Doctor of Philosophy For full admission, students must have the following: Master of Arts degree in Philosophy or its satisfactory equivalent. Previous academic work must present clear evidence of the applicant’s ability to pursue successfully the doctoral program. All applicants must submit the following material: A completed University Graduate Application Form Official transcripts of all previous academic work Graduate Records Examination general aptitude (verbal and quantitative) scores Two letters of recommendation from teachers familiar with the applicant's work A statement of intent indicating why the applicant desires to pursue graduate work in this program, including areas of proposed research A writing sample (e.g., a term paper, seminar paper, or M.A. thesis or portion thereof). To be considered for a fellowship (which includes a full tuition waiver and stipend) or any tuition wavier, all materials must be received by January 4, 2008. Degree Requirements The following are the minimal degree requirements. Additional study may be required depending on the student’s academic background and his or her achievement in the program. Residency: three consecutive quarters of full-time residence, i.e., registration for 8 credit hours each quarter. Courses: a minimum of 112 quarter-hours of post-baccalaureate credit, including: 68 quarter hours of work in addition to the work required for the M.A., to be comprised of 64 quarter credit hours of course work and 4 credit hours of PHL 699: Thesis Research. File Papers: until admitted to doctoral candidacy, students will be required to submit two research papers per year. These papers will be doubled-marked, first by the instructor of the course for which they were prepared, then by a second member of the faculty. In cases of discrepancy, the faculty members will meet to discuss the final grade; irresolvable differences will be adjudicated by the director of graduate studies. Satisfactory Progress: the Graduate Affairs Committee will review every student’s progress toward the degree once a year, normally at the end of the winter quarter. Students deemed not to be making satisfactory progress may be placed on probation or required to leave the program. Foreign Language Requirement: for students whose research lies in Continental Philosophy, a reading knowledge of both French and German will be required. Students pursuing research in predominantly Ango-American topics will be required to achieve reading competence in either French or German. Competence in classical Greek or Latin as well as in other languages may be used to fulfill the language requirement if deemed appropriate to the research undertaken. Admission to doctoral candidacy: A student will be recommended to the graduate school for admission to doctoral candidacy when he or she has: Completed the residency requirement Completed all course requirements (excluding PHL 699: Thesis Research) and the submission of required research papers (which shall count as fulfilling the University’s qualifying examination requirement) Completed the foreign language requirement Submitted a dissertation proposal (8-10 pages in length, including critical bibliography) and Successfully defended the dissertation proposal during a public oral defense before the dissertation committee. The dissertation committee will consist of minimally three members, including a director (who must be a permanent full-time member of the department) and two readers, both of whom must be DePaul Philosophy department members. Other members of DePaul faculties, or philosophers and scholars from outside the University, whose expertise is pertinent to the topic of the dissertation may serve as fourth readers upon the consent of the dissertation director and the director of graduate studies. Candidacy Continuation: registration for resident or nonresident candidacy continuation is required each quarter of the regular academic year between admission to candidacy and graduation. Thesis research courses shall also count toward meeting this requirement. Dissertation: completion of the doctoral dissertation, ordinarily of 200-275 pages including scholarly apparatus, and a public defense of this work before the dissertation committee. Submission of a dissertation abstract of up to 350 words and filing of the completed final version of the dissertation with the Graduate Division by the required date prior to graduation. Time Limitations: between admission to the doctoral program and admission to doctoral candidacy not more than four years; between admission to candidacy and the dissertation defense, not less than eight months, and not more than five years.