Category Archives: Graduate study

2017-18 PGR / Chinese Philosophy Rankings

The 2017-18 Philosophical Gourmet Report (PGR) has been released here. It includes “specialty rankings” for various areas, including Chinese philosophy. This year, for the first time, I was invited to be among the evaluators, and after wrestling with this a bit, decided to give it a try. As explained at the top of this page, evaluators see lists of faculty and then choose one of the following categories:

  • 0 – Inadequate for a PhD program
  • 1 – Marginal
  • 2 – Adequate
  • 3 – Good
  • 4 – Strong
  • 5 – Distinguished

Evaluators can do this for the program overall, and then for the various specialties. I chose to only rank the Chinese philosophy specialty (I did not select overall rankings). The vast majority I assigned a score of 0. I believe that the highest score I gave was a 3. Programs that have one or even two specialists can be — other things being equal — good places to study. But in my judgment there are no English-language programs that merit “strong” or “distinguished” rankings. In my view, that would take multiple specialists, and others with cognate interests, in the context of an overall strong and supportive department. We may get there one day, but we’re not there yet.

I have mixed views about this whole rankings thing, which has been discussed before on the blog. What we have tried to do here at Warp, Weft, and Way is provide as much objective information about graduate study as possible. But since PGR exists and I was invited to take part, I decided to give it a try.

One other thing. As Bryan Van Norden (another evaluator, and also someone on the Advisory Board) explains here, PGR policy is that programs need to have a certain minimum overall score in order to be ranked. Programs with significant “specialty” strengths but without the minimum overall score end up being listed as “Additional programs not evaluated this year but recommended for consideration by the Advisory Board.” I agree with Bryan’s sentiment that the programs listed under this rubric are as strong as the ones officially ranked, and thus disapprove of this policy, which I find to be highly misleading.

Application Extension: BNU Int’l MA Program

The deadline has been extended to April 8th for applications to the Beijing Normal University (BNU) International MA Program in Chinese Philosophy. This is a 2-year master’s degree program conducted in English. The program will provide scholarships for most of the students which will cover their tuition fees and living expenses. For information, please see here.

Grad Student / Young Scholar Workshop, with Application

Third Biannual Ph.D. Student and Young Scholar Workshop: “Ancient Historiography in Comparison”

International Center for the Study of Ancient Text Cultures, Renmin University of China (Beijing, June 13–18, 2018)

The International Center for the Study of Ancient Text Cultures (ICSATC), hosted at Renmin University of China, holds its third Ph.D. Student and Young Scholar workshop on June 13-18, 2018. Four renowned scholars from the fields of Ancient Chinese Historiography, Ancient Greek and Roman Historiography, and Ancient Jewish and Biblical Historiography will present lectures and seminars on specific topics. In addition, there will be a keynote lecture at the beginning of the workshop. There also will be student research activities to complement the lectures and seminars. The principal language of instruction and interaction will be English.

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International MA Program in Chinese Philosophy, Beijing Normal University

International MA Program in Chinese Philosophy: School of Philosophy, Beijing Normal University

The School of Philosophy at Beijing Normal University, one of China’s premier institutes of higher education, offers a two-year Master’s Degree in Chinese Philosophy.

The program offers a comprehensive range of courses in the major traditions of Chinese philosophy, including Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, as well as an inclusive range of courses in the Chinese philosophies of history, ethics, and politics. Courses emphasize comparative and international perspectives while engaging with the Western and other great traditions of world philosophy.

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ECNU’s English-Language MA and PhD Programs

From Paul D’Ambrosio:

East China Normal University’s English Language MA and PhD programs are up and running. Last year top students in English language graduate programs at ECNU were accepted to do their PhDs in the history department at McGill and in anthropology at Harvard. 

We currently have six spots open for next year. Each student is strongly encouraged to apply for the Chinese Scholarship Counsel scholarship, which awards free tuition, housing, and a 3,000rmb per month stipend. 100% of our English language (and Chinese language) foreign graduate students have been offered this scholarship to date.

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CFP: Oxford Grad Conference — Engaging ‘China’: Perspectives from the Margins

Call for Papers: Engaging ‘China’: Perspectives from the Margins

Oxford China Humanities Graduate Conference (10-11 Jan 2018)

www.oxfordchgc.wixsite.com/engagingchina  

Keynote speakers: Peter K. Bol (Harvard), Henrietta Harrison (Oxford)

Deadline for submission: October 15th 2017, 17:00 (GMT)

Graduate students are invited to submit abstracts for the second annual University of Oxford China Humanities Graduate Conference, which takes the theme of ‘engagement’ in the Chinese context as its point of departure. We welcome papers that work with modern and pre-modern subject material and from all humanistic disciplines, including but not limited to history, literary and cultural studies, art, film and media studies, philosophy, human geography, anthropology, musicology and religion.

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Post-Doc at Zhejiang University

PENG Guoxiang of Zhejiang University writes with information about a post-doc opportunity:

A post-doc program of Chinese philosophy, intellectual history, and religions, especially Confucianism, at Zhejiang University now is available for application. The eligible candidates are required:

1. No more than 35 years old;
2. Citizenships that have diplomatic relations with China;
3. PhD acquired outside China and within one year;
4. No less than 20 months in China within two years;
5. Excellence in Chinese or English if from non-English speaking world;

Interested applicants can directly contact me with their CV at: peng_gx@126.com. The deadline is Nov. 13.