top philosophy program interrogation list

[Ungüey]

How about for continental philosophy?? Can anyone provide a bit more info or insight into which programs are the best for that?? I'm particularly interested in information that may be helpful in deciding between DePaul, Emory, Boston College, Stony Brook, and Columbia. Any help?? Thanks a lot!!

[philstudent1991]

^Columbia should easily have the best placement record, right? Though of course they do a lot of analytic too. 

[jjb919]

How about for continental philosophy?? Can anyone provide a bit more info or insight into which programs are the best for that?? I'm particularly interested in information that may be helpful in deciding between DePaul, Emory, Boston College, Stony Brook, and Columbia. Any help?? Thanks a lot!!

It's really hard to give you advice without a little more information about your interests and preferences. There is no undisputed ranking or "best" school for Continental philosophy (or any philosophy for that matter). Choosing the best school for you will be a mix of many factors: placement record, department strength, department size, location, funding, department dynamics (relationship among student cohorts, relationships between professors, mentor-advisee relationships, and so on).

 

This web-page may be useful to get a better sense of placement records among Continental schools (note that Columbia isn't listed here because although they have strength in European philosophy, it is not a main focus and they are generally more considered to be an analytic program) : http://www.philosophynews.com/post/2013/11/29/Graduate-School-Placements-in-Philosophy-Continental-Programs-Job-Type-Placements.aspx

For what it's worth, Stony Brook seems to do very well placing its students in TT positions in recent years, as does Vanderbilt and Oregon.

 

Each of these programs have different strengths: Boston College, being a Jesuit school, has a lot of strength in medieval philosophy and philosophy of religion (Fordham as well); Oregon is one of the best schools in the country for American Pragmatism; Stony Brook has a lot of strength in contemporary French and German philosophy, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, and they have an interdisciplinary seminar requirement. Do some work to figure out the general strengths of the program and see which ones mesh with your interests the best.

 

You have to ask yourself what kind of departmental environment you are going to enjoy. Will you be comfortable with a lot of students all vying for teacher attention, or do you want a smaller department with more close-knit relationships? From what I've heard, Columbia is a very large department with lots of students and they can be very competitive and stressful. Oregon, Vanderbilt, Memphis, and DePaul, for instance, have much smaller programs with less students and more attention from the professors.

 

You have to consider location and stipend as well. Will you be OK living in a large city? Or will you be bored out of your mind in a rural environment with not much in the way of entertainment? Is the stipend livable (taking into account the cost of living in respective cities)?

 

I hope this points you in the right direction, but you have to do the grunt work to find the departments, and more specifically the professors, that are closely aligned with your interests and would be a good match for you to work with.

[AcademicX]

I agree with what has been said above; there are many factors for what school is better for you (e.g your interests, placement record, location and scholarly community). I would disagree, however, that Columbia has a lot of students or that they are overly competitive. I am a Columbia student, so take my word for what it's worth. Columbia accepts 6-8 students every year, which is average. It has some strengths in continental philosophy but the overall orientation is analytic. If you are interested in Kant, german idealism, the Frankfurt school, phenomenology (mostly Heidegger and merleau ponty), Nietzsche then Columbia is a good place for doing that. I did my undergrad at a predominantly continental school and I was advised to go to the more traditional SPEP programs rather than Columbia. I have nothing against SPEP continental philosophy, but I think that it would be a shame for the continentally-oriented to overlook traditionally analytic departments. 

Edited February 24, 2015 by AcademicX

[Ungüey]

It's really hard to give you advice without a little more information about your interests and preferences. There is no undisputed ranking or "best" school for Continental philosophy (or any philosophy for that matter). Choosing the best school for you will be a mix of many factors: placement record, department strength, department size, location, funding, department dynamics (relationship among student cohorts, relationships between professors, mentor-advisee relationships, and so on).

This web-page may be useful to get a better sense of placement records among Continental schools (note that Columbia isn't listed here because although they have strength in European philosophy, it is not a main focus and they are generally more considered to be an analytic program) : http://www.philosophynews.com/post/2013/11/29/Graduate-School-Placements-in-Philosophy-Continental-Programs-Job-Type-Placements.aspx

For what it's worth, Stony Brook seems to do very well placing its students in TT positions in recent years, as does Vanderbilt and Oregon.

Each of these programs have different strengths: Boston College, being a Jesuit school, has a lot of strength in medieval philosophy and philosophy of religion (Fordham as well); Oregon is one of the best schools in the country for American Pragmatism; Stony Brook has a lot of strength in contemporary French and German philosophy, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, and they have an interdisciplinary seminar requirement. Do some work to figure out the general strengths of the program and see which ones mesh with your interests the best.

You have to ask yourself what kind of departmental environment you are going to enjoy. Will you be comfortable with a lot of students all vying for teacher attention, or do you want a smaller department with more close-knit relationships? From what I've heard, Columbia is a very large department with lots of students and they can be very competitive and stressful. Oregon, Vanderbilt, Memphis, and DePaul, for instance, have much smaller programs with less students and more attention from the professors.

You have to consider location and stipend as well. Will you be OK living in a large city? Or will you be bored out of your mind in a rural environment with not much in the way of entertainment? Is the stipend livable (taking into account the cost of living in respective cities)?

I hope this points you in the right direction, but you have to do the grunt work to find the departments, and more specifically the professors, that are closely aligned with your interests and would be a good match for you to work with.

[Ungüey]

Thanks a lot for your very conprehensive response. It really is very helpful.

I will definitely check out the link you provide and follow the advice of bearing in mind all the factors that you mention when trying to figure out what place is best for me. Again, thanks s lot.

[Ungüey]

Thanks a lot to @AcademicX too. Also a very helpful response to my original post!