MA in philosophy, Leeds Or Bristol?
University course discussion for Philosophy, Religious Studies and Theology.
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MA in philosophy, Leeds Or Bristol?Hi everyone
I got an offer to study MA philosophy in Bristol and Leeds Universies.
I need your opinions which one should I choose. I am concerned only with the academic aspects. If this helps, I am interested much in Epistemology, philosophy of mind and philosophy language.
I appreciate your help -
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Re: MA in philosophy, Leeds Or Bristol?Leeds.
It's an excellent department and has really come on in leaps and bounds over recent years. Lots of investment in high quality early career researchers who are also teaching at all levels within the department: Elizabeth Barnes, Ross Cameron, Jason Turner, J.R.G. Williams, etc.
I would say that Leeds is very strong in language and metaphysics and good for epistemology and philosophy of mind. However, even though Leeds is not as strong in epistemology/mind than it is in metaphysics/language, in my view, Bristol is consistently worse than Leeds in all three of your specified areas of interest.
Leeds is the better overall department and is also stronger in all your areas of interest. I say go for Leeds.Last edited by philosophynerd; 11-04-2012 at 18:10. -
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Re: MA in philosophy, Leeds Or Bristol?Leeds vs. Bristol was fairly easy, Leeds vs. UCL is quite difficult.
Both are outstanding departments. However, one advantage of going to UCL is the general advantage of doing philosophy in London. There are lots of things happening in London for those interested in philosophy, including meetings at the Institute of Philosophy and the Aristotelian Society. Also you have lots of departments around you including Birkbeck and King's, which are both first-rate. There are certainly advantages to studying in London over studying in Leeds.
It is very difficult to compare the two departments. The staff at both are excellent. So, it is necessary to consider specifics.
UCL is better than Leeds for philosophy of mind, whereas Leeds is better than UCL for philosophy of language. Both do fairly well for epistemology, but neither has it as an obvious strength.
I would advise consulting the information available on the respective courses and how they compare. If you are able to specialise more in what you want to specialise in at one institution, then I would say that is a considerable advantage.
(A small point. Try and find out who is teaching on the courses. There is little point in going to do an MA at a department with lots of 'big names' if none of them teach the MA students.)
