Our MA Program | College of Arts

Our MA Program

Welcome!

Our MA program provides you with the professional skills needed to flourish within or outside academia. The MA can be pursued as preparation for a PhD, but need not be: Graduates from our MA program have entered high-quality PhD programs as well as pursuing careers in non-academic fields; see our MA outcomes page.

Our MA program has two streams, a one-year coursework-based program and a two-year program involving an orally-defended thesis. For the one-year program we typically offer three semesters of funding (Fall, Winter and Summer) and for the two-year program we typically offer four semesters of funding (two Falls and Winters); and there are additional funding opportunities. The Philosophy of Data Science (PODS) is a specialist field, one-year MA degree, with its own requirements. You can check out  the PODS program here.
 

What our MA programs look like:

One-year MA:

Take the (one-semester) MA Seminar
Take at least 5 additional Philosophy graduate courses
Take the Major Research Project in Philosophy course, producing a graded paper of about 8,000 words
For more information, see our one-year MA page.

PODS MA:
PHIL*6400 Ethics of Data Science
PHIL*6410 Philosophy of Computation
STAT*6950 Statistical Methods for the Life Sciences
PHIL*6950 MA Seminar
PHIL*6990 Major Research Project
Two electives (in Philosophy or another field related to the student’s research interests)

Two-year MA:

Take the (two-semester) MA Seminar
Take at least 3 additional Philosophy graduate courses
Write a thesis of about 25,000 words and successfully defend it at an Oral Examination
 

We give our MA students teaching opportunities:

Our biggest courses all have tutorial components--as a teaching assistant for those classes, you get the opportunity to run your own weekly tutorial classes with undergrads. The department will provide you with lots of resources to help you out with any questions you might have about preparing and teaching your tutorial classes in the form of workshops, faculty mentoring, and MA seminar discussions. 
 

We also offer interdisciplinary options:

We have options for our graduate students to explore interdisciplinary avenues of research. Graduate students are free to take courses outside of philosophy and a number of our students have availed themselves of this opportunity. We also offer collaborative programs at the MA and PhD levels with International Development Studies and Neuroscience (please see below for information about these program options). The Philosophy of Data Science (PODS) MA field is by nature interdisciplinary.
 

How to Apply:

Doing the program:

Interdisciplinary MA Collaborative Specialization in Sexualities, Genders and Bodies (SGB) 

The Philosophy MA or PhD can be combined with a SGB collaborative specialization. Students in SGB study advanced concepts relating to human identity, embodiment, and self-expression. Students explore theories drawn from the fields of feminism, decolonialism, postcolonialism, LGBTQ+, race/whiteness, queer-of-colour, indigeneity, masculinities, and disability/crip studies among many others. Students engage with these topics from interdisciplinary perspectives and apply these concepts, theories, and methodologies to research in their home discipline.

In addition to Philosophy program course requirements, students take: 

  • SXGN*6000: Somatic Entanglements: Issues and Methods
  • SXGN*6100: Challenging Bodies: Theorizing Sexualities and Genders

Please ensure that your statement of intent explains how your research ideas fit with the SGB specialization, and also explains how your background and interests will contribute to the vitality of the specialization.

Please visit the SGB website for more information.

Interdisciplinary MA Collaborative Specialization in Neuroscience (CSN)

The Philosophy MA or PhD can be combined with a Neuroscience collaborative specialization. The Collaborative Specialization in Neuroscience offers the opportunity for Master’s and PhD students to combine their studies in Philosophy with multidisciplinary exposure to the field of neuroscience. Doctoral and Master’s (thesis or course work and major research paper) students wishing to undertake graduate studies with emphasis on neuroscience will be admitted by the Philosophy Department and will register in both Philosophy and in the Collaborative Specialization in Neuroscience.

In addition to Philosophy program course requirements, students take:

  • NEUR 6000: Principles of Neuroscience
  • NEUR*6100 Seminar in Neuroscience
    • students and faculty meet once a month to hear talks from experts in the field and discuss the presented research. NEUR*6100 is a two-semester commitment, and students will register for the course twice each year.

Please ensure that your statement of intent explains how your research ideas fit with the CSN specialization, and also explains how your background and interests will contribute to the vitality of the specialization in neuroscience.

Please visit the CSN website for more information.

Interdisciplinary MA Collaborative Specialization in International Development Studies (IDS)

The Philosophy MA or PhD can be combined with an IDS collaborative specialization. This offers an interdisciplinary framework for the study of international development that combines training in a selected academic discipline with exposure to a broad range of social science perspectives.

In addition to Philosophy program course requirements, students take: 

  • For the MA: "IDS Seminar" (IDEV 6100)
  • For the PhD: "Theories and Debates in Development" (IDEV 6800) and "Developmental Research and Practice" (IDEV 6850)

Please ensure that your statement of intent explains how your research ideas fit with the IDS specialization, and also explains how your background and interests will contribute to the vitality of the specialization in development studies.

Please visit the IDS website for more information.