International Reputation of Distance Learning Programs in Philosophy

[Tom Head]

Brian Leiter's "Philosophical Gourmet" report from October 1998 ranks undergraduate and graduate programs in philosophy into four tiers comprising a "Top 45" schools, plus runner-ups:
http://hps.elte.hu:8080/report.html

Among the highlights:

* Many of the ranked U.S. schools have distance learning programs, but none of them (to my knowledge) have distance learning programs in philosophy. The only salient bit here is that Vanderbilt University, where John Bear's wife earned a Ph.D. in philosophy with emphasis on ethics, is ranked among the strongest in the country in the subcategory of ethics.

* The University of London, which offers a B.A. in philosophy through the External Programme and also likely offers external research arrangements on a case by case basis, is ranked.

* The University of Sheffield, which may offer Ph.D.'s by external research arrangement on a case by case basis, is ranked.

* Australia's Monash University, which offers dozens of distance learning programs (including a master's in philosophy), is ranked. This surprises me, because several people told me that Monash was emphatically unprestigious.
Then again, I was told the same about USQ -- which tied with Wollongong for the Good Universities Guide's top slot this year.

* The University of Western Ontario, which offers many bachelor's programs (including one in philosophy, if memory serves), is ranked.

* The University of Birmingham, which may allow external research degree arrangements on a case by case basis (and officially offers several master's programs by distance learning), is ranked.

* McGill University, which offers some distance learning programs, is a runner-up/notable candidate.

* The University of Bristol, which may allow external research degree arrangements on a case by case basis, is a runner-up/notable candidate.

* The University of Glasgow, which will be firing up a distance learning master's in philosophy later this year, is a runner-up/notable candidate.

* The University of Melbourne, which allows students to undertake an external research Ph.D. in philosophy through an approved local institution, is a runner-up/notable candidate.

For those of you looking for a research degree in philosophy from an international "name" school, this list may not be a bad place to start. In addition to the schools already named, most of the foreign schools have policies for low-residency research programs (the only real question is, of course: how low can you go?).


Peace,

Tom

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[Dan Snelson]

Tom,

Have you actually had your CSUDH Master's Degree awarded? Will you be coming to LA anytime, or are you going to keep it totally distance? If you do come out give me a shout, I will buy you lunch.

Dan

[Tom Head]

Originally posted by Dan Snelson:

[/b]
Hey, Dan! Great to have you back! How you doing?

Tom,

Have you actually had your CSUDH Master's Degree awarded?

Sort of; I'm currently sitting in a space-time rift, since I graduated on December 22nd but my degree has not yet cleared (though it's supposed to sometime this week).

[QUOTE]Will you be coming to LA anytime, or are you going to keep it totally distance?
[/quote]

Distance all the way, man; I am the duke of distance, the noble of nonresidential, the oracle of off-campus -- er, sorry, got a little carried away there.

If you do come out give me a shout, I will buy you lunch.

Hey, thanks! If I find myself heading to L.A., I will definitely give you a shout out and take you up on that offer.

Take it easy!


Peace,

Tom

[Dan Snelson]

Originally posted by Tom Head:
Hey, thanks! If I find myself heading to L.A., I will definitely give you a shout out and take you up on that offer.

Take it easy!


Peace,

Tom

Well Tom,
Since you asked...

I currently am enrolled in the Power Writing class at Charter Oak State College to complete my English requirement for my Bachelors degree. I also have a 5 unit Spanish class for work (hey, it nails my Liberal arts requirements too <G> ).

I am submitting a *special Assessment* for my national certification in Prosthetics and Orthotics, which will complete my degree.

I have been very happy with the staff at COSC, they have been very accommodating and accessible.

