September 2006

INDEX

Requirements for the Master of Arts Degree

The requirements for the Master of Arts Degree are to complete eight courses and then write a thesis, or to complete ten courses and satisfy the distribution requirements for the Ph.D.

There is no separate Master's Program. The AM degree is conferred only as part of the Ph.D. Program.

To receive a Ph.D. degree in philosophy from Brown, a student must complete sixteen courses. Ten of these courses must be seminars, i.e., courses numbered above 201 or designated as seminars by the instructors. It is understood that a course will be designated by the instructor as a seminar only when it involves substantial discussion of philosophy among several people. (In order to use a course at the level of 201 or below towards satisfaction of the seminar requirements, a student must obtain a signed memo from the instructor to the graduate advisor, designating that course as a seminar. That memo is to be placed in the student's file.)

There is no general foreign language requirement. However, a student's dissertation committee has the authority to require some degree of competence to use one or more tools of research: perhaps a relevant foreign language (if the student is writing a historical dissertation), statistics (if he/she is writing about inductive logic), and so on.

Applications for leave of absence should be submitted to the Department by November 1 for Semester II leaves, and by April 15 for leaves to be taken either in Semester I of the following academic year, or for the entirety of that year.

Anyone intending to return from an approved leave of absence must inform the Department by the April 15 preceding the academic year when he or she intends to return. This is an important requirement that one must fulfill in order to be eligible for financial aid.

Any period of leave will be counted as part of the financial aid commitment initially given to an entering student, and there can be no guarantee that financial aid lost through such a leave will be restored.

Graduate courses completed elsewhere normally may be counted towards at most four of the sixteen courses required by the Department for the doctorate. However, as many as eight such courses may be counted through transfer credit towards the twenty-four credits required by the Graduate School for the doctorate. Applications for such transfer of credit will be considered only following the student's completion of the equivalent of a full semester of work at Brown. Whenever a student proposes using such a course towards satisfaction of the general distribution requirements or as part of a ten-course major-minors program (see section 4 of the part entitled "Preliminary Requirements for the Ph.D." below), the applicant must provide to the Graduate Advisor a full description of the course content (including the syllabus and reading list, if available) and the written work completed for that course. If the applicant cannot provide such materials, he/she may be required to take an examination or write a term paper in the area of the course, which would serve as a basis for a decision on whether inclusion of that course is to be allowed. (In certain cases, provision of course materials may also be made a condition for the granting of transfer credit at all; and if such materials cannot be provided, a test or term paper may be required.)

1. Preliminary Evaluation. In lieu of a qualifying exam, the Department requires each student to submit, by the end of the first week of their fourth semester, a file containing the papers written in the courses and seminars taken in the first three semesters. The entire file will be evaluated by the faculty, but three of the papers will receive especially close attention during the evaluation process. The student is asked to indicate which three he/she wishes to have this special attention. The underlying intent is that students should revise these three papers before including them in the portfolio. It is reasonable to expect that, in making the revisions, a student would take into account the suggestions that were made by the professor in charge of the course for which the paper was submitted.

An ad hoc committee will be appointed for each student with the charge of determining whether that student's file, together with his/her record over the preceding three semesters, shows enough progress and achievement in courses and seminars, and gives sufficient evidence that the student is capable of writing a successful dissertation and thus earning a Ph.D. in philosophy. To help earn a student admission to candidacy, the three papers must display the qualities needed to write a Ph.D. dissertation. Among these would be found: the ability to write good English prose, originality, imagination, analytic power, and the ability to sustain a complex and prolonged argument and to deal with a variety of objections. In determining whether the file and record are satisfactory, substantial weight will be placed on how many courses the student has completed successfully. It is expected that normally the student will have completed from nine to eleven courses by that time. If the committee finds the file or record insufficient it may consult with the faculty who have taught the student, and recommend that the student be put on warning, that additional work be required, and that the student be allowed to submit an expanded file at the end of his/her fourth semester. These ad hoc committees are expected to report to the department by the end of the fifth week after the start of classes.

2. Logic Requirements. Graduate students are required to be competent in logic at a level a step beyond basic logic (as taught in PL54). Students can demonstrate such competence by taking (and passing) PL163 or any other logic course that would have PL54 as a prerequisite.

Since the requirement is a competency requirement, students may demonstrate competence in other ways, including (i) testing out by passing an examination set by the faculty; (ii) convincing the Director of Graduate Study of one's competence in some other way, which might include showing that one has previously taken a course at the appropriate level (e.g., one that is equivalent to PL163) and passed it with flying colors.

