Program Description
The Windsor M.A. program is small and offers the benefit of frequent and close contact with professors and fellow students. Our aim is to give our students solid individualized M.A. instruction--whether their intention is to continue elsewhere for a Ph.D. or to spend a year or two deepening their understanding of philosophy.
We have two main avenues to the M.A. degree
Students are required to take eight graduate courses, two of which could be taken from outside of Philosophy.
Students in the coursework stream who complete at least six graduate courses with a minimum GPA of 80% and secure the support of an academic supervisor for a proposed major research paper may complete the degree with a major paper (with permission from the Graduate Committee). Two of the six courses could be taken from outside of Philosophy.
Students in the coursework stream who complete four graduate courses in Philosophy at the University of Windsor with a minimum GPA of 85% and secure the support of an academic supervisor for a proposed thesis may complete their degree with a thesis (with permission of the Graduate Committee).
Students are required to take six graduate courses plus a major paper. Two of the six courses may be taken from outside of Philosophy.
Students in the major paper stream who complete four graduate courses in Philosophy at the University of Windsor with a minimum GPA of 85% and secure the support of an academic supervisor for a proposed thesis may complete their degree with a thesis (with permission from the Graduate Committee).
All students must take the departmental seminar and pass a Master's examination which is based on it. Students who fail the departmental seminar cannot take the Master’s examination and must re-take the departmental seminar the following year. We offer six graduate courses per year (in addition to the departmental seminar). Course offerings at the graduate level reflect the research interests of our faculty: Argumentation Theory, Informal Logic, and Rhetoric; Continental Philosophy; Environmental Philosophy, Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, and Philosophy of Science; Feminist Philosophy, Indigenous Philosophy, and Social and Political Philosophy. Students may take one philosophy course at another Ontario university within the Ontario Graduate Visiting Student Program.
The program can be completed in three semesters or one calendar year. Most of our students satisfy the requirements of the program in four or five semesters or two academic years. Students who cannot complete the program within three years are asked to withdraw from the program.