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A Ranking of U.S. Departments in Continental Philosophy
May 2003, John Hartmann, all rights reserved.
Note: minor updates to program
listings, overhaul of listings to come!
Table
of Contents
Introduction and Updates
The Leiter Controversy, and Leiter
on Continental Philosophy.
Methodology, etc.
The "Rankings"
Acknowledgements
Introduction, Updates, etc.
Yes, yes. I've been quite amiss in my faithful updating of this
page. I know this, and I plan to rectify it post-hastily, especially given
all the fun things that have been going on in the little corner of the world
which deals with 'rankings' of departments in philosophy. I am speaking,
of course, about recent dialogues and diatribes about the infamous Leiter
Report. I do have a bit to say about the discussion, and I'll get to
it in this update. Also, and much more importantly, I hope to get back to
my evaluations of Continental philosophy departments, and to make this page both
current and useful to those who might find it so...
As for me, I'm now safely absconded in my third year of doctoral studies in philosophy
at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, working out my Continental
fetishes and adding a background in American philosophy to my arsenal of
theoretical tools. I have landed in PhD land, and for this, I'm very, very
thankful.
(back to table of contents)
The Leiter Controversy, and Leiter on
Continental Philosophy
In the past few months, the online philosophical community has witnessed
something of a revolt against the hegemony of the Leiter
Report, in which the well-known ranking of graduate programs by UT Austin
professor Brian
Leiter has been rather strongly criticized
by Harvard's Richard Heck and defended
by Yale's Keith Derose. Leiter himself has been drawn into the
fray with his 'Open
Letter to Students,' which deals directly with Heck's criticisms. Most
recently, he has penned a rather vitriolic
reply to a review of Bruce Wilshire's new book, which admittedly is rather
heavy handed in its criticism of Leiter.
I do not want to repeat Heck's criticisms; on the whole, I find them to be
accurate, if a bit strongly put. Without doubt, Leiter offers a valuable
service to the philosophical community (and to would-be graduate students in
particular). This service, however, comes at a cost -- the manner in which
his report is taken to be the holy grail of departmental evaluation and
reckoning of departmental worth. What I do want to do here is take up the
problem of Leiter's severe antipathy towards what are traditionally considered
to be Continental departments. I think it belies a fundamental
misunderstanding of what Continental philosophy is today, and what it should be.
[Let me note here that I'm working from Leiter's 2001-2002 version of the
report. Eventually, once he posts his new 02-03 update, I'll rework this.]
In Leiter's reports -- both the 'regular' and 'Continental' varieties --
there is Leiter's explicitly stated bias towards the kinds of 'Continental
scholarship' that is done at predominantly analytic programs, and against the
kind of work done at programs traditionally considered to be Continental in
orientation. There also seems to be at least two unspoken presuppositions:
that having one or two thinkers in an area constitutes a strength in that area,
and that post-Kantian philosophy is what is meant by Continental
philosophy.
So that I am not said to misrepresent Leiter on this point, let me cite
Leiter's own
words : "It is no surprise, then, that the best work on so-called
"Continental" figures is done largely by philosophers with so-called 'analytic'
training. ... [additionally], Students beware: marginalized departments
frequently advertise their 'pluralism,' which is usually a code word for lack of
intellectual standards, not diversity of philosophical offerings." Or, in a
more extended passage directed against his perceived enemies, here is the first
footnote to his rankings page:
"A vocal
fringe organization, the Society for Phenomenology & Existential Philosophy
("SPEP"), has been waging a campaign against this Report, apparently
alarmed at the prospect that prospective students should be made aware of the
facts about mainstream sentiment in the profession about where to study
Continental philosophy. Although SPEP claims to be the second largest
professional organization of philosophers in the U.S. (which may be true, since
there is no real competition), it is worth noting that its philosophical
membership is heavily concentrated in just a dozen-or-so departments: e.g., SUNY-Stony
Brook, Penn State, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Dusquesne, Villanova, Memphis,
Fordham, DePaul, Loyola-Chicago, Boston College, Binghamton, among others. In
fact, a significant portion of those who belong to SPEP and participate at its
conferences are actually not philosophers, but academics in disciplines like
English. Despite SPEP, the fact remains that this is now a golden age for
scholarship on post-Kantian German and French philosophy of the nineteenth- and
twentieth-centuries. And while some of this work is being done by SPEP-affiliated
philosophers, the vast majority of it is not."
