MA in Philosophy

I am sure that this question has been asked before sometime in this board, but I would like to revisit it and I'd appreciate very much any info/discussion.

I am looking for a MA in philosophy (via DL) from a good and traditional university (not online only). These are the schools I found:

1) University of New England, Armidale (Australia)
2) University of Wales at Lampeter
3) University of Illinois at Springfield (individual option in liberal arts with concentration on philosophy)
4) Holy Apostles College
5) I am not considering South Africa university or Sophia university

I know (more or less) the reputation of UIS, but I am not sure about the other three? Please any thoughts/suggestions? Any other universities offering MA in philosophy that you are aware of? I would like to start as soon as I can! In the event that you’d like to know my educational background, I have to masters, MBA and MSF.

Thank you very much for your help
Etronis

 

This is an Indian University with an outreach office in Maryland. They have a master's in philosophy and religion:

http://www.mkudeusa.org/Courses.html

 

Not 100% philosophy but there is the CSUDH MA in Humanities
http://csudh.edu/hux/

 

Not exactly what you are looking for, but a Philosophy related degree from a extremely well ranked school in the UK
MA / MSc in Philosophy and Ethics of Mental Health
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/med/study/cpd/subject_index/pemh/v7p5/

 

I find this interesting. Do they have authority to confer degrees in the US? The prices listed for their degree programs, while competitive by US standards, are significantly higher than the prices for the same programs from the same university in India (fees in Indian Rupees, approx. IRs 45 = US$1), even in their "special fees" for out of the country center students. It may very well be legit, but it would be wise to check this one more carefully.

Peace,

Matt

 

If DETC Is Okay ...

Harrison Middleton University www.chumsci.edu offers an MA in Philosophy.

 

If TRACS Is Okay ...

Southern Evangelical Seminary www.ses.edu offers an MA in Philosophy.

 

They confer the degrees in India at the main university. The office in Maryland coordinates testing and admissions for American students. They have 5 testing centers in the USA. We pay more than students in India, but the price is still pretty good, maybe $3,600 for a master's. I don't know much about the foreign degree evaluation services to comment on how an MA program would convert in the US. I'm considering the economics program...I want the degree but don't want to spend the money for another USA master's.

 

The University of New England is a state run institution in regional Australia with a solid academic background.

 

Thank you very much for your respones. Any thoughts between University of Wales(Lampeter) and University of New England (Australia)? It's been more than 6 months research and it is time to decide. I will come back and check again for any feedback or maybe suggestions for other schools. Please know that I highly appriciate your thoughts and help.

 

Hey we live fairly nearby. I'm west of you. Anyway, it might depend on why you want the degree or how you're planning on using the degree but for someone in east central Massachusetts I think you'll find that no one has heard of either school and it won't make a bit of difference if it's British or Australian. There might be some confusion as the Australian "University of New England" could get mixed up with the "University of New England located in Maine but other than that I can't imagine how it would matter. My advice, go with the less expensive program.

 

If I was in your place, I'd start out by identifying what broad style of philosophy I was most comfortable with -- 'analytical' or 'continental'. Then I'd narrow it down by philosophical specialty -- epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of religion or whatever. If it was analytical philosophy of science for example, there are more questions -- am I interested in the philosophy of biology, of physics, in logical foundations, in social studies of science, or what?

Once I'd narrowed down what I want to study, I'd look very closely at the faculties at each of the candidate programs, what their research interests are, what kind of coursework each program offers, at the general ideological tone of the school and the department, and so on.

That procedure should narrow down your options to a small number of schools. (Probably zero). So you would have to back up and ask yourself what kind of compromises and adjustments you are willing to make in order to do a DL degree as opposed to moving off to an entirely different city to do a degree more closely tailored to your interests.

Regarding a couple of the schools on your list...

Holy Apostles is closely associated with a Roman Catholic theology program and seminary, and is doctrinally quite conservative. That one is for people who take the teaching magisterium of the church seriously. (Not my cup of tea.)

I like Wales Lampeter. Not so much their philosophy department per se, which I find annoyingly 'continental' and trendy. But Wales offers all kinds of masters level offerings in different aspects of religion, and one of my big interests these days is broader religious studies. There's a very interesting MA in Religious Experience for example, and another in Indian Religious Traditions. It isn't always clear whether these programs are all doable 100% at a distance though and I live in California, half the world away from Wales. I can't just pop over there for a weekend like somebody in Bristol or Birmingham could.

