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  1. UMN has a serious dearth of tenured theory faculty right now, which leads me to suggest that UCLA might be more worthy of your consideration at this point. As far as I'm aware Joan Tronto is the only tenured faculty member in theory at UMN, so unless your interests intersect meaningfully with hers you'd probably be better off heading to UCLA (and you can't go wrong with McClure, Dienstag, Pagden, etc etc... the list goes on, I know). They have a very strong senior group at UCLA, even with Pateman retiring and Wolfenstein passing away (and I would assume this to mean they'll be hiring in theory sometime in the coming years as well?). All of UMN recent placements are likely still Mary Dietz/James Farr students, so it's difficult to say whether their recent placement record will be representative for the years coming. That said, UMN has a really strong group of junior faculty, so assuming they get tenured it will likely be a great place to work within the next 10 years. It's just that UCLA seems like the better choice as of now (or at least thats my take -- you've likely visited both places so should have some sense of their relative strengths and weaknesses).
  2. Sorry, I wrote the post above prior to reading the recent exchanges in this thread. Hence some of it is irrelevant... anyway... If you're interested in Continental political theory the MA program at the New School for Social Research in either philosophy or politics would be helpful. I know NSSR very well, so feel free to PM me for more specific info on faculty, funding, depts, etc. From the interests you list I think political science is the discipline for you though, and not philosophy. But that's just my hunch.
  3. Philosophy graduate admissions tend to be even more competitive than political science, in large part due to the crisis in the humanities. Thus, the job market sucks a little bit more for philosophers (particularly true of someone who'd be more or less 'unorthodox') than it does for political scientists broadly, and political theorists specifically. My senseis that it'd be more challenging for you to get into top philosophy programs with no background in the field than it would be to get into top political science programs with little experience in your subfield. Further, I think if you search a bit harder you will find programs amenable to a more humanistic/cultural studies/theory style approach that would find your coursework relevant. That said, it sounds like you would benefit from first delving a bit deeper into the world of political thought and staking out where exactly you situate yourself vis-a-vis long-standing traditions as well as contemporary debates within normative political theory. Once you do so I think it will become much more clear to you as to which discipline better suits your interests. Philosophers tend to have a very different approach to political theorizing than do political scientists -- they are less historically oriented, and even when they do historical work they tend to focus on a slightly different set of canonical figures than do political scientists. For example, in the US and UK philosophers tend to be less interested in the continental European tradition of philosophical and political thought; and they don't read Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Tocqueville, Marx, Weber, etc., all of which are central figures in political theory. In fact, you may want to read up on the continental / analytic divide in academic philosophy because from the look of things (i.e. your interest in Hegel) it may be relevant to you. These links may help you navigate the difference between studying philosophy and studying political science: http://profs-polisci.mcgill.ca/levy/theory-philosophy.html http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2004/09/grad_school_in_.html and http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2004/09/more_thoughts_f.html Additionally, you may want to consider applying to MA programs in one of the two fields before you sign on for a PhD. This will both give you more exposure to the field you decide upon and boost your candidacy for PhD study.
  4. These programs are all well and good if you aim to partake in the narrow subspecies of political 'philosophy' known as Straussianism (and do note that unless you're in a philosophy dept or you're a Strassian your professional title will be 'political theorist' rather than 'philosopher'). To the OP, your stated research interests seem a bit broad. 'Justice' is a buzzword across a variety of theoretical disciplines. Are there any particular authors you have in mind? Who's work is exciting you? Are there any particular traditions you identify with? These things will have significant bearing on what program is most suitable to your interests.
  5. If you don't me asking -- what subfield do you work in? Just curious because I'm considering Cornell as well.. for political theory.
  6. Interestingly, I've heard contradictory things regarding Buck-Morss' move (Cornell says she's yet to make a final decision, CUNY reports otherwise), but I think it's best to assume she will be making the move. In other words, don't accept Cornell's offer expecting to work with her. Also, is Brown confirmed to be joining Columbia's faculty? I haven't heard anything 'official' about that yet....
  7. Thus far I'm also in at UPenn and CUNY, both with full funding -- though I've already declined CUNY's offer. I have been officially rejected from Yale, Chicago, and Northwestern, and suspect I'm also rejected from Columbia and JHU. Broadly stated, I'm interested in contemporary normative political theory with special interest in the tradition of German political philosophy and critical theory. My statement detailed a potential project that would work toward developing a theory of 'post-national' political identity and community.
  8. Also in at Cornell for theory... tough decisions lie ahead.
  9. Also accepted at U Penn for theory via e-mail. 5 years full funding at 23,000 + 3 years summer support at 3,800. And Philadelphia is cheap living....
  10. Hmmmm, I think she may be referring to mass e-mails. I received an e-mail from Cornell on January 11th to update all applicants regarding the admissions review process, and then another message on the 20th to confirm that my file was complete..
  11. I got this email as well, but direct correspondence with the dept (as recent as today) has told me otherwise... admits notified in the first week of March, everyone else second week. I think "immediately" here means "immediately after the committee finishes their deliberations in early March." It'd be nice if something has changed though.
  12. I will claim it. I wasn't expecting to hear anything for a few weeks yet, but got the call out of the blue. I was informed that the committee had more or less just finished their deliberations, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was a bit of an early notification. 'Official' letters won't be out for a few more weeks, so I wouldn't sweat it if you haven't heard anything yet.
  13. I take it that this includes wait-lists as well, seeing as there is one reported on the 'results' page of this site... ah well, they can't take all of us. Now I'm wondering whether or not all of the Northwestern acceptances have been sent out, or if there are still some pending... I'm still among those who haven't heard a peep from them.
  14. Any other Northwestern applicants who STILL haven't heard anything either way? I'm very surprised to find myself still in limbo, and from the looks of it I'll be here all weekend so I'm curious to see if I have any comrades..
  15. Same boat. This could bode well for us, but who knows. The whole process is such a crapshoot it's tough to tell how one should interpret these things...
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