3. Distribution Requirements. In the standard program the requirements are as follows. (When there is doubt about which requirement a course or seminar satisfies, the instructor will designate the category a course or seminar falls under for a particular student and inform the graduate representative in writing.) No course or seminar may be counted twice toward the fulfillment of these requirements. All courses must be at the three-digit level (PL100 or above). In what follows, seminars will always count as "courses."

(a) Proseminar for first year graduate students

(b) Philosophy of Language/Mind/Science: One course in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind or philosophy of science.

(c) Ethics: Two courses in ethics or political philosophy, at least one of which must be in ethics.

(d) Epistemology: One course in epistemology.

(e) Metaphysics : One course in metaphysics.

(f) History of Philosophy : Three courses in history of philosophy, at least one of which shall be in ancient or medieval philosophy and at least one of which shall be in modern, pre-twentieth century philosophy. A course whose topic is a contemporary philosopher may be included among the three.

4. Extra work may be required of graduate students in courses below 200 if they are taken for preliminary credit.

5. Major-Minors Program. The student may, alternatively, satisfy the preliminary requirement by means of an individually tailored major-minors program. In order to gain approval for such a program, the student must submit to the department, through the graduate representative, a written proposal for such a program, composed after consultation with members of the department. Each proposal will be evaluated by the graduate representative and another faculty member designated by the chair, who will approve such programs only if they satisfy the following conditions:

(a) The program must include at least four courses or seminars in a major field and three courses or seminars in each of two minor fields.

(b) Among the appropriate fields for such programs are aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, history of philosophy, logic, metaphysics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, philosophy of science, political philosophy, and philosophy in literature. However, the student may propose either a major or a minor in other fields than those listed, and each proposal will be evaluated on its individual merits. The fields chosen by the student must be, in the opinion of the department, distinct enough to avoid the danger of overspecialization. For instance, a major in ancient philosophy, with minors in medieval and modern philosophy, would not be acceptable to the department because both the major and the minors are, in this case, in the general area of history of philosophy.

(c) As many as three courses from outside the philosophy department may be included in a major-minors program. Specifically, the entirety of the course work in one of the minor fields may lie outside the philosophy department.

(d) Proposals to the department of a major-minors program must be as specific as possible at the time of submission. When the proposal includes seminars whose topics change from year to year, the field and level of the seminar, e.g., in ethics and above 200, must be specified.

In many cases, a major-minors program will be approved by the department in the absence of a complete list of courses to be included in the program. Therefore, subsequent to approval, questions about minor revisions and changes in the program may arise; there may be doubt, for instance, about whether a seminar is properly included in a field elected by the student and approved by the department. When such changes do not involve substantial revisions in the nature of the major or minor fields, the student need not seek departmental approval for them, but must do the following: obtain written certification from the instructor that the seminar is in the appropriate field and written certification from the graduate advisor that it fits happily into the student's general program. If the instructor or the graduate student advisor is in doubt about whether to issue such certification, he or she should raise the question before the department as a whole.

All students satisfying the preliminary requirement by means of an approved major-minors program must in addition complete courses as follows (where all courses must be at the three-digit level, PL100 or above, and where seminars will always count as "courses"):

(a) Proseminar for first year graduate students.

(b) One course in ethics.

(c) One course in epistemology.

(d) One course in metaphysics.

(e) One course in ancient philosophy and one in early modern philosophy.

1. In the fifth semester of full-time or equivalent residing at Brown, the student must enroll for three hours credit in PL201, and engage in directed research that is aimed at preparing a Dissertation Prospectus.

2. Admission to Candidacy

(a) Timing. Within seven semesters of full-time or equivalent residency at Brown, the student must gain admission to candidacy. Admission to candidacy is granted after satisfaction of the Preliminary Evaluation and Distribution requirements and upon approval of a Dissertation Prospectus by a Dissertation Committee. Failure to gain admission to candidacy within the specified period of time will result in automatic termination of all financial assistance unless an exception is made by majority vote of the Department.

(b) Constitution of Dissertation Committee

(i) Principal Advisor. When the student has settled on a topic for the dissertation, he/she will obtain the consent of a member of the Department to serve as Principal Advisor. With the advice of the Principal Advisor and the consent of the Department the student will constitute a Dissertation Committee. The Principal Advisor will be ex officio Chair of the Committee.

(ii) Composition of the Committee. The Dissertation committee consists of three members. When appropriate, the Committee may recruit an additional member from outside the Department. Normally an outside member of the Committee would be a member of the Brown Faculty working in an area of scholarship related to the dissertation topic. However, when convenient, scholars from other institutions may be invited to serve on the Committee. Students are encouraged to call upon and make use of the expertise of scholars outside the Department.

