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PHILOSOPHY HOME PAGE |
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CHAIR'S STATEMENT |
GRADUATE STUDENT HANDBOOK
Consult the Graduate Director for current updates. Contents
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The Philosophy Department admits new students into the M.A. and Ph.D.
programs in the Fall Term of each year. Applications for admission are
reviewed during the previous Spring Term. Normally, to be admitted with
full standing into either program a student will have completed 18 hours of
course work in philosophy above the introductory level. Applicants also
must have met the general admission requirements of the Graduate School as specified in
the most recent edition of the Graduate Studies
Bulletin (available only in electronic form).
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M.A. Program (without thesis) |
M.A. Program (with thesis) |
Ph.D. Program | |
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Year 1 Fall |
3 courses, |
3 courses, |
3 courses, to include |
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Year 1 Spring |
3 courses | 3 courses |
3 courses, to include |
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Year 1 Summer |
Prepare for Comp. Exam in August |
Prepare for Comp. Exam in August |
Prepare for Qualifying Exam |
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Year 2 Fall |
3 courses; File Program of Study |
2 courses; Submit Thesis Proposal |
3 courses, to include |
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Year 2 Spring |
2 courses; Take care of graduation requirements |
Work on Thesis |
3 courses, to include |
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Year 2 Summer |
Complete Thesis; Take care of graduation requirements |
Prepare for Qual. Exam in August |
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Year 3 Fall |
2 courses; Select dissertation area; File Program of Study |
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Year 3 Spring |
2 courses; Submit reading list |
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Year 3 Summer |
Prepare for Comp. Exam in Fall |
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Year 4 Fall |
Ph.D. Comp. Exam; Work on Dissertation. |
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Year 4 Spring |
Work on Dissertation; Take care of graduation requirements |
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C. M.A. Course Requirements
M.A. students who choose not to write a thesis must complete 11 graduate
courses (other than 799). At least 6 of these 11 courses must be at the
700 level. M.A. students under the thesis plan must take 8 graduate
courses (other than thesis hours), normally in their first three semesters.
At least 4 of these 8 courses must be at the 700 level. In addition, at
least 6 hours of 799 (thesis preparation) are required for the thesis
option. All M.A. students, thesis or no thesis, must satisfy the logic
requirement (below).
The Department does not usually offer graduate courses in the Summer terms. Independent Study courses (Philosophy 797) sometimes may be arranged with individual faculty members during the summer months.
All graduate students must maintain at least a B average for all courses taken, and will be asked to leave the program if a grade below B is received in more than two courses. A grade of D is considered a failing grade and cannot be included in a student's Program of Study (see below).
Logic requirement: Philosophy 511, Symbolic Logic, is an important prerequisite for advanced study in many other areas of philosophy. It covers, at a minimum, first order quantificational logic and philosophical aspects of the formal material, such as the nature of truth and the relation between logical consequence and provability. It should be taken by students during their first term in the program. Students who have taken equivalent or more advanced courses elsewhere may petition the Director of Graduate Studies for exemption from this course.
Philosophy 790 requirement: Advanced students with graduate assistantships may be given responsibility for teaching their own course. Before a graduate student is allowed to teach a course (including summer courses), he or she must first have taken Philosophy 790, Teaching Philosophy, for at least one semester. The student must also take the course during any semester when he or she is teaching a course. This course does not count towards the 8 (or 11) courses required towards the M.A. degree.
Limits on Independent Study Courses: For M.A. students, at most one independent study course (797, Independent Study, or 598, Readings in Philosophy) may count towards overall course requirements.
Program of Study: Every degree student must file a program of study in the Graduate School for approval by the graduate dean. A program of study is an accurate list of courses you have taken or plan to take that satisfy the degree requirements specified here. It must be approved by the Graduate Director and by the Dean of the Graduate School. Programs of study should be filed no later than the beginning of the second year for students in the M.A. program. A sample Program of Study form can be obtained from the Graduate Director. In consultation with the Graduate Director, the actual form is to be filled out by the student. It will then be reviewed and formally validated by the Graduate Director.
A minimum of 6 credits in Thesis Preparation 799 is required of all M.A. students under the thesis plan, and not more than 6 hours of 799 may be used on a program of study for the M.A. degree.