Leiter's point in these statements, and others like them, is to call the
quality of the scholarship of certain philosophers -- namely, those who might
frequent SPEP -- into question as regards "post-Kantian German and French
philosophy of the nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries." Put more
directly, Leiter thinks that scholarship at the majority of Continental programs
is watered down, and that the level of thought at these programs is rather
low. One wonders, however, how Leiter comes to these conclusions.
Aside from the rather insulated group of respondents for his survey (more on
this in a second), Leiter offers what might be the best summary of his criteria
for evaluating graduate programs in
his advice to would-be graduate students. Among these criteria are the
kinds of job offers that faculty have received, honors and awards
received, job placement of students, and the journals and presses which
publish faculty scholarship. In all cases, Leiter's criteria are skewed so
as to favor analytic programs and scholarship. For example, given that
analytic programs are more highly ranked in Leiter's analysis, the fact that
they hire analytic philosophers is somehow indicative of the quality of the
programs producing their hires, instead of the fact that these programs hire
analytics because they themselves are analytic in orientation. Or, in
terms of the kinds of journals which are taken to represent the standards of
scholarly rigour and quality, Leiter's list consists entirely of journals which
are predominantly analytic, with no mention of Continental standards like (for
example) Continental Philosophy Review, Husserl Studies, or The Journal of the
British Society for Phenomenology. Is it any wonder, then, that
philosophers affiliated with Continental programs are seen to be
'publication-challenged,' given that the journals they value are not taken into
account?
There is also the issue of the respondents chosen for survey by Leiter.
While they are certainly an impressive lot in their respective fields, one
cannot help but notice the lack of respondents who work predominantly in
Continental philosophy, and not merely 'post-Kantian' or 'German
Idealism.' On Leiter's list
of respondents on his Methods page, for example, I found only two names
whose work I could immediately identify as being related to 20th century
Continental. Perhaps this is a failing on my part; perhaps not. One
wonders, however, as to the validity of Leiter's methods and results regarding
Continental scholarship when comparatively few Continental scholars, broadly
construed, are among those polled.
Such methodological questions are underscored once we turn to the results of
Leiter's survey and analysis. For example, we might turn to Leiter's list
of programs which are of special interest for those wanting to work in
phenomenology. On Leiter's account, the two best schools for
the study of phenomenology are Georgetown University, home of John Brough
and William Blattner, and UC Riverside -- both excellent programs, no doubt.
Leiter lists programs such as NYU, Boston University, Oxford, and UC Irvine as
'good,' and names Northwestern and Loyola (Chicago) as 'notable.' The
problem with Leiter's analysis is immediately obvious to anyone who seriously
follows scholarship and faculty moves in phenomenology. How is it possible
that programs like Penn State (Sallis, Schmidt, Scott), Stony Brook (Welton, Casey,
Ihde), or Villanova (Caputo) are left entirely off the list? And
how on earth does an overtly analytic department like NYU get listed as a 'good'
place to do phenomenology, even taking the presence of John Richardson into
consideration? Classes with a token phenomenologist do not a 'good'
department make. In no way, shape, or form should NYU be taken as a better
place to study phenomenology than _any_ of the programs listed in this report.
Like the majority of his musings on relative strengths of various Continental
facets of philosophy departments, Leiter simply gets it wrong.
Additionally, although this is somewhat outside the scope of a report on
Continental departments, Leiter gets his analysis of
departmental strength in American philosophy just as imprecise. Here,
I can be blunt. If you want to study classical American pragmatism in a
PhD program, you go to one of three departments: Penn State, Vanderbilt, or the
best of the bunch, Southern Illinois
University at Carbondale. [Yes, I'm doing my work at SIUC.
