Here follows an alphabetic list of PhD programs in philosophy in which one can study Chinese philosophy in English. For each program, we include:
- Link to department
- Names of those whose specialization relates to Chinese philosophy, with links to their webpages
- Link to placement information
- Further information about studying Chinese philosophy there
At the bottom of the list, we also list MA-specific programs that include an emphasis on Chinese philosophy, as well as “Cognate Programs” (i.e., non-Philosophy PhD programs) with specialists in Chinese philosophy. (We hope to include more each information on programs in each of these categories in the near future.)
We have chosen to present descriptive information without guidance or evaluation. For discussion of how to pursue graduate training in Chinese philosophy, the following might be of use:
- Discussions of graduate study on Warp, Weft, and Way
- Discussion of and links to an APA Newsletter on the state of the comparative philosophy field (published 2008; includes some solid advice for graduate study)
- Chris Fraser’s “Graduate Study in Philosophy” page (mostly from 2009)
- Eric Hutton’s “Advice for Students Wanting to Pursue a PhD in Chinese Thought” page (also somewhat dated)
The initial work on this list was conducted by Yong Huang, Steve Angle, Jim Behuniak, and Alexus McLeod. We welcome additions, comments, or corrections.
Recent changes:
- Added Leiden University (November 7, 2024)
- Added University of Texas at Austin; added Simon Fraser Univeristy to MA programs; added Kevin Turner to HKBU (October 23, 2024)
- Added University of Warwick and Curie Virág; removed Chenyang Li from NTU (October 20, 2024)
- Added Chris Fraser to University of Hong Kong (September 27, 2024)
- Added University of North Texas (September 10, 2024)
- Added Loyola University Chicago (March 21, 2024)
- Added Lancaster University; removed Princeton University and University of Connecticut; a few minor adjustments (March 5, 2024)
Australia National University
Chinese University of Hong Kong
City University of Hong Kong
CUNY Graduate Center
Duke University
East China Normal University
Georgetown University
Hong Kong Baptist University
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Indiana University
Lancaster University
Leiden University
Lingnan University
Loyola University Chicago
Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
National University of Singapore
University of Auckland
University of British Columbia
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Riverside
University of Hawaii
University of Hong Kong
University of Macau
University of Michigan
University of New Mexico
University of New South Wales
University of North Texas
University of Oklahoma
University of Texas
University of Toronto
University of Utah
University of Warwick
Specialists:
- Bronwyn Finnigan, philosophy of action, ethics, philosophy of mind and epistemology in Western and Asian philosophical traditions
- Koji Tanaka, Buddhist Philosophy and Logic, Chinese Philosophy
Further information:
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Specialists:
- David Chai, Daoist philosophy, comparative philosophy
- Chung-yi Cheng, Confucianism, Chinese philosophy, comparative philosophy
- Yong Huang, Chinese philosophy, comparative philosophy, moral philosophy
- Zemian Zheng, Chinese philosophy, Song-Mind Neo-Confucianism
- Zhihua Yao, Buddhist philosophy, Chinese philosophy, Indian philosophy
Placement information not available
Further information:
City University of Hong Kong (Department of Public Policy)
Specialists:
- Ho-mun Chan, comparative philosophy
- Ruiping Fan, Confucianism, comparative bioethics
- Sungmoon Kim, Chinese philosophy, political philosophy
Placement information not available
Further information:
Specialists:
- Graham Priest, Philosophical logic, Philosophies of Mathematics and Language, Metaphysics, History of Philosophy (East and West), Buddhist Philosophy
- Hagop Sarkissian, Moral Psychology, Metaethics, Chinese Philosophy, Cognitive Science of Religion
Further Information:
Specialists:
- David B. Wong, Chinese Philosophy, Comparative Philosophy, Ethics
Further Information:
Specialists (for details on all the below individuals in English, see here; for more on the department faculty in Chinese, see here):
- Yang Guorong, metaphysics, ethics, history of Chinese philosophy, comparative philosophy
- Zong Desheng, philosophy of language, ethics, comparative philosophy
- Yu Zhenhua, metaphysics, epistemology and comparative philosophy
- Fang Xudong, Neo-Confucianism, Confucian Ethics, Interpretation of classics
- Xue Yu, Chinese Buddhism
- Liu Liangjian, Chinese philosophy, comparative study of Chinese and Western philosophy
- Paul Joseph D’Ambrosio, Chinese philosophy, Neo-Daoism (Xuanxue), comparative study of Western and Chinese philosophy, ethics
Placement information not available
Further information:
See the departmental link above for more information on the history and scope of the department’s English-language programs; see also this post from our blog (November, 2021).
