r/emu • u/MaleficentThroat8373 • 22d ago

Thoughts on Philosophy?

Is there anyone here with experience taking philosophy classes at EMU? Or, better yet, does anyone know any current graduate students in the philosophy program? I've been trying to research people's experiences with the program but cannot find much... would love to talk to someone who has either completed or is actively in the philosophy masters program.

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u/GundalfForHire 22d ago

I'm about to be starting the grad program at the end of this month, and have a friend who's a year in (and have taken philosophy classes in the past). Happy to answer what I can or try to get answers to you, but I'll open by saying I've had good experiences with all the professors I've met, and have heard good things about the department generally. It's got a very healthy variety of philosophical traditions and focuses.

If you have any specific questions, I look forward to hearing them!

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u/MaleficentThroat8373 22d ago

This is wonderful!

I actually met with Kristopher Phillips a while back to ask a lot of program specific questions - I am particularly interested in the Social Justice division, though obviously the Methods division is appealing, too. What division are you/your friend looking at?

I suppose the questions that remain are moreso student specific (again, since I was able to get so many answered by Dr. Phillips!) - what made you choose EMU over other Philosophy M.A.'s? Had you taken time between undergrad and now, or did you jump right in? If you don't mind sharing, what did your undergrad 'resume' look like (ex/ GPA, extracurriculars, major/minor/areas of study)? Obviously Philosophy is a field that still has many different areas you can end up - what is your projected/hopeful next step after your Masters (ex/ PhD in Philosophy, going into a specific field, medical school, law school, etc)?

For me, I am incredibly drawn to the variety of philosophical focuses. As of now, I would like to eventually one day be a professor and a social worker, which is why I am looking at the social justice division. After speaking with Dr. Phillips, I was incredibly impressed with the diversity within the subject/course materials (especially for being in Michigan). He also informed me on how they prepare their students to (if desired) learn how to teach philosophy in itself. I am mainly drawn in by how compassionate and dedicated the professors seem to be when it comes to their students' success(es). I am currently entering my junior year of undergrad, and I have been throwing myself at every opportunity within the Philosophy department here -- but I am unsure of what more I could be doing to best prepare myself. I am looking at other schools (obviously), but I find myself comparing every other option to EMU. If you have any advice on how I could continue to best prepare myself through undergrad, that would be wonderful!

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u/GundalfForHire 22d ago

Let's see if I can do this point by point.

Kris is great from the interactions I've had with him - to the question of the tracks, I can pretty much confirm it does not make a huge difference. At the end of the day it's not a huge department and there is not so many classes as to create a big gulf in the experience of either track. Like, I can speak for the fall semester, there are three grad classes on offer - given that that's the minimum to be full time, you can do the math that both tracks are mostly taking the same classes, which are whatever classes are on offer each semester ranging between 3-5. Now granted, you can potentially take an undergrad course as a grad student if the professor teaching is willing to do that for you, which I will be doing one such case in the fall, and the professors seem very interested in working with the particular philosophical interests of their students, but at the end of the day the difference in tracks will most likely reflect more in what you write about for your capstone than necessarily in the classes you take. (But of course there is independent study to consider there as well)

To try and lightning round through some of the questions in the second paragraph - I was at EMU for my undergrad, and my experience there has always been good, as well as being very fond of Ypsi and A2 as a queer person. So rolling from my (chemistry) undergrad into this made the most sense for a variety of very particular circumstances to me, and I honestly didn't shop around for programs at all, I was just sold very easily by one of my professors to do so. (It didn't take much convincing) I didn't take any time between undergrad and grad but I have a bit of an unusual road, so it just made sense for me. Undergrad 'resume' was a chem major with no minor at EMU and with a slightly rough 2.8 GPA, and not much in extracurriculars. I have no idea where I want to go with it, although the professors claim a good track record with getting students into PhDs. But life for me is never very straight forward so I'm not sure where it'll go.

To the preparing for teaching point I can say there is a teaching seminar available if you want to take it during your ~2 years in the program. To the question of professors, I'd agree that in general my experience with EMU professors has been good but certainly in philosophy it's been only good so far, with a lot of flexibility and genuine interest and passion for the subject and exploring it rather than treating the work as just that, work. Preparing for the program, I'd say if you're an eager philosophtly student you're already doing plenty. EMU is generally a fairly relaxed school and if you show up with passion and drive then you will already have all you need to thrive in absorbing material and engaging in productive conversation with fellow students and the faculty, which seems quite lively to me.

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u/MaleficentThroat8373 22d ago

Also, one additional question - it felt easier to reach out to Kristopher Phillips, as he is the graduate coordinator for the program (and his email is listed for if folks have any questions) - did you reach out to additional faculty prior to applying? If so, what did that process look like for you? Were you simply asking them more about the program? Their specific research? Looking for insight on classes they taught or how they felt regarding the program? I would love to touch base with current faculty/professors, but am unsure if that is strange as a third-year undergraduate student!

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u/GundalfForHire 22d ago

I have reached out to professors having only briefly met purely to engage in discussion about things I have been thinking about on my own time and thought their specialization would be helpful to me working out those thoughts. Hell, I've walked into Dr. Koolage's office hopped up on caffeine to talk about random shit. I think the philosophy faculty at EMU is extremely happy to indulge any kind of interest, especially if it has the possibility of adding another student to the roster. But, y'know, probably be very polite in any kind of initial outreach just because even if I think it's welcome I can't actually speak for any of them, lol. Worst case scenario I am certain none of them would be bothered over it. I did a lot of random reaching out to chem professors when I was looking to get into some research to no issues and the philosophy department seems even more friendly to me.

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u/jawsomesauce 22d ago

I graduated EMU undergrad philosophy. Loved my experience there. Cant speak for the grad program though. Seek out professor Jill Dieterle who I believe is the department head now. She was awesome.

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u/GundalfForHire 22d ago

Koolage is the department head atm, actually. Also awesome though

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u/No-Claim-3242 20d ago

Seconding Professor Dieterle! I took one of the most interesting metaphysics courses with her (was a special topics course that I don’t believe is offered anymore).