Applying to a Ph.D. from Argentina, HELP!

[surlefil]

Hi! I'm from Buenos Aires, Argentina. This year I will finish my degree in Philosophy, and I want to apply to a Ph.D. in the USA (or maybe in Canada). I would like to know if I have chances in top schools, for example. It's really difficult for me to know if I do have chances, because everything is quite different. Maybe I can tell you about my background and you could give me some advice? Here I go:

 

- The degree in Philosophy here in the Universidad de Buenos Aires is quite different from a BA, because it's longer and almost all my courses have been in Philosophy, except 8 (they are 30 in total). Each course lasts for 16 weeks and have generally 6 hours per week (a few have 8 hours per week). It's probably how degrees were in the 19th century.

 

- My GPA is pretty good, I guess. Here the grades are from 1 to 10, and you pass with 4 (though the minimum decent grade is 7), so in the A to D (4.0) language, it would be something between 3.7 and 4.0.

 

- I have 8 conference papers (that is how they are called in the USA, isn't it? You go to a conference and present a short text -6 pages, sometimes 15- about a subject of your research or an area of interest. I wouldn't call that a paper, in Argentina it's about presenting a little part of a broader research, not a paper that could be right away be sent to a journal).

 

- I have two peer-reviewed publications: one book review in an Argentine journal about Nietzsche, and an article (still not published, but accepted) in a Chilean review of Philosophy undergraduates. (I should add the publications made by the conferences in which I presented my papers, another 8, but I don't know if they could be considered as real publications.)

 

- I have other publications that are not peer-reviewed: 2 book reviews in the culture supplement of one important newspaper here, 3 articles in a contemporary art review (that belongs to a very well known art institution), in which I've been working as an editor since 2011.

 

 

I would like to apply to a Ph.D. in Philosophy or in Art History, I'm not sure about what to do, because Aesthetics is not generally taken as a central area of study in most Ph.D. Philosophy programs, at least that is what I found in my research on the web. Up to now, I found these interesting programs (not ordered by preference):

 

- Philosophy at Stony Brook

- Art History at Stony Brook

- Philosophy at University of British Columbia

- Art and Archaeology at Princeton

- Art and Archaeology at Columbia

- Art History at CUNY

- History + Theory of Architecture and Art at MIT

- Philosophy at PennState

- Philosophy at New School
 

I think that's it. What should I do to present a successful application? Do I have any chances?

I would be SUPER thankful I you could help me.

Thank you very much for reading this probably too long post!

 

[surlefil]

Correction: I said I worked as an editor in a contemporary art review, but now I realize that sounded too good. I'm part of a group of four editors, who respond to an editor-in-chief.

Edited January 25, 2013 by surlefil

[aglaea]

Is there a professor in your department who may know about previous students from your university who went to the US for graduate studies?

In terms of programs to consider, I assume you've checked the philosophical gourmet? http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/breakdown/breakdown13.asp

Yes, that's also what we call conference papers. It sounds like you have a strong cv, but I'm in no position to give advice.

Best of luck with your applications!

[surlefil]

Thanks for your answer! Yes, I checked The Phil Gourmet some time ago, but I had forgotten about it. Thank you.

 

There is one professor who has sent some students to the US, I recently heard of one who was accepted in Columbia, which sounds like good news. I already spoke this professor so that we can have a meeting to talk about these things, but anyway he's from an area of study thousands of miles away from Aesthetics, so it will be very useful for general stuff but not for more specific things.

 

Anyway, I would like to know how far I am from the ideal student that applies for a Ph.D., so that I try to get the closer I can to it. I'm a little bit scared, for example, at me not having a MA by the time I'll apply, but at the same time my degree in Philosophy is really long.

Edited January 25, 2013 by surlefil

[lovephil]

I'm Canadian, and I would say you have a good chance at getting into UBC. Although, to be honest, whether or not you should go there if admitted really depends on your ultimate goal. Do you want to be a philosophy professor? If so, I would suggest aiming higher and referring to the Philosophical Gourmet Report for advice on various schools. The job market is just too bad to settle if you can get into a top ranked program.

[surlefil]

Thank you very much for your post. It's good to know UBC could be more of a back up. The job market factor is important, you are right... I'm strongly interested in research, and being a professor sounds very good. But as my area of interest is Aesthetics, I'm also considering applying to a Ph.D. in Art History so that I have the possibility of working in a museum, or in the field of art criticism maybe, which also interests me.

 

I read the gourmet report, but sometimes I find it confusing. Yesterday I was reading it again and I remembered that the first time I checked it, for example, I saw CUNY as a top option and I went to the CUNY website, and the Ph.D. program in Philosophy was not so great. Courses in epistemology, philosophy of mind, etc. are required, and I'm not interested in those areas. I could take only TWO courses in Aesthetics. If I'm making the huge effort of pursuing a Ph.D., I want to be really interested in a larger part of it! I found much more interesting the Art History Ph.D. program at CUNY, but I'm sure that it's not what the gourmet report meant when they put CUNY as one of the top options...

[surlefil]

Another strange thing about The Gourmet Report: Temple U is in group 4, but seems to be a great place for Aesthetics/Philosophy of Art. So, why isn't it in a higher position?! Maybe I don't understand the report properly.

