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The department has a faculty with an unusually broad range of interests and areas of expertise. These include all of the main periods of the history of western philosophy, and nearly every major area of contemporary philosophical debate. All of our Ph.D. students are funded with a combination of research and teaching fellowships.

The department offers both an M.A. program and a Ph.D. program in which the M.A. and M.Phil degrees are earned sequentially. The M.A. program is primarily intended for students who need further training before applying to Ph.D. programs in philosophy. Should a student wish to study toward the Ph.D. at Columbia, he or she must submit a separate application which will be evaluated along with the entire pool of applicants to the Ph.D. program for that year.

The department offers, with the Physics department, an M.A. in the Philosophical Foundations of Physics. The M.A. Program in the Philosophical Foundations of Physics is designed to meet the needs of an increasing population of gifted students who are intrigued by the growing scholarly interest in the relationship between the philosophy of science and the foundations of physics. It can be completed over two semesters (ten courses) full-time or part-time for a maximum of eight semesters and some funding may be available. Ph.D. candidates must be enrolled full-time. For further information concerning either program, consult the director of graduate studies, or the department Web site: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/philosophy.

The department also participates in the joint J.D.-Ph.D. Program. Interested students should apply for admission to both the School of Law and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. See J.D.-Ph.D. program for further details, or write to the Director of Graduate Studies. Inquiries on all programs should be directed to Philosophy, 708 Philosophy Hall, Mail Code 4971.

In addition to the requirements listed below, all students must submit 1 official transcript showing courses and grades per school attended, a Statement of Academic Purpose, a writing sample (a course paper, term paper, etc.) and 3 letters of evaluation from academic sources. All international students whose native language is not English or whose undergraduate degree is from an institution in a country whose official language is not English, must submit scores of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or IELTS. For more information, please refer to our Admissions Information and Frequently Asked Questions pages.

* should be on a philosophical topic.