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Terminal M.A. programs for students NOT aiming to get into PhD programs

Brian Leiter

A student writes:

I am wondering if you could ask readers to contribute any good terminal master's programs in philosophy that are *not* designed primarily for getting people into PhD programs.  So as opposed to programs like Tufts, or Wisconsin that are, to my knowledge, primarily not for people who already have a strong undergraduate background from a good institution in philosophy, I have in mind programs such as the U of Amsterdam's ILLC MSc in Logic, or Columbia's M.A. in the Philosophical Foundations of Physics.  These are the kind of programs that could be valuable to someone who, despite a solid undergraduate degree in philosophy, wants to expand knowledge or skills required in a particular area of philosophy before starting a PhD.  (I for example did mostly ethics and political philosophy in undergrad and am now more interested in language, logic and the philosophy of science, so am considering some programs that might help me supplement my undergraduate training with some of the more formal and technical knowledge required to really excel in these subfields of philosophy before starting a PhD).

Thoughts from readers?  Please be patient, comments may take a bit longer than usual to appear.

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20 responses to “Terminal M.A. programs for students NOT aiming to get into PhD programs”

  1. Jonathan Birch

    The Cambridge MPhil in History & Philosophy of Science attracts students from all kinds of backgrounds, and it's a great course for philosophers looking to specialize in philosophy of science or for scientists looking to move into philosophy. I certainly gained a lot from it.

    Reply
  2. Margaret Atherton

    At UWM, we do not only admit students who were not majors, but have a number of applicants who, although having been philosophy majors, for one reason or another, want to either broaden or deepen their knowledge before going on to a PhD program. We are not tailored to one sub field rather than another, but we do, of course have areas of particular strength.

    Reply
  3. P.D. Magnus

    It sounds as if the student wants to go into a PhD program eventually and has a strong undergrad background in philosophy. In that case, I recommend just applying for PhD programs. Undergrad background doesn't lock a student into a specialty, and there will be plenty of chance to learn formal and technical knowledge in a PhD program.

    Reply
  4. Richard Moore

    The Berlin School of Mind and Brain is a graduate school of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. We have recently launched an interdisciplinary MA course in Mind and Brain, and welcome students of any background in the cognitive sciences (construed as, roughly, psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, biology and philosophy). We offer taught classes in a range of subjects in the philosophy of mind, language and psychology, and in neuroscience. Students also have the choice of writing an MA thesis in philosophy ('mind track') or an experiment-based MSc, undertaken in one of our affiliated laboratories.

    While the course isn't geared solely to those wanting to pursue a PhD, it is designed to train students to be fluent in multiple disciplines that would help them to undertake a PhD.

    An added bonus: you get to spend two years living in one of the world's great cities.

    http://www.mind-and-brain.de/master/

    Reply
  5. Fidencio Palofia

    What is your long term goal?

    Reply
  6. Cameron Domenico Kirk-Giannini

    Oxford has wonderful 1- and 2-year MSt and MPhil programs in Philosophical Theology for students interested in gaining experience with medieval philosophy and the philosophy of religion.

    For more information: http://www.theology.ox.ac.uk/graduate-admissions/masters-degrees/philosophical-theology.html

    Reply
  7. David

    MA in Logic and Philosophy of Science, at the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy.

    http://www.mcmp.philosophie.uni-muenchen.de/students/ma/index.html

    Reply
  8. Ian

    If I understand this student's situation properly, he/she hopes to pursue a Ph.D eventually but is currently interested in getting a master's degree with a fairly narrow focus, as opposed to the broader education one would get from one of the top MA programs in the US. The degree is meant as a supplement to develop skills in new interests rather than to make up for a non-competitive undergraduate experience. If I have that right, then I can, from experience, recommend the MSc programs at the LSE. The department offers the MSc in Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Social Science, Philosophy and Economics, and Philosophy and Public Policy (http://www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/degrees/index.aspx). The experience is fantastic. For this particular student, the MSc in Philosophy of Science could be a solid choice.

    All that said, unless cost is a significant obstacle, it couldn't hurt to apply to a couple Ph.D programs. As P.D. Magnus suggests, the student can develop the desired skills in a Ph.D program. The motive must be that the student would like to demonstrate some facility with his/her stated areas of interest in his/her graduate applications, and maybe even produce a writing sample in one of the areas. How significant a factor that is (assuming the student has a strong writing sample in another area) is an interesting question in its own right.

    Reply
  9. Chad Carmichael

    At Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), we offer a general MA in philosophy, one main purpose of which is to prepare students for PhD work (and on this our placement record has been very strong). But we also have other two other more specialized tracks: a bioethics track and an international research ethics track, which our past students have used very successfully to find work outside of academia. Additionally, we offer three joint degrees: a JD/MA, an MD/MA, and an Masters of Public Health/MA for people in the relevant fields who want a better grounding in either bioethics or international research ethics.

    See more here: http://liberalarts.iupui.edu/philosophy/index.php/programs/ma_in_philosophy

    Reply
  10. Grad student

    Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh has an M.S. program in Logic, Computation, and Methodology

    http://www.hss.cmu.edu/philosophy/graduate-ms.php

    It covers formal background relevant to all the topics that the student mentions. Alumni go on to PhD programs in various academic fields, but also into industry.

