PHILOSOPHY: Information for Current Students
City University of New York Graduate Center
This page provides current students with information about
- advisement,
- funding,
- comprehensive exams,
- placement history
- and placement services (including a placement FAQ).
For further information, students should consult the program handbook.
Advisement
Students may seek general and academic advice from the Executive Officer, the Deputy Executive Officer and designated faculty advisors (the designated faculty advisor for 2005-2006 is Professor Steven Cahn). Students are also encouraged to seek general academic advice (e.g. about course offerings and dissertation topics) from other members of the faculty. First-year students, after meeting with the Executive Officer when they enter the Program, are advised by the Deputy Executive Officer for the rest of their first year.
Once the student is Advanced to Candidacy and registers for Dissertation Supervision, his or her prospectus sponsor or dissertation supervisor will serve as the student's advisor. This faculty member will be the student's adviser until graduation unless the student specifically requests a change. Such a request must go through the Program Office.
Prospectus and dissertation students. Students who are actively working on a prospectus or have passed their prospectus examination and are working on a dissertation should be in regular contact with their prospectus sponsor or dissertation supervisor. The sponsor or supervisor is responsible for forwarding student progress reports to the Program Office prior to registration.
Funding
For information on funding, please visit the Graduate Center Office of Financial Aid.
Comprehensive Exams
Comprehensive examinations will be offered in the following four areas of philosophy:
- metaphysics or epistemology
- ethics or social and political philosophy
- philosophy of language, or philosophy of science, or philosophy of mind
- history of philosophy
Click on any exam area above to view the reading list for that exam.
| Fall 2008 Exam Schedule | |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Date |
| Ethics Social & Political Philosophy |
Tuesday, October 7, 2008 10.00–2.00pm |
| Epistemology Metaphysics |
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 10:00 am–2:00 pm |
| Logic (See the program handbook.) |
Monday, November 10, 2008 10:00 am–2:00 pm |
| Philosophy of Science Philosophy of Language Philosophy of Mind |
Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:00 am–2:00 pm |
| History of Philosophy | Friday, December 12, 2008 10:00 am–2:00 pm |
Students who are planning to take these exams (including the Logic Examination) must register with Afiya or Rosemarie TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE EXAM.
Grades will be posted approximately four weeks after the examination.
Written examinations are four hours long and require the candidate to answer three questions. They are modular in nature: that is, students must choose only one of the areas covered in any examination, with the exception of history of philosophy. Thus students taking the metaphysics or epistemology exam must take a four hour three question exam in metaphysics OR a four hour three question exam in epistemology. Students taking the ethics or social and political philosophy exam must take a four hour three question exam in ethics OR a four hour three question exam in social and political philosophy. Students taking the philosophy of language or philosophy of science or philosophy of mind exam must take must take a four hour three question exam in philosophy of language OR a four hour three question exam in philosophy of science OR a four hour three question exam in philosophy of mind. In the history of philosophy exam, students must take a four hour three question exam on history of philosophy, in which they must answer at least one question from each of the two sections on ancient (including medieval) and modern philosophy.
Comprehensive Requirements. Students are required to demonstrate competence in two of these four areas by successful completion of written examinations (in areas to be chosen by students). In each remaining area, students may chose to demonstrate competence either by successful completion of a written examination or by successful completion of two advanced courses in that area (with a grade of B+ or better).
Students who opt to do two advanced courses instead of written comprehensive examinations may do courses from any two areas covered by the examination, except in the case of history of philosophy, in which case the courses must be in ancient (including medieval) and modern.
Students must register with the Program Office for written comprehensive exams no later than two weeks before the advertised examination, and must specify which examination they wish to be examined in (e.g. metaphysics OR epistemology in the metaphysics or epistemology exam).
Material Covered on Written Examinations. The questions for comprehensive examinations in any academic year, whether written or oral, are based upon recommended reading lists, which will be made available to students before the end of each prior Spring semester. These lists, which must be approved by the Executive Officer, will be prepared by the comprehensive examination committees. The lists comprise of readings considered to constitute sufficient preparation for the examinations. The reading list for a prior academic year will remain in effect for a subsequent academic year if not revised by the examination committee by the end of the Spring semester of the prior academic year. Reading lists are available as hard copy in the Student Lounge area and electronically on the Program website. New reading lists came into effect for all written examinations on June 6, 2005.
When Examinations Are Offered. Written examinations in each of the four areas are offered once every semester, with intervals of three to four weeks between examinations. Examination dates will be advertised at the beginning of every academic semester. Except under very special circumstances, computers may not be used during the comprehensive examinations.
Grades. The grades for the examinations are Honors, Ph.D-Pass, and Fail. A student who fails is permitted to take the examination a second time. Students are encouraged to consult with the conveners of the faculty committees that construct and grade the comprehensive examinations in order to have their examination performance evaluated, especially in the case of failure. In the case of a student who fails a comprehensive examination for the second time, the Evaluations Committee will bring this to the attention of the Executive Committee and in the absence of considerations strong enough to override, will recommend that the student be dropped from the program.
Placement Services & History
Please see Tziporah Kasachkoff's Placement Services FAQ and the Graduate Center's recent placement history for information on job placement.