However, I work primarily in Continental, and so will claim to have retained a
bit of critical distance on this point.] Leiter misses the boat here as
well.
But the real issue here is this: Leiter seems to think that having one or two
faculty personnel in Continental philosophy makes that department suitable for
students who want to work in Continental philosophy. Simply put, this is
about as wrong as wrong can get. Continental philosophy is not simply
'post-Kantian philosophy,' but a way of doing philosophy, a way of thinking
about a set of problems and issues. It takes a positive departmental
attitude towards a Continental problematic -- one which is sorely lacking in the
majority of the American philosophical mindset, and of which Leiter's antipathy
towards SPEP is a primary instance -- and a critical mass of faculty who
actively work in the area. It takes a positive departmental attitude --
let's call it 'pluralist' -- towards such fields as queer studies, race studies,
various kinds of feminism, deconstruction, post-colonialism, contemporary
phenomenology, etc. It does _not_ mean that such a department would have
to embrace each or any of these theoretical mindsets; rather, it means that this
department would have to be one in which a student could be responsibly trained
in these kinds of fields, many of which are only now gaining some respectability
in American philosophy (notice the increase in Continental and American papers
at the APA, for instance), and that the student would feel at home in receiving
such training.
Certainly, even Leiter would argue that a department with only one analytic
philosopher, even if that person were simply smashing, would not be a department
of choice for analytically minded students. How, then, would a department
with one person working in Continental thought such as NYU be understood as even
remotely suitable for a budding post-colonialist or phenomenologist?
It is not my point to deny that departments like Princeton, Harvard or NYU
are excellent; nor is it my point to deny that some work on Continental thinkers
or issues done by thinkers generally taken as 'analytic' is excellent.
Rather, it is to deny the premise that Continental philosophy done in an
'analytic atmosphere' is necessarily better than that done in Continental
programs. Valuable as his report is, and despite his working on
Continental figures, Leiter consistently undervalues and misunderstands the kind
of philosophy and graduate training done at Continental programs.
The work undertaken in this report should be taken in no uncertain terms both
as a direct challenge to the validity and hegemony of Leiter's report as it
regards Continental philosophy, and as a more accurate (despite my admittedly
unscientific approach) source of information for students who want to study
Continental thought.
(back to table of contents)
Purpose and Methodology
This web site, and this report, is/are intended to be a repository of knowledge and
facts regarding such Continental-friendly programs, so that the young philosopher
interested in, say, 20th Century French Thought might have a source to help her find a
program suitable to her needs. It is also unabashedly a corrective to the
Leiter Report as it regards Continental programs and philosophy.
A few notes:
1) 'Ranking' is a relative term in this report, as (on the whole) none of these
programs are ranked highly. Such coveted spots go to the Harvards and Princetons of the
philosophical community in the various 'statistical' surveys. This is not to say that
these schools do not deserve their reputation -- they most certainly do! -- but rather
that such rankings are skewed in favor of analytic programs, thus pushing Continental
programs down the list. Rankings themselves may be 'evil,' but in this day and age,
ranking and knowing which departments are strong in different areas is how the game is
played.
2) Instead, I offer groupings of what I take to be various tiers of excellence in
Continental thought. This is a rather subjective ranking/rating, based solely upon my
study of the situation. Further, I favor schools that offer at least some coursework in analytic
studies as well as providing strength in Continental thought, as I feel this is vastly
superior to the Continental-only situation. Sources for my work include:
The Leiter Report: a ranking
of American graduate programs in philosophy, but with a section on "Continental-friendly analytic programs." (See also the new "Continental"
rankings.) Much more comprehensive than this report -- a must for all
students thinking of applying to a PhD program. However, keep in mind the
kinds of issues discussed above -- Leiter's report,
despite its size and popularity, is simply wrong about a host of issues related
to Continental philosophy.
