Semester Requirements

http://www.rit.edu/philosophy

Program overview

Most of the skills required for student and career success—how to learn, how to apply that learning in professional and personal environments, and how to communicate that knowledge—are central to philosophical training. Philosophy students are taught to evaluate complex problems, identify and examine underlying principles, investigate issues from diverse perspectives, and communicate clearly in both written and oral forms.

The philosophy major provides a thorough grounding in the three main areas of philosophy (history, value theory, and reasoning/epistemology), as well as a four-course specialization within philosophy. Students combine philosophy with a core competence (or even a double major) in another discipline, encouraging them to creatively pursue cross-disciplinary relationships. The major concludes with a senior thesis integrating philosophy with a field of application.

Curriculum

Students develop skills through a core of philosophy courses, which cover the history of philosophy, value theory, and reasoning/epistemology. Students choose four courses in area of philosophical specialization. Examples of pre-approved areas include the following: philosophy of mind and cognitive science, philosophy of science and technology, applied ethics, philosophy of the social sciences and political philosophy, philosophy of art and aesthetics, history of philosophy, or philosophy of law. Students also complete a professional core of courses designed to provide foundational knowledge in a professional/technical discipline outside of philosophy, which complements their studies. Philosophy electives, general electives, and liberal arts courses complete the curriculum.

Senior thesis

Building on their philosophy specialization and their professional core, students will investigate a particular question in depth through research. Students choose a faculty member to serve as a primary adviser and to help identify a subject topic. The finished thesis is discussed and examined by a committee including two other faculty members.

Philosophy, BS degree, typical course sequence (semesters), effective fall 2013

Please see New General Education Curriculum–Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) for more information.

(WI) Refers to a writing intensive course within the major.

* Please see Wellness Education Requirement for more information.

† Students will satisfy this requirement by taking either a 3- or 4-credit hour lab science course. If a science course consists of separate lecture and laboratory sections, student must take both the lecture and lab portions to satisfy the requirement.

Additional information

Advising

Each student is assigned a faculty adviser who will assist in planning course schedules, professional/technical core requirements, and a philosophy specialization area.

Faculty

The philosophy department’s faculty are outstanding teachers. They are active scholars, publishing regularly in journals, editing and authoring books, and organizing and delivering papers at conferences at RIT and elsewhere in the United States and abroad.