fleelaw

Hello all. I am a lawyer by training (J.D.) who is seeking PhD programs in Philosophy, Comparative Literature, or related interdisciplinary programs with strengths in critical theory, where my research topic could concern the relationship between law and culture/literature through this lens. Theory-heavy and interdisciplinary programs are of particular interest to me. The programs on my list naturally included the classic suggestions such as Cornell, UCSC History of Consciousness, UCBerkeley Rhetoric, UCI CompLit, Johns Hopkins CompThought. However, I am wondering whether I have missed any programs that might have more obscure strengths in the intersection between law and literature. For example, I know Ravit Reichman at Brown is one such scholar. I am aware that there has been a previous post about this, but it dates to 2013. I would appreciate any newer suggestions or advice.

I'm also interested in this subject as a former philosophy student principally interested in critical theory and hermeneutics. It seems that at a lot of institutions with analytic philosophy departments, these subjects live in a program like Comparative Literature (or related unique programs like Comparative/Modern Thought, History of Consciousness, Berkeley Rhetoric, etc). Although I am wary that many of these programs' list of dissertations seem to be focused just on analysis of media, rather than a philosophical topic on its own. Some of the UCs also have critical theory designated emphases that are interdisciplinary.

Wow. You are apparently a carbon copy of me. I am also fleeing the legal field (specialized in international/comparative law) in favor of a philosophy PhD. I'll share the advice I have heard about this topic. Academia is in a dismal state and it is not getting better. There is not going to be job security in this endeavor, especially compared to the law. From what I've heard, a J.D. is not going to give you a huge boost in admissions, but it can't be worse than going in with just an undergraduate degree. They are going to want recommendation letters form philosophers. Someone else will need to speak on this. Critical theory and continental philosophy is the minority in the U.S. You're going to want to look at the SPEP-friendly programs, or otherwise look at programs in English or Comparative Literature especially, which is where most critical theory lives in the US (plus those programs have a stronger affinity with post-colonial approaches).