Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

The Ph.D. degree requires 39 hours of graduate coursework, which begins with a first-year proseminar and ends with an independent research seminar that culminates in the writing and oral defense of a qualifying paper. Ph.D. candidates must also satisfy a set of course requirements in distinct areas of philosophy and the University’s Research Skills and Responsible Scholarship requirement. Students write and defend a dissertation prospectus to complete the oral comprehensive examination and advance to candidacy, after which they are expected to write and successfully defend a dissertation.

More details regarding the Ph.D. program can be found in the department's Graduate Handbook (below).

Admission to the Ph.D. in Philosophy

Apply to the graduate program via the Office of Graduate Studies online application system.

Prerequisites:

In addition to the general admission requirements from the Office of Graduate Studies, applicants are expected to have taken the following six courses or their equivalents as preparation for graduate work:

1. symbolic logic
2. history of ancient philosophy
3. history of modern philosophy
4. history of 19th/20th-century Continental philosophy
5. value theory
6. metaphysics/epistemology (broadly construed to include philosophy of language and philosophy of mind).

Students may be admitted without some of these courses, but they are expected to make up the deficiencies early in their graduate careers and outside of the minimum hours required for degree.

Deadlines:

Students may begin the graduate program in either the fall or spring semester. However, applicants who wish to be considered for financial support through fellowships and GTA appointments should anticipate beginning graduate studies in the Fall semester and must submit application materials by the following deadlines:

Priority deadline for fellowship and GTA appointment consideration is January 5.

The final deadline for Fall matriculation is May 1.

The final deadline for Spring matriculation is December 1.

Application Materials:

In addition to the application form, application fee, letters of recommendation, transcripts, etc., the Philosophy Department Committee on Recruitment, Admission and Awards requires the following supplemental materials:

Resume/CV

A Brief Personal Statement of Academic Goals

A Writing Sample  preferably a sample of philosophical prose approximately 10-15 pages in length

Applicants who indicate English is not their native language: Proof of English proficiency, as required by the Office of Graduate Studies. To be eligible for GTA support, TOEFL or IELTS scores must meet the benchmark of Regular Admission and the Speaking portion of the exam must meet the Employment benchmark in the English Proficiency policy.  KU TOEFL Code: 6871

Graduate Record Examination Scores (verbal, quantitative, analytical) are no longer required, though the department will consider GRE scores if submitted with application materials; KU GRE Code: 6871

More information regarding transcript and letter of recommendation requirements is available on the Graduate Studies Application Process page.

The Department of Philosophy Committee on Recruitment, Admission, and Awards requires applications include all supplemental materials prior to review.

Apply Now

Please contact the Graduate Academic Advisor, Aley Pennington, with questions about the application process.

Aley Pennington
Graduate Academic Advisor
aleypennington@ku.edu
785-864-1528

Formal Philosophy Requirement

Upon entering the program, students must demonstrate competence in symbolic logic by passing a placement exam with a grade of B or higher. Students who do not pass the placement exam with a grade of B or higher, or who choose not to take the placement exam, must enroll in PHIL 310 for additional preparatory training and pass with a grade of B or higher.

Required Course Work

Students must receive a grade of B- or higher in all graduate philosophy coursework and an overall GPA of at least 3.0 in philosophy. At least 24 of these credit hours must be in courses numbered 800 or above.

Qualifying Paper

As students near the end of course work, they should decide on a tentative topic for their Qualifying Paper and then consult with appropriate faculty members to identify an advisor. This should be done by the penultimate semester of course work (standardly, the first semester of a student’s 3^rd year in the program).

Once an advisor is identified, the student should enroll in PHIL 901 Qualifying Paper (an independent research seminar that results in the writing and successful oral defense of a qualifying paper) with the advisor. While enrolled, the student works on the paper under the advisor’s supervision. The aim is to produce a high-quality paper that is of near publishable quality (i.e. a viable candidate for publication in a well-ranked professional journal). The department recommends a length of 8,000-12,000 words for the qualifying paper as standard, but recognizes that adequate length can vary by subdiscipline and topic.

Research Skills & Responsible Scholarship Requirement

This requirement must be met before taking the comprehensive oral exam. For Philosophy doctoral students, this requirement is met by completing all of the following:

• PHIL 800 Proseminar, which includes a basic introduction to philosophical methodology and research practices alongside content.
• PHIL 901 Qualifying Paper, where the student works, in close consultation with a faculty advisor, to write a research paper of near publishable quality.
• Demonstrated competence in an approved foreign language OR completion of a DGS-approved course in a discipline related to the student’s research interests

Comprehensive Oral Examination for Ph.D.

In the philosophy department, this is done by passing a prospectus for the dissertation. This examination is taken after all of the above requirements have been completed.

Following completion of required course work, students will enroll in PHIL 999 Dissertation. Students enrolled in dissertation hours will have selected a member of the Department as advisor and, with the help of their advisor, selected three other faculty members to serve on their committee. In the prospectus the candidate should state the topic of their thesis, introduce problems to be investigated, and suggest anticipated conclusions. The candidate should outline their methods and include a preliminary list of works to be consulted. The candidate should also provide a brief account of previous experience in the field of the subject matter. The prospectus should be between 3,000 and 6,000 words long.

Having prepared a prospectus in consultation with the advisor, the student will solicit comments on the prospectus from the other three members of the committee; the committee will then decide whether to approve the prospectus or call for revision. A unanimous vote of the committee is necessary for approval.

Once the prospectus has been approved by the committee, the student will be formally notified by the advisor.

The student is encouraged to have the oral exam no later than the end of the first semester of enrollment in PHIL 999 and must attempt the oral exam no later than the end of the subsequent semester. At the conclusion of the oral exam, the committee determines the grade (honors, satisfactory, or unsatisfactory).

Post Comprehensive Exam Enrollment

Starting the semester following successful completion of the oral comprehensive exam, students must enroll in accordance with the Office of Graduate Studies’ Doctoral Candidacy Policy. This enrollment includes, but is not limited to, at least 1 dissertation hour or approved dissertation hour equivalent every semester until graduation. See the Doctoral Candidacy policy for more information about this University level requirement.

Dissertation

The length of doctoral dissertations can and will vary widely, but 35,000 words is a reasonable length, and dissertations longer than 65,000 words are strongly discouraged. In addition, dissertations can be composed of three high-quality papers that do not constitute an extended argument, provided that those papers are thematically related. The dissertation must also comply with the Office of Graduate Studies’ Doctoral Dissertation policy and Department of Philosophy requirements outlined in the Graduate Student Handbook (below).

Successfully defend the Dissertation

The Dissertation Examination Committee configuration must comply with University requirements. It should contain four members (the advisor serving as chair, two other members of the Department, and one tenured or tenure-track KU faculty member who is not a member of the Department serving as Graduate Studies Representative). The three additional members must be given adequate opportunity to read the final version of the dissertation and are not expected to read or comment on any earlier versions. The grade on the examination is determined by the Dissertation Examination Committee.