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D. Ph.D. Course Requirements
Graduate students in the Ph.D. program normally should take 3 courses in
each term of their first two years at USC, and 2 courses in each term of
their third year. The Department does not usually offer graduate courses
in the Summer Terms. Independent Study courses (Philosophy 797) sometimes
may, however, sometimes be arranged with individual faculty members during
the summer months.
Ph.D. students who enter the program without an M.A. degree must pass 16 graduate courses, of which 8 are at the 700 level. Students entering the program with an M.A. degree must pass 8 or more courses at USC, of which at least 6 are at the 700 level. In either case, at least 12 additional hours of 899 (dissertation preparation) are required. Courses taken at USC must include the Proseminar, and the overall program must satisfy various course requirements listed below. To satisfy all of these requirements, more than eight USC courses may be required for some students entering the program with an M.A. degree. Graduate work done prior to entering the USC program may, at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies, count towards the Ph.D. course requirements.
All graduate students must maintain at least a B average for all courses taken, and will be asked to leave the program if a grade below B is received in more than one of the core courses or more than two courses overall. A grade of D is considered a failing grade and cannot be included in a student's Program of Study (see below).
Proseminar requirement: Philosophy 765, the Proseminar, is designed to instill in students habits of careful reading, and to develop their skills in philosophical writing. A particular philosophical text or series of related texts will be studied in depth; written work will include at least one paper reviewed by the instructor at several stages during its preparation. Enrollment is confined to first-year Ph.D. students, all of whom should take the course in their first term in the doctoral program. The Proseminar cannot be used to satisfy the core, science, or history requirements, though it counts toward the 16 courses required for the Ph.D. degree.
Core requirement: Ph.D. students are required to pass four core courses, normally within the first two years of course work. These advanced courses survey fundamental topics with which Ph.D. graduates should be familiar in order to compete successfully for academic philosophy positions after graduation:
- Philosophy 511, Symbolic Logic, is an important prerequisite for advanced study in many other areas of philosophy. It covers, at a minimum, first order quantificational logic and philosophical aspects of the formal material, such as the nature of truth and the relation between logical consequence and provability. It should be taken by students during their first term in the program.
- Philosophy 514, Ethical Theory, or Philosophy 527, Virtues, Acts, and Consequences, survey fundamental concepts and issues in metaethics and normative ethics, respectively. Each course examines both historical roots and recent developments in ethics. At least one of these should be taken within the first two years in the program.
- Philosophy 763, Epistemology, is a survey of historical and recent trends in the philosophical study of human knowledge, taking a problem-oriented and/or historically-oriented approach to a range of topics from the following open-ended list: different conceptions of knowledge; theories of truth; conceptions of probability; perception; skepticism; epistemic justification; epistemic contextualism; relativism and objectivity; epistemology naturalized; epistemic externalism.
- Philosophy 764, Metaphysics, is a survey of historical and recent trends in metaphysics, taking a problem-oriented and/or historically-oriented approach to a range of topics from the following open-ended list: being and substance; existence and ontological commitment; modality and the theory of possible worlds; universals and the theory of properties; essentialism versus nominalism; realism versus idealism; time, space, and causation; persistence of things in time; personal identity and the persistence of the self; freedom and determinism.
Science requirement: Ph.D. students must pass at least one graduate-level course in the philosophy of science. Several such courses are offered each year. Which courses count as satisfying this requirement is at the discretion of the Graduate Director.
History requirement: Ph.D. students must pass at least one course in each of three historical periods:
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505 Plato 506 Aristotle 507 Medieval Philosophy 540 Renaissance Philosophy 701 Studies in Ancient Philosophy |
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501 British Empiricism 502 Continental Rationalism 508 Hume 509 Kant 705 Studies in 17th and 18th C. Philosophy 707 Studies in 19th C. Philosophy 723 Hegel |
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503 Analytic Philosophy 504 Phenomenology and Existentialism 706 Studies in Continental Philosophy 709 Studies in 20th C. Philosophy 721 Pragmatism |
Philosophy 760 and 761, Special Topics in Philosophy, and Philosophy 797, Independent Study, may count as history courses depending on the material covered in individual cases. These determinations are made by the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with the instructor.
