Continental sample paper for MA acceptances

[UndergradDad]

Since the majority of funded MA programs are geared toward analytical philosophy based on what I have seen, will applying with a Continental sample paper hurt an applicant's chances of admission to those programs?

And if accepted, will the subsequent MA from the analytical program hurt later chances of admission to a more Continental based Phd program once the MA degree has been earned?

[Prose]

yes

 

no

[Kantattheairport]

8 hours ago, UndergradDad said:

Since the majority of funded MA programs are geared toward analytical philosophy based on what I have seen, will applying with a Continental sample paper hurt an applicant's chances of admission to those programs?

And if accepted, will the subsequent MA from the analytical program hurt later chances of admission to a more Continental based Phd program once the MA degree has been earned?

In terms of fit into a programme, I suspect you probably want to show that you understand and are able to work in a way that's compatible with the professors in this programme! So if 'geared towards analytic' means that there are one or two professors who work in the continental tradition and whose work is close to your own, then it might not hurt you too much. If there's nobody there who works in the continental tradition, then yes, it probably would hurt your chances (and it probably wouldn't make too much sense to go there if your interests are all firmly continential!).

Partly, you also want to think about methods and what you're demonstrating what you can work with in your sample. My sample takes as its point of departure work in continental philosophy/critical theory/history, and then proceeds into analytic territory; it got me a Tufts acceptance last year, which I take to be a very analytic-y department. So just having analytic/continental references isn't the main thing, it's what you do with them that counts, I think!

[UndergradDad]

Thanks that's pretty much what I guessed-I appreciate the feedback!

[hector549]

22 hours ago, UndergradDad said:

Since the majority of funded MA programs are geared toward analytical philosophy based on what I have seen, will applying with a Continental sample paper hurt an applicant's chances of admission to those programs?

And if accepted, will the subsequent MA from the analytical program hurt later chances of admission to a more Continental based Phd program once the MA degree has been earned?

I'm a current MA student drawing on continental and analytic traditions in my work.There are funded MA programs out there that are friendly to continental philosophy, depending on what sort of continental philosophy you're looking for. Georgia State has multiple faculty working on German philosophy (particularly Nietzsche and Hegel), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has some faculty with interests in German Idealism and Nietzsche, and CSULA has a faculty member who works on 20th century continental. These are still programs that are rooted methodologically primarily in the analytic tradition, but a person could certainly still do work in continental philosophy at any of these programs, while also getting exposure to analytic tradition and methodology.

There are also funded MA programs that are more narrowly geared to the continental tradition. Miami-Ohio and Loyola Marymount come to mind.

My advice: demonstration of fit is not so important for MA admission as are letters and general philosophical acumen as demonstrated in the writing sample. However, a sample that's coming from a tradition not at all represented at the program in question might not go down as well when it comes to admissions decisions. Further, if the plan is to go on to a continental-oriented PhD program after the MA, it might be hard to put together a strong sample if there isn't at least one faculty member at the MA program familiar enough with the tradition to advise on the writing of the sample.

I would recommend looking into the programs I mentioned. Georgia State in particular might be a good choice depending on interest. Also, don't just look at faculty interests; take a look at the titles of student theses and PhD placements to get an idea of the what students work on and where they go after the MA. Look for programs that send at least some students to continental-oriented PhD programs if that's the intended destination (but keep in mind that interests are likely to change during the course of an MA as well!).

Edited February 10, 2019 by hector549

[UndergradDad]

Thanks, sounds like good advice, especially the advice in the last paragraph. Much appreciated.

[759]

I think this question also depends on what you mean by continental. I attended an MA program which is typically thought of as being pretty analytic, and yet we still have 4+ professors who each deal extensively with a handful of continental figures/engaged in some form of history of philosophy. However, if your sample is on some later-20th century figure like Deleuze, Lacan, Derrida or someone like that I could imagine my supervisors raising an eyebrow. At the same time, my department offered regular courses on Nietzsche, Foucault, Hegel, Heidegger, Gadamer, etc.

 

This post probably wasn't too helpful. I suppose my point is that what continental figures are deemed "legitimate" at a primarily analytic school varies from program to program, and you really just have to spend the time researching the professors and what courses they typically teach, and then assess if that's good enough to satisfy your continentally-oriented research.  

[nxr9]

The more important question, I think, is do you want to spend two years of your life studying figures and issues in analytic philosophy that you aren’t passionate about while your real passion in the field atrophies? 

As far as more pragmatic concerns go,  both the writing sample and “fit” we all know are two major issues for PhD admissions, in addition to letters. So:

1. It’s more likely faculty at a PhD will know or at least know of your letter writers if they are in the same subfield. The philosophy world is small, but not that small. 

2. One of the selling points of an MA is the depth and breadth of knowledge it gives you - but if you’ve only taken coursework and written a thesis on analytic figures/issues, that might be a moot point for contintental programs. Ancedotally, I’m at GSU now and a prof told me that at least one contact on ad com committees in years past for one of the really niche continental programs (think more SPEP than PGR) once conveyed the belief that our program is too “analytic” - even though we have multiple continental course offerings each semester and at least a solid third of us each year end up doing our thesis work on continental figures. So to the extent there’s a faculty member like that on the ad com, I can’t imagine what their take would be on a straight up analytic oriented program.

Just some things to consider. Good luck! 

Edited February 10, 2019 by nxr9

[Rose-Colored Beetle]

During the 2018 cycle, I applied to four MAs with a writing sample on Locke and Gadamer. I got into Brandeis and Western Michigan.