The PhD Program | The MA Program General Information The CPaS graduate specialization is an interdisciplinary option in the regular philosophy graduate program, designed for students who are interested in pursuing philosophically informed foundational research in an area of science. It will be of particular interest to students who already have a substantial background in a science. Relevant sciences include physics, biology, neuroscience, psychology, computer science, artificial intelligence, and linguistics, all of which are strongly represented on campus. There are two separate tracks within the CPaS specialization, with different course requirements: a philosophy of science track and a cognitive studies track. Below is a summary of the differences between the general philosophy graduate program and the CPaS specialization. For further details, see the CPaS Rules and Policies for Graduate Study and the general information on Graduate Programs in Philosophy. Both the general program and the CPaS specialization require twelve courses in total, of which three are to be core courses, as well as a logic requirement, which can be satisfied by PHIL 470 or a more advanced course in logic (or by demonstrating the required competence via the PHIL 470 final exam, or on the basis of equivalent course work elsewhere). The prospectus requirement and the dissertation requirement are the same for the general program and the CPaS specialization. Core courses are taught at a suitable level for first year graduate students and are intended to prepare students for further graduate work in the area. They are evaluated by a final examination and possibly other work, but not by a term paper alone. The general program requires (i) the metaphysics, mind, and language core course, (ii) the value theory core course, and (iii) either the epistemology core course or the philosophy of science core course. The CPaS specialization, as a science oriented option, excludes the choice under (iii) and requires the philosophy of science core course. The remaining nine courses are restricted in different ways in the general program and the CPaS specialization. For the general program: five of these nine courses must be 800-level graduate seminars. The only remaining restriction is that two of these nine courses must be historically based, in the sense that they focus primarily on a particular historical period or on particular figures in the history of philosophy, while the other seven courses are electives. The presumption is that the non-seminar courses will be graduate or 400-level undergraduate philosophy courses, but substitutions (including courses from other departments) are allowed with permission of the Graduate Director.
For the CPaS specialization: four of these nine courses must be 800-level graduate seminars. The remaining restrictions differ for the two possible tracks, but cover a total of eight of the nine courses. With the permission of the Graduate Director, relevant science courses may be substituted for certain non-seminar courses.
Both the general program and the CPaS specialization require ten courses in total, of which three are to be core courses, as well as a logic requirement, which can be satisfied by PHIL 271 or a more advanced course in logic (or by demonstrating the required competence via the PHIL 271 final exam, or on the basis of equivalent course work elsewhere). Note that PHIL 271 is a lower-level undergraduate course and would not count towards the ten-course MA requirement. The Department does not require a thesis for the MA degree. Rather, the student must complete at least one scholarly paper (normally derived from a seminar or other course paper) approved by the Graduate Director. The student also has the option of taking up to two terms of PHIL 798 (MA-level independent study) with an individual faculty as supervisor, with the goal of producing an extended paper equivalent to a standard MA thesis. The scholarly paper requirement is the same for the general program and the CPaS specialization. The core course MA requirement for the general program and the modification to this requirement for the CPaS specialization are the same as for the PhD program. The remaining seven courses are restricted in different ways in the general program and the CPaS specialization. For the general program: three of these seven courses must be 800-level graduate seminars. The only remaining restriction is that one of these seven courses must be historically based, while the other six courses are electives. The presumption is that the non-seminar courses will be graduate or 400-level undergraduate philosophy courses, but substitutions (including courses from other departments) are allowed with permission of the Graduate Director.
For the CPaS specialization: three of these seven courses must be 800-level graduate seminars. The remaining restrictions differ for the two possible tracks, but cover a total of five of the seven courses, which leaves two remaining electives.
For further information, contact the CPaS Office at (301) 405-5691 or at hp26@umail.umd.edu, or write to Chair, CPaS, 1102 Skinner Bldg., University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. To request an application or to apply on-line, go to http://www.testudo.umd.edu/admissions/. |