Philosophy - M.A.

Graduate Program Placement

The majority of our students choose to go on to doctoral study in philosophy or a related discipline, while the rest either pursue further graduate study in other areas, or they seek employment outside academe.

Since 2015, 22 of our 27 MA students who have chosen the thesis option have applied to PhD programs, and 21 of 22 (95.4%) have been accepted with funding. The table below lists the placement results for all students who have chosen the thesis option in recent years.

A limited number of graduate assistantships, which include competitive stipends and tuition/fee waivers, are available for graduate students. Applicants must complete and submit their application by February 1 to be ensured of consideration for a graduate assistantship. All applicants to the MA program who submit their applications by February 1 are automatically considered for funding. There is no separate application for an assistantship.

Currently, the total award per student is approximately $28,500, which includes a $15,500 stipend, a full tuition waiver worth $12,000, a health insurance subsidy (for students who do not otherwise have coverage), and workers compensation. The tuition waiver is sufficient to cover up to 15 credit hours per semester. Given the low cost of living in Kent, this award is highly competitive: according to Salary.com for example, our stipend would be the equivalent of a stipend of nearly $24,000 in Boston.

Graduate assistantships involve assisting with instruction and other pedagogical duties. Graduate assistants must take a full-time load (8 credit hours or more) each semester and maintain a 3.0 GPA or better. Their service generally involves about 20 hours per week during the semester, and they must follow all applicable University policies. The assistantship does not cover summer.

Further information about the amount and number of awards is available from the Graduate Coordinator.

The Philosophy Department requests that all domestic applicants complete the FAFSA.

Applications not completed by February 1 may not be considered for graduate assistantships. Note that this deadline is earlier than the Graduate School application deadline for the Fall semester.

Kent State University is committed to providing all persons equal access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or identification as a disabled veteran, or veteran of the Vietnam era.

Graduate Program Admission Requirements

All applicants to the Graduate Program must submit the following with their application. We no longer require or consider GRE scores.

• writing sample (3000-5000 words)
• three letters of recommendation
• statement of purpose describing why you would like to pursue an MA in philosophy, your philosophical interests and background, and what you hope to gain from the program (max. 1000 words)
• official transcripts from all institutions, undergraduate and graduate, where 8 hours or more have been attempted
• proof of English proficiency for international applicants (unless you meet the criteria to have this requirement waived)

Documents must be submitted to the Graduate School using the Online Application Site (or emailed to gradapps@kent.edu if you are unable to upload them to the application site). The application is not complete until the Graduate School has received and processed all required application materials.

Applicants who do not have an undergraduate major or minor (at least 18 semester hours or the equivalent) in philosophy or who have an overall GPA below 3.00 (on a 4.00 point scale) should consult the Graduate Coordinator before submitting their application. As the MA degree offers advanced preparation in philosophy, it assumes at a minimum the basic preparation provided by a philosophy minor or the equivalent.

Both domestic and international applicants can apply by visiting the Online Application site.

Deadlines

The department has two different application deadlines, depending on whether the applicant wishes to apply for a Graduate Assistantship:

To apply for a Graduate Assistantship: all application materials must be received and processed by the Graduate School by February 1 for matriculation the following Fall. Students seeking assistantships must apply for admission in the Fall semester. All applicants to the MA program who submit their application by February 1 are automatically considered for funding. There is no separate application for an assistantship.

Admissions decisions for applications submitted by the February 1 deadline are typically communicated in March.

To apply without requesting a Graduate Assistantship: all application materials must be received and processed by the Graduate School prior to the semester of matriculation (Fall or Spring).

Below is an overview of our four-semester program. All first and second year students register for the Proseminar (PHIL 69101). Although this course extends through the Spring Semester, students register for it in the Fall only. The program also leaves room for each student to tailor a unique course of study through elective choices. The table below is for a student completing the Thesis option; students who choose other capstone options will have slightly different schedules in Year Two.

The Proseminar is a three-hour course that meets weekly to provide professional training to our graduate students. Topics covered include preparing strong applications to doctoral programs, applying to and presenting at academic conferences, professional norms and etiquette, and non-academic careers for philosophers. Pedagogical training is also provided. In addition, students complete a professional development assignment of their choosing, which is meant to help further their individual professional goals. A third important focus of the Proseminar is the planning and organization of the annual May 4th graduate student conference.

Students in our MA program have a unique opportunity to design an individualized concentration consisting of five of our graduate PHIL courses. This allows them to take full advantage of the extremely wide range of specializations represented by our faculty, many of which are interdisciplinary or cross traditional methodological boundaries within the discipline of philosophy. Our program is thus an excellent fit for students whose own interests span multiple areas and/or methodologies, but it also allows students to design a more traditional concentration in a particular subfield of philosophy. Students work with a faculty advisory group throughout their time in the program in order to design a concentration that reflects their interests, addresses any gaps in their prior philosophical training, and leaves them extremely well prepared to enter a doctoral program.

Graduate students ordinarily complete the requirements for the MA in philosophy by writing a thesis. The thesis offers an opportunity for graduate students to work closely with a faculty member and a thesis committee in order to explore a topic of the student's choice. In some cases, students choose instead to pursue one of our non-thesis capstone options. 

The M.A. program introduces students to the practices of philosophy beyond reading texts and writing papers. The Department of Philosophy at Kent State University hosts the annual Kent State University Philosophy Graduate Student Conference in Remembrance of May 4th. The graduate student conference is conceived, planned, and organized by philosophy graduate students. Planning for the conference includes a call for papers soliciting submissions from graduate students in philosophy graduate programs from across the US and Canada. In addition to presentations by graduate students, the conference features a keynote speaker. Past keynote speakers include Hubert Dreyfus, Fred Evans, Larry Hickman, Jaakko Hintikka, Sherri Irvin, John Lachs, Charles Scott, and Donn Welton. Papers are posted in an online program available at the conference website.

In addition to the annual philosophy graduate student conference, the department hosts guest speakers as part of the Veroni lecture series. See the Current Events page for current speakers. Previous Veroni lecturers include Elizabeth Anderson, Richard Bernstein, Susan Bordo, Robert Brandom, David Carr, Donald Davidson, Mark Johnson, Richard Schacht, and Nancy Sherman. Other recent guest speakers include Anthony Appiah, Susan Haack, Sandra Harding, Daphne Patai, Neil Sinhababu, and Naomi Zack.

View the Graduate Student Handbook