A lesson derived from that is that if it develops that there aren't any DL philosophy graduate programs that directly address your interests, you might want to throw out the net more broadly to catch cognate subjects. I started my own B&M philosophy masters degree back in the early 80's, quit after about 15 units in order to take a job offer, and ended up doing a DL MA at CSUDH in the cognate subject of humanities. In retrospect I think that I like that better, since I'm a lot more interested in art history and the broader history of ideas today than I was 30 years ago.

 

Hello, I've been lurking for a while and I thought I'd share some information. I contacted the above school about their philosophy and history MA programs. This is what they sent me in case anyone is interested.


Thank you for your interest with the MKU Study Center, USA. Here are the details that you requested.
MA History:
Course Fee: $1800.00/yr (course materials included)
Duration: 2 yrs
Application Fee: $65.00 (s&h included)
Eligibility:
1. Any in any subject in Arts, Science, Commerce or B.Lit of MKU or any other recognized University
2. M.A or M.Sc degree in any branch of MKU or any other recognized University
3. Those qualified for MA degree and desire to improve their marks and class already obtained shall undergo the course for two years.
Papers:
First year:
1. Historiography and historical methods
2. Freedom struggle and constitutional development in India
3. History of Europe
4. International Relations
Second year:
1. History of Tamilnadu
2. History of Russia
3. History of USA
4. History of China and Japan

MA Philosophy & Religion:
Course Fee: $1800.00/yr (course materials included)
Duration: 2 yrs
Application Fee: $65.00 (s&h included)
Eligibility:
1. Any in any subject in Arts, Science, Commerce or B.Lit of MKU or any other recognized University
2. M.A or M.Sc degree in any branch of MKU or any other recognized University
3. Those qualified for MA degree and desire to improve their marks and class already obtained shall undergo the course for two years.
Papers:
First year:
1. Hinduism
2. Christianity
3. Islam
4. Jainism, Buddhism & Sikhism
5. Philosophy of religion and inter-religious dialogue
Second year:
1. Metaphysics & Epistemology
2. Logic adn Philosophy of Science
3. Marxist and Rationalist Philosophy
4. Feminist and Dalit Philosophy
5. Ethics

Admissions for the Calendar Year 2010 session are ongoing at the moment. Exams will be held in the month of January 2011. Study materials will be mailed to you 30-45 days upon admission. There are no contact classes held at the request of our students. Several web-based discussions might be held throughout the duration of the course. Upon admission, login info to the discussion forum will be provided.

Our Study center is located in Maryland. We have exam centers located in California, Maryland, Georgia, Texas and Illinois. The degree awarded is directly from the Madurai Kamaraj University in India. We have payment plans available for the tuition fees.
The prospectus will be attached to the application. You may purchase an application by credit card or check. You may mail a check to: MKU Study Center, PO Box 1549, Lusby, Maryland 20657 or you may call us at (410)326-8080 and provide us with your credit card information. You would need 2 copies of your mark statements, degree certificates etc, 2 copies of the photo section of the passport and two passport photos to enclose with the application. Hope this information has been helpful.
Please feel free to contact us with any queries or concerns.
Sincerely,
Santhi Omagandam
Coordinator, MKU
(410)326-8080
www.mkudeusa.org
www.mkudde.org

 

This is a real deal. MKU is accredited by UGC and DEC. The degrees will be equivalent to RA here in US.

 

I can strongly recommend the University of New England. It is a well known university here in Australia and has many years experience in distance education.

For the record, I am both a UNE graduate and a current external student.

 

I agree. An entire master's degree costs about the same as two or three courses in the USA.

 

still...

Has anyone actually gone through this program in the US? I am aware that MKU is accredited in India, and is one of three Indian universities which are especially well-known for their distance education programs (the other two being Annamalai University and Indira Gandhi National Open University, or IGNOU).