Limits on Independent Study Courses: For Ph.D. students, a maximum of two independent study course (797, Independent Study, or 598, Readings in Philosophy) may count towards overall course requirements.
Philosophy 790 requirement: Advanced students with graduate assistantships may be given responsibility for teaching their own course. Before a graduate student is allowed to teach a course (including summer courses), he or she must have first taken Philosophy 790, Teaching Philosophy, for at least one semester. The student must also take the course during any semester when he or she is teaching a course. This course does not count towards the 16 courses required towards the Ph.D. degree.
Program of Study: Every degree student must file a program of study in the Graduate School for approval by the graduate dean. A program of study is an accurate list of courses you have taken or plan to take that satisfy the degree requirements specified here. It must be approved by the Graduate Director and by the Dean of the Graduate School. Programs of study should be filed by the beginning of the third year for students in the Ph.D. program. A sample Program of Study form can be obtained from the Graduate Director. In consultation with the Graduate Director, the actual form is to be filled out by the student. It will then be reviewed and formally validated by the Graduate Director.
A minimum of 12 credits in Dissertation Preparation 899 is required of all Ph.D. students. A maximum of 12 hours of 899 may be used on a program of study for the Ph.D. degree.
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E. Foreign Language Requirement
This requirement is the same for both the M.A. and the Ph.D. degrees:
reading competency in one foreign language. Tests of competency are
administered by the USC Department of
Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (DLLC). This department also
offers courses to bring students' skills to the required level. Information
about tests and courses can be obtained from DLLC (803-777-4881, or consult
their website).
A student may take the competency test in a given language no more than
three times. The language requirement should be completed by the end of
the second year in the graduate program.
Students whose native language is not English may wish to use English in fulfillment of their foreign language requirement. An official TOEFL score of at least 570 (paper-based) or 230 (computer-based) is required as proof of proficiency.
In those instances where a doctoral student's research area demands knowledge of a particular foreign language, the student is required to be proficient in that language.
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F. M.A. Comprehensive and
Ph.D. Qualifying Examinations
Both of these examinations are given at the beginning of the Fall Term, on
or after August 16 and, ideally, before classes begin. The M.A.
Comprehensive Examination (only for students in the M.A. program) is taken
after one year of graduate work at USC. The Ph.D. Qualifying exam is taken
after two years of graduate work at USC. If a student enters the Ph.D.
program with an M.A. in philosophy, and has been given transfer credit for a
sufficient number of graduate courses, he or she may take the Ph.D.
Qualifying Examination after one year in the program.
The examinations share a common aim and format. Along with course requirements, they are designed to provide evidence that the student has achieved the breadth of philosophical knowledge necessary for undergraduate teaching and for intelligent discourse otherwise on a broad range of philosophical topics. These examination are written, taking up to 6 hours to complete. Students are examined on each of the three historical areas I-III, based on a list of primary texts. The reading list for the M.A. Comprehensive Examination is a proper subset of the reading list for the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination. Ph.D. Students will be expected to answer at least one question pertaining to the Ph.D. section of the reading list. These reading lists can be obtained from the Director of Graduate Studies. Students should plan on preparing for these exams for the full two years prior to taking them, and especially during the summer before the exam.
The examinations are graded on the following scale.
- Distinction: Awarded to students whose performance on the examination is truly exemplary.
- Ph.D. Pass: Awarded to students whose performance allows them to be considered for candidacy for the Ph.D. program.
- Ph.D. Conditional Pass: Awarded to students whose performance on the examination is good in all areas but one. Students who receive a conditional pass will be required to demonstrate a good knowledge of the area in question, either by writing a paper or by passing a follow-up oral examination on that area. Once this condition has been met, the student will be awarded a Ph.D. Pass on the examination.
- M.A. Pass: Awarded to students whose performance is adequate for passing the M.A. Comprehensive Examination. Students who receive this grade will be in a position to write an M.A. thesis and/or complete course work in order to receive the M.A. degree.
