Greenwood16

Hey all, I know application season is getting close so I figured I would throw my name into the hat. I went through this process last year, applying to several major programs (seen in my sig), and decided to take a well-funded offer from BU School of Theology. If anyone has any questions for a regular student regarding applications or more specifically about BU or the greater Boston area, feel free to shoot them my way. I remember feeling kinda uncomfortable sharing some things on this website (you never know who is watching), so feel free to PM me as well. GW16

Same thing happened to me. All of my correspondence with them has been pretty terrible.

Maybe Duke M.A. Either way, I haven't heard from Duke yet regarding funding.

Mine does too... Didn't read carefully enough.

Anyone else get word from Duke? Funding? I am really curious whether Duke didn't offer me funding or just that it has simply not gone out yet.

Accepted to Duke MTS. No word on funding.

Rejected from ND as well.

I got accepted to MARc in Philosophical Theology and Philosophy of Religion. The application account didn't mention funding. Did anyone else's? Should I just cross my fingers and hope for an email or should I have read something about it in my application's page?

Vandy - MDiv (50%)

Well, I got my rejection from CUNY today. Best of luck to you though, Riverstyx!

Has anyone still not heard back from CUNY? I'm starting to think I missed an email or something. It looks like they have sent our rejections, acceptances, and now waitlists today and I haven't seen a thing.

Just got BC (MTS). Full tuition.

Ditto

Boston College (MTS) sent me an email about setting up an interview but that's the only thing I have heard. From my understanding, that doesn't mean much.

Human, All Too Human is quite the hidden gem. Definitely worth the watch. http://www.openculture.com/2014/04/human-all-too-human.html

From what I understand, you would fit best in the Women, Gender, and Sexuality track.

If I was interested in an M.A. in philosophy before later graduate work in the analytic tradition (especially logic, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics), which programs are worth looking into with regards to "fit"? Do M.A. programs typically have a particular strength or are they often more comprehensive? Should an undergraduate even be looking for a masters particularly strong in their sub-discipline or should they just be considering the best overall masters program? Thanks in advance.

That was actually a pretty spot on assessment with the only exception being your take on my philosophy of religion may be a little too narrow. There is a weird way in which modern philosophy of religion interacts with medieval phil or religion, Plantinga's re-purposing of augustine's free will defense or Hick building his free will defense out of Irenaeus (although rather poorly), that I like a lot. In fact, those examples are a large part of my thesis. I don't know if my confirmation of that helps at all with what I am trying to accomplish (figuring out which schools "fit"). Maybe the question is this simple: who does "analytic theology" well (you gave me fuller and SMU which have yet to look into). Alternatively, who does ancient/medieval Christianity well (especially for someone interested in philosophy of religion, the interaction between philosophy and religion, etc)? Also, since this is only a master program, how much does this all really matter? Would any good school suffice at the masters level or is there a substantial benefit in attending a program strong in my (rather unclear) focus? *Also, thanks to everyone who has answered my questions. This thread has given me a lot to think about.

Thanks. That makes a lot of sense (especially the part about "you will be changed by the act of dancing to a particular school's beat"). I guess, then, I am still having a bit of trouble with limiting my scope to relevant schools from which I should find my fit. Ya, I worried my first post may have been a bit vague. Umm, historically, I am generally interested with early church (the intersection with Greek philosophy is fun for the philosopher in me) through medieval (which I realize is pretty big). I don't mind reformation stuff but almost any church history after that I find rather boring. With regards to the modern era, my interests lie in philosophy of religion. I've done a decent amount of work with Plantinga and Hicks. Also, I like New Testament but as a means to an end. I feel as if modern philosophy of religion lacks any grounding and perhaps a understanding of the roots would better prepare myself for down the road. I am not very interested in New Testament history or philology. I am a philosopher at heart not a historian. But, as you noticed, I am still pretty broad. Thanks, I'll look around for funding. Quick question about BU, BC, and Duke: They all have graduate programs in religion and divinity schools. Which did you have in mind? "where you do end up will undoubtedly influence your interests thereafter": I guess I am still stuck on this a little bit. I am not worried about being uncomfortable within a department so this isn't about that, but how could one tell which way a program will influence you? I feel like I may just not be looking in the right places.

When evaluating graduate programs (especially on the Masters level), I am having trouble differentiating which programs have strengths in which field. I am a philosophy/religion double interested in a few specialties, Bible (mostly New Testament), Theology, Philosophy of Religion, and maybe History of Christianity. How could I tell which masters programs best fit what I am interested in? I have been told certain schools to avoid (for instance my New Testament professor told me to avoid UChicago because he doesn't think they do New Testament very well) but am still having trouble judging a few things. Specifically: From what I pieced together Harvard and Chicago are strong in World Religions and Comparative Religions but less so in anything Bible or theological. Is that a fair assessment? How big of a distinction are we making here? Would there be a significant difference from masters-level study of Bible at Harvard compared to Duke, Yale, or Notre Dame? With that in mind, which schools really stand out as being good New Testament schools? What about theology (most likely medieval), philosophy of religion, and History of Christiantiy? I realize the last two may be a bit vague. Also, other than Notre Dame, are there any schools that are particularly well funded? Are MTS generally funded better or worse than MDiv and M.A. programs?

From what I've read all that matters is V: 16_ and Q:15_.

I'm starting to get really interested in Logic and the Philosophy of Math (rather broadly), so what are some of the most essential (and perhaps most interesting) things that you would recommend reading? I have a pretty strong grasp on the fundamentals of Logic already (Prop Logic, FOL, a bit of Modal Logic, and some fun reading on Godel) and very little formal exposure to the Philosophy of Math. What things (readings or otherwise) would help one prepare for graduate study in either or both of those fields?

Sorry. I was agreeing with you. This whole conversation seems rather silly; we are dealing with a needless twisting of a common definition.

This all seems very silly.

okay, i realize that dfindley is a joke/troll so I'm not surprised that he wasn't taken seriously but I do believe there is something worth noting about philosophy that makes it quite peculiar among academia. It (along with a few other subjects like literature) focuses heavily on the source (author) of the content in conjunction with the content itself. Rarely in biology, math, chemistry do you mention the author/discoverer of the information you are studying. Can you imagine studying a cell and making detailed note of who discovered each and every aspect of the cell along with their history and placement among history? Philosophy is a study with a tradition unlike most subjects. It involves more than just an understanding of concept but an interaction with a thinker. Call them idols. Call them people. Philosophy simply is different than other subjects and that is something I'm rather fond of. If I were to describe it, I wouldn't necessarily say idols as that implies a divide. Idols aren't the same as us. If they were, they wouldn't be idols. But I wouldn't call them people either. I don't read Hume like I would a letter from my brother. There is a sense of reverence (which is what dfindley would call idolatry). However, unlike dfindley I think it is deserved reverence. Our relationship with a philosopher should be like that with an wise elder. We should respect them for their contributions and come to them seeking to understand them (instead of what I see so often - an idiot who should be torn down) while also not stealing their humanity by making them untouchable. From what I have seen of our current state of philosophy I don't think we are far off. Could we do better? Of course. But that will only come with an understanding of philosophy with regards to its nature. A philosophy of philosophy so to speak. /endrant