2.4 Course-Number Requirements

Before the end of their sixth semester in full-time graduate study, students must pass at least 14 courses offered by or approved in advance by the Philosophy Department, where:

  1. at least 9 of these 14 courses must be 8000-level courses (see Course Descriptions), taken for a grade.
  2. none of the 14 courses may be 8193 courses taken in connection with writing a dissertation;
  3. any course that counts for distribution credit automatically counts for the course-number requirement;
  4. apart from the courses for which the student has elected the departmental pass/fail option (see below), the grade earned must be “B” or better; and,

Departmental pass/fail option.  Each fall and spring semester during the first two years of enrollment, a student may take at most one course pass/fail per semester. Passing may require satisfying all course requirements except the final paper. Substantial written work should not be required during the final weeks of the semester. Faculty should clearly communicate the requirements for the pass/fail option in the syllabus for any graduate seminar or 5000-level course. This option cannot be exercised for any seminar offered outside the fall and spring.  Nor can it be exercised during a semester in which the student is taking a non-logic 5000-level course, unless for that very course.

Reading Course Policy. Ordinarily courses taken as 5193 may not count towards the 14 required graduate courses. In special cases, however, 5193 courses may count toward the permitted 5000-level courses (see Course Descriptions) from the required 14.  To have a 5193 course count as one of the permitted 5000-level courses, a student would have to file a petition with the Graduate Committee. Normally, such a petition would not be approved unless both items listed below are satisfied:

1. The amount of student work required and the course content is appropriate for a regular graduate course or seminar in the Department.

2. As indicated by the instructor of the 5193 course, the student would have received a grade of B or better had the course been assigned a grade; and the student’s schedule/course of study or the Department’s course offerings necessitate the coverage of this material in a 5193 course.

Coursework. Graduate students who wish to pursue an MA, Graduate Minor, or Interdisciplinary Specialization are encouraged to contact the Director of Graduate Studies as soon as possible to discuss their plans. Graduate students may petition for two non-philosophy courses to count towards their course number requirements (although not as required seminars) when this contributes towards their research in philosophy.

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