THE JOB MARKET WELCOMES PHILOSOPHY MAJORS!

Topics covered in this page, linked as follows:

Careers and Jobs

Grad School Admissions Exams

Publishing Papers in Undergraduate Journals

Undergraduate Conferences

Academic Jobs

Graduate Programs in Philosophy and Religious Studies in the Southeastern United States

Philosophy and Religious Studies Email Lists

 

Check out this Powerpoint presentation about careers in Philosophy (works best with Internet Explorer): http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/philpre_files/frame.htm

Scroll down for a variety of information on specific careers and advice on how to prepare as a Philosophy Major!

Here are two other recommended sites with career ideas!

http://www.louisiana.edu/Academic/LiberalArts/PHIL/WhyStudyPhilosophy.html

Websites with information about Religious Studies careers:

http://www.jcu.edu/religion/ (check the pulldown menu for Careers in Religious Studies!) See also StudyReligion.org at  http://www.studyreligion.org/why/index.html

 

Here are two recent articles on the growing numbers of Philosophy majors in the United States:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/education/06philosophy.html

 

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/50-ways-to-improve-your-life/2008/12/18/learn-philosophy.html

 

Here's an article from People magazine about popular philosophy books!  Here's list of famous people who majored in Philosophy or Religious Studies.  Also, do you remember MTV's former v.j. Kennedy? She's a Philosophy Major too.

 

Here are two new magazine articles related to Philosophy and Religious Studies: Seventeen magazine's January 2003 issue recommended that majoring in liberal arts fields like Philosophy and Religious Studies is excellent preparation for work in business and marketing.

Philosophy is a great major because it gives you the skills employers want most:

·An ability to think critically and objectively

·An ability to write clearly and effectively

·An ability to present your case convincingly

·An ability to organize material with attention to detail and a pleasing style

·An ability to analyze policies for fairness and accuracy

·A keen awareness of political issues and all sides of disagreements

·An ability to develop creative solutions to unique situations

 

Here is a list of 12 careers and jobs that Philosophy Majors can do!

Teaching. Majoring in Philosophy gives you communication skills as well as a solid understanding of learning itself, which also can make you a highly effective teacher.

Creative writing. Philosophy and Logic/Argumentation can prepare you for a career as a novelist, a non-fiction writer, or a poet.

Technical Writing. This is one of the biggest growth areas for Philosophy/Philosophy of Science/Ethics majors. Technical writers can demand starting salaries averaging $37,000 on today's market. (For more information on Philosophy and Writing see this page from the University of South Carolina: http://www.cas.sc.edu/phil/ugradhdbk.php  )

Executive-level administration and management. Many Fortune 500 CEO's have degrees in liberal arts majors like Philosophy, because these majors develop your interpersonal communication and organization.

Editing and Publishing. These fields require a strong facility with language, combined with the communication skills Philosophy majors develop.

Law. Many lawyers got their undergraduate training in Philosophy, because the skills involved in reading and thinking clearly and arguing effectively apply to brief-writing as well as litigation techniques. Logic, Business Ethics and Health Care Ethics will be especially helpful for you.

Mediation. Philosophy majors' skills at communicating and analyzing all sides of issues make them ideal mediators (for example, mediators are used in divorce cases, or to settle disputes between unions and corporations.)

Public relations and journalism. PR and journalism both require a careful use of language - something Philosophy majors learn quickly.

Philosophical Counseling/Philosophical Practice. Did you know that not all counselors and therapists study psychology? The American Philosophical Practitioners Association (APPA) trains and certifies philosophy majors to do work similar to psychiatry and psychoanalysis, and is now beginning to build and accredit graduate programs in philosophical practice. The City College of New York has approved the establishment of an M.A. Program in Applied Philosophy, whose graduates will also be APPA-Certified. Similar initiatives are underway internationally. The APPA's website is http://www.appa.edu

Enjoy computers? Software Creation, Ontological Engineering, Axiomatizing, Language Development, Systems Engineering. CYCORP is one of many software companies that routinely hires Philosophy Majors! http://www.cyc.com/cyc/company/employment Cycorp does programming in a way that uses common-sense logic. Their system is called Cyc® technology, and it is rooted in the logical thinking that philosophy classes in logic and argumentation study: semantic information retrieval, consistency-checking of structured information, deductive integration of databases, and natural language interfaces that relate to how people express themselves in an everyday sense. (For more information on Graduate School work in Philosophy and Computers, see this page from the APA: http://www.apaonline.org/publications/newsletters/v08n1_Computers_index.aspx  )

Enjoy Ethics and Social and Political Philosophy? Nonprofit organizations and governmental organizations hire philosophy majors for their experience setting policies on the environment, the arts, education, health, the sciences, and culture. The Red Cross http://www.redcross.org/ , the World Health Organization http://www.who.int/en/ , Greenpeace http://www.greenpeace.org/homepage/ , the National Endowment for the Humanities http://www.neh.gov/ , and the National Sciences Foundation http://www.nsf.gov/ are just a few examples.

Enjoy Aesthetics? Philosophy prepares you to be an archivist, curator, or museum manager -- the philosophy major's appreciation for aesthetic taste, as well as organizational skills, means you have the right balance for a career in these art management fields!