Specialists:
- Erin Cline (primary appointment in Theology; Associate Member of the Philosophy Department and a member of its Primary Dissertation Faculty), early Chinese ethical, religious, and political thought
- Philip J. Ivanhoe (Professor and Chair, East Asian Languages and Cultures)
Further information:
Students can apply to the Philosophy PhD program to work with Professor Cline and/or other Philosophy department members with appreciation for Asian or comparative philosophy. Georgetown offers classical Chinese and has many other Asianists in East Asian Languages and Cultures, history, religious studies, and elsewhere. Students can also apply to the Ph.D. program in Theological and Religious Studies (housed in the Theology Department) to study Chinese philosophy.
Specialists:
- Benedict Chan, Social & Political Philosophy, Applied Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Comparative Philosophy, Chinese Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Mind
- Jonathan Chan, Chinese philosophy
- James Dominic Rooney, Chinese philosophy and metaphysics
- Kevin Turner, Chinese Philosophy, Daoist Philosophy, Comparative Philosophy
Placement information not available
Further information:
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Specialists:
- Charles Wing-hoi Chan, Confucian philosophy
- Jenny HUNG, Chinese Philosophy, Buddhism, Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics, Logic, Philosophy of Science
- Simon Man-ho Wong, Confucian philosophy
- Eric C Nelson, Chinese philosophy
Placement information not available
Further Information:
Specialists:
- Aaron Stalnaker
- Michael Ing
- Nicholas Vogt
- Alexus McLeod
Placement information not available
Further Information:
Stalnaker, Ing, and McLeod all have their main appointments in Religious Studies; see here for more on Religious Studies’s “Chinese Thought” area. Vogt’s appointment is in East Asian Languages & Cultures. Stalnaker has an adjunct appointment in Philosophy and can direct dissertations there.
Specialists:
- Philippe Major, Confucianism, Zen Buddhism, topics related to epistemic hegemony
Placement information not available
Further Information:
Specialists:
- Ahab Bdaiwi (Arabic and Persian Philosophy)
- Douglas Berger (Chinese, Indian and comparative philosophy)
- Dobin Choi (Korean and comparative philosophy)
- Stephen Harris (Buddhist ethics, Indian and comparative philosophy)
- Jingjing Li (Chinese and comparative philosophy, Buddhist feminism).
Placement information not available
Further Information:
- Offers both BA and MA in Global and Comparative Philosophy. Prospective PhD students can contact members in the research group of intercultural philosophy (also known as global and comparative philosophy). The Centre for Intercultural Philosophy hosts events throughout the year.
Specialists:
- Elton Chan, Confucianism, political philosophy
- Waiwai Chiu, Chinese philosophy
Placement information not available
Further information:
Specialists:
- Richard Kim, East Asian Philosophy, Ethics, Moral Psychology
Further information:
Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
Specialists:
- SUNG Hiu Chuk Winnie, Chinese Philosophy, Self-knowledge , Moral Psychology
Placement information not available
Further information:
As of November 2024, Chenyang Li has retired.
The NTU Philosophy Group was established in view of the rich intellectual and cultural resources available at a research-intensive science and technological university located in culturally affluent Singapore. As such, the master plan of our programmes is focused primarily on (1) Philosophy of Science and (2) Chinese Philosophy. Both areas of research are conducted with an interdisciplinary approach and an East-West comparative perspective.
