dgswaim

I'd like to relocate by mid July.

Seconded.

When I start running out of money I often switch to the Laphroaig. Or I might switch to a lighter highland malt like Glenmorangie, or something. I prefer Islays and the like, but I do enjoy a nice, well-rounded highland malt as well. I just like to drink...

This isn't a bad suggestion, but also know that phil religion in a philosophy department and phil religion at a divinity school can be very different things. A lot of divinity schools gravitate heavily toward phenomenoligical perspectives on phil religion, for instance. There's nothing wrong with that, but do make sure you look into the kind of work being done in these departments first. Chicago's department, for instance, has been heavily influenced by Jean-Luc Marion and David Tracy which won't be very interesting to someone interested in analytic issues. Harvard tends to focus heavily on issues revolving around pluralism in the Abrahamic traditions and epistemological pluralism in general (think John Hick). Just know that with divinity schools and religious studies programs, "philosophy of religion" can be a pretty idiosyncratic subfield.

I go back and forth between scotch and bourbon. lately bourbon has been the winner. In a couple of months I'll be hooked on the Talisker again and my pockets will be drying up all over again.

I was wondering whether anyone out there who's done an MA at a program that also has PhD students has an insights as to the kind of attention MA students tend to receive. I ask because I've been warned by a few people against taking an MA from a university with PhD students precisely because of issues involving faculty attention and the like, but I've heard things to the contrary as well. Any thoughts?

Well, I'd certainly wait to hear from Purdue before making a final decision, but I might take it over my MA offers if given a sufficiently generous financial aid package or something like that.

Have you had any contact from South Carolina or tried to solicit any information?

I'm going up there with my wife and dogs on a road trip next week. Should be fun.

American troops? Guess that means you'll be staying a while...

I'm going down to my favorite pub in Austin (The Black Sheep Lodge) for one of their fantastic burgers and I few pints of the 512 Pecan Porter (a local brew that isn't really available outside of the Austin area, save a few places in Dallas, and one of my all-time favorite beers). Then I'll go down to the Elephant Room (my favorite local jazz club) for some great music and a couple glasses of Basil Hayden's. It'll be a good night.

I'm not sure I agree with your statements as to the state of phil religion in the "mainstream." UT Austin, Georgetown, Yale, UNC Chapel Hill, Oxford, Cambridge, Wisconsin and others all have people doing good work in phil religion. I tend not to agree that mainstream philosophy is best defined by the Leiter Top 50, and so I would also say that Oklahoma, Purdue, and Loyola Chicago are great places to study (My list of schools betrays my bias).

Fantastic! If you get pulled from the UVA waitlist you'll really be rolling in the deep! Congrats!

You could probably do the kind of work that you're looking to do at Notre Dame, either in the philosophy or theology department. The theology department has guys like Matt Ashley doing work in political theology, which is heavily influenced by the work of Adorno, Horkheimer, Benjamin, Arendt etc. (a lot of philosophical theology in catholic theology departments leans pretty continental). If you're more interested in philosophical theology from an analytic perspective, ND's philosophy department has plenty of people working in the vein of Swinburne, Plantinga, etc. Catholic University might be worth looking into... but, again, it is fairly continental in orientation. Loyola Chicago might be a good option. It's a pretty diverse environment as the continental/analytic stuff goes. Based on what you've presented, it might be worth looking into the work of Paul Moser at Loyola. He works pretty broadly within the field of philosophy of religion. He's done work on religious epistemology, divine hiddenness, theological perspectives on the problem of evil, and so on etc. Hope this helps.

Maybe each set of five is unordered... or something...

Waitlist hell...

Rejection from Illinois Urbana-Champaign via post. Wasn't the best fit, anyway.... but it still sucks the big one.

UT has its own bus system that's fairly extensive and free of charge. The Capital Metro bus system is pretty good. Traffic is pretty bad, so its a little slow, but it's affordable compared to a lot of other places I've lived. They're trying to get a light rail system started, too. I don't know how long that will take to get up and running, though. Also, Austin is very bicycle friendly. Lots and lots and lots of people use bicycles in Austin.

Yeah. I think my point is just that it's probably easier if you're familiar with some basics.

I've never been to Madison, but I hear good things. I've been in Austin for almost 5 years now, and Austin is great. Tons of fun.

Welp, here's hopin' for a fruitful week for all those out there (like myself) who are still waiting on applications. Come on you stragglers!

I don't know why anyone would suggest that it's necessary to be fluent in french/german going in to a program. In a heavily continental program it would certainly be helpful to be familiar with the basics of either or both, though.

There might be some truth to the above post. I should say, though, that the three schools that had strong connections to my letter writers (Rice, Baylor, and UT) all rejected me (well... I'm pretty sure UT did anyway). So take from that what you will.

I saw this and it made me think of dfindley...

I don't have any research interests in early modern philosophy to speak of, but I am interested in mastering early modern philosophy to the extent that's necessary for teaching undergraduate "History of Philosophy" courses, since those kinds of courses tend to be the bread and butter of most departments.