Various Departmental Webpages
The APA Guide to Graduate Programs in Philosophy
e-mail/newsgroup correspondence
3) Finally, the most important note of all -- I need YOUR INPUT in order to make this
page better and more comprehensive. Please, if you found this page of interest or use, or
if you have a different view regarding some school or other, let me know. You can e-mail
me by clicking on my name (or right here!) at the
top of this report.
And, with these preliminaries out of the way, on to the schools! (Or, if you like, back
to the table of contents.)
The Completely Unscientific,
yet Always Dreaded
"Hartmann Report" Rankings
The Top Programs:
Penn State: Fantastic. Mixes
Continental and American very well. Note that Lingis has retired, and
Nancy Tuana has moved from Oregon to Penn State. Also, note that Dennis
Schmidt has moved from Villanova to Penn State, and John Stuhr is moving to
Vanderbilt.
SUNY Stony Brook: A "personal
favorite." (I received my MA from Stony Brook.) Strong in Continental as well
as Analytic (Gary Mar, Patrick Grim), this department is very well balanced
but does not forget its strength in 20th Century thought. Notables on faculty include
David Allison (Nietzsche, Contemporary European thought), Ed Casey (aesthetics,
post-structuralism), Mary Rawlinson (aesthetics, philosophy of literature) and Hugh
Silverman (deconstruction, aesthetics, philosophy of literature). Kelly Oliver (feminism,
Kristeva) is a new appointment and currently is the Chair. There is also Donn Welton,
an outstanding Husserl scholar and
editor of the recent 'The Essential Husserl,' Don Ihde, who can be thought of as one of
the 'founding fathers' of the growing field of 'technoscience,' Ken Baynes, who
is a fairly well known person in Critical Theory circles, and Dick Howard, who is
much better known on the Continent than in the States for his work on Marxism.
Jeff Edwards (Kant, history of modern) is a rather underappreciated Kant
scholar, and one of the hidden gems of the department is Allegra DeLaurentis
(Hegel, modern).
U Memphis: A very strong
program, and one which values a pluralist (mostly Continental and Analytic)
approach to the education of graduate students.
Faculty includes Len Lawlor, who has translated Hyppolite's "Logic and
Existence" and works on Deleuze, Merleau-Ponty, and Bergson; Robert Bernasconi,
who has written on Levinas (among others) and works in race theory, and Thomas Nenon, who works on
phenomenology. It should be noted that Terrance Horgan (analytic) and Tina
Chanter (French feminism, Levinas) have recently left the department, and while
replacements have been hired, it remains to be seen how these departures will
affect the department as a whole.
Villanova: With John
Caputo (Heidegger, Derrida) and Walter Brogan, the
faculty looks pretty good. Note well that Dennis Schmidt is moving to Penn
State, which hurts Villanova in these 'rankings.'
Still, one of the top schools in contemporary phenomenology, especially for
those with a religious (Catholic) bent.
Emory: will be researching this for the
next update. [This time, I really will be!]
Other Notable Programs:
Northwestern: Traditionally a Continental favorite, and currently about as strong a
department as one can find here in the States in Continental terms. There are a good
number of high octane Continental folk: Tom McCarthy (critical theory/Habermas) , David
Levin (Phenomenology/Existentialism), Penelope Deutscher, Robert
Gooding-Williams, Cristina Lafont,
Terry Pinkard, and recently, Jurgen Habermas. I have heard some rumours regarding an (administration)
movement towards analytic thought, but this seems unfounded.
Boston College: I really like
BC. Being the Foucault buff that I am, I noticed James Bernauer almost
immediately, and then paused to also note names like David (not Dennis, the
former Yankees pitcher) Rasmussen, William Richardson (Heidegger), and the
ubiquitious Jacques Taminiaux (Nietzsche and Continental). Furthermore, there is
strength in other areas, including ancient/medieval and philosophy of religion.
However, I don't see much analytic interest in the faculty... worries me
slightly, but not enough to really bother me.
