Placement of M.A. Graduates
Over the past decade, the department has awarded 96 M.A. degrees. Seventy (70) of these 96 graduates chose to apply to Ph.D. programs in philosophy. Of
these 70 graduates who applied to Ph.D. programs:
Seven (7) of our 96 graduates over the past decade immediately entered teaching positions in philosophy at area community colleges upon completing the
M.A., and eleven (11) entered graduate or professional programs in fields other than philosophy. The remainder have pursued a variety of career paths, having
been greatly enriched by their experience at NIU.
Detailed Placement Record, 1999-present
In the tables below, the column on the left indicates whether a graduate applied to Ph.D. programs in philosophy.
| App? |
Title of Writing Sample |
Philosophy Ph.D. Program Entered |
Other Career Path or Comment |
| 2009 |
| Yes |
Worldbound Individuals in Armstrong's Truthmaker Theory |
University of Texas at Austin |
|
| Yes |
Reflective Reasons and Valuable Justification: Against the Knowledge Norm of Assertion |
University of Colorado at Boulder |
|
| No |
|
|
M.A., Anthropology, NIU |
| Yes |
A Consistent Triad: The Possibility of God's Libertarian Freedom in Creating the World |
University of Notre Dame |
|
| Yes |
Which Duty? Which Conception of Humanity? A Critique of Christine Korsgaard's The Sources of Normativity |
Purdue University (deferred) |
Teaching at Elmhurst College |
| Yes |
Kant's Limited Retributive Thesis |
|
Ph.D., Political Science, NIU |
| No |
|
|
Teaching at Hiawatha High School (IL) |
| Yes |
The Rationality of Faith |
|
Decided to decline offers of admission from two Ph.D. programs |
| No |
|
|
Contributing Editor, News and Stories, Calvin College |
| No |
|
|
Will apply to Ph.D. programs in philosophy for Fall 2010 |
| No |
|
|
Will apply to Ph.D. programs in philosophy for Fall 2010 |
| No |
|
|
Will apply to Ph.D. programs in philosophy for Fall 2010 |
| 2009 graduates were also admitted to philosophy Ph.D. programs at: University of California at Irvine, University of Massachusetts at
Amherst, University of California at Riverside, Washington University (St. Louis), Syracuse University, University of Miami, University of California at
Davis, University of Cincinnati, and Southern Illinois University |
| 2008 |
| Yes |
The Dimensional View of Realization: Successes and Failures |
University of California at San Diego (deferred) |
|
| Yes |
Does the Theist Have an Epistemic Advantage Over the Atheist: Plantinga and Descartes on Theism, Atheism, and Skepticism |
Rutgers University |
|
| Yes |
God, Evil, and Closure |
University of Notre Dame |
|
| Yes |
Justification, Truth, and Bergmann's Theory of Justification |
Ohio State University |
|
| Yes |
The Attenuated Ramblings of a Madman: Feyerabend's Anarchy Examined |
University of California at Davis |
|
| Yes |
Not Available |
|
Th.D., Theology, Boston University |
| Yes |
Epistemic Choice and the Consequence Argument |
|
Teaching English in Korea |
| Yes |
An Internalist Commitment to Morality |
Syracuse University |
|
| No |
|
|
Permanent faculty member at Hinsdale Central High School (IL) |
| No |
|
|
Teaching at Kishwaukee Community College (IL) |
| Yes |
Not available |
Florida State University |
|
| Yes |
|
University of Kansas (deferred) |
Teaching English in Korea |
| No |
|
|
Ph.D., Physics, NIU |
| Yes |
Mental Causation and B Emergentism |
University of Maryland at College Park |
|
| Yes |
Essentialism and the Necessity of Identity |
University of Arizona (transferred to UNC Chapel Hill) |
|
| 2008 graduates were also admitted to philosophy Ph.D. programs at: Indiana University at Bloomington, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, Brown University, Cornell University, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin at Madison, University of Massachusetts at
Amherst, Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Rochester, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Miami, City University
of New York, University of Florida, Purdue University, Arizona State University |
| 2007 |
| Yes |
Knowledge and Certainty: The Case Against Dogmatism |
Indiana University at Bloomington |
|
| Yes |
Freedom Doesn't Come Cheap: The Problem of Properly Ignoring Causal Explanations within a Contextualist Account of Freedom |
University of Wisconsin at Madison |
|
| No |
|
|
Teaching full time at Waubonsee Community College (IL) |
| Yes |
Keeping Utilitarians Honest: Why Utilitarianism Fails as a Normative Theory |
Florida State University |
|
| Yes |
Integrity in Kant's Moral Philosophy |
Tulane University |
|
| Yes |
We Know Not of What We Speak: Wittgenstein's Philosophy of Religion |
|
Ph.D., Theology, Marquette University |
| Yes |
Contextualist Accounts of Freedom Cannot Solve the Problem of Free Will |
University of Washington |
|
| |
|
|
|
| 2007 graduates were also admitted to philosophy Ph.D. programs at: University of Maryland at College Park, University of Rochester,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University, University of Kansas, Marquette University, Loyola University of Chicago, University of
