that in the Netherlands you are definitely expected by employers and others to have specialized with your MA, apart from that I don't want to repeat the broad background I got during my bachelor's.

 

My own university has exchange programs with the following unis that I am currently considering (this would cut costs considerably):

UCL MA Legal and Political Theory

Edinburgh MSc Ethics and Political Philosophy

Sheffield MA Political Theory

Boston MA Philosophy

American University (Washington DC) MA Philosophy and Social Policy

and the St Andrews programme mentioned above (thanks!)

 

Now if anyone knows something about these programmes I would be greatly helped. For instance the one at American University looks very nice and includes an internship in DC but I couldn´t find it in losts so I´m not sure about if it's also academically excellent?

[Establishment]

Thanks for all your comments. One of the reasons I want to specialize is that in the Netherlands you are definitely expected by employers and others to have specialized with your MA, apart from that I don't want to repeat the broad background I got during my bachelor's.

 

Just a point or two in case there's some confusion about the nature of MA/PhD programs and what "specialization" means.

 

First, your specialization is not constituted, or at least not necessarily so, by your coursework. It'll be constituted by the focused research and writing that you do on your own, perhaps with the aided help of a faculty member. This is no different between the MA and PhD level. Say one wants to specialize in philosophy of art. McGill would be a reasonable place to attend because they have David Davies, but you're not going to fill up your, however many, years of coursework up with phil. art classes. Heck, there probably won't even be one phil. art class a semester to take. The only difference between the MA and PhD I'm imagine is that at the PhD level you have 2 or so complete years to work on your dissertation without coursework, whereas at the MA your specialization (if you take one) will be done on the side and culminate in a thesis.

 

Secondly, you won't be "repeating" the broad education you got during your bachelor's at a masters. You won't be taking "Epistemology," where you cover the standard highlights. You'll be taking courses that are appropriate for graduate work in philosophy. Will they cover areas outside of your specialization? Yes, the same as at a PhD. Will they be "broad"ly focused? No.

[Skandrino]

Thanks, this sheds some light on how MAs work in the US.

 

In the UK there are various one-year masters called things like MA "Political Theory", "Ethics and Political Philosophy", "Social and Political Thought", "Global Ethics and Human Values", etc. They are mostly about coursework and do not have breadth requirements. This is basically what I'm looking for.

 

So is there is nothing similar in the US?

[philstudent1991]

^ well U Chicago has a "social thought" program, but I don't think it is very well respected, because virtually everyone rejected from the PhD is automatically admitted to it. And, it costs a sinful amount of money. At least, that's my understanding. I don't go there so I can't speak as an expert, although I was accepted, as was literally everyone else I have spoken with, after being rejected from their PhD last year.

[alethicethic]

^ well U Chicago has a "social thought" program, but I don't think it is very well respected, because virtually everyone rejected from the PhD is automatically admitted to it. And, it costs a sinful amount of money. At least, that's my understanding. I don't go there so I can't speak as an expert, although I was accepted, as was literally everyone else I have spoken with, after being rejected from their PhD last year.

 

I think you are confusing Chicago's MAPH (MA Program in the Humanities) with its Committee on Social Thought, which is a well-regarded interdisciplinary PhD program that fully funds the small cohort of doctoral students it accepts each year.

[alethicethic]

SFSU has at least four faculty with interests in political philosophy (Wilcox, Toh, Tiwald, Azadpur) and regularly offers variable-topic graduate seminars and upper division courses in that area. There are also lots of related courses in moral philosophy and the philosophy of law. SFSU allows you to take lots of courses in your AOI if that's what you want to do, as long as you have completed breadth work elsewhere (in an undergraduate degree, say) and as long as you pass the comprehensive exam on the history of M&E.

[isostheneia]

I think you are confusing Chicago's MAPH (MA Program in the Humanities) with its Committee on Social Thought, which is a well-regarded interdisciplinary PhD program that fully funds the small cohort of doctoral students it accepts each year.

 

This is true. Social Thought accepts ~3 students per year and is fully funded, whereas MAPH accepts students from all humanities departments (though students still specialize in their intended area of study) and is unfunded, and is really expensive at that.