• Shaping your Philosophy Major
  • Senior Year for Majors >>
  • The Philosophy Minor






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    • Major and Minor Requirements : Senior Year For Philosophy Majors

    The senior year is by far the most demanding for philosophy majors. There are four major academic tasks scheduled in the fourth year:

    During the senior year, majors may also be engaged in the following time-consuming endeavors:

    • Applying to graduate programs
    • Competing for post-baccalaureate scholarships and fellowships
    • Submitting papers for professional conferences and essay competitions
    • Seeking placement in internships
    • Competing for various teaching in the U.S. and abroad

    The academic challenges of the SIP, Senior Seminar, and Comprehensive examinations are significant. They are scheduled, accordingly, in a staggered and in part overlapping fashion to allow the disciplined student to work at an even pace throughout the entire senior year. The SIP is completed in fall or winter, Senior Seminar extends from fall to winter, and the Comprehensive Examination takes place during the second week of spring term. The two comprehensive exam essays, which are due at the end of fall term, are characteristically selected by the student to function as subsections of his or her SIP. Teaching assistantships are awarded to honors students in connection with their area of expertise. Success in completing senior year requirements demands that students strictly maintain their SIP "schedule of writing," comprehensive examination deadlines, and Senior Seminar participation. Majors are expected to maintain close contact with departmental members - SIP supervisor, Senior Seminar instructor, and departmental chair -- on their progress in completing major requirements.

     

    PREPARATION FOR PROPOSING A SIP TOPIC IN PHILOSOPHY
     

    1. Review Prior Coursework:

    Carrying out individual research in Philosophy that results in a significant manuscript is difficult and challenging work. It requires detailed planning with your supervisor during the sophomore and/or junior year, discipline in maintaining a reading/writing schedule during the senior year, and, throughout, a strong motivation to make an original contribution to the field. First and foremost, the student must be genuinely motivated to address a particular research question and willing to devote about a year of his or her life to concertedly working on it. The student must articulate a precise question, identify and gather the relevant literature on the topic, set out a schedule of reading and writing about such literature, and then faithfully submit writings and revisions to the SIP supervisor. The academic demands of composing a significant document are best addressed by choosing a question in philosophy that one is earnestly -- if not passionately - committed to answering. Your coursework in Philosophy is a key factor to success. It's crucial that a student have a sound foundation for precisely articulating and convincingly answering a philosophical question, and this foundation is to be found in the student's prior coursework within the department. Here are some suggestions for identifying the topic of your SIP:

    Is there a traditional subfield of Philosophy that interests you?

    • Epistemology or "theories of knowledge" (How do we know something?)
    • Ethics or Morality (what ought we to do?)
    • Metaphysics (what is there?).
    • Aesthetics (what is art?)

      Is there a specialized subfield of Philosophy that interests you?

    • Bio-medical Ethics?
    • Ecological Ethics?
    • Philosophy of Science?
    • Philosophy of the Social Sciences?
    • Philosophy of Law?

      Is there a canonical or contemporary philosopher who interests you?

    • Rene Descartes?
    • David Hume?
    • Immanuel Kant?
    • John Van Ornum Quine?
    • Simone DeBeauvoir?
    • Judith Butler?
    • Susan Hacking?

      Is there a specific topic that interests you?

    • The problem of evil?
    • Is the "mind" different from the brain?
    • Is there a right to die?
    • What is human freedom?
    • What's the relationship between the good life and the just life?
    • What did Nietzsche mean by "the will to power"?
     2. Bibliography and Initial Research:
  • List philosophical works that you have read, or plan to read, that may be dicussed or cited in you work.
  • Using standard search programs, conduct a literature search on the topic of your SIP, review materials on hand, and make a tentative selection of books and articles that you plan to read. (NB: read abstracts of articles that may be relevant to you research!)
  • Identify website(s) that may be useful reference sources.

  • Begin an annotated bibliography - a limited selection of the above - that briefly describes the central themes and claims of material most closely related to your topic.

