v3p011

Those are very interesting points UN, but I can't say that I fully agree... First, you mention that it's refreshing to see graduate programs trying to address the problem. But my question is, how do you define the problem? Is the problem too many job applicants or too few jobs? If it's the latter, it won't be solved by reducing graduate enrollment rates. If cutting enrollment is a viable solution, then the problem of general unemployment could be solved simply by discouraging people from even looking for a job. Which brings me to another point: it seems to me that most philosophy programs silently accept that philosophy is not intrinsically worthwhile, and that the quasi-economic forces at work in the job market are God-given laws (or, if you prefer, natural laws), which must be respected. This is a highly uncritical position, especially since the job market is, in the first place, determined by a decision on the part of some administrators that philosophy is not as worthwhile as, say, engineering or the natural sciences, because it's not as profitable. To be blunt, they've blown their endowments by investing in risky mortgage schemes and now, despite the fact that there is an increased ecnomic demand for philosophy amongst undergraduates, they intend to cut costs by reducing graduate enrollment and the number of teaching jobs for an ever-increasing undergraduate (and unfunded M.A.) student body. As far as M.A. degrees are concerned, I speak from a certain historical perspective. I am not sure how it used to work in the US, but in Canada, master's degrees used to be a formal requirement before pursuing a PhD in most disciplines. In recent years, however, this has been changing. Now, master's degrees are increasingly turning into extended undergraduate degrees, which allows administrators to extract obscene tuition fees from students. So, in a sense, I agree with you: as programs cut funded PhD spots, more students will have to pursue completely unfunded 6 year B.A./ M.A.programs. This is what I had in mind when I referenced the decline of the traditional, funded M.A. degree. Oh and the idea that after cutting PhD enollment, programs will increase funding for the remaining PhD students is as silly as workers who believe that they will get a raise when the company announces massive layoffs. All in all, we really have to dispel the myth that this is an economic problem. Universities are not going to outsource their education plants to India or China if the public forces them to change their hiring practices. The problem is, the public will do no such thing because philosophy faculty and students really do believe that philosophy is useless to begin with. /rant

I would say that reducing PhD enrollment rates is a terrible idea. Here's why: From a practical point of view, it don't see any potential benefit of cutting enrollment, perhaps you can enlighten me. The only possible "benefit" is to save some students from themselves by not allowing them to even get near the job market. However, operating under the assumption that people getting their PhDs are adults and know the risks, I don't see what the problem is. More importantly, however, this move would in no way reduce competition (if that was even a good thing to begin with), it would simply shift the competition to entering PhD students. Thus, instead of having your undergraduate deggree + your PhD to establish your philosophical ability and readiness for the job market, you are more likely to be prevented from pursuing a career in philosophy before you even begin a PhD. This is especially true for those students who discover philosophy in the course of their undergraduate degree, and especially since M.A. programs are increasingly going the way of the dinosaur. Of course, some would argue that it's better to fail having never even tried, but I don't subscribe to that view. Finally, why should an education in philosophy be solely determined by the supply/demand economics of the job market? Maybe I'm old fashioned to believe that one of the purposes of pursuing a graduate degree is to get an education--the pursuit of knowledge and all that junk--but if people are so concerned about getting jobs maybe they should pursue a career in law or finance.

Oh and you should call them from a payphone... preferably in another town...

Honestly, as long as you write a polite, professional e-mail, I don't see what the issue is. I would give it some more time if the deadlines were in mid to late Feb, probably at least until the end of March. You can always call the department and bother the dept secretary, and you don't even have to say your name... Just say, "I have applied to the PhD program, and I was wondering whether the department has contacted possible candidates..." If they ask for your name, then just hang up abruptly...lol

It's really hard to give you advice on this one, because no one really knows what makes someone a more attractive candidate. Having said that, I think that an MA is a good idea (ideally, at a different school than your PhD), because you can get exposure to working with different people, develop some experience and philosophical maturity, and hopefully write something good. Also, writing a thesis can be really beneficial, but it's a risky path to take because failure is common. However, if you succeed, you will absolutely know that you can handle a dissertation, and if you fail, at least you didn't waste 5+ years. All in all, I think an MA can contribute a lot to writing good philosophy, but I don't know whether it's the best way to ultimately land that TT job, if that's what you're most concerned with. Hope that helps

No word on Memphis. I called them early in the process and they seemed to be really backed up...

Social and Political Thought M.A. and Ph.D. at York University; Theory, Culture and Politics M.A. at Trent University.

Thanks for the response. With respect to Deleuze's "reading" of Nietzsche, I guess one first has to decide what function it servers in Deleuze's own thinking. Is he attempting to get Nietzsche right? To take something from Nietzsche? To give something to him? And, in general, can his reading be considered an "interpretation" (since, as you probably know, Deleuze is deeply suspicious of the role of interpretation in philosophy)? Having said that, you also mention "mistakes" in Deleuze's reading. Here, I am curious as to how you think about your own approach to reading philosophy (because this is an important question for me as well). For instance, hermeneutic approaches teach us that there isn't simply one definite reading of a text; nevertheless, all of us (myself included), ultimately tend to fall back on what we believe is clearly getting a thinker "right." Of course, Deleuze is not a historian of philosophy--to him the history of philosophy should serve a function similar to collage in painting--whereas most of us don't really do philosophy at all--we merely strive to get these thinkers "right." Having said that,

Why do you say one should stay away from Deleuze's "biography" of Nietzsche? Do you have a problem with his reading of Nietzsche in general, and if so, why?

Congrats! Also, thank you for sharing this info, it means a lot to those of us still anxious to hear anything from anywhere...

Everything except Philosophy at the moment. But I haven't read any Stiegler, any good? My impression is that he turns to a number of other thinkers in order to write about a myriad of already determined problems, but I'm not sure what is his central problem, thought, or idea. In other words, what can one get from Stiegler that one can't get elsewhere?

Power through it, it gets easier. My advise is to go over your fundamentals briefly and then start practising immediately. You don't really need to know or understand any math for the GRE, you just need to know how to figure out the answers quickly. Also. keep in mind it's much easier to improve your score in the middle of the distribution than at the high end. For instance, it's much easier to go from 150 to 155 than from 165 to 170 (obviously). But it doesn't seem you're at that point where you start getting diminishing returns.