Acceptance Thread

[MattDest]

South Florida, for instance, is only mentioned once on the PGR for its strength in 20th century continental philosophy, and I'm pretty sure its one of those ones that's been "inserted by the board." But USF has a number of research strengths across the discipline, including early modern philosophy, philosophy of science, and epistemology (plus a really cool track in philosophy and religious studies, which I have applied to). The people I've talked to there say that their students regularly land tenure-track positions and long-term visiting positions.

 

The placement record that they have online is really, really limited. Even in that small sample size, it's not very good as far as I can tell. So, despite the people in the department saying it's good... I don't know how much confidence I have in that sort of assessment. 

[Cottagecheeseman]

There are a lot of great programs that aren't in the top 50. Boston College, Fordham, Purdue, Illinois UC, Iowa, Utah, Marquette, St. Louis and so on etc.

I'm not sure that "great" really applies to those programs. Decent programs, yes. Some of those places you mention have dismal placement records, and only a few strengths. I'm not knocking these programs at all, I wouldn't mind going to Iowa myself one day, but I just don't see them as being "great" programs.

[TheVineyard]

There are a lot of great programs that aren't in the top 50. Boston College, Fordham, Purdue, Illinois UC, Iowa, Utah, Marquette, St. Louis and so on etc.

 

So there are programs that would probably be ranked between 50-60 if it went to 60. I don't think that's a problem with the Leiter rankings (and I'm also not saying that you are saying so), but rather a necessary result of drawing the line at 50.

[dgswaim]

The placement record that they have online is really, really limited. Even in that small sample size, it's not very good as far as I can tell. So, despite the people in the department saying it's good... I don't know how much confidence I have in that sort of assessment. 

I disagree. Based on what I see they do a reasonably good job of finding work for their people. Further, it only tracks initial placements, and probably not all of them. I personally know 3 people who have gone through their program, and two of them have long-term visiting positions and one is in a tenure-track position. I really don't want to get into a whole thing about this. I'm beginning to regret ever having brought up the PGR.

[dgswaim]

So there are programs that would probably be ranked between 50-60 if it went to 60. I don't think that's a problem with the Leiter rankings (and I'm also not saying that you are saying so), but rather a necessary result of drawing the line at 50.

I don't think my point (if I have one) is that cutting the rankings off at 50 is precisely the problem. I would say that there is something rather problematic in saying that UC Riverside is substantially better as place to do graduate work in philosophy than, say, Rice or Purdue. Is the school occupying spot number 17 really that much better in terms of rigor and quality of scholarship than number 41? I suspect not. 

[bar_scene_gambler]

To be fair, I don't think it's a coincidence that the placement rate at the schools you're talking about is less impressive than Leiter ranked programs. We all know that the US philosophical climate is notoriously analytic, and we know that there's some controversy over the PGR ignoring good, but more continental programs. Personally, I think it boils down to philosophical climate more than the programs themselves not being quality programs. Take Emory for example. It's a pluralistic school, with heavy continental leaning, which has a pretty good placement record and the resources available to give graduate students a solid education in philosophy, and yet it is completely unranked.

The problem is the climate, not the PGR itself. The PGR is going to rank schools based upon the philosophical climate in the US, and if more people are being placed out of analytic departments, it's more than likely because more departments are looking for, say, logicians and philosophers of science than aestheticians or people who work in Phenomenology. It isn't because the continental schools don't provide a good education, it's that those things which we're studying don't mesh well with the way philosophy is done in the US.

That isn't to say that the PGR is totally blameless. After all, it's not like there aren't fantastic continental schools. The "What the Rankings Mean" section may be chock full of utter bullshit, and the rankings may be biased, but that doesn't make the PGR useless, and it certainly isn't an unjustified bias. That's just my two-cents.

[dgswaim]

To be fair, I don't think it's a coincidence that the placement rate at the schools you're talking about is less impressive than Leiter ranked programs. We all know that the US philosophical climate is notoriously analytic, and we know that there's some controversy over the PGR ignoring good, but more continental programs. Personally, I think it boils down to philosophical climate more than the programs themselves not being quality programs. Take Emory for example. It's a pluralistic school, with heavy continental leaning, which has a pretty good placement record and the resources available to give graduate students a solid education in philosophy, and yet it is completely unranked.

The problem is the climate, not the PGR itself. The PGR is going to rank schools based upon the philosophical climate in the US, and if more people are being placed out of analytic departments, it's more than likely because more departments are looking for, say, logicians and philosophers of science than aestheticians or people who work in Phenomenology. It isn't because the continental schools don't provide a good education, it's that those things which we're studying don't mesh well with the way philosophy is done in the US.

