Purdue University College of Liberal Arts
Information for
Program Guidelines
The Purdue University Special Doctoral Program in Philosophy and Literature offers an interdisciplinary course of study on the graduate level leading to the Ph.D. degree. The program encourages the interplay between philosophy and literature currently animating discussions in such areas as social and critical theory, feminism, hermeneutics, narrative, semiotics, psychoanalysis, aesthetics, African-American studies, and cultural studies. In consultation with faculty, each student designs a plan of study to accommodate specific goals and interests. The program seeks to foster critical and independent thought while providing cohesive professional training.
Applications and Information:
Department of Philosophy
Purdue University
Beering Hall of Liberal Arts and Education
100 North University Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2098
Telephone: (765) 496-3860
Fax: (765) 496-1616
lharris@purdue.edu
Purdue University
Heavilon Hall
500 Oval Drive
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2038
Telephone: (765) 494-3740
Fax: (765) 494-3780
plotnits@purdue.edu
A master's degree in either English, Philosophy or a foreign language is a prerequisite. Applicants should have taken the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE).
The first round of admission and funding will begin after January 10. Complete your application by January 10. The Graduate School at Purdue accepts only electronic applications. This application can be found at following URL: http://www.gradschool.purdue.edu/admissions/ and be sure to select a home department (either Philosophy, English or Foreign Languages & Literatures).Students admitted to the Philosophy and Literature Ph.D. Program will be able to pursue a graduate minor in areas of specialization offered by three other interdisciplinary programs - African American Studies, Jewish Studies, and Women's Studies. The graduate minor requirements generally comprise four graduate courses and one comprehensive exam or the equivalent; some individual programs may have additional requirements. Applicants to the Philosophy and Literature Ph.D. Program should indicate their interest in a graduate minor by including in the application a separate letter of purpose addressed to the program from which the minor is sought. Students interested in one of the graduate minor areas may also apply for funding from the collaborating interdisciplinary program. Deadlines and requirements for applying for funding by graduate minor programs are set by the respective programs. Obtain more information on graduate minors directly from the respective programs.
Cost and Financial Support
For information on tuition and fees, see The Graduate School Bulletin. Financial support is available in the following forms: University Fellowships - one- and two-year stipend (depending on fellowship) and remission of tuition and most fees. Graduate Assistantships - stipend, remission of tuition and most fees, renewable with merit raises (teaching assistantships are also available in the Departments of English, Foreign Languages & Literatures or Philosophy). Interdisciplinary Lynn Fellowships may be available to qualified incoming students - one year stipend and remission of tuition and most fees for the first year Ph.D. students at Purdue followed by three years of guaranteed teaching assistant support.
Doctoral Program in Philosophy and Literature
I. Purpose
The purpose is to offer an interdisciplinary program on the graduate level leading to the Ph.D. degree. Currently, there are many areas of humanistic inquiry that rely on contribution from literature and philosophy. Such is notably the case, for instance, in aesthetics, Afro-American Studies, literary criticism, hermeneutics, theory of language, linguistics, psychoanalysis, semiotics, value theory, and women's studies.
II. Admission
Students who seek to enter the program must be admitted by the co-directors of the Philosophy and Literature Ph.D. program through either the Department of English or the Department of Philosophy. Candidates should realize that the time required to earn the doctoral degree in literature and philosophy may exceed that normally required to obtain a traditional literature or philosophy degree.
III. Course Requirements
Each student must complete with a B grade or better (in each course) no fewer than seven post-baccalaureate graduate courses in English and seven in Philosophy.
IV. Language Requirement
There is a requirement of competence in at least one foreign language, which can be satisfied either by a test or by course work at the proper level of proficiency. In special cases, a student's advisory committee may require additional foreign language competence if a chosen area of specialization necessitates it.
V. Plan of Study
A. Upon entering the program, the student should consult with the co-directors of the program, who will assist in forming a plan of study. As soon as possible, the student should, in consultation with the co-directors, select an advisory committee appropriate to the student's interests and goals. The advisory committee shall consist of three faculty members, who will guide the student in choosing courses, pursuing directed reading, preparing for doctoral exams, meeting program requirements, and completing a dissertation. With the consent of the co-directors, changes in the membership of the advisory committee can be made to reflect the student's changing interests.
B. There is one course required for all candidates in the program: Philosophy and Literature (ENGL/FLL/PHIL 576).
C. Special competence is required in at least three areas - 1) in a traditional field of English; 2) in a traditional field of Philosophy; and 3) in a special field combining English and Philosophy. The advisory committee will assist the student in selecting areas and courses in both English and Philosophy from the following lists and the attached appendices.
Areas in English
(1) Old English Language and Literature
(2) Middle English Language and Literature
(3) Sixteenth-Century British Literature
(4) British Renaissance Literature 1600-1660
(5) Classical Period of British Literature
(6) British Romantic and Victorian Literature
(7) Modern British Literature (1880 to the present)
(8) American Literature to 1865
(9) American Literature after 1865
(10) Literary Theory and CriticismAreas in Philosophy
(1) History of Philosophy
Competence is required in two of three periods:
(a) Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
(b) From Renaissance Philosophy to Kant
(c) From Kant to Early Twentieth-Century Philosophy
(2) Logic, Language, and Science
Competence is required either in logic or in a combined area consisting of logic plus induction and philosophy of science or logic plus philosophy of logic and language.
