Honours in the Department of Philosophy

Dr Caroline West

Room S415 Quadrangle Building
Telephone: +612 9036 9349
Fax: +612 9351 3918

School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry

Room H3.05 Quadrangle Building
Telephone: +612 9351 2862
Fax: +612 9351 3918
http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/philos/

Find your supervisor on this staff list.

The Honours Program in Philosophy gives students an opportunity to refine their thinking to a very high degree. It is at once a capstone to the training provided in senior units and a preparation for further study.
In seminar work, students are introduced to current research specialization and practice; the thesis gives students the experience of formulating and conducting a substantial piece of independent research, working closely with a supervisor who helps to bring their reflections and research into sharper focus.

Students who take honours at the University of Sydney study in one of the world’s leading philosophy departments. They work closely with dedicated teachers and active researchers whose interests span a wide variety of fields and metholodogical approaches.

To enter Fourth Year Honours, students must have completed a bachelors degree, with at least 48 senior credit points of Philosophy (i.e. 8 senior units of study), and have an average grade of credit or above in those 8 units of study. Cross-listed units may be credited towards the 48 credit points. At least 6 credit points must come from each of the three programmes (History of Philosophy; Epistemology, Metaphysics and Logic; Moral, Social and Political Philosophy).

Pre-enrollment with the Faculty of Arts
Students need to pre-enroll for honours at the Faculty of Arts office, not the Department of Philosophy. Current University of Sydney students moving on to fourth-year honours will have their eligibility for honours checked by the Faculty of Arts. All the applications that fulfill the published requirements for honours entry are forwarded to the philosophy department's honours coordinator. The faculty will also refer to the department applications from students who haven't completed all the prerequisites. In these cases, the department's honours coordinator has some discretion to allow those students into the honours year. Students who want to do honours but have not fulfilled all the prerequisites should contact the honours coordinator as soon as possible. If the student's pre-enrollment is successful, that should be the end of their dealings with the faculty. The student will be sent an invoice with an interim library card in December/January, and another for the academic year in February.

Honours may be undertaken on either a full-time or a part-time basis. It is also possible to enroll in the program mid-year. Conversion from full- to part-time status is possible before 1 May if you have a good reason. Note that a HECS/Fee liability will apply after the census dates (30 March and 30 August).

In the first semester, full-time students simply enroll in two 'shell' units, PHIL4011 and PHIL4012 (Philosophy Honours A and Philosophy Honours B). In the second semester, full-time students enroll for another two 'shell' units, PHIL4013 and PHIL4014 (Philosophy Honours C and Philosophy Honours D). Part-time students enroll in one 'shell' unit per semester, instead of two. These codes bear no relation to the actual seminars taken, or to the thesis. The faculty only needs to know that you're doing two 12-credit units of philosophy honours each semester; which coursework seminars you take is between you and the philosophy department. (This is why the coursework seminars have no unit codes.)

If you are transferring from another university, or returning to studying at the University of Sydney after more than a semester away, the procedure is different. Students in this situation need to lodge an Honours Conversion form available from the faculty office.
You can download the form here.

Before going to the faculty office, transfer students need to get the philosophy department's honours coordinator to approve and sign the form. Once the faculty office has the completed form, it will produce an enrollment form, which the students complete in February.

Registration with the Philosophy Department
Students also need to register with the Department of Philosophy. Each student's program of seminars and thesis topic must be approved by the honours coordinator, who will sign the student’s registration form. The completed form should be emailed or handed to the coordinator by the end of the first week of semester at the latest. It's possible to change your seminar choices, but we do need an indication of what courses you’ll be taking and who your supervisor will be. Download registration form

The University of Sydney offers a number of Honours Scholarships. The Arts Faculty will be awarding some of its Honours Scholarships on the basis of academic merit, and some on the basis of equity and merit. Students currently enrolled at the University of Sydney or other universities intending to undertake an additional Honours year at The University of Sydney are eligible to apply. Application forms can be downloaded or obtained from the Scholarships Unit, Mackie Building K01, University of Sydney NSW 2006.

The Fourth Year Honours Program

The Fourth Year Honours program in philosophy consists of four coursework seminars, and a thesis of 12,000-15,000 words. Students are also required to give a 20-minute presentation on their thesis topic at one of two Honours Mini-Conferences held each year.

Full-time students normally take 2 coursework seminars in each semester, although other arrangements (e.g. 3:1) are possible in consultation with the Honours Coordinator. Part-time students normally proceed at half the rate of full-time students, completing the honours program over two years and taking 1 coursework seminar each semester.

• Each coursework seminar is assessed by one essay (4,000-5,000 words) due at the end of the semester, worth 15% of the overall Honours grade.
• Each coursework essay is marked by two staff members, so students must submit two copies of each essay to the SOPHI office by the due date with a philosophy cover sheet attached (signed by the student and marked to the attention of the philosophy honours co-ordinator).

