Philosophy
The Department of Philosophy at Duquesne University specializes in Continental philosophy and the history of philosophy, and our graduate program was among the first in the United States to concentrate on phenomenology and, more broadly, 19th- and 20th-century Continental thought.
As a student in our Ph.D. program, you’ll be immersed in that tradition and focus
on post-Kantian European philosophy, with dedicated faculty working in German idealism,
the phenomenological traditions, social and political philosophy and psychoanalytic
theory, as well as structuralism, poststructuralism and their aftermaths.
“In my experience, each faculty member in the philosophy department exudes the infectious
enthusiasm that will carry you through even the most baroque chains of reasoning.”
We integrate this approach into a broader emphasis on the history of philosophy as a cluster of research areas in their own right, as a set of methodological orientations and as the necessary background for work in contemporary thought. To this end, you’ll work closely with groups of faculty specializing in each of the main periods of the history of philosophy, including ancient and classical philosophy, medieval philosophy and modern philosophy.
Our graduate program is built around small seminars that engage primary texts and conceptual problems. Our mission is to provide you with advanced philosophical training so that you may pursue high-quality independent research under the mentorship of faculty, become independent members of the international philosophical community and find full-time academic employment or fulfilling careers outside of academia.
Program Information
Immerse yourself in post-Kantian European philosophy. Engage with faculty in German idealism, phenomenology, social/political philosophy, psychoanalysis, structuralism, poststructuralism. Small seminars focus on primary texts.
Degree
Doctorate
Academic Department
Philosophy
Required Credit Hours
55
Program Features
Duquesne’s Department of Philosophy was among the first in the United States to concentrate on phenomenology and, more broadly, 19th- and 20th-century Continental thought. In our M.A. program, you’ll work with dedicated faculty specializing in German idealism, the phenomenological traditions, social and political philosophy, psychoanalytic theory, structuralism, poststructuralism and their aftermaths.
We integrate this approach into a broader emphasis on the history of philosophy as
a cluster of research areas in their own right and as necessary background for understanding
contemporary thought. To this end, you’ll take courses with experts in each of the
main periods of the history of philosophy, including ancient, medieval, modern and
contemporary philosophy.
We welcome Ph.D. program applicants who hold previous M.A. degrees as well as those beginning their graduate study in philosophy. If you choose to transfer coursework from a previous philosophy M.A., we’ll help you move into dissertation writing at an accelerated rate. If you’re not sure whether our Ph.D. or M.A. program is right for you, apply to the Ph.D.
As a student in our Ph.D. program, your philosophical life will reach well beyond the classroom through our extensive visiting speakers series, a graduate research colloquium, student- and faculty-organized reading groups and strong graduate student organizations.
We strongly encourage reading philosophical works in their original languages.
We place a premium on our students developing a high level of competence in the languages related to their doctoral research. To that end, we offer substantial support enabling you to pursue language study throughout the academic year and in summer language programs abroad.
As a doctoral student in philosophy, you can expand your horizons through an exchange program with Heidelberg University. Founded in 1386, Germany’s Heidelberg University has one of the most storied and prestigious philosophy programs in the world.
The Heidelberg Exchange Program also offers opportunities for our philosophy graduate instructors to design and teach Spring Break Away courses at Heidelberg.
As a doctoral student, you will serve as a teaching assistant for your first two years and then teach your own introductory courses. We prepare you by offering two seminars on the art of teaching philosophy, and the Center for Teaching Excellence provides additional, more general training.
Students admitted to our Ph.D. program receive an assistantship renewable for five years; tuition credits covering all required seminars, continuing enrollment credits, and language course enrollments; substantial travel funding for presentation of research at academic conferences; substantial summer funding for intensive language work abroad; as well as opportunities for additional funding through competitively awarded dissertation research grants for the sixth year. In return for the funding package, Ph.D. students assist faculty with small classes for two years and teach their own classes for three. We occasionally consider admission for self-funded or externally-funded applicants.
We place students in competitive postdoctoral and grant-funded positions (including Fulbrights, Mellon-funded positions, Chateaubriands and European Research Council positions) and tenure-track positions, and our training initiatives for students seeking alt-academic careers have led to satisfying careers.
See recent placements and dissertations
Application Requirements
Submit the online application through the graduate application portal. Once submitted, the system will generate an application checklist page and allow applicants to upload all supplementary documents.
The next deadline to submit an application for our Ph.D. program is January 15, 2025 (we admit to the Ph.D. program for fall matriculation only).
Submit a transcript from each college or university you have attended. For the application process, transcripts from U.S. institutions may be submitted as legible scans (if you are accepted, you will be required to submit official transcripts before matriculating). If you hold prior degrees from institution located outside the U.S., you are required to have an official course-by-course report from a transcript credential evaluation service sent directly to Duquesne University. Please review our Transcript Credential Evaluation Directions.
- Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores are optional. They will be considered if submitted as supplemental information.
- Language test scores (international students only)
- Valid TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo language test scores are required for all applicants who do not hold U.S., Australian, Canadian, Irish, New Zealander or U.K. citizenship; U.S. permanent resident status; or U.S. refugee/asylum status. If you are not covered by this list, you may still request a language test score waiver if you meet any of the following conditions: English is your native or primary language; you have completed four years of undergraduate-level coursework or two years of graduate-level coursework at an accredited U.S. university; you have completed four years of undergraduate-level coursework or two years of graduate-level coursework at an accredited non-U.S. university where English is the language of instruction. A prompt to request a waiver on any of these grounds is built into the online application system, so please do not directly contact the philosophy department to request a waiver. If you are required to submit a language test score, applications cannot be reviewed (and application checklist page test score items will remain marked as "awaiting materials") until official language score reports are received directly from testing agencies.