National University of Singapore
Specialists:
- LOY Hui Chieh, Chinese Philosophy, Greek Philosophy
- LO Yuet Keung (Chinese studies; classes in Chinese), Chinese Philosophy
- Scott Cook (Yale-NUS), Chinese texts and intellectual history
- Matthew Walker (Yale-NUS), Ancient Greek philosophy, comparative philosophy
Placement information not available
Further information:
As a group, the NUS and affiliated Yale-NUS graduate faculty includes numerous philosophers actively working on projects in moral and political philosophy; metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of mind; Chinese philosophy, Indian philosophy, and the history of Western philosophy.
Specialists:
- Jeremy Michael Seligman, Early Chinese Logic, Logic
Further information:
Asian Philosophy is not listed as an area of expertise in the Auckland program’s listing of postgraduate specializations, but it does say that one can customize a course of study suitable to one’s particular needs and interests.
University of British Columbia
Specialists:
- Edward Slingerland, Chinese Philosophy, Cognitive Linguistics
- Evan Thompson, Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science, Cross-Cultural Philosophy
- Catherine Prueitt, Sanskritic pre-modern South Asian philosophies
Further information:
As of 2021, Slingerland has moved into the Philosophy Department.
University of California, Berkeley
Specialists:
- Kwong-loi Shun, Chinese philosophy, Moral psychology
Further information:
There is no regular track or concentration in Chinese philosophy in the Berkeley program, the department stresses however that its Ph.D. program is “structured to give students a high degree of independence in tailoring their studies to their interests.” Professor Shun “teaches two courses a year, primarily on Chinese philosophy and moral psychology, and devotes the rest of his time to researching and promoting the philosophical study of Confucian thought.”
University of California, Riverside
Specialists:
- Lisa Raphals, Chinese and Comparative Philosophy, Classical Greece
- Eric Schwitzgebel, Empirical Psychology and Philosophy of Mind, Ethics
Further information:
Raphals is in the department of Comparative Literature and Foreign Languages, but is also affiliated with the Philosophy Department as “Cooperating Faculty”.
Specialists:
- Franklin Perkins, Classical Chinese Philosophy, Early Modern European Philosophy, Comparative Philosophy
Placement information
Further information:
A number of other faculty in the Philosophy Department work in areas possibly of interest to students of Chinese Philosophy, including Indian Philosophy, Japanese Philosophy.
Specialists:
- Daniel Bell, Confucianism, Chinese political and social philosophy
- Chris Fraser, Early Chinese philosophy, covering topics in philosophy of language and logic, philosophy of mind, epistemology, action theory, ethics, metaethics, and political philosophy; more recent interests in metaethics and political philosophy in Song, Ming, and Qing dynasty thought.
- JIN Yutang, Confucian and Chinese political thought, democratic theory, comparative political theory
- Mark Meulenbeld, Daoism and Chinese religions
- TANG Siu-fu, Early Confucianism (in particular the thought of Xunzi), ethics and political philosophy, comparative philosophy, and issues of modernity and Chinese thought.
- Justin Tiwald, Classical and post-classical Chinese philosophy, especially Classical Confucianism, Daoism, and Neo-Confucianism
- WANG Pei, Chinese intellectual history, French philosophy, comparative philosophy
- ZHOU Boqun, Early Chinese philosophy, Chinese paleography, history of science and technology in China
Placement information not available
Further information:
Justin Tiwald is appointed in Philosophy; everyone else on the above list is either in another department or cross-appointed with Philosophy. Daniel Bell is in the Faculty of Law and a professor by courtesy in Philosophy; JIN Yutang is in the Department of Politics and Public Administration; Mark Meulenbeld, Tang Siu-fu, WANG Pei, and ZHOU Boqun are in the School of Chinese; Chris Fraser is in the School of Chinese and a professor by courtesy in Philosophy.
Specialists:
- Victoria Harrison, analytic philosophy of religion with a focus on ancient Indian and classical Chinese philosophies.
- Ting-Mien Lee, Chinese philosophy, with a specific focus on the interaction of language, power-struggle strategies, and moral theories.