(3) Value Theory
Competence is required either in ethics or in a combined area of ethics and some approved sub-area of value theory (such as aesthetics or political philosophy)
** Students in the joint program have a special option of taking the Value Theory Area Examination without ethics, in political philosophy and aesthetics, provided that they have taken one course in ethical theory - either PHIL 524 or PHIL 624.
(4) Metaphysics and EpistemologyAppendices A and B offer lists of courses in English and Philosophy, respectively, which are coordinated with traditional areas.
VI. Preliminary and Special Area Examinations
The student must stand for three examinations - one in an area of English as specified above; one in an area of Philosophy as specified above; and one in a special combined area of English and Philosophy. In the case of the departmental area examinations, the student shall take exams prepared by standing committees of the Departments of English and Philosophy, respectively. In the case of the special paired English and Philosophy examination, the candidate will take a three-hour exam prepared and graded by the advisory committee (this is the prospectus examination - written part).
The candidate should plan to take at least one examination before two years have lapsed since matriculation into the program, and the remaining examination(s) before three years have lapsed.
VII. Dissertation
After completing the course work, the language requirement, and the three examinations, the student, in consultation with the advisory committee, will draw up a dissertation prospectus (see above the special paired English and Philosophy examination, written part). Upon the successful oral defense of the dissertation prospectus, the student will be advanced to Ph.D. candidacy. When the dissertation is completed and judged to be an original and substantial contribution to scholarship, the student will stand for a final oral defense of the work before the committee and other invited or interested persons.
Appendix A
English courses coordinated with Traditional Areas of Literary Study
(1) Old English Language and Literature: 523, 524
(2) Middle English Language and Literature: 525, 526, 541
(3) Sixteenth-Century British Literature: 533, 537, 542, 543
(4) British Renaissance Literature 1600-1660: 534, 537, 542, 543, 544
(5) Classical Period of British Literature: 531, 535, 536, 538
(6) British Romantic and Victorian Literature: 532, 538, 547, 548, 549
(7) Modern British Literature (1880 to the present): 549, 572, 577, 579, 593, 594
(8) American Literature to 1865: 553, 554, 556, 558
(9) American Literature after 1865: 559, 575, 577, 578, 594, 595
(10) Literary Theory and Criticism: 567, 568, 569, 573
For further detailed information, consult the Department of English's Manual for Graduate Study. (Note that 600-level seminars are offered regularly.)
Appendix B
Courses coordinated with Traditional areas of Philosophy
The following list indicates the traditional area(s) with which each philosophy course is normally associated.
450: Symbolic Logic (Logic)
501: Studies in Greek Philosophy (History)
502: Studies in Medieval Philosophy (History)
503: Studies in Early Modern Philosophy (History)
506: Advanced Philosophy of Religion (Metaphysics and Epistemology)
507: Recent American Philosophy (History; Metaphysics and Epistemology)
510: Phenomenology (History; Metaphysics and Epistemology)
514: 20th Century Analytic Philosophy I (History, Metaphysics and Epistemology; Philosophy of Language)
515: 20th Century Analytic Philosophy II (History; Metaphysics and Epistemology)
520: Existentialism (History; Value Theory)
524: Contemporary Ethical Theory (Ethics)
525: Studies in Metaphysics (Metaphysics)
530: Deconstructionist and Postmodernist Philosophy (Value Theory)
532: Studies in Theory of Knowledge (Epistemology)
535: Studies in Philosophy of Mind (Metaphysics)
540: Studies in Social and Political Philosophy (Value Theory)
542: Rationally and Relativism (Variable: consult advisory committee)
545: Recent Analytic Philosophy (Variable: consult advisory committee)
550: Advanced Symbolic Logic (Logic)
551: Philosophy of the Natural Sciences (Philosophy of Science)
552: Philosophy of the Social Sciences (Philosophy of Science)
555: Critical Theory (Variable: consult advisory committee)
557: Medieval Political Thought and Philosophy (History; Value Theory)
560: Studies in Eastern Philosophy (Variable: consult advisory committee)
575: Problems in Aesthetics (Value Theory)
576: Philosophy and Literature (Value Theory)*
610: Seminar in Recent Continental Philosophy (Variable: consult advisory committee)
624: Seminar in Ethics (Ethics)
650: Advanced Topics in Logic (Logic)
665: Philosophy of Language (Philosophy of Language)
672: Philosophy of Logic (Logic)
683: Studies in Continental Rationalism (History)
684: Studies in British Empiricism (History)
685: The Philosophy of Kant (History)
*PHIL 576/FLL/ENGL 576: the course required for the joint program students (list on your plan of study either as PHIL 576, FLL 576 or ENGL 576).
For further detailed information, consult the Philosophy Department's guide titled Graduate Study in Philosophy.