Learning Objectives of the Philosophy M.A.

 Upon completion of the Philosophy M.A., students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate advanced levels of written and oral communication in philosophical argument as addressed to audiences of both specialists and non-specialists in the field.
2. Demonstrate a professional-level ability to formulate a valid research question in a field of philosophical inquiry and address that research question in an article-length essay that includes evidence from both primary and secondary sources.
3. Demonstrate advanced knowledge of core areas and methods of the global history of philosophy, including major figures, ideas, and philosophical traditions.
4. Demonstrate advanced knowledge of major ethical and aesthetic theories.
5. Demonstrate a professional-level ability to offer philosophically rigorous argumentation on behalf of ethical and/or aesthetic choices.
6. Demonstrate an advanced understanding of influential philosophical conceptions of the nature of reality, knowledge, language, and the human mind.
7. Demonstrate an advanced understanding of influential philosophical conceptions of the nature of logic and reasoning or an ability to solve philosophical problems by using the tools of logical reasoning and formal languages.
8. Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the ways in which culture, race, ethnicity, gender, economic class, sexual orientation, ability or disability, and national membership influence perceptions about the nature of value, practical reason, reality, knowledge, language, or the human mind.
9. Students completing an MA in Philosophy will be able to effectively teach a range of courses at the undergraduate level in diverse formats (in-person, online synchronous and online asynchronous).