Dan

[Jack Tracey]

Originally posted by Tom Head:
Brian Leiter's "Philosophical Gourmet" report from October 1998 ranks undergraduate and graduate programs in philosophy into four tiers comprising a "Top 45" schools, plus runner-ups:
http://hps.elte.hu:8080/report.html

Among the highlights:

* Many of the ranked U.S. schools have distance learning programs, but none of them (to my knowledge) have distance learning programs in philosophy. The only salient bit here is that Vanderbilt University, where John Bear's wife earned a Ph.D. in philosophy with emphasis on ethics, is ranked among the strongest in the country in the subcategory of ethics.

* The University of London, which offers a B.A. in philosophy through the External Programme and also likely offers external research arrangements on a case by case basis, is ranked.

* The University of Sheffield, which may offer Ph.D.'s by external research arrangement on a case by case basis, is ranked.

* Australia's Monash University, which offers dozens of distance learning programs (including a master's in philosophy), is ranked. This surprises me, because several people told me that Monash was emphatically unprestigious.
Then again, I was told the same about USQ -- which tied with Wollongong for the Good Universities Guide's top slot this year.

* The University of Western Ontario, which offers many bachelor's programs (including one in philosophy, if memory serves), is ranked.

* The University of Birmingham, which may allow external research degree arrangements on a case by case basis (and officially offers several master's programs by distance learning), is ranked.

* McGill University, which offers some distance learning programs, is a runner-up/notable candidate.

* The University of Bristol, which may allow external research degree arrangements on a case by case basis, is a runner-up/notable candidate.

* The University of Glasgow, which will be firing up a distance learning master's in philosophy later this year, is a runner-up/notable candidate.

* The University of Melbourne, which allows students to undertake an external research Ph.D. in philosophy through an approved local institution, is a runner-up/notable candidate.

For those of you looking for a research degree in philosophy from an international "name" school, this list may not be a bad place to start. In addition to the schools already named, most of the foreign schools have policies for low-residency research programs (the only real question is, of course: how low can you go?).


Peace,

Tom

Hi Tom - Thanks for the reminder about the Phil. Gourmet Report, I hadn't looked at it for some time. I'm considering the Univ. of Natal research doctoral program in philosophy. Why there? Low cost ($1,800. per year) and the clarity of their catalog (compared to UNISA) My background is more in psychology however and I'm concerned about my ability to do quality doctoral level research in such an independent manner based on my current level of experience in that field. Would you say something about your experience at CSUDH HUX program? It seems that it might be a good way to prepare myself for the PhD.
Arguments against: Do I want another Masters
degree? Are there too many non-philosophy courses required? Your feedback would be appreciated. BTW, the URL for Natal has changed since Bears 13th edition. It is now http://nu.ac.za
Thanks, Jack

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[John Bear]

Jack Tracey wrote: <<I'm considering the Univ. of Natal research doctoral program in philosophy.>>

And now I'm even more confused than usual. In the course of working on Bears' Guide 14, we wrote to all the non-US universities that have DL degrees, to clarify their policy on accepting US-based students. Natal was one of those that said "No," and so we moved them to a new Appendix called "Accredited Foreign Schools that Don't Accept US Students."

Now I'm wondering if we got incorrect information from them.

John

[Tom Head]

Let's bring this horse back from the dead:

Something I have found useful, even more useful than the Philosophical Gourmet ranking, is to look at the country where I'm considering a DL program, look for its most prominent journal in the specific philosophy field I'm interested in (ethics or process philosophy or what have you), and see where the articles are coming from. Peer-reviewed journals seem to be the best general indicator of a university's research strength in a given field.


Peace,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

[Yan]

Originally posted by Tom Head:
Australia's Monash University, which offers dozens of distance learning programs (including a master's in philosophy), is ranked. This surprises me, because several people told me that Monash was emphatically unprestigious.

Monash University is a 5 star (top) university in Australia. However, there was a merge of university with nearby institutions of higher (or advanced) education some years ago. Therefore, the original campus of the university maintains the original high standard of education and research. Other campuses (that is former institutions of higher education) may be at lower standard,even though they are using the same university's name and considered as parts of the university (but with different campuses). The situation may be a little bit similar with the different campuses of state univerisity in the US (of course, the US state universities at different locations in the same state are completely independent in finance and administration,etc. matters, they are regarded as different universities).