California at Davis, Syracuse University |
| 2006 |
| Yes |
Problems with Situationism and First-Person Deliberation |
Florida State University |
|
| Yes |
Denying Denial: Dretske's Denial of Epistemic Closure |
University of Notre Dame |
|
| No |
|
|
M.A., Anthropology, NIU |
| Yes |
Aristotle's Understanding of Plato's Meno |
University of California at Berkeley |
|
| Yes |
Self-Deception and Emotion |
University of Wisconsin at Madison |
|
| Yes |
|
University of Wisconsin at Madison |
|
| No |
|
|
Teaching at Moraine Valley Community College (IL) |
| Yes |
Much to Do About Suffering |
Michigan State University |
|
| No |
|
|
Teaching at College of DuPage (IL) |
| No |
|
|
Teaching at College of DuPage (IL) and NIU |
| No |
|
|
Ph.D., Political Science, NIU |
| Yes |
|
University of Massachusetts at Amherst |
|
| 2006 graduates were also admitted to philosophy Ph.D. programs at: University of Maryland at College Park, University of California at
Irvine, University of California at Riverside, University of Texas at Austin, Georgetown University, Rice University, Boston University, Villanova
University, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, University of Washington, University of Rochester, University of Indiana at Bloomington, University of
Florida, Johns Hopkins University, Bowling Green State University |
| 2005 |
| Yes |
Questioning Physicalism: Can We Adequately Define "Physical"? |
University of Wisconsin at Madison |
|
| No |
|
|
Private sector |
| Yes |
Exhuming Conclusive Reasons |
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
Ohio State University |
|
| Yes |
On Reaching Closure |
University of California at Davis |
|
| No |
|
|
Private sector |
| Yes |
Not available |
Purdue University |
|
| Yes |
An Examination of Hume's Account of Sympathy |
University at Albany (SUNY) |
|
| No |
|
|
Taught at Kishwaukee Community College (IL) and Sauk Valley Community College (IL) |
| Yes |
Not available |
Indiana University at Bloomington (HPS) |
|
| 2005 graduates were also admitted to philosophy Ph.D. programs at: Brown University, University of Notre Dame, University of California
at San Diego, University of California at Riverside, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, University of Rochester, Johns Hopkins University, University of
Texas at Austin, Syracuse University, University of Iowa |
| 2004 |
| No |
|
|
Returned to law practice |
| No |
|
|
Law school |
| Yes |
Not available |
Rice University |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
Florida State University |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of Iowa |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of Missouri at Columbia |
|
| No |
|
|
Law school |
| 2003 |
| Yes |
Not available |
Catholic University of America |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of South Florida |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of Utah |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of Missouri at Columbia |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
Marquette University |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of Wisconsin at Madison |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University at Buffalo (SUNY) |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of Missouri at Columbia |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
Marquette University |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
Loyola University of Chicago |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of Florida |
|
| 2002 |
| Yes |
Not available |
Indiana University at Bloomington |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
Johns Hopkins University |
|
| No |
|
|
Teaching at College of DuPage (IL) |
| |
|
|
|
| 2001 |
| Yes |
Not available |
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
Loyola University of Chicago |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of Iowa |
|
| No |
|
|
Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Yes |
Not available |
Johns Hopkins University |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of California at Irvine |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of Connecticut |
|
| 2000 |
| Yes |
Not available |
University of California at Davis |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of California at Riverside |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
Florida State University |
|
| No |
|
|
|
| No |
|
|
|
| 1999 |
| Yes |
Not available |
University of California at Davis |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of Illinois at Chicago |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of Rochester |
|
| No |
|
|
Ph.D., Theoretical Computer Science, University of Notre Dame |
| Yes |
Not available |
University of California at Riverside |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
Emory University |
|
| Yes |
Not available |
University of Washington |
|
| No |
|
|
Graduate Student At-Large, NIU |