- Hans-Georg Moeller, Daoist philosophy, social theory, comparative philosophy, Chinese philosophy
- Qingjie Wang, East-West Comparative Philosophy, Chinese Philosophy, Ethics and Moral Philosophy, contemporary European Philosophy, esp. Heidegge and Hermeneutics
- Ellen Zhang, Chinese philosophy
Placement information not available
Further information:
https://fah.um.edu.mo/phd-in-philosophy-and-religious-studies/
https://grs.um.edu.mo/index.php/prospective-students/doctoral-degrees-programmes/
Specialists:
- Sonja Özbey, classical Chinese philosophy and early modern European philosophy
Further information:
Specialists:
- Emily McRae, Buddhist Philosophy, Ethics, Moral Psychology, Feminism
Further information:
UNM has a number of faculty in areas that may also be of interest to some studying Chinese Philosophy, such as Indian Philosophy and Tibetan Philosophy. They are making a hire this year in Buddhist Philosophy.
Specialists:
- Karyn Lai, Chinese philosophy, Environmental philosophy
Placement information not available
Further information:
Classical Chinese philosophy is listed as one of several “History and Philosophical Traditions” concentrations offered in the program.
Specialists:
- Leah Kalmanson (Associate Professor and Bhagwan Adinath Professor of Jain Studies), Chinese philosophies, Japanese philosophies, global-critical philosophy of religion, phenomenology and existentialism
Placement information not available.
Further information:
The Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of North Texas is home to the nation’s first graduate program with a focus on environmental philosophy. It has strengths in history of philosophy, critical theory, science and technology studies, religion and ecology, Asian philosophies, Latinx and decolonial philosophies, Jain studies, and Jewish studies.
Specialists:
- Amy Olberding, Early Chinese Philosophy, Ethics
Further information:
Specialists:
- Harvey Lederman, broad interests in contemporary philosophy and in the history of philosophy, especially Chinese neo-Confucianism
Further information:
Specialists:
- Position is currently empty but a senior-level search is underway
Further information:
The Toronto program prides itself on offering broad coverage in all areas of the history of Philosophy, as well as “in aspects of the history of non-Western philosophy.”
Specialists:
- Eric Hutton, Chinese philosophy, ancient Greek philosophy, ethics
Further information:
The Philosophy department is willing to offer financial support to both MA/MS and PhD students. Students who are interested in Chinese philosophy may also wish to investigate the MA program in Asian Studies, if they are interested in pursuing a more inter-disciplinary track.
Specialists:
- Curie Virág. History of ethics, epistemology, moral psychology, and philosophical anthropology in classical China and across traditions, with a particular focus on emotions.
Placement information not available.
Further information:
MA only
Beijing Normal University
- Details here. Instructors include BNU and Renmin University faculty, as well as international guest faculty (see website for details).
Colorado State University
- Details here.
Eastern Michigan University
- Details here. One of the department’s two MA tracks is in pluralistic philosophical “methodology.”
Fudan University (Shanghai)
- Fudan EMA Program Information
East China Normal University (Shanghai)
- Information on the English-language MA program at ECNU is available here
Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles)
- Details here.
Renmin University (Beijing)
- Updated (December 2021) details on the English-language MA Program in “Chinese Philosophy, Religion, and Culture are here
San Jose State University
- Details here
Simon Fraser University
- Has a fully-funded MA program that prepares students for PhD study. Two of their faculty members have research interests in Chinese philosophy and one other has teaching competence (but specializes in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy). The graduate student body is mostly international. Details here.
West Chester University (Pennsylvania)
- Details here
Wuhan University
Cognate Programs
Georgetown University (Erin Cline, Theology; see also above for Philosophy options)
Harvard University (Michael Puett, Peter Bol)
KU Leuven (Carine Defoort, Nicolas Standaert); see also here.
London School of Economics (Leigh Jenco)
Northwestern (Loubna El Amine)
Pennsylvania State University (Erica Brindley, On-cho Ng)
University of California, Berkeley (Mark Csikszentmihalyi, Michael Nylan)
University of Chicago Divinity School (Brook Ziporyn)
University of Pennsylvania (Paul Goldin)