    Reply
  11. Philip Kremer

    Toronto has a funded terminal MA program. While many of our MA students go on to do PhDs at Toronto and elsewhere, many do not. (I would Hansard a guess of 50/50.) The program is basically a year of post-Bachelor's course work, and is not specifically designed for students planning to go on to a PhD. Here's a link to the program basics: http://graduate.philosophy.utoronto.ca/graduate-programs-welcome/grad-programs/ma-program/. And here's a link to the funding page: http://graduate.philosophy.utoronto.ca/graduate-programs-welcome/funding-and-fellowships/

    Reply
  12. Fritz Allhoff

    I'd also recommend Western Michigan University, which has served students for a range of purposes. One is to get people with weaker backgrounds up for Ph.D. applications, but another–and consistent with this reader's question–has been to give more rigorous training in some of our areas of strength (e.g., ethics, epistemology, and philosophy of science).

    Reply
  13. M.A. Student

    I think it's important to establish the different conditions under which we might advise the OP given more information about them and their concerns.

    If one has a solid undergraduate degree in philosophy, and cost is not a factor, then yes, Amsterdam's program or some other would be a fabulous way to spend two years before going off to a longer PhD program, as the questioner indicates as what he eventually wants to do. So for the questioner, or anyone in a similar position, the above listed programs and hopefully additionally listed programs below are great suggestions for those looking for such programs.

    Or, if the program in question does in fact offer you funding, then by all means, go ahead and attend.

    On the other hand, if perhaps some other students come by this post and have similar concerns about whether or not they need to supplement their undergraduate education but don't have such excess wealth to spend, it might be useful to explore what such students are suppose to do, since it seems to me most of these programs do not seem fully funded. And it seems to me we should by no means recommend students go into debt for such programs. We don't even recommend students go into debt for MA programs in order to get into PhD programs, much less then that they should go into debt for an unnecessary "extracurricular" program.

    Now, it seems to me that the vast majority of students who enter PhD programs are going to be coming straight from an undergraduate or a terminal MA program aimed at getting students into PhD programs, who did not have such opportunities, and are nevertheless successful at their graduate education and professional career. So I'm not quite sure I think that the concern that one needs to supplement their "undergraduate training with some of the more formal and technical knowledge required to really excel in these subfields of philosophy before starting a PhD" is valid. I am, or was, in a similar situation as the questioner. I developed an interest in mathematical logic over the summer before I entered an MA program, and will be looking to enter into a PhD program based on this interest. I'd like to attend Amsterdam's program if I can secure a Fulbright (as that seems to be the easiest way to attend that program), but if I can't, then I'll still be fine. I have been doing a lot of extracurricular reading and work on my own ever since the summer before my MA program, and since then have additionally been aided by the courses and advisement offered by my professors.

    Of course, anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any of my main points.

    Reply
  14. Austin

    I think the student here might be limiting themself by setting aside programs that seem to be designed just to advance people to Ph.D. programs. As Fritz pointed out, schools like Western Michigan (Texas Tech, Manitoba, UW-Milwaukee, others briefly listed in the Gourmet Report) aren't necessarily JUST designed to get you into a Ph.D. program. As someone at one of the terminal MA programs listed in the report, I can attest to the fact that probably half of those here have no plans to go further into academic philosophy. I know the concern is that the author wants to specialize rather than pile on more coursework that will overlap, but anywhere you go there are plenty of options to further specialize in a certain area that almost entirely depend on your own personal initiative and at least one professor who can facilitate those interests (and even having such a helping hand is not completely necessary, but given the author's concerns, it would be impractical to apply a bunch of places where NOBODY does language or phil of sci).

    Reply
  15. Expat Grad Student

    The University of Bristol has good MA programs in HPS and Logic and the Philosophy of Mathematics as well.

    Reply
  16. David Hunter

    Ryerson has a two-year Philosophy MA program. Our students do either a thesis or a major research paper in their second year, so there is a substantial culminating project. But our program is not designed to be a terminal degree, and maybe 50% of our students do go on to PhD programs. Since we don't have a PhD program, our MA students get a lot of attention and funding through TA and RA work. Here's our site :http://www.ryerson.ca/philosophy/programs/graduate.html

    Reply
  17. Jill Hernandez

    Although this particular student hasn't mentioned MAs which can prepare you for a life outside of professional philosophy, a number of philosophy MA programs offer a non-thesis, internship track. At the University of Texas at San Antonio, for example, after comps students declare for either a thesis (PhD) or a non-thesis (internship) track. With faculty to mentor students along the two-year degree, the goal is that students will earn a degree that marries with their aspirations after graduate school. Our program's info can be found here: http://colfa.utsa.edu/philosophy-classics/philosophy-ma

    Reply
  18. Beth Tropman

    Colorado State also offers a terminal M.A. program that services a range of students. While many of our graduates go on to Ph.D. programs in philosophy, others often pursue careers in public policy, law, education, business, and other academic fields. More information about our program can be found here: http://philosophy.libarts.colostate.edu/graduate/welcome

    Reply
  19. Soazig Le Bihan

    The University of Montana offers a terminal M.A. program in Environmental Philosophy. There is funding available. Students also get some hands-on experience via an internship in the summer. Most of our students do not go on to Ph.D. programs (some do). They pursue careers in the environmental field.

    Reply
  20. Yafeng Shan

    I may recommend two master programmes in London. University College London (UCL) offers a MSc programme in History and Philosophy of Science, while London School of Economics (LSE) is well known for its MSc programme in Philosophy of Science. If you have a strong background in philosophy, UCL's programme might be more suitable, since it provides some history of science modules which reinforce your understanding of science. If you have a background in science, LSE's programme might be good for you to have some solid education on philosophy of science and logic.

    More information on UCL's MSc programme can be found here:
    http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/prospective/msc/historyandphilosophyofscience

    More information on LSE's MSc programme can be found here:
    http://www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/degrees/mscps.aspx

    Reply

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