- M.A. Conditional Pass: Awarded to students whose performance on the examination is adequate for an M.A. Pass in all areas but one. Students who receive a conditional pass will be required to demonstrate an adequate knowledge of the area in question, either by writing a paper or by passing a follow-up oral examination on that area. Once this condition has been met, the student will be awarded an M.A. Pass on the examination.
- Fail: A failing grade is given to students whose performance on the examination is not adequate to justify either admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree or passage of the comprehensive requirement of the M.A. program. Note that students whose performances on two areas are less than adequate will be judged to have failed the examination.
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G. Admission to Candidacy for the Ph.D. Degree
Every semester members of the faculty are asked to make brief written
evaluations of the performance of those graduate students in the Ph.D.
program whom they have had occasion to supervise, whether in graduate
classes or as instructional or research assistants. In March or April of
each year the Department meets to review students' overall progress. In
August or September, all students who recently passed the Ph.D. Qualifying
Examination are considered for admission to candidacy, based on the
exam and on progress reviews in the previous Spring.
To be recommended for admission to candidacy, a student must have satisfied three requirements:
- The student must have obtained a Distinction or a Ph.D. Pass on the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam.
- The student's written work in graduate courses taken at USC must have been strong enough to justify a high expectation of success in the remainder of the program.
- The student must have demonstrated proficiency in any teaching duties assigned throughout the course of their graduate work, either as instructional assistants or as teaching assistants.
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H. Applying from the M.A.
to the Ph.D. Program
M.A. students may apply for admission to the Ph.D. program. In accordance
with Graduate School policy, the student must submit a formal application
to enter the program. This application should include an up-to-date
transcript, three letters of recommendation, an official record of GRE
scores, and an application fee. Application materials should reach the
Graduate School on or before January 15th. In addition, a sample of
philosophical writing (maximum length, 6,000 words) and a 400-word
statement of purpose should be sent to the Philosophy Department, addressed
to the Director of Graduate Studies.
Applications from students on the M.A. program will be reviewed by the Department alongside applications from external candidates. Philosophical ability and the level of commitment necessary for success in a doctoral program, as evidenced by course work in the M.A. program, will carry considerable weight. The student's performance on the M.A. Comprehensive Examination will also be taken into consideration, as will any evidence of superior teaching ability. Nonetheless, internal applicants should be aware that the Department admits a limited number of all those who apply to the Ph.D. program in a given year.
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I. M.A. Thesis
For M.A. students choosing to write a thesis: the thesis topic should be
chosen in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies and a member
of the Graduate Faculty. The latter will act as thesis director and first
reader. Another member of the faculty, appointed by the Director of
Graduate Studies, will act as second reader. A thesis proposal approved by
the two readers should be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies,
normally within sixty days of the date on which the M.A. Comprehensive Examination is passed. The
proposal should be several pages in length, outlining the topic and
argumentative structure of the proposed thesis. It should include a title,
and be accompanied by a fairly substantial bibliography.
Theses vary in length, but are typically about 15,000 words long (60 pages, double-spaced). Normally a thesis goes through a number of drafts before it is approved. A final draft of the thesis must be submitted to the two readers for their approval at least five weeks before the end of the semester in which the student plans to graduate.
Three copies of the thesis, each signed by both readers, must be filed with the Graduate School at least 20 days before the end of that semester. The actual date for submission of theses is posted each semester on the Calendar page of the Graduate School's web site.
Thesis copies should be prepared in the form stipulated by the Graduate School. For information, students should consult the Graduate School's thesis guidelines.
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J. Dissertation Proposal and
Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination
The Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination is designed to assist the student in
writing a dissertation. It is taken after all required course work has been
completed, at a stage when a dissertation topic has been decided on and a
provisional but detailed proposal drawn up. Procedures for submitting
a dissertation proposal and the structure of the Ph.D. Comprehensive
Examination are as follows:
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Following admission to candidacy, the student should select a
dissertation area and find an appropriate and willing dissertation
advisor from among the department's Graduate Faculty. A
dissertation proposal formally approved by the student's advisor
and two other Graduate Faculty members should be submitted to the
Director of Graduate Studies, normally in the Spring term of the third
year. The proposal should be two or three pages in length for each
proposed chapter. It should be short but substantial enough to
outline the topic, thesis, and argumentative structure of the proposed
dissertation. It should include a title, and be accompanied by a
fairly substantial bibliography.