(c) Prospectus. In the student's fifth or sixth semester, he/she will sign up for a PL201 course with the Principal Advisor, in the course of which a dissertation prospectus will be developed. When completed, the prospectus of the dissertation is to be submitted to each member of the Committee. The prospectus, a document approximately 3000 words in length, will outline the dissertation project. Normally it will treat the central problems of the dissertation, methods of approaching these problems, anticipated difficulties, suggestions for surmounting these difficulties, and related matters, and will include a bibliography. It is important to avoid excessive narrowness in the bibliography. The student should focus on a specific topic for the dissertation, but should also have in view the lay of the land in adjacent areas within the relevant subfield(s). The student will be examined on the prospectus and its bibliography in an oral exam administered by the Principal Advisor and the Dissertation Committee, and open to the faculty at large.

(i) Approval. Approval of the prospectus signifies willingness on the part of each member of the Committee to work with the student on the project outlined; it does not constitute a guarantee that any member of the Committee will approve the completed dissertation.

(ii) Failure to Obtain Approval. If the Committee does not approve the prospectus, the student may opt for any of the following procedures: he/she may revise the prospectus until it satisfies the Committee; he/she may seek to constitute a new Committee with the advice of the Principal Advisor and the consent of the Department to reconsider the prospectus; he/she may seek to find a new Principal Advisor in consultation with the graduate representative and to constitute a new Committee to reconsider the prospectus.

3. Writing the Dissertation. After admission to candidacy the student sets to work on the dissertation. As the work proceeds, it is to be expected that the project will alter in various ways, and departures from the outline of the prospectus will occur. Minor changes require no special action on the part of the candidate or the Committee. The candidate should discuss major changes with the members of the Committee. The student may, even after admission to candidacy, wish to change completely her/his dissertation topic. In such instances, the Committee may require that a new prospectus be submitted and approved, or the student may wish to find a new Principal advisor or constitute a new Committee, and submit to that Committee a new prospectus. In either case, the student retains the status of candidate during such changes. Changes in the membership of the Committee after the student has been admitted to candidacy can be made with the agreement of all concerned, subject to approval by the Department.

4. Completion of the Dissertation. The dissertation is considered complete once the Committee has certified that the candidate has made a satisfactory oral presentation and has gained final approval of the dissertation.

(a) Penultimate Draft. Candidates are expected to keep each member of the Committee informed of the progress of their work and to submit periodically drafts of portions of the dissertation to them for comment, criticism and discussion. If a candidate hopes to gain final approval in time for May graduation in a given year, a penultimate draft of the entire dissertation must be in the hands of each member of the Committee at least six weeks before the official Graduate School deadline for receiving doctoral dissertations as specified in the University Calendar. If a candidate hopes to gain final approval in the summer of a given year, special permission must be obtained from the Committee and a penultimate draft of the entire dissertation must be in the hands of each member of the Committee by Commencement Day of that year. This will give the candidate sufficient time for an adequate response to suggestions and demands for revision and rewriting by the Committee. If these deadlines are not met, the candidate cannot reasonably hope to receive final approval at the time desired.

(i) Oral Presentation. Once the Committee has received the penultimate draft, the student must make an oral presentation on the dissertation topic. The oral presentation need not cover the entire written dissertation, nor need it deal with every aspect of the dissertation topic. For instance, reading and defending a single chapter of the dissertation may be regarded by the Committee as satisfying this requirement. If the candidate's initial presentation does not satisfy the Committee, he/she will be required to make further presentations.

(c) Final Approval. After each member of the Committee has read the penultimate draft, the Committee will determine what revisions in the penultimate draft are needed to secure final approval and will formulate a set of instructions to aid the candidate in making such revisions. If necessary, the Principal Advisor may call a formal meeting of the Committee, with or without the candidate, to discuss and reach agreement on such instructions. After such revisions as are deemed necessary have been made by the candidate, the Committee will meet to decide whether or not the dissertation merits final approval.

Terminology:

Termination: The student's being separated from the Department's graduate program.

Notification (of termination): notification to the student that he/she is to be separated from the program.

Warning: given at any time informing the student that her/his work is progressing unsatisfactorily and that he/she may receive notification in three months in accordance with the following rules.

1. No student may be notified (and/or terminated) unless he/she has been previously warned by at least three months. All warnings, notifications and other relevant communications shall be in writing. One copy is to be kept in the student's file. A student who has been warned or notified of termination will have the right to appeal this to a committee composed of the chair, the graduate student advisor and one other member of the department, to be appointed by the chair. This committee will report back to the department for a final decision.

2. As indicated above, under Preliminary Requirements, the work of all students will normally be evaluated in their fourth semester: the basis for the evaluation will include the student's record and performance in the preceding semesters, including how much of the formal course work has been completed, and the quality of the file submitted by that student for evaluation.