    3. Meeting with SIP Supervisor(s):

    • Submit to your SIP supervisor responses to the following points:

    • What is the question that you will raise and answer in your SIP? (No more than one or two sentences).
    • Identify the basic orientation of your question:
    • Is your question located in a traditional subfield or specialized subfield of philosophy?
    • Is your question one within the history of Philosophy?
    • Is your question about a particular philosopher's work?
    • Is your question about a specific topic?
    • What courses have you taken that have a bearing upon your SIP question?
    • What essays have you written that have a bearing upon your question (submit them electronically to your SIP supervisor)

     

    4. Expectations

    • The SIP is to be completed during the SIP quarter. Your SIP supervisor may demand revisions, which must be completed before the second week of the following term.
    • (NB: Essay assignments for coursework directly following your SIP quarter may be tailored to address and augment your SIP topic; these may be included in the final submission.
    • An assessment or a 12-page presentation of your argument is to be submitted to a professional or student conference. Traditionally, we have chosen the Michigan Academy, but this may vary from year to year
    • The 12-page conference presentation, along with a summary of the ensuing question and answer period of the conference, is to be included in the final submission of your SIP.

     

    GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PHILOSOPHY SIP PROJECTS

    What follows below is a list of requirements that apply to all SIPs submitted to the Philosophy department.  To drag out an old philosophical point, these are necessary conditions, but not sufficient ones.  The most important details of what you need to do in your SIP will be topic-specific matters you and your advisors work out together.  These are a set of general guidelines that should give you a clear idea of what is required of anyone doing a SIP in philosophy.

    1. All 2-unit SIPs must be at least 20,000 words in length (not including bibliography and notes) to receive a passing grade.  All 1-unit SIPs must be at least 10,000 words in length to receive a passing grade.  Exceptions will be made to the length limit for students whose topics are in symbolic or mathematical logic at the discretion of the student’s advisor(s).

    2. All students who sign up for a 2-Unit SIP must meet a set of Summer Research requirements.  They are as follows:
     

    (i) 
    		 Students and advisor(s) must agree on a reading list by the end of Spring Quarter of their Junior year.  The books and articles on this list must be read by the beginning of Fall Quarter of Senior year.
     
    (ii) 
    		 Students must submit an annotated bibliography of materials that have already been read, either in class or independently, of relevance to the SIP by the end of Spring Quarter of their Junior year.
     
    (iii) 
    		 Students must submit, and both members of the department must approve, a preliminary formulation of the topic of their SIP.  (Details on this are available on the website and from members of the department.)  Members of the department will consider the quality of this preliminary formulation of a topic in deciding whether students will be allowed to pursue a 2-unit SIP in their Senior Year.  Both members of the department must approve a 2-unit SIP contract.
     
    (iv) 
    		 Students signed up for a 2-unit SIP must submit at least 15,000 words of exegesis of primary and secondary texts from their Summer Research by the first day of Fall Quarter of their Senior year.  Any student who fails to do so without a medical excuse will automatically be switched to a 1-unit SIP.  (Keep in mind that much of this exegetical material will be refined and made part of the final version of the SIP, so this is not simply supplemental work on top of an already steep set of requirements.)

    3. Students doing 2-unit SIPs will have a series of advising requirements on the completion of their projects.  In practice, a student will almost invariably work more closely with one professor over the course of his or her time at the College, and we support and encourage the development of this sort of enduring scholarly engagement.  However, it is also crucial to the development of individual scholarship that students be prepared to work with others by sharing, presenting, defending and developing those ideas in a way accessible to others that receives thorough evaluation.  With this in mind, the following conditions will apply to research during the Fall and Winter terms of Senior year:
     

    (i) 
    		 All SIPs are co-advised.  Though more work may be done with one professor than another, final decisions about the approval of topics and passing grades for SIPs will be made jointly by the members of the department and work submitted by students will be submitted to both members of the department.  (Note that this is consonant with the policy of having both department members sign off on each topic at the end of Junior year, as described above.)
     
    (ii) 
    		 Since work is submitted to both members of the department, students will also conduct ongoing discussion and revisions of their work with both members of the department.  In the event of conflicting recommendations on a student’s work, students should bring this matter to the attention of both members of the department, who will meet and reach some agreement on a joint recommendation.
     
    (iii) 
    		 Students must meet with each member of the department concerning their SIPs at least once every two weeks.  Students may meet more regularly if they wish, and would be advised to do so.  This is intended as a minimum requirement and we are always ready for further engagement when students and advisors seek it.

    Stated in this way, these requirements may sound daunting.  Indeed, the SIP is a substantial project.  Our hope is not to intimidate you, but rather to make explicit what sorts of expectations and requirements will come into play as your work progresses.  Given the time you have before you, these goals are attainable and having a clear idea of what lies ahead is a great asset in approaching that work.  Please let us know if you have further questions.