Best Places to Study Hegel, Hegelianism, German Idealism, and the like?

[you'll_never_get_to_heaven]

Hey all! 

I think my philosophical journey is going to involve a lot of Hegel/Hegelianism whether I like it or not, so I'm curious as to what everyone's thoughts on the best PhD programs for an applicant with such interests? I already have set my hopes on a few probably obvious contenders (Boston U, Columbia, Northwestern, UC San Diego, UC Riverside, the Catholic universities, etc.).

I'm at a more analytic-leaning M.A. program because I wanted to broaden my horizons a bit. My writing sample is on Husserl's horizon-structure / the universal a priori of science.

Thanks! (Also happy to talk with other applicants with similar questions)

[UndergradDad]

Not sure who the top Hegel scholars are, but this site may be helpful: hegel.org - just look at membership list for faculty members in Hegel society

[Glasperlenspieler]

I'm a bit surprised that Pitt is not on your list. Historically I would have placed them at the top of places to go to study Hegel, but it might be worth inquiring as to whether McDowell and Brandom are actively taking on new students.

wrt Riverside, it's worth noting that their primary Hegel specialist (Andreja Novakovic) is now at Berkeley. So you might look there too. But with Pierre Keller and Alexandra Mary Newton, I suspect Riverside is still a very good place for Hegel and certainly one of the better places for German philosophy generally.

Terry Pinkard (Georgetown), Robert Pippin (Chicago) and Fred Beiser (Syracuse) are all getting up there in age, but are certainly some of the top Hegel scholars around. Chicago also has a number of other people working on various areas of German Idealism.

Not sure about Vanderbilt more generally, but Karen Ng is certainly someone to have on your radar.

Columbia, UCSD, Boston, Northwestern all make lots of sense as would some Catholic unis I'm sure.

 

Edit: typos

Edited November 3, 2021 by Glasperlenspieler

[you'll_never_get_to_heaven]

6 hours ago, Glasperlenspieler said:

I'm a bit surprised that Pitt is not on your list. Historically I would have placed them at the top of places to go to study Hegel, but it might be worth inquiring as to whether McDowell and Brandom are actively taking on new students.

wrt Riverside, it's worth noting that their primary Hegel specialist (Andreja Novakovic) is now at Berkeley. So you might look there too. But with Pierre Keller and Alexandra Mary Newton, I suspect Riverside is still a very good place for Hegel and certainly one of the better places for German philosophy generally.

Terry Pinkard (Georgetown), Robert Pippin (Chicago) and Fred Beiser (Syracuse) are all getting up there in age, but are certainly some of the top Hegel scholars around. Chicago also has a number of other people working on various areas of German Idealism.

Not sure about Vanderbilt more generally, but Karen Ng is certainly someone to have on your radar.

Columbia, UCSD, Boston, Northwestern all make lots of sense as would some Catholic unis I'm sure.

 

Edit: typos

Frankly, I just doubted that I had any chance at Pitt or Berkeley, but maybe I ought to try anyway - haha!

[Glasperlenspieler]

25 minutes ago, you'll_never_get_to_heaven said:

Frankly, I just doubted that I had any chance at Pitt or Berkeley, but maybe I ought to try anyway - haha!

Fair, but if you're applying to lots of places anyways and have the money for a couple more apps, then it may be worth it. Can't get in if you don't apply and there are lots of stories on these boards of people getting accepted at top programs and rejected at lower ranked programs. Admissions are weird. Plus, if you're coming in from a good MA with good stats, then a lot of it will be coming down to your writing sample. So, you just need to find a sympathetic reader.

[you'll_never_get_to_heaven]

5 hours ago, Glasperlenspieler said:

Fair, but if you're applying to lots of places anyways and have the money for a couple more apps, then it may be worth it. Can't get in if you don't apply and there are lots of stories on these boards of people getting accepted at top programs and rejected at lower ranked programs. Admissions are weird. Plus, if you're coming in from a good MA with good stats, then a lot of it will be coming down to your writing sample. So, you just need to find a sympathetic reader.

Well, you know, you got a point! I do have a 4.0 GPA, a decent run of assistantships, etc.

Could maybe pan out nicely.

[Kantistotle]

At Toronto, faculty whose primary interests include Hegel and German idealism include Nick Stang and Owen Ware. Arthur Ripstein also seems to have a strong interest in those subjects.

[PhilBlast]

On 11/7/2021 at 9:23 AM, Kantistotle said:

At Toronto, faculty whose primary interests include Hegel and German idealism include Nick Stang and Owen Ware. Arthur Ripstein also seems to have a strong interest in those subjects.

I think Rebecca Comay is there as well!

[you'll_never_get_to_heaven]

Yeah, I dropped Toronto. They got almost 500 applications last year and it's a better fit for some other people applying from my M.A. program (now, hopefully they have respectfully dropped programs from their lists that are better for me...)

There's no thread for this year's app season, but I've got a healthy set.