The Department values a broad philosophical education on the part of its Honours graduates and encourages students to choose their coursework units from a range of areas within philosophy. Students must ensure that there is no substantial overlap of content in different pieces of work submitted. Students who are unclear about what constitutes unacceptable overlap should consult with the Honours co-ordinator.

Students may be permitted to choose their own essay topic, but the topic must be approved by the staff member in charge of the course. Essays submitted on topics that have not been approved may not be accepted.

In 2008, students may choose their coursework units from the list found on the Honours seminars page. It is also possible to take a supervised reading course, with the approval of the Honours co-ordinator and other staff members involved.

The department holds two Honours Mini-conferences each year. The conferences give students an opportunity to engage with each other’s work, to receive peer feedback and to refine oral presentation skills. Each student is required to give a 20-minute presentation at one of the mini-conferences on a topic relating to their thesis research. The presentation will be graded on a Pass-Fail basis, and attendance at both of the Mini-Conferences is compulsory.

The thesis is an extended piece of research (12,000-15,000 words) on an approved topic of the student's choosing, and is written under the individual supervision of a member of staff. The thesis is worth 40% of the final mark, and is due in the final semester of candidature.

It is important to start thinking about your thesis as early as possible, preferably even before you enroll in honours. Ideally, by the time you begin the honours year you will have consulted with your supervisor about a suitable topic, and have done much of the background reading. This is not just for reasons of time-management: having the project simmer away in the back of your mind as you concentrate on your coursework seminars will enrich the thesis immeasurably.

Students work out a thesis topic in consultation with their supervisor, whose responsibility it is to ensure that the topic is manageable within the time-frame for completion. Every student will have a member of the philosophy department’s academic staff as their supervisor. The supervisor guides and advises the student as she or he undertakes research, helps the student refine the topic and the argument, and comments on drafts. Students and supervisors should meet regularly: every two to three weeks on average, more often at ‘crunch’ times, and also whenever problems crop up.

Copies of past philosophy honours theses are available in the SOPHI library.

0.The first thing to do is to form some idea of the kind of topic you would like to write on. (If you are stuck for ideas, a useful strategy is to think back to topics covered in previous philosophy units that you found especially interesting.) Your topic can be quite vague at this point; your supervisor can help you sharpen your focus and refer you to further readings.

Having formed some idea about a topic, you should look at the list of academic staff in the philosophy department and their research interests to see which member(s) of staff specialize most closely in the area you are interested in. Don’t confine your attention only to those staff members who have taught you previously. The department has a large number of research staff who are also available to act as supervisors. Having identified a potential supervisor, you should contact them and arrange a time to meet to discuss supervision.

If you would like advice or assistance finding a suitable supervisor, you should contact the philosophy honours co-ordinator.

All honours work marked by at least two staff members, including the staff member responsible for the course (or supervisor in the case of theses), as arranged by the Honours Coordinator. The markers usually confer to determine a mark. If agreement is not reached, a third marker is appointed.

The department and the Faculty of Arts regard honours as a single, unified program. Consequently, while honours students receive provisional marks and feedback on their coursework essays as they go along, they receive only one overall grade for honours on their academic transcript upon completing the program.

The marking scale for honours is as follows:

Honours First Class
[90+] Medal quality. Exceptional quality; outstanding academic promise; demonstrating independent thought throughout, a flair for the subject and research achievement of a kind that produces at least some element(s) of PhD or potentially publishable standard in serious academic fora. Shows signs of being a first class researcher, and is likely to be strongly supported for funded positions in the world’s leading graduate programs.

[87-89] Excellent First class quality, showing a command of the field both broad and deep; independent intellectual argument and the presentation of original thought to a significant degree. Has the skills and knowledge to pursue graduate studies in philosophy and is a strong candidate for postgraduate scholarships.

[83-86] Good first class quality with some evidence of intellectual independence and some originality of thought. Is eligible to pursue graduate studies in philosophy, and is a candidate for postgraduate scholarships.

[80-82] Clear but bare first class quality, comprising general soundness in subject area, clear familiarity with and ability to use central methodology and theory of discipline, and some evidence of independence of thought. Satisfies entry requirements for postgraduate study, but is unlikely to be successful in applying for postgraduate scholarships.

Honours Second Class, Division I
[75-79] Sound in subject area; average ability to use methodology and theory of discipline: evidence of careful presentation and some critical analysis of relevant sources; ability to present material clearly and succinctly with a well-thought out argument and to meet normal professional requirements. Is eligible for an MPhil.

Honours Second Class, Division II
[70-74] Adequate understanding of subject area and methodology; fair presentation and analysis of material; may lack one or more of the qualities expected in a higher award.

Honours Third Class
[65-69] Adequate overall, but with significant defects in several of the qualities expected in a higher award.

As you can see, honours coursework and thesis are marked on a different scale from undergraduate work. Eighty percent, the threshold for First-class Honours, is equivalent to a High Distinction (eighty-five percent) at undergraduate level. A mark of 79 in fourth-year therefore indicates a higher achievement than a 79 in a third-year course.