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The Director of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the
student's advisor, appoints a committee to oversee the examination,
consisting of the advisor, at least two other faculty members judged
competent in the field, and one faculty member from outside the
Philosophy Department.
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In consultation with his or her advisor, the student prepares a
reading list of material germane to the dissertation topic. The list
should contain both primary and secondary literature, and the texts
chosen should not be confined to the bibliography submitted with the
dissertation proposal nor to the dissertation topic itself. Rather it
should provide a thorough coverage of the field within which the topic
arises.
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The list is submitted to the committee, which may either approve it
or recommend changes. The committee has final authority on the
contents of the list.
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The student prepares for the examination for about six to eight
months.
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A two-part examination is given, normally in the Fall term of the
fourth year. The first part is a written examination, set by members
of the examination committee, and taking up to 6 hours to complete. The
second part, taken three or four days later, is an oral examination
that takes as its starting point the answers provided in the written
examination. Thus the student has a few days to think about how these
answers could be amplified, amended, or disowned in the oral
examination.
- Immediately after the oral examination the committee meets to determine whether the student has passed or failed. The decision is made by majority vote. A student who fails may apply to take the examination a second time, and may also apply to have the membership of the committee changed. Changes in committee membership must be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. Normally the second examination will be taken no more than six months after the first. A student who fails the examination a second time or who chooses not to be re-examined will not be permitted to continue in the Ph.D. program but will be awarded a terminal M.A. degree.
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K. Ph.D. Dissertation and
Dissertation Defense
No later than five years after passing the Ph.D.
Comprehensive Examination, a Ph.D. student must complete a
dissertation. The dissertation topic must be approved by a committee of
professors, consisting of the advisor, two other faculty members judged
competent in the field, and one faculty member from outside the Philosophy
Department. The student is expected to have whatever specialized skills are
required for the dissertation topic chosen (e.g., familiarity with one of
the sciences, or proficiency in a foreign language). At the time the
dissertation is submitted the student must also provide an abstract of the
dissertation.
To complete the requirements for the Ph.D., the student must successfully defend his or her dissertation before an examining committee appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies and approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. The committee will consist of no fewer than four members, of whom at least one is from another department. Typically, these will be the same professors who are members of the student's Dissertation Committee. The dissertation defense should take place not less than thirty days before the date at which the candidate expects to receive his or her degree.
A signed original version of the completed dissertation (on high quality paper) and at least two photocopies thereof, along with an abstract, must be filed with the Dean of the Graduate School not less than twenty days before the candidate expects to receive the degree.
The student is wholly responsible for following the Graduate School's strict rules and guidelines for submitting dissertations. For information about the format to be used, students should consult the Graduate School's dissertation guidelines. (Note that one may also submit dissertations electronically, though, as of Fall 2005, this method of submission is still in early stages of development.) The deadline for dissertation defenses and the actual date for submission of dissertations is posted each semester on the Graduate School's web site.
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L. Graduation
All candidates for M.A. and Ph.D. degrees must file formal applications
with the Dean of the Graduate School and with the Registrar by the third
week of the Fall or Spring semester in which the degree is to be awarded,
or within the first ten days of the first summer session for graduation at
the summer commencement. Late applications require supporting
documentation and the payment of a processing fee. The actual date for application
for graduation is posted each semester on the Graduate School's web
site.
As you approach graduation, you must take care to meet all requirements and deadlines imposed by the Graduate School. A checklist of some of the more important requirements and deadlines is provided below, though you should consult the Graduate School web site for all specific details.
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The Graduate
School requires that students be registered for at least one credit
during any semester in which thesis or dissertation progress is made and/or
when such University resources as the library, computer facilities, or
faculty time are used. This means in particular that you must register for
at least one credit (799 or 899) during the term in which you intend to
graduate. If you intend to graduate in the summer, you must
register for at least one credit in either Summer I or Summer II.
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All candidates for M.A. and Ph.D. degrees must file a formal "Application
for Degree" with the Graduate School and with the Registrar by the third week
of the Fall or Spring semester in which the degree is to be awarded, or within
the first ten days of the Summer I session for graduation at summer commencement.
