|
Department of History and Philosophy of ScienceGuide to Graduate Studies in History and Philosophy of ScienceTABLE OF CONTENTS
1. THE DISCIPLINEStudies in history and philosophy of science take many different forms, all with the common aim of understanding how science works. Some do this by looking at the history of science, others by analyzing the abstract structure of scientific theory and practice, still others become involved in examining detailed foundational issues in specific scientific theories; some employ a combination of these and other approaches. The particular focus of these studies also varies widely; some concentrate on abstract ideas and theory, others on experimental technique and apparatus, others examine the institutional setting of science - universities, laboratories, government agencies, or the interaction between science and technology, religion, or social movements. The historical topics can range from the science and technology of ancient Babylonia to the development of quantum field theory. Philosophical issues include the epistemology and metaphysics of science, the logic of theory testing and theory evaluation, the role of experiment and heuristic in scientific change. History and philosophy of science is perhaps best described as a discipline devoted to using a wide variety of historical and philosophical approaches to understand one of the most important conceptual and cultural enterprises -- science. 2. THE DEPARTMENTThe Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University is one of the oldest departments of its kind in the world. It was founded in 1960 largely through the efforts of the late Norwood Russell Hanson. It was Hanson's view, paraphrasing Kant, that history of science without philosophy of science is blind, and that philosophy of science without history of science is empty. Since its establishment, our department has combined studies in both disciplines. We have an active guest-lecture program, with speakers in areas from the history of alchemy to the philosophy of quantum theory, and everywhere in between. We also have a very active faculty, and a vibrant group of graduate and undergraduate students. We strongly encourage students to take advantage of the exciting opportunities for interdisciplinary work on the Bloomington campus. In addition to the strengths of the department, Indiana University boasts strong research resources, such as the Lilly rare books library, as well as many leading experts and programs in areas such as history of medicine, logic, cognitive science, ancient musicology, history and philosophy of mathematics, library science, journalism, and medieval studies. 3. THE FACULTYFor detailed information about HPS faculty, click here. 4. THE UNIVERSITYAspects of the University that particularly enhance the department's program include a number of interdisciplinary units, notably the I.U. Logