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Nov 21, 2024
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2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog [Current Academic Year]
Philosophy [BA]
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Revised Program [Fall 2024]
The Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy program nurtures habits of thinking, writing, and communicating that prepare students to respond well to the complex realities of professional, social, and personal life. Our pluralistic, socially engaged faculty guides students in critically analyzing prevailing values, norms, and institutions. We empower students to imagine and create flourishing lives and communities.
Learn
All philosophy courses focus on careful reading, thinking, and clear expression. You may select from a wide array of content—from applied ethics to non-Western philosophy—to meet the requirements of the major, which includes courses in value theory (ethics, aesthetics), social justice, knowledge and reality, the history of Western philosophy, logic and critical reasoning, and global and feminist perspectives. Students master the skills of reading, critical thinking, and analysis essential to success in the professional world and develop the abilities to think and write clearly, as well as the capacity to grasp the intricacies of difficult problems facing the world today.
Opportunities
Philosophy majors develop widely transferable skills, including critical reasoning and critical writing, the ability to solve problems, the facility to communicate clearly and effectively, and the capability to analyze and assess a situation from diverse points of view. These skills are valuable in every profession.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Philosophy majors have a higher average starting salary than any other major in the Humanities. Further, Philosophy and Mathematics majors have higher mid-career salary growth than any other major.
Philosophy majors do exceptionally well on exams for graduate or professional schools. They score higher than any other major on the verbal and analytic writing portions of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and well above the mean on the quantitative reasoning section. Philosophy majors rank second overall on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) and third overall on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).
Graduates of philosophy programs are employed in many different areas, including:
- Law and public policy
- Computer programming
- Technical writing
- Editing, journalism, and public relations
- Criminal justice
- Business
- Higher education
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Major Requirements: 33 hours
This major requires students to complete 33 credit hours, including a minimum of 15 credit hours at the 300-level or above, and a maximum of six hours at the 100-level.
Students have two options for satisfying the requirements of this major: either the standard path (18 hours of required courses and 15 hours of restricted electives) or declaring a concentration as outlined below. Declaring a concentration is optional.
Regardless of a student’s path, they must satisfy the distribution requirements listed under “Required Courses” below.
Required Courses: 18 hours
Satisfactorily complete at least one course in each of the following six core areas.
Restricted Elective Courses: 15 hours
Select an additional 15 credit hours from above or any PHIL course (100-499), not already taken.
Concentration (optional):
Selecting a concentration is optional. Choosing a concentration provides the student with a structured approach to satisfying the major’s required and restricted elective coursework. If a student declares a concentration, they must complete the required 12 credit hours and 21 credit hours of additional coursework to fulfill the 33 hours required for the major. Regardless of a student’s concentration, they must satisfy the distribution requirements listed under “Required Courses” above. After the student completes all the requirements for the concentration, it will be added to their transcript. Visit emich.edu/uacdc/forms/declaration to declare your concentration.
Environmental Justice: 33 hours
Students in the Environmental Justice concentration will study philosophical perspectives on a range of topics relevant to environmental justice. These topics include: the values and normative principles that support environmentalism and environmental policy; conceptions of sustainability and climate justice; the ethical aspects of food production, consumption, and distribution; conceptions of nature or the environment relevant to environmental decision-making and policy; views regarding the human place in nature; and the relation between science and values. This concentration will be of interest to students considering a variety of careers or professional activities, such as environmental law, environmental policy analysis, environmental communication, and environmental justice advocacy work.
Law and Justice: 33 hours
The Law and Justice concentration provides students with a range of tools for analyzing laws, public policies, formal and informal social norms, and institutional arrangements that raise questions of justice. This concentration will be of interest to students considering a variety of careers or professional activities, such as the practice of law, public policy analysis, or justice-based advocacy in communities or workplaces.
Professional and Applied Ethics: 33 hours
In the Professional and Applied Ethics concentration, students will study philosophical perspectives on ethical norms, principles, and conceptions of ethical life. These perspectives provide tools for identifying, analyzing, and exploring solutions to ethical issues in a variety of practical contexts. This concentration will be of interest to students considering a range of careers or professional activities, where an advanced understanding of ethics is indispensable. Examples include participating in the formulation of policies aimed at addressing ethical issues in biomedical research, healthcare, business, management, education, or government; or serving on an ethics advisory board within a professional organization.
Mind and Cognition: 33 hours
In the Mind and Cognition concentration, students will study problems and theories related to cognition, reasoning, decision-making, subjectivity, objectivity, and judgment. This concentration is appropriate for students who are considering a variety of professions, including human services (such as psychology or counseling), human relations, computer science (including artificial intelligence), education, neuroscience, and management.
Global Philosophy: 33 hours
In the Global Philosophy concentration, students will study a variety of perspectives from cultures around the globe pertinent to issues regarding social justice, ethics, political theory, religious belief and practices, and the nature of reality. This concentration is appropriate for students who are considering a variety of professions, including business, business management, international affairs, communication, foreign service, journalism, education, aviation, and hotel and restaurant management.
Minor Requirement:
This major requires a minor. See available minors for a list of options, or contact your advisor.
Program Total:
Students must earn a minimum total of 120 credits at the 100-level or above.
Critical Graduation Information
Each undergraduate student will be responsible for fulfilling the requirements (or their equivalents) of the Eastern Michigan University catalog in force at the time of their initial registration at a college or university or a subsequent catalog, including the one in effect at the time of their graduation.
In the event an undergraduate student does not complete the degree requirements within seven years of the date of their original registration at a college or university, the student may be required to have their credits re-evaluated by the academic department(s) of their major/minor in keeping with catalog requirements in force during the year of their graduation.
Minimum requirements for all bachelor’s degrees awarded by Eastern Michigan University
Some majors and minors require more than the minimum in one or more of the areas below; students are urged to consult this catalog for the requirements of their particular programs.
- Earn a minimum total of 120 credit hours at the 100-level and above.
- Courses numbered below 100 are not counted toward this degree requirement.
- At most, eight credit hours of physical education (PEGN) activity courses are counted toward this requirement.
- Meet the requirements of the General Education program (see information below), including completing a Writing Intensive (GEWI) course in the student’s major.
- Earn a minimum of 60 credits from a four-year college or university; courses taken at community colleges cannot be used to meet this requirement (Some formal program-to-program articulation agreements modify this requirement. See specific agreements for details).
- Earn a minimum of 30 credits from courses taken at EMU.
- Complete 10 of the last 30 hours for the degree from courses taken at EMU.
- Have a minimum of 30 unique credit hours in their major and 20 unique credit hours in their minor for a total of at least 50 unique credit hours between them. Some majors that require 50 or more hours themselves do not require a minor. A double major automatically satisfies the need for a minor unless one of the two majors requires a specific minor. Students should check the requirements of the selected major in the undergraduate catalog to see if a minor is required.
- Earn no more than 60 credit hours in one subject area (prefix). Credits over the 60 maximum will not be counted toward the minimum of 120 credits required for a bachelor’s degree.
- Earn the minimum number of credits in 300-level and above courses in each major and minor as specified below - these credits must be earned in distinct courses; that is, no course can be used to fulfill this requirement in more than one major or minor.
- Earn a minimum of 6 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each minor
- Earn a minimum of 9 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that requires a minor.
- Earn a minimum of 15 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that does not require a minor
- Transfer credit will be awarded for courses taken at colleges and universities that are accredited by one of the recognized regional accrediting bodies only if the courses are college-level (equated to 100-level or above at EMU) and the student earned a “C” (or 2.0 on a 4 point scale) or better. Transfer credit may be awarded on a case-by-case basis for college-level courses in which a “C” (2.0) or better was earned at institutions outside the U.S. or at non-accredited U.S. institutions; individual departments/schools conduct the internal review of such courses within EMU, and additional documentation may be required. Please note: EMU awards only credit for transferred courses; grades are not used to calculate an EMU GPA.
- Earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 in courses taken at EMU to graduate. In addition, a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 must be reached in each major and minor. Only courses a student takes at EMU and those applied to their major or minor are used to calculate their major and minor cumulative GPAs. (Note: some programs may require a higher GPA - check with your program advisor.)
General Education Requirements - EMU’s General Education Program requires students to choose from a menu of approved courses in several different areas; do not assume that other courses in the same department or similar names will fulfill these requirements. A detailed description of General Education requirements is available in the General Education section of the catalog.
Students who transferred to EMU may have modified general education requirements based on Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA) or articulation agreements; consult your academic advisor for additional information.
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