That isn't to say that the PGR is totally blameless. After all, it's not like there aren't fantastic continental schools. The "What the Rankings Mean" section may be chock full of utter bullshit, and the rankings may be biased, but that doesn't make the PGR useless, and it certainly isn't an unjustified bias. That's just my two-cents.

I think there's some truth in this. I applied mainly to programs that respect both the analytic and the continental tradition, because it seems odd to study one to the exclusion of the other, in my opinion. 

[PRising]

There's a Maryland acceptance posted. I'd be very interested to hear details if anyone can claim it. 

Couple more. I too am interested. 

[Bizzle]

I second the motion for a 'leiter reports' thread...

[dgswaim]

I second the motion for a 'leiter reports' thread...

There is one now... sort of.

[Hilbert's timequake]

醉卧沙场君莫笑，古来圣贤几人回？

If we lay drunk on the battlefield sands, do not laugh, m'friend! Since time began, how many have come back at battles' end?

 

Just to add some Chinese flavor to the thread.

Edited March 3, 2014 by Hilbert's timequake

[Cottagecheeseman]

醉卧沙场君莫笑，古来圣贤几人回！

yeah... exactly.

[alethicethic]

醉卧沙场君莫笑，古来圣贤几人回？

If we lay drunk on the battlefield sands, do not laugh, m'friend! Since time began, how many have come back at battles' end?

 

Just to add some Chinese flavor to the thread.

 

Um, shouldn't that be 古来征战几人回？（古來征戰幾人回）。Because to (largely) follow your translation, it currently reads something like, "since time began, when it comes to sages, how many have come back?" Which is cool. I like the idea of sages coming back (appropriate for philosophers?), but the quote is about a war campaign. Or maybe change the English translation, if you really wanted 圣贤 (sage) there in its place. Sorry to hijack the thread.

[bar_scene_gambler]

Um, shouldn't that be 古来征战几人回？（古來征戰幾人回）。Because to (largely) follow your translation, it currently reads something like, "since time began, when it comes to sages, how many have come back?" Which is cool. I like the idea of sages coming back (appropriate for philosophers?), but the quote is about a war campaign. Or maybe change the English translation, if you really wanted 圣贤 (sage) there in its place. Sorry to hijack the thread.

Ran out of upvotes, but thank you. Really weird translation.

[zblaesi]

The suspense on NYU is killing me. I want to know if my hope is delusional or not, god damn it!

[pro_Tonto]

I wonder if I'm the only one who consistently and inexcusably confuses Crispin Wright with Roger Crisp ... and sometimes also Caspar Hare.

[zblaesi]

I wonder if I'm the only one who consistently and inexcusably confuses Crispin Wright with Roger Crisp ... and sometimes also Caspar Hare.

 

For some reason, the name "Crispin" makes me hungry. I imagine cripsy chicken when I hear it.

[philosophe]

So I took the weekend off from TGC, I come back to 150 notifications... and worst of all, catching up resulted in my using up my upvotes in the first 5 minutes! Thank you to all of you who have made me laugh    I'm bummed that I could not upvote all of you appropriately. 

[Hilbert's timequake]

Um, shouldn't that be 古来征战几人回？（古來征戰幾人回）。Because to (largely) follow your translation, it currently reads something like, "since time began, when it comes to sages, how many have come back?" Which is cool. I like the idea of sages coming back (appropriate for philosophers?), but the quote is about a war campaign. Or maybe change the English translation, if you really wanted 圣贤 (sage) there in its place. Sorry to hijack the thread.

 

I laughed really hard. Thanks. You are absolutely right and I like your recommendation. 

When I wrote down 古来圣贤几人回, I was apparently thinking about Li Bai's 古来圣贤皆寂寞，惟有饮者留其名 (All sages in history were solitary, 

Except those drinkers who left their glory)。 In any case, I was drunk.

[bar_scene_gambler]

I laughed really hard. Thanks. You are absolutely right and I like your recommendation. 

When I wrote down 古来圣贤几人回, I was apparently thinking about Li Bai's 古来圣贤皆寂寞，惟有饮者留其名 (All sages in history were solitary, 

Except those drinkers who left their glory)。 In any case, I was drunk.

Yay! Another Sinophile! You haven't posted much the last few months. What are your interests?

[dgswaim]

I declined the MA offer from Loyola Chicago. Hopefully that's helpful to somebody.

[objectivityofcontradiction]

Hey Columbia, 

 

Call me, maybe? 

[murial]

University Of Miami Philosophy, PhD (F14) Accepted via E-mail on 25 Feb 2014 A 25 Feb 2014

• report spam
• First admit. 1a/3w/9r out of 25. Finally.

Any claimants ?

[Cottagecheeseman]

Hey Columbia, 

 

Call me, maybe? 

 

[AcademicX]

Columbia acceptance here!!! Hell yeah!!