[Caballero Lacaye]

Originally posted by John Bear:
Jack Tracey wrote: <<I'm considering the Univ. of Natal research doctoral program in philosophy.>>

And now I'm even more confused than usual. In the course of working on Bears' Guide 14, we wrote to all the non-US universities that have DL degrees, to clarify their policy on accepting US-based students. Natal was one of those that said "No," and so we moved them to a new Appendix called "Accredited Foreign Schools that Don't Accept US Students."

Now I'm wondering if we got incorrect information from them.

John

Hello, Dr. Bear!

I am more than glad to see you again.

On the other hand, John, there are some institutions that supposedly accept US students at a distance like the University of South Australia. Notwithstanding, when I inquired about a degree I was interested in, I was told that only Australian citizens were allowed to register on an external basis. Thus, I agree with you: this is confusing.

My best regards,


Karlos Alberto Lacaye
caballerolacaye@newsmail.org

[BillDayson]

Originally posted by Tom Head:
Let's bring this horse back from the dead:

Something I have found useful, even more useful than the Philosophical Gourmet ranking, is to look at the country where I'm considering a DL program, look for its most prominent journal in the specific philosophy field I'm interested in (ethics or process philosophy or what have you), and see where the articles are coming from. Peer-reviewed journals seem to be the best general indicator of a university's research strength in a given field.

I've been thinking about something like this for a while.

It seems to me that anyone contemplating graduate work in a scholarly field like philosophy or religious studies, especially at the doctoral level, should already have some research interests.

So the point isn't to choose a university with high overall institutional prestige, as so many here keep arguing, it isn't even to pick a strong department in your field. I think that one should look for a program that has strengths and interests in your particular specialty within that field, and which can support your individual dissertation research.

Most people who have interests at the advanced level have already done some reading. So I agree with Tom and suggest looking for articles addressing your pet issues in all the journals that you can access, and look for institutional affiliations. Then look at the citation lists in each paper and follow up those leads.

Not only will the resulting list give you an understanding of the "geography" of your discipline, if you actually take time to read the papers (or even skim them), you will be doing a literature search that will be both an education in itself and preparation for writing a dissertation proposal.

The list would have to be edited though, because you won't agree with everything you read. It would be a career-killer right off the bat to sign on with a professor that you strongly disagree with and then set about trying to write a dissertation undercutting his work. So that means that you can't just pick a department strong in your specialty, you have to pick one with a compatable approach as well.

It's issues like this that explain why I've preached on other threads that choosing a doctoral program is like falling in love. It's an individual thing and one size does not fit all.

A problem I see is when we start introducing external non-academic contraints. Those are factors like the cost of the program or its nationality, and most obviously the requirement that it be a distance-education program in the first place. That last one will shrink the universe of possibles down so dramatically that some serious compromises will probably be necessary.

In my personal case I have pretty much abandoned the idea of doing a doctorate by distance education at if I choose to pursue one at all (undecided at this point.) I'm looking at on-campus study at CIIS in San Francisco currently. They have specialties that parallel my interests as well as several faculty members that I already am familiar with.

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[Tom Head]

Originally posted by BillDayson:
I've been thinking about something like this for a while.

It seems to me that anyone contemplating graduate work in a scholarly field like philosophy or religious studies, especially at the doctoral level, should already have some research interests.

So the point isn't to choose a university with high overall institutional prestige, as so many here keep arguing, it isn't even to pick a strong department in your field. I think that one should look for a program that has strengths and interests in your particular specialty within that field, and which can support your individual dissertation research.

Well said, and I can't stress it highly enough. I've basically removed the very prestigious University of Manchester from my short list because, even though it has a prestigious department in my field, it does not have the same level of faculty in my specific research areas as the other four schools I'm considering.


Peace,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net