Rules and Procedures for a Ph.D. in Philosophy
Coursework Requirement
Language Requirement
Logic Requirement
Preliminary Examinations
Satisfactory Progress
Prospectus
Dissertation Procedures and Timing
Incompletes
Transfer Credit
A student must complete 72 hours of work, with at least 48 hours of coursework, and with at least a B average, for the Ph.D. Coursework includes independent study, 340, and the language courses 341, 342, and 343, as well as all other 200 and 300 level philosophy courses except Master's Thesis Research 369, Ph.D. Dissertation Research 399, and Formal Logic and Its Applications 202 (The department considers 202 a remedial course.). The department reserves the right not to grant credit for 200 level courses which repeat a student's undergraduate experience. Students must complete a minor of at least 12 hours. These courses may be taken either within the philosophy department, or in another department, and courses outside the department must cohere with a student's philosophical interests. Courses in a minor count towards the 48 hours of coursework. In normal circumstances, transfer credit will be considered after one year of coursework at Vanderbilt, for students with previous graduate work in philosophy. Transfer courses count towards course work, but a student must take a minimum of 10 courses at Vanderbilt for a Ph.D.
The language requirement must be satisfied in at least one of the following: Greek, Latin, German or French, or in an alternate language certified as appropriate for the particular student by the department. Prerequisite to undertaking the language requirement a student must first demonstrate adequate competence in the relevant language. This can be done by (1) earning a 550 or better on an ETS exam; (2) completing the equivalent of four college semesters of the language with a B or better, two semesters in the case of accelerated courses in Greek or Latin; or (3) passing the fourth semester of a language course at Vanderbilt with at least a B, or an accelerated course for graduate students with at least a B.* In the case of a language that is not taught by Vanderbilt, other arrangements will be made appropriate to the particular situation. Once language competence has been established, the language requirement can then be satisfied in one of three ways: (1) satisfactorily completing a departmental language reading course, 341, 342 or 343; (2) piggybacking a language-intensive project certified by the instructor on a departmental course offering,** or (3) passing a Philosophy Department reading exam requiring substantial translation.***
* One may audit these courses, but work done for these courses must be at the B level.
** A student must make significant use of the language in, for example, a seminar paper, or other appropriate activity of the course. Upon successful completion of the course, the instructor must notify the DGS about the completion.
*** What constitutes "substantial translation" must be determined by the examiners.
Passing a departmentally administered competency exam on symbolic logic or earning a B or higher in Philosophy 202, Formal Logic and Its Applications. If a student demonstrates to the department that his/her undergraduate philosophy course is the equivalent of 202, and if the student receives a B or better in this course, then that student will satisfy the logic requirement.
The preliminary examinations have four areas: history, epistemology (including philosophy of science), metaphysics, and value theory (which includes ethics, aesthetics, and social and political philosophy).
The prelims must be completed by the end of the 6th semester.
One may take a prelim as often as one wants without prejudice for future sittings, if one fails. Failure grades are not recorded, nor are passing grades. Only "pass" is recorded. Of course, all of a student's work, including repeated failures on prelims, is relevant to the department's evaluation of that student. Prelims are normally taken in the Summer or at Christmas, but they can be taken during the school calendar, if the DGS agrees. The DGS looks at a student's course load and teaching schedule to make an evaluation about whether it is feasible for that student to sit an exam.
Students receive questions for each prelim area: five questions for three prelims, and six questions for the value theory prelim. They may throw out one question, and hence students prepare four questions for three areas, and five questions for value theory. Students have 12 days and 15 days respectively (an average of three days per question) to prepare their question. After the designated time of preparation a student rolls a die, usually in the department office, and on a predesignated day, in order to determine which question to answer. Then that student has thirty-six hours to write an answer. A prelim answer cannot exceed 25 double spaced typed pages.
Students have an option of doing a paper for one prelim area, but not for the history area. This paper should typically connect with dissertation research, although in exceptional cases it may not. Two faculty must approve of the project before it commences, and for it to pass.
Two faculty grade each written prelim. A passing grade is B- or higher. If the graders disagree, then they first consult with each other. If this consultation fails to resolve the matter, then a tiebreaker reads the exam, and casts the deciding vote. The original readers submit a brief explanation for their grades to the tiebreaker, who reads them either before or after reading the exam.
Remedies for failure may vary. The standard penalty is to retake the exam, but the faculty may decide on other alternatives including a partial or total rewrite of the single exam question.*
* Sample prelims are available to students in the departmental office.
A student must complete the logic requirement, language requirement, prelims, and 48 hours of coursework by the end of the 6th semester of residence. Moreover, by the end of the 6th semester a student should select a dissertation adviser. If a student fails any of these conditions, by that time, then that student's progress toward the degree will be evaluated by the department with respect to her or his continuation in the program.*
* Every April the department will evaluate the progress of all students, but the 6th semester evaluation will be especially important. This timetable applies only to full time students. Non-full time students must negotiate their progress with the DGS.
By no later than the end of the 6th semester, a full time student should select a dissertation advisor, and these two, through consultation, will choose the dissertation committee of five members. The dissertation committee must include an extra-departmental member, either from another department at Vanderbilt, or, where feasible, from another university. By early in the 7th semester a student must present a prospectus on his/her dissertation. The prospectus evaluation determines whether that student has a feasible dissertation project. A prospectus should include a description of the project, which may include, among other things, the methods to be employed, a bibliography, and a reasonably clear specification of the line of argument to be pursued. The dissertation committee meets with the candidate (for usually one to two hours) to discuss the prospectus. If a student passes the prospectus hearing, then that student is admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D., and achieves the status of A.B.D. (all but dissertation). An A.B.D. student is entitled to a Masters Degree, and may receive one upon application to the Graduate School.
Dissertation Procedures and Timing
The student and the dissertation advisor will decide how they want to employ the other committee members during the writing of the dissertation, and all members of the committee should understand what their obligations will be. At the appropriate time, the dissertation advisor will inform all members of the committee as to the anticipated defense date. No less than eight weeks before that date, the dissertator will provide each committee member with a copy of the completed dissertation. Committee members will then have no less than six weeks to read and discuss the dissertation with the dissertator. At the end of the six weeks, after consultation with committee members, the defense date will be made public and the dissertator will have two weeks to make any necessary revisions or final preparations. If the revisions needed at that stage exceed what can reasonably be done in two weeks, the defense date will be adjusted accordingly as agreed upon by the dissertator and the committee. Further revisions of the dissertation may be required at the defense.
Instructors are expected, near the outset of a class, to inform students of the requirements for the class. A student who is unable for good cause to complete course requirements in the normal time may be given, at the discretion of the instructor, the grade of I (Incomplete). A "Request for Incomplete" form is available in the Philosophy Department Office. This form must be completed by the student, signed by the course instructor and the DGS, and returned to the Department office by the last day of exams. Requests submitted after this time will not be granted. A date by which incomplete work must be submitted should be approved by the course instructor and be stated on the request form. All work from the previous year must be submitted no later than the first day of classes in the fall semester of the next academic year. Any I's which are not completed by this time will automatically become permanent and will remain on the transcript. Permanent I's do not accrue credit towards the degree.
After a year of coursework a student may apply to the DGS for transfer credit. Transfer credit is granted, at the discretion of the department, for graduate courses at other institutions which the candidate passed with at least a grade of B. The amount of graduate credit must be negotiated with the DGS.