If the Department doesn't have it, this form can be obtained from the
Registrar (Petigru
College, Third Floor; near the corner of Greene and Pickens) or from
the Graduate School (James
F. Byrnes Building, 901 Sumter Street, Room 304; directly across Sumter
from the USC Horseshoe). Late applications require supporting
documentation and the payment of a processing fee.
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For Ph.D. candidates, the dissertation
defense must take place at least thirty days (a month or more) before
the date at which you expect to receive your degree. Well in advance of
the defense, you must schedule a date and time that is acceptable to you as
well as to all of your examiners. Each of your examiners should receive a
copy of your dissertation at least three weeks prior to this scheduled
date. For M.A. candidates, the thesis must be approved and signed by your
principal advisor and a second reader prior to final submission to the
Graduate School. Your readers need ample time (up to three weeks) to
assess this work before any approval can be given.
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Your thesis or dissertation
must be formatted according to precise guidelines set forth by the Graduate
School. You are strongly advised to make an appointment (803-777-4243) to
meet with an appropriate person at the Graduate School who will examine the
entire format of the thesis or dissertation before you formally submit it
to the Graduate School. This should be done as early in the term as
possible. The purpose of this early meeting is to identify any problems
with the form and appearance of your thesis or dissertation so that you
will have plenty of time to deal with these problems before the submission
deadline. An appointment for final submission is also required.
- At least three signed copies of the completed thesis or dissertation, with an abstract, must be filed with the Graduate School at least twenty days (three weeks) before you expect to receive the degree. You will have to pay a fee for binding costs.
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III. Fees and Financial Assistance
Tuition fees vary, depending on whether or not one is a South Carolina
resident. In 2006–2007, tuition for a South Carolina resident enrolled
full time (12 hours) in a graduate program is $4144 per semester. Tuition
for full-time graduate non-residents is $8958 per semester. Students
holding graduate assistantships are assessed at the in-state rate, whether
or not they are South Carolina residents. Graduate Teaching or Research
Assistants normally receive financial assistance with tuition in the form
of a tuition supplement (see Teaching and Graduate
Assistantships below). Every new graduate student, and every student
seeking to transfer to another program, must pay a non-refundable
application fee ($40 in 2006–2007). Foreign students must pay a
one-time International Student Enrollment Fee ($500 in 2006–2007). All
students are charged a one-time Matriculation fee ($50). All students must
pay a Technology fee ($200 per semester) and a fee for use of the Thomson
Student Health Center ($146 per semester). There are also optional fees,
such as the athletic event fee ($66 per semester). A complete schedule of
fees and details about how to determine residency status are available on
the web site for the Bursar's Office.
The University requires that all graduate assistants, full-time graduate students, and international students have health insurance coverage. Students will be automatically enrolled in the university student health insurance plan, and premiums will be charged to their tuition accounts. To waive these charges, students must produce proof of alternative health insurance coverage. This waiver must be completed online through the Health center's web site before the waiver deadline date. The annual premium for the default university insurance plan is $892. This will be billed in two installments, the first for Fall and second for Spring and Summer. The Graduate School may subsidize some of this cost, depending on budgetary contingencies in any given academic year.
Incoming graduate students may be nominated by the Department for a Graduate School Fellowship, for a Graduate Incentive Fellowship, or for other fellowships administered by the Graduate School. Students must be enrolled full-time during the tenure of the award. Final awards are determined by special University committees. Only in-coming students are eligible for these fellowships, as they are designed to attract top quality students to the University.
All graduate students in philosophy are eligible for other awards administered by the Graduate School. Students interested in being nominated for one of these fellowships should consult the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department. Students are of course encouraged to explore other sources of funds. For more information about financial aid and fellowships, consult the web site of the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships.
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IV. Teaching and Graduate Assistantships
All incoming Ph.D. students are offered graduate assistantships, which are
renewed annually, usually for a total of four years, provided the student's
progress in the program is deemed satisfactory. Funding after the fifth
year is generally not possible. Decisions about assistantships for the Fall
semester are made the previous April or May, at the same time that progress
reviews of current students and offers of admission to new students are
made.