(Most of these careers only require a BA in Philosophy. Our department also has information about internships for specific careers. Special two-year MA programs are especially helpful for careers in Philosophical Counseling and Ethics Consulting.)

 

Here are some helpful links to graduate programs in Philosophy and Religious Studies in the Southeastern United States:

Florida State University: Philosophy http://www.fsu.edu/~philo/

Florida State University: Religious Studies (Department of Religion) http://www.religion.fsu.edu/Pages/default.aspx

University of Georgia: Philosophy http://www.phil.uga.edu/

University of Georgia: Religious Studies (Department of Religion) http://www.uga.edu/religion/

Georgia State University: Masters Program in Philosophy http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwphi/index.html

University of South Carolina: Philosophy http://www.cas.sc.edu/phil/index.php

University of South Carolina: Religious Studies http://www.cla.sc.edu/RELG/

 

 

What should you do while you are still an undergraduate major?

Prepare for graduate school admissions exams using Philosophy:  

Several links to pages describing the value of a philosophy degree, including statistics on philosophers' performance on GRE, LSAT and GMAT exams, APA statistics on employment rates for philosophers, etc., can be found at http://www.louisiana.edu/Academic/LiberalArts/PHIL/WhyStudyPhilosophy.html

 

Publish a paper in an undergraduate journal:

All of these journals publish undergraduate philosophy papers, check our list below and this related list:

http://www.earlham.edu/~phil/undjourn.htm         

Agora  http://www.tamu.edu/chr/agora/

Allegheny Review http://webpub.allegheny.edu/group/review/  

Analecta http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Stadium/6514/analecta.html

Aporia http://aporia.byu.edu/site.php?id=current  

Carleton University Student Journal of Philosophy http://www.carleton.ca/philosophy/cusjp/  

The Chicago Anthropology Exchange http://ucexchange.uchicago.edu/

The Cornell Political Forum http://www.rso.cornell.edu/cpf/

Dialogue  the official journal of Phi Sigma Tau, published at Elmhurst College

Elysium formerly at http://elysium.honr.ttu.edu/

Episteme http://www.denison.edu/philosophy/episteme.html

Honors Review http://honors.org/AHR.html

Issues in Political Economy http://www.elon.edu/ipe/

Janua Sophia cfowler@edinboro.edu Deadline usually March 1

Journal of Psychological Inquiry http://puffin.creighton.edu/psy/journal/JPIhome.html

Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences http://view.fdu.edu/default.aspx?id=784  

Meteorite http://www.meteoritejournal.com/   

The Maine Scholar (Southern Maine Review) http://www.usm.maine.edu/mscholar/

The Michigan Journal of Political Science http://www.umich.edu/~mjps/

The Oregon Advocate http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~uofla/uofla.html

The Oswald Review http://www.usca.edu/english/pubs/oswald/oswald.html

The Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review http://www.pur.honorscollege.pitt.edu/     

Prometheus, published at Johns Hopkins, deadline usually March 1.

Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research http://www.psichi.org/pubs/journal/home.asp

Psyche http://journalpsyche.org/ojs-2.2/index.php/psyche/issue/current

Stoa http://www.sbcc.edu/philosophy/website/STOA.html

The University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics http://www.econ.ilstu.edu/uauje/

 

Give a paper at an undergraduate conference:

You can give a paper at a conference!  Term papers can be an excellent place to start.

NEW! Keep up to date on undergraduate conferences and check the messages at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VSU-PHIL-REL

For other lists of upcoming conferences, check the APA's website at

http://www.apaonline.org/  

or on these sites:

http://www.crvp.org/  The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy                                                                           

                                                           

http://www.philosophersnet.com/  The Philosopher's Web Magazine

•ConferenceAlerts - http://www.conferencealerts.com

 

If you would like to go to graduate school, consider working toward an academic job!

Professor Jim Hill wanted to share this source for online job information for Philosophy and Religious Studies Graduate Students. http://humanities.academickeys.com/seeker_job.php

The most complete listings of academic jobs are found at sites that require membership and password access:

The American Philosophical Association http://www.apaonline.org/  

The American Academy of Religion http://www.aarweb.org/default.asp

A ranking of Philosophy Departments can be found at the Philosophical Gourmet Report (and should be taken with a grain of salt!) http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/default.asp

The Philosopher's Lexicon is a fun resource from philosopher Daniel Dennett: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/lexicon/

What follows below is a shorter list that can be accessed without membership and passwords from "AcademicKey."  This month's issue of AcademicKeys' E-Flier For Humanities, features 45 faculty and higher administrative jobs in Humanities Higher Education, and provides links to hundreds of additional faculty and higher administration positions. Please share this with your colleagues who are advising graduate students and with graduate students seeking careers in academia. NOTE: A discipline specific version of this E-Flier is also distributed to targeted audience.  To request this please visit www.academickeys.com Visit www.AcademicKeys.com for: Hundreds of  additional  faculty positions, as well as departmental and  school  higher-administration positions.   Conferences - an extensive list of conferences that can be searched by date, location or technical field.  Or, post your technical conference, workshop or short course free of charge. Journals - a comprehensive list of thousands of professional journals that can be searched by name, publisher or technical keywords.