Graduate Programs in Philosophy
Acting Head of Department : Berna Kılınç
Associate Department Head: Nurbay Irmak
Professors : Berna Kılınç, Stephen Voss, Nurbay Irmak
Associate Professors : Chryssi Sidiropoulou, Lucas Thorpe
Assistant Professors : Sun Demirli, Yildiz Silier, Barry Stocker
*Part-time
The Department offers an M.A. and a Ph.D. program. Both programs are carried out in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Institute of Social Sciences.
Students enrolled in either program are required to take at least one course in each of the four core areas of philosophy which are, 1) metaphysics and epistemology, 2) the history of philosophy, 3) the logic and philosophy of science, and 4) aesthetics, ethics and political philosophy.
MASTER OF ARTS PROGRAM
The objective of the M.A. program is to equip the students with advanced and specialized knowledge in the field, and to help them acquire skills for doing research.
This is a two-year program consisting of 22 credit hours of course work spread over two semesters and followed by an M.A. thesis and its oral defense.
Students with a B.A. degree in philosophy are normally eligible for admission to the M.A. program. Students who have undergraduate degrees in other fields may also be admitted. Such applicants are expected, however, to develop skills and knowledge in the core areas of philosophy by taking an additional number of undergraduate courses as part of the M.A. program.
| First Semester | Cr. | ECTS | |
| PHIL -- | Elective* | 3 | 10 |
| PHIL -- | Elective* | 3 | 10 |
| PHIL -- | Elective* | 3 | 10 |
| PHIL 579 | Graduate Seminar | 0 | 10 |
| 9 | 40 | ||
| Second Semester | Cr. | ECTS | |
| PHIL -- | Elective* | 3 | 10 |
| PHIL -- | Elective* | 3 | 10 |
| -- -- | Elective* | 3 | 10 |
| PHIL 590 | Directed Study | 4 | 10 |
| 13 | 40 | ||
| Cr. | ECTS | ||
| PHIL 690 | Master Thesis | 0 | 60 |
| 0 | 60 | ||
Total Credits: 22 Credits
Total ECTS: 140 Credits
*Graduate courses that are opened each term are categorized in three groups:
Group 1: ethics, aesthetics, social philosophy, political philosophy, philosophy of law.
Group 2: logic, philosophy of science, epistemology, metaphysics and ontology, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind.
Group 3: history of philosophy.
Electives are to be chosen as follows:
1 course from Group 1
2 courses from Group 2
1 course from Group 3
The remaining 2 courses may be taken from any group or from elective courses not falling into any of these groups. Among these remaining courses, at most 1 can be at the 400 level; and at most 1 can be from outside the department. However, for these sorts of courses the student must get the approval of the graduate advisor. 400 level courses and courses taken outside Philosophy Department do not fulfill any area requirements.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM
The Ph.D. program aims at training and research in various areas of philosophy. The Ph.D. program is open to students holding an M.A. degree in philosophy.
The requirements for the program are: 1) The completion of 24 hours credit course work beyond the M.A., 2) a qualifying examination in two of the four core areas of philosophy, 3) a reading examination in a language other than Turkish and English, related to the topic of the dissertation, 4) a formal proposal of the dissertation, 5) completion of the dissertation, and 6) its oral defense.
The Ph.D. program is open to students holding an M.A. degree in philosophy defense.
| First Semester | Cr. | ECTS | |
| PHIL -- | Elective* | 3 | 10 |
| PHIL -- | Elective* | 3 | 10 |
| PHIL -- | Elective* | 3 | 10 |
| PHIL 689 | Studies in Philosophy | 3 | 30 |
| 12 | 60 | ||
| Second Semester | Cr. | ECTS | |
| PHIL -- | Elective* | 3 | 10 |
| PHIL -- | Elective* | 3 | 10 |
| -- -- | Elective* | 3 | 10 |
| PHIL 700 | Graduate Seminar | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | 32 | ||
| Cr. | ECTS | ||
| Qualifying Exam | 0 | 30 | |
| Thesis Proposal Defense | 0 | 30 | |
| PHIL 790 | Doctoral Dissertation | 0 | 120 |
| 0 | 180 | ||
Total Credits: 21 Credits
Total ECTS: 272 Credits
*Graduate courses that are opened each term are categorized in three groups:
Group 1: ethics, aesthetics, social philosophy, political philosophy, philosophy of law.
Group 2: logic, philosophy of science, epistemology, metaphysics and ontology, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind.
Group 3: history of philosophy.
Electives areas to be chosen as follows:
1 course from Group 1
2 courses from Group 2
1 course from Group 3
The remaining 2 courses may be taken from any of the three groups above, or from elective graduate courses not falling into any of these groups. At most 1 elective can be a graduate course offered by another department.
