M.A. in Philosophy and Religion
Ph.D. in Philosophy and Religion
Integral Ecology Track
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Complete Course List
Fall 2008-2009 Courses and Syllabi
The Ph.D. curriculum consists of 36 units:
Directed Electives (12 units) - Download the Directed Electives Course List
| Philosophy | 3 units |
| Cosmology | 3 units |
| Consciousness | 3 units |
| PCC Elective | 3 units |
General Electives (24 units)
Six units must be taken outside of Philosophy and Religion
Comprehensive Exams (flat fee, 0 units)
The standard format for both exams consists of an annotated bibliography along with a discussion paper that forms the basis for a dialogue between the student and the director of the exam. At least one of the exams must be taken with a PCC faculty member. Ideally, all other course work must be completed (though it is possible to do one of the exams concurrently with a last course). Comprehensive exams must be completed before the student registers for PARP 6900: Thesis/Dissertation Proposal Completion.
The general comprehensive exam consists of a 20-30 page discussion paper drawing from the PCC Canon and with specific reference to the first two PCC Ph.D. learning goals. The precise number of texts is to be determined in consultation with the director of the exam.
The specialized comprehensive exam is specific to the dissertation topic and also consists of a 20-30 page discussion paper and is specific to the student's proposed dissertation topic. The texts (generally between 15 and 20) to be discussed are determined in consultation with the director of the exam.
Dissertation (flat fee, 0 units)
Foreign Language Requirements:
Ph.D. students must demonstrate proficiency in at least one foreign language. Language proficiency may be demonstrated by having passed two years of course work in the study of a language, or by achieving a satisfactory score on the Educational Testing Service Foreign Language Reading examination. Additional language study may be required depending on chosen area of study.
The following goals should be understood in the context of an overarching commitment to the cultivation of creative vitality and spiritual insight:
- PCC Ph.D. graduates will be capable of pursuing scholarly inquiry and engaging ideas from a transdisciplinary perspective, including a sufficient mastery in depth of at least one subject area, with an eye to the paradigmatic assumptions and implications for the transformation of culture and society at large.
- PCC Ph.D. graduates will comprehend the broad outlines of the evolution of Western thought and be conversant with the principal ideas and themes of major figures of Western intellectual and spiritual history from classical antiquity to the postmodern era, so as to have a basic understanding of the origins of the currently dominant cultural world view and its relation to the challenges of our moment.
- PCC Ph.D. graduates will be able to engage in cooperative dialogical inquiry, listening sensitively as well as articulating effectively in a spirit of heartful and rigorous collaborative learning.
- PCC Ph.D. graduates will be capable of writing with intellectual clarity at a high level of scholarly competence, stylistic precision, and rhetorical persuasiveness.
