PHILO-PHD - Philosophy (PhD)

External credit may be accepted in limited circumstances for the Philosophy PhD.

In special circumstances, a student may petition to use a minimal number of graduate-level courses taken at other institutions to satisfy a general unit or distribution requirement. External credit requires the approval of the department. It would need to be judged by the department to be at the level of an A in a corresponding graduate-level course at Stanford.

Students who completed graduate coursework at another institution are eligible to petition to transfer course units in the winter quarter of their first year of doctoral study. The Director of Graduate Studies will evaluate the transfer of units on a course-by-course basis. Graduate work accepted for transfer of residency does not automatically exempt a student from having to complete a course requirement for the degree.

The Philosophy department is committed to providing academic advising in support of graduate student scholarly and professional development. Faculty advisors guide students in critical areas such as selecting courses, designing and conducting research, navigating degree requirements, exploring academic and professional opportunities, and preparing for their post-degree careers. When most effective, this advising relationship involves collaborative and sustained engagement by both the advisor and the advisee. An essential part of the advisor-advisee relationship is that students learn to advocate for themselves; this includes discussing expectations for the advisor-advisee relationship with the advisor and revisiting these expectations periodically.

Each first-year Philosophy PhD student is assigned an advisor based on the student’s stated interests. Entering students should meet with their PhD advisors to discuss the selection of courses. PhD advisors support students in making satisfactory progress towards the completion of the degree. In the first years of the program, this means successfully reaching candidacy. The Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) also monitors the student’s progress and may initiate meetings when appropriate. Any graduate student can always seek the advice of the Director of Graduate Studies on general issues about the graduate program.

During the student’s first two years, the department expects PhD advisors to meet with their advisees at least once per quarter during the academic year. Such meetings may be in-person or via the Internet (Zoom, etc.) and may be scheduled in person or by email. Students typically initiate such discussions, although faculty, when appropriate, try to get in touch with students who do not stay in regular contact. The PhD advisor, the DGS, and the staff monitor academic progress and student completion of program requirements and milestones. They are discussed by faculty at an annual meeting devoted to assessing graduate student progress. A detailed description of the program’s requirements, milestones, and advising expectations is found in the Stanford Bulletin.

A required pre-dissertation seminar in the summer after the second year helps students transition to forming a dissertation committee and starting to work on their dissertation. Dissertation development seminars are available to graduate students in their third year and beyond. At this point in the program, students often transition from a PhD advisor to a dissertation advisor.

Students and their dissertation advisors must regularly establish mutually agreed-upon expectations for turning in written work. Dissertation advisors are expected to meet quarterly with their advisees. Each year the student teaches in the department, their teaching experience and preparation for academic teaching will be discussed during at least one meeting with their dissertation advisors.

Advising and mentoring relationships are not limited to dissertation committee members; all faculty (especially those on the student’s dissertation committee) contribute when they can. When a faculty member joins a PhD dissertation committee, the faculty member and the student should meet and work out mutually agreed-upon expectations about how often they meet and when written work will be turned in. Such work is to be read and commented on within a reasonable period. Any graduate student can always seek the advice of the Director of Graduate Studies on general issues about the graduate program.

Graduate students are active contributors to the advising relationship. They should proactively seek academic and professional guidance and take responsibility for informing themselves of policies and degree requirements for the Philosophy PhD program.

As a best practice, advising expectations should be periodically discussed and reviewed to promote mutual understanding.

Dissertation advisors, dissertation committee members, and the advisee must maintain professionalism and integrity throughout their work together.