3. Accumulation of more than four incompletes at any time in courses in which a student intends to complete the work is highly undesirable and will normally result in the student being placed on warning.

4. The warning will ordinarily include a statement of the reasons for the warning, and of the department's expectations of the student, which should give her/him some idea of what to do to get back up to proper standards in order not to be notified and terminated.

5. A student may be removed from warning status at any time during the three months; he/she should be informed if this does occur. If at the end of three months the faculty still feels unable to reach a decision, they may extend the warning period for three months. During this second three months, a student may be notified at any time; or he/she may be removed from warning status. By the end of the three months, i.e., within half a year of the original warning, the student must either be notified or removed from warning status.

6. In view of this warning system, students who have not been issued warnings by the end of their second year may feel reasonably assured that they may remain in the program and get their doctorate, provided they fulfill the other departmental requirements in due course.

7. A student who is put on warning is expected to do special work aimed at removing his or her deficiencies, with the assistance of some department faculty member. The program of special work will be planned by the student and the faculty member working together. However, the ultimate decision on whether the student regains good standing and is not dismissed from the program will rest with the department as a whole.

1. All graduate students will be graded in courses on a Satisfactory/No Credit basis only. Each graduate student in a course will receive a brief written evaluation of his/her work in the course, a copy of which will be kept on file in the department.

2. The Department will conduct a general evaluation of graduate students during the spring semester of each year. Each student eligible for financial support will be assigned a numerical rating from 0 to 5 by each faculty member who is familiar with the student's recent work. If a faculty member knows a student's work well enough to rate the student, but has not had the student in a course, the basis for the rating will be provided in writing together with the rating. The numerical ratings are to be given in accordance with the attached descriptive interpretations of the ratings (see Appendix). The ratings will be based on the four main categories for evaluation -- originality, critical faculties, scholarship, and responsibility and participation -- also attached, though with the understanding that each faculty member will be free to determine the weight to be given to each category. Ratings given to a student should adjust for the different quality of work expected from students at different stages of their study.

3. An average rating will be computed for each student and, in accordance with the Graduate School requirements, all students evaluated for financial aid will be placed in a rank order based on their average ratings. Each student will be informed shortly after the ranking has been compiled of the following: (i) the total number of ratings the student has received; (ii) his/her average rating, and (iii) both the average rating and the median for all students that year.

1. Financial aid recommendations for students who have exhausted initial departmental support commitments are based chiefly on the following factors: (i) the amount of total support thus far received (the department tries to equalize support for students who are in good standing); (ii) qualifications for the available positions (e.g., teaching ability, proctorship eligibility); (iii) progress toward the degree; (iv) relative rankings.

2. The department will make decisions concerning financial aid as early as the University's budgetary process permits, and individual students will normally be informed before the end of the second semester.

3. Decisions concerning financial aid are made by a committee consisting of the Chair and the Graduate Representative.

Only students who have achieved doctoral candidacy will receive Departmental support for regular job applications (as distinguished from applications for part-time, temporary positions at nearby colleges).

Appeals:

Decisions of Department officers may be appealed, through the Chairman, to the Department as a whole.

4.5 - 5.0 -- Truly outstanding. Comparable to our best students of years past (in their dimensions of greatest excellence).

4.0 - 4.4 -- Excellent. Strong in all four areas: A - D; or anyhow if less than strong in one area (or more), then compensates for that with enough strength in the remaining areas.

3.5 - 3.9 -- Good overall; but has some significant deficiency in at least one of the four areas A - D; or anyhow is less than strong in one or more of the four areas, without compensating for that with enough strength elsewhere.

3.0 - 3.4 -- Good overall; but either (i) has a much more serious single deficiency; or (ii) has a somewhat more serious deficiency in each of at least two of the areas A - D.

2.0 - 2.9 -- More numerous and/or more serious deficiencies.

0.0 - 1.9 -- Deficiencies so numerous and/or serious that the student should be placed on warning immediately.

A. Originality
- Ability to think of interesting and relevant examples, concepts, and interpretations, and to construct good arguments.
- Imagination: capacity to see and develop new alternatives.

B. Critical Faculties
- Understanding of main concepts and issues.
- Grasp of philosophical arguments.
- Ability to analyze philosophical concepts.
- Ability to criticize philosophical argument.
- Ability to distinguish the central from the peripheral.

C. Scholarship
- Organization of papers.
- English prose.
- Skill in interpreting texts.
- Research: gathering and organizing of necessary and relevant information.

D. Responsibility and Participation
- Work in on time.
- Contributions to seminar discussion.