Honours in the Department of Philosophy

Honours Contacts

Dr Kristie Miller

Room 411 Brennan MacCallum Bldg
Telephone: +612 9036 9663
Fax: +612 9351 6660

School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry

Room H3.05 Quadrangle Building
Telephone: +612 9351 2862
Fax: +612 9351 3918

Find your supervisor on the staff list.

Philosophy Honours

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 and are given the opportunity to build on their knowledge in advanced courses. 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.

What Prerequisites do I need?

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). Students whose bachelor's degree was undertaken at another university, or students who completed their bachelor's degrees at the University of Sydney more than two years ago should contact the department's Honours coordinator to discuss whether the classes they have taken are equivalent to these prerequisites.

How do I enroll?

Pre-enrolment with the Faculty of Arts
Students need to pre-enrol 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-enrolment 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 enrol 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 (31 March and 31 August).

In the first semester, full-time students simply enrol 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 enrol 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 a 'Bachelors award course (not UAC) undergraduate diploma and undergraduate non-award' form.
You can download the form here. You can download the form here. (Check that it's the form for the appropriate year). 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 enrolment 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

University of Sydney Honours Scholarships

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. Honours is a single, unified program. while you will receive marks for all pieces of assessment, your academic transcript will record only your final, overall Honours mark. The thesis

(i) Coursework seminars

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).

(ii) Thesis

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.

(iii) Honours Mini-Conference

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.

How do I find a supervisor?

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.

Take a look at the individual web pages of staff and see what sorts of papers they’ve been publishing and what areas they are working in. That might give you some inspiration regarding areas of interest or potential thesis topics. Don’t just look at the list of areas cited on the staff website: investigate further. Feel free to contact a number of potential supervisors. Ask questions. How often will they meet you? What does supervision with them look like? What areas are they interested in, and what sorts of thesis topics would they suggest? Be guided by what potential supervisors say about thesis topics, they know what can be accomplished in an honours thesis and what the current state of research looks likle. Approach a supervisor you feel comfortable with. If you would like advice or assistance finding a suitable supervisor, you should contact the philosophy honours co-ordinator.

Staff away in 2010

Various staff members are away for one or more semesters in 2010. Under some circumstances a staff member who is away for a semester may agree to supervise for the semester he or she is present, with a replacement supervisor being found for the remaining semester. In general, however, it is preferable to choose a supervisor who is present for the whole year, as changing supervisors mid-year can lead to dislocation. If you choose a supervisor who is away for a semester you must make sure that you have appropriate arrangements made at the beginning of the year for a replacement supervisor. Staff away for one or more semester next year include:

Thomas Besch (away semester 2)
Rick Benitez (away semester 1)
David Braddon-Mitchell (away semester 2)
David Macarthur (away semester 2)
Paul Redding (away semester 1)

Dealing with problems early

If you are experiencing any problems during your honours year, you should first approach your course instructor (with respect to course work) or supervisor (with respect to the thesis). If the problem is not resolved, then the honours co-ordinator is your next port of call. It is best to deal with problems early, whatever form they may take. If you think you are going to have problems meeting deadlines, or are finding it difficult to get the thesis or course work going, get help early and get the problem fixed. Honours is a very intensive year and can be stressful. Don’t wait until deadlines are looming before asking for help.

Format and procedures for the submission of written work

• Coursework essays
  Two copies of each coursework essay should be submitted to the SOPHI office by 4pm on the due date with a cover sheet attached, the compliance statement signed and clearly marked to the attention of the Philosophy Honours Coordinator.
• Honours thesis
  Theses should be between 12000 and 15000 words in length. Theses that are more than 10% longer than the 15000 word limit cannot be submitted, and students will be required to cut the thesis down to the appropriate length before submission. Students who think that they may write a thesis that is up to 10% over the 15000 limit must consult their supervisor about whether this is appropriate. Footnotes, endnotes and appendices are included in the word count, but references are not.

Marking Scale for Fourth Year

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.

Honours due dates for 2010

Penalties for late submission

In order to ensure fairness, students who submit late work may be penalised to the extent that such late submission has secured them an advantage over fellow students.

Honours Departmental Seminar series and other events

The philosophy department has a number of seminar series running at any one time. Departmental seminars are on wednesdays, 3.30-5.30 in the refectory. Current projects seminars are on mondays, 1.00-2.30. There are also multiple reading groups in social and political philosophy, and there is a postgraduate work in progress series. Honours students are strongly encouraged to attend some combination of these seminars. In particular honours students intending to proceed to graduate studies should take the time to attend these seminars both to broaden their knowledge base and get a sense of what life as a professional philosopher would be like.

To receive notification of all of these seminars and other events, sign up to the Sydphil mailing list via http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/philos/news/index.shtml

Useful links and other resources

• The Russellian Society is the student philosophy society of the University of Sydney, and hosts regular philosophy talks and events. For details, see the Russoc home page at http://www.geocities.com/russellian_society
• Emergent Australasian Philosophers, an electronic journal
  of philosophy catering specifically to final year/honours students
  within Australasia: http://www.eap.philosophy-australia.com/
• For information and general advice about opportunities for postgraduate study in philosophy in Australia and overseas:
  http://aap.org.au/postgraduate/postgrad.html
• http://homepage.mac.com/mcolyvan/careeradvice.html
• For information about postgraduate study in philosophy at The University of Sydney:
  http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/philos/postgrad/index.shtml