Entering students should note that the University requires every new teaching or instructional assistant to attend a two-day seminar on teaching prior to taking up the assistantship. This seminar is held in mid-August, during the week before regular classes begin. The schedule for this workshop is generally made available on the Graduate School website a month or so in advance. During the same week, international graduate students must also attend another two-day seminar devoted to assessing oral English proficiency.
A regular financial aid package for a GA in our Ph.D. program pays up to $25000 per academic year, with an average of about $23000 in 2006–07. (The amount varies depending on overall budget caps set by the College, on our successes and failures to obtain funds from other sources, and on individual factors such as whether the student has passed the Ph.D. Qualifying exam and has advanced to candidacy). This amount includes a stipend paid bimonthly, as well as a tuition and health insurance supplement credited to the student's university bill at the beginning of each semester.
All GAs, whether in-state or out-of-state residents, are assessed at the in-state graduate tuition rate, which in 2006–07 is $4144 per semester. (The University's definition of a full-time graduate student is one who is enrolled for 12 hours per semester). However, a student enrolled for less than 12 hours (which a typical philosophy GA would be) is charged per credit hour. In 2006–07 the tuition rate for graduate assistants is $411 per credit hour. The Technology fee is set at $17 per credit hour, whereas the Health Center fee is fixed at $146 for all students. The annual premium of $892 for the USC-sponsored health insurance plan must be paid in two parts ($392 in the Fall and the rest in the Spring).
All or part of a student's tuition costs may be covered by a tuition supplement, which is included as a part of the student's financial aid package. Decisions on the awarding of tuition supplements for the academic year are made at the time at which decisions are being made regarding graduate assistantships, in April or May of the preceding academic year.
Foreign students with an F1 or J1 visa are eligible to work as graduate assistants. If a student is admitted into the Ph.D. program and is made an offer of an assistantship, the Department will provide a written offer of employment and statement of anticipated earnings, in compliance with Immigration regulations. Foreign students are responsible for obtaining the necessary visas and work permits themselves. Visa applications and financial certification forms can be obtained from the International Programs for Students office.
Graduate assistants in their first year in the program will generally be required to assist a professor with the grading of essays and examinations, or to lead discussion sections in large courses taught by a professor. From their third term onwards, students who are performing well may be assigned to teach courses of their own. Before a graduate student is allowed to teach a course (including summer courses), he or she first must have taken Philosophy 790, Teaching Philosophy, for at least one semester. The student must also take Philosophy 790 during any semester when he or she is teaching a course. Among other things, this course offers guidance in course design, the construction of a syllabus, the choice of texts, and the like. Topics covered in Philosophy 110 and 211 courses are somewhat constrained and should be approved by a faculty member who is teaching the same course. Topics and methods for teaching Philosophy 102 are more flexible but also should be approved by a faculty member.
On occasion graduate students also teach during the summer sessions. However the demand for these courses is unpredictable, and students should not assume that summer teaching is always available. Students teaching or otherwise employed by the Department during the summer are required to enroll for at least one credit hour in either or both summer terms during which they are paid.
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V. Placement
The award of the Ph.D. in Philosophy effectively acts as a professional
accreditation. Those who hold the degree are seen as bona fide
candidates when they apply for teaching positions in North American
colleges and universities. Students should recognize, however, that
obtaining a teaching post in higher education is a very competitive
business. In 2000, for example, when the Department advertised a post in
epistemology, there were about 120 applicants of whom nearly all were well
qualified for the position. The American Philosophical Association
collects data on
number of candidates per job advertised in Jobs for Philosophers. These
data cover the years 1982 to 2001. They also have other data intended to
assist those who are considering a career in philosophy.
The Department has set up a program under a Placement Director to help graduating Ph.D.s to find teaching positions. As early as their third year in the program, Ph.D. students are advised to seek ways of improving their chances of obtaining an academic post after graduation. Besides writing a solidly respectable dissertation, this will include presenting aspects of your work at appropriate conferences, getting to know and becoming known to others working in your area, and having your work published in recognized philosophy journals.
The following sites may also be useful:
USC Career Center
The College Career Development Program
Philosophy Career Sites
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Last updated 4/8/08 10:32 PM
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burke@sc.edu
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