[lovephil]

I wouldn't suggest enrolling in a PhD program in philosophy unless you are interested in those other areas. Philosophy of Aesthetics is a small part of the field. It sounds like a PhD in Art History might be better for you!

[maxhgns]

OK, there are a few issues here:

 

1.) Perhaps the more useful guide for programs is the American Society for Aesthetics' Guide to Graduate Study in North America: http://www.aesthetics-online.org/graduate/guide.pdf

 

2.) The Gourmet rankings in philosophy of art are a little problematic because, as you can see, the evaluation of some programs is skewed. Where the median and mode are nowhere close to the mean, it's because one evaluator gave a deviant score (in McGill's case, the person would have had to score it a 0 or a 1, which is kind of ridiculous). Temple was unranked, and therefore inserted by the board of evaluators at the level they thought roughly appropriate.

 

3.) UBC is by no means a "sure bet" or a "back up": it's a high quality program with extremely competitive admission. If, as you say, you're not at all interested in other areas of analytic philosophy (e.g. mind, epistemology), I'm sorry to say you would then stand virtually no chance of admission (because you'd be miserable).

 

4.) Philosophy of art and aesthetics can be slightly different beasts, with the first focusing more on meta- questions and centering on recent work done in what's sometimes called "analytic" philosophy. Aesthetics, on the other hand, is often more closely related to questions of perception and beauty, and the historical and phenomenological traditions. Those are very imperfect characterizations, and most scholars blur them quite a bit, but it would be useful for you to become clear on what interests you most so that you can choose a program that would better fit your interests. Most of the Gourmet-ranked programs, for example, are of the former persuasion (in fact, just about all). If you have no interest in core areas of analytic philosophy, that would make you a very bad fit there.

 

5.) The way coursework works as a grad student is different. Even if a department offers only one or two courses in your area per year (and believe me, 2 is VERY high for aesthetics in North America), that doesn't mean you can only do two: you can do reading courses, you can set up reading groups, you can audit courses once you're done coursework, you can take courses in cognate fields (e.g. mind, language, metaphysics) and then try to relate them back to what you do, etc. No matter what, you'll probably have to take courses in all kinds of stuff you think is boring in order to meet distribution requirements.

 

6.) The best programs (for aesthetics/phil. of art) in Canada are UBC and McGill. McGill can do a better job of accommodating a less analytic inclination (UBC can't at all, really), if that's what you're into. In the US, please forget about the New School: they've got 10 permanent faculty, 110 graduate students, and virtually no funding for any students. It's a trap. If you have zero interest in "analytic" philosophy or "analytic" aesthetics, then you could still check out Chicago and Northwestern in addition to the SPEP schools. In the UK, you should check out Warwick for philosophy and Leeds for art history (for philosophy only if you're interested in analytic aesthetics/phil. of art); the funding is an issue, but I think you might qualify for a Chevening scholarship.

 

7.) Your credentials/background sound excellent; I don't think that's going to hamper you. The real trick, I think, is to have a clear idea of what you want, and where your interests lie. Philosophy of art/aesthetics is a small field, and even smaller in North America. The problem is that there's a division in that subfield between the kinds of questions and problems people are interested in, and those people don't often work in the same departments. So if you're not at all interested in core analytic areas like mind, epistemology, or metaphysics, the departments listed in the Gourmet report are pretty much not for you (and UBC is *definitely* not a good choice). Have a look at the Graduate Guide instead; it offers a lot more information.

 

Good luck. It's good that you've started researching early.

[surlefil]

Thanks A LOT for your input, it is really useful. It is true Warwick is great, I didn't know Leeds, and I'll also check Chicago and Northwestern.

 

I'm more interested in Aesthetics than in Philosophy of Art. Not as much on the side of those questions about perception and beauty as in connection to Political Philosophy, for example. That is why I found New School interesting, but as you describe it, it doesn't look as a great option.

 

I'm really no interested in "analytic" philosophy, but I admit that "continental" philosophy sometimes leads to the study of a certain author or a certain school. It ends up being about HISTORY of philosophy, and not about finding interesting problems, and I don't want my research to go that way. So I'm quite confused about what I should chose.

 

Thanks again. I'm happy to know my background is good!! It scares me a bit that I come from Argentina. Those who will review my application won't know my university, nor the professors that will write my letters of recommendation. I guess if the letters are good that won't be a terrible issue, but anyway...

[thelonious23]

I just finished an MA in philosophy at Tufts; there were two students in the program from Argentina, terrific students who did really well. Even if you are only specifically interested in aesthetics, it might be worth considering an MA, since it allows you more access to high level schools. Either way, you might consider continental programs over analytic ones. They do tend to emphasize history, but any program is going to want you to have a breadth of knowledge along with your specialty, and continental or pluralistic programs will allow you to focus on issues in art, film, phenomenology, etc. 

[surlefil]

Thank you!! Yes, I'm considering continental programs, but why do you think an MA would allow me more access to high level schools? In my degree in Philosophy they emphasize history a lot, and I think it's very useful, it's just I'm not myself interested in my research being historical. I've looked at SPEP schools, and at The Philosophy Gourmet Report, but which continental programs would you recommend? Because some programs are considered continental friendly only because there are one or two professors whose research is in the boundaries of continental philosophy, but that is not enough if I really want to focus on what I'm interested in...