Depaul: David Krell (a
major Heidegger translator), Will McNeill (Heidegger/Nietzsche), Bill
Martin (critical theory) and many others make this a quite intriguing place for
the Continentally minded. Tina Chanter, the well known feminist scholar, has
recently joined the faculty, as has Kevin Thompson (formerly of SIUC), who is
quite the comer in Hegel studies. However, the overly focused emphasis on 20th
Century thought could be seen as rather narrow.
Loyola U. of Chicago: A very balanced
department, with some strength in continental that warrants a look. Hugh Miller works on
Levinas, Adriaan Peperzak (Schmidt Chair, formerly held by Sallis, among others) has
written on Hegel and Levinas, and David Ingram is well known in critical theory circles.
All this at a externally analytic, Catholic university. (Pluralism seems the word
of the day here.) Well worth a visit to their page.
SIU Carbondale: Generally known as a
department strong in American philosophy, especially given that the papers of
John Dewey reside here, SIUC is quietly building a Continental wing.
Anthony Steinbock is a well known phenomenologist and Husserl scholar. Stephen Tyman is a hidden talent, offering courses
in Kant and a number of 19th century figures. Other faculty working in
areas related to Continental philosophy are Randy Auxier (Bergson) and Ken
Stikkers (Scheler, Foucault). Kevin Thompson is moving to Depaul, and this will
temporarily hurt the Continental aspect of the department, but it appears that
we will be hiring for Fall 04 to replace him. [Note that I am studying here currently, and so
take with your accepted salt dosage.]
Notre Dame: Gary Gutting (Foucault), and of course, traditional Catholic university
strength in Heidegger, etc. Very diverse. If you're looking for cutting edge stuff, i.e.
Derrida or Deleuze, this might not be your pick, but it does seem good for 19th Century
and early 20th (Husserl, Heidegger.) Simon Critchley (Levinas, Derrida) was
recently a visiting professor there. Strong.
U of Texas at Austin:
Texas is kind of an enigma. Solomon, Higgins and Leiter are there, but
both Kelly Oliver and Doug Kellner have left, and the department seems to me to
be very narrow in Continental scope -- essentially, if you want to do Nietzsche,
consider Austin.
But the loss of Oliver and Kellner is huge, and should be seen as having a
negative effect. Furthermore, I have heard that the department is moving
much more towards analytic philosophy, and the recent hires listed on their site
seem to confirm this, as has recent correspondence with people close to the
department..
The New School: Faculty, especially
with the addition of Nancy Fraser, is excellent, but there are certain trade-offs
-- the lack of any financial aid or fundiing, the 8+ year average time to
completion of dissertation, etc.... Note also that Simon Critchley has joined
the faculty, and this is a fairly big coup.
Duquesne: Tom Rockmore is quite well known, as is Wilhelm Wurzer.
Most of the figures prominent in contemporary discourse are covered by the
department, but again, I detect a lack of analytic training available. However, this might be covered by a cross-registration
agreement with some of the other Pittsburgh area graduate programs...
Boston University: Henry
Allison is one of the most important interpreters of Kant around, and Daniel
Dahlstrom (Heidegger, phenomenology) also teaches here in this very pluralistic
program.
U Oregon: John Lysaker
seems to be a focal figure for Continental folks in the department, specializing
in the Frankfurt School and pragmatism. Mark Johnson also makes his home
here. I've heard that the
department has recently suffered a few losses due to external raiding, most
notably Nancy Tuana (to Penn State) but is looking to
fill these gaps with some scholars of interest. Also, I'm of the understanding that
the graduate school in general favors a very interdisciplinary approach, which may be of
benefit to those interested in continental thought.
(back to table of contents)
And finally...
This page will be added to as time goes on, and as my schedule allows. Please provide
feedback to this, as I am very interested in both
hearing opinions on this work, and also obtaining more information to make this page even
better. Future plans include noting both the ranking (in the NRC's report) and the number
of tenure-track positions obtained by graduates of each and every school. Also, more
schools will be added, and schools without links will have links attached to them -- after
all, this ain't it, folks!
(back to table of contents)
(to my homepage)
And don't forget to sign the guestbook!
© John Hartmann, all rights reserved
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