Part of the reason for my caution relates to the experience friends and some relatives have had in taking distance courses through Annamalai and IGNOU. In the case both of these, particularly Annamalai, customer service was non-existent; one relative is even now still trying to obtain a degree certificate and marksheet (referred to in the US as a transcript) earned well over a year ago. While a US branch administering the MKU program here may be significantly more efficient and responsive (if they're smart; this would obviously have the potential to earn them a fair bit of money), it might be wise to ask around and see if there are reviews from others. How long has MKU's US program been going? How many graduates do they have?

Interesting, and yet, caveat emptor!

Peace,

Matt

 

I wonder what utility a MA in philosophy from India would have in the USA? I mean, I'm sure Indian accredited programs are rigorous and you would learn a lot, but if there is already a certain amount of distrust/prejudice against DL programs, then a DL program from India might be viewed with suspician ... especially in the field of philosophy, where jobs are extremely few & far between.

 

I'd begin with the consideration that there's very little chance that a master's of philosophy degree from any university will lead to a fulltime faculty job. At the same time it's not like engineering, medicine or law where there's a professional licensing issue. So in the end it's probably as good as a lot of philosophy degrees but for a lot less money.

 

My observations and opinions about the MKU masters:

This isn't a masters in philosophy exactly, it's a masters in philosophy and religion. Nobody's commented on that.

$1800 x 2 = $3600. That's not bad. It might be a sweet-spot for them, considerably more than locals pay in India, but considerably below the going price for a masters in the US.

I wonder what "course materials" means.

That worries me a little. Apparently this program doesn't expect applicants to already have the equivalent of a bachelors in philosophy or religion.

I don't understand what that means.

That's a religion curriculum, not a philosophy one. To my eye it's awfully broad and shallow, kind of a survey with a bit of an India-centric focus. It hits the religions that are represented in India, and ignores those that aren't. (Where's Judaism and Confucianism?) Can they really do justice to the arcane subtleties of Buddhism in one third of a class? It's even worse when we remember that people will be entering this with no previous exposure. These will be introductory classes.

That's a philosophy curriculum, albeit a minimal one with a bit of a left-political slant. ('Dalit' means 'untouchable'.) The history of philosophy is ignored and there aren't any classes on individual philosophers. The philosophy of mind seems to be missing, which is a little odd given the psychologistic emphasis in Indian religion. The ancient and impressive Indian domestic philosophical tradition isn't explicitly addressed at all. There aren't any advanced topics seminars. There probably couldn't be, given that these will essentially be introductory classes since many students will be entering them with no previous background in the subject. And I don't like the fact that it's a fixed-in-stone curriculum and that there aren't any elective classes.

Apparently there's no thesis. That, the shallow curriculum and the easy admissions expectations suggest that it's unlikely that this will win its graduates admission into philosophy doctoral programs here in the US. Certainly not the more selective ones whose graduates fill the few full-time university teaching positions that open up each year.

It sounds like the London external model. They send you a syllabus and perhaps some readings, then you read on your own and then take an essay exam at the end. It doesn't sound like the classes will be actively taught by a professor.

What does the study center do?

It would probably satisfy secondary school districts that encourage high-school teachers to earn master degrees. This might win a teacher a pay upgrade.

The breadth and shallowness of this might (rather perversely) actually be a plus in preparing community college instructors. Those people are hired to teach a few broad introductory philosophy classes and needn't have scholarly expertise in individual philosophers or in advanced philosophical topics. The biggest difficulty that I can see with that idea is the lack of any preparation in the history of philosophy. Community colleges often offer a one or two semester long history of philosophy survey. In community colleges the philosophy instructors are often asked to teach introductory world religions survey classes as well, so this curriculum might be stronger in that direction. Of course, an individual that doesn't have a bachelors in philosophy or something cognate like religious studies might be at a competitive disadvantage. Graduates of this would have to be able to sell themselves.

My guess is that this program might have been designed for similar purposes in India, as an additional-education degree for secondary or other sub-university teachers or something.

Another use for this degree will be as an option for individuals with personal a-vocational interests in the philosophy and religion area. I'm definitely one of them. I'd probably consider enrolling in this for a second masters degree (the price is certainly right) if it addressed the Indian philosophico-religious tradition more deeply (that's where much of my interest is directed these days) and/or if it gave me more independent study opportunities with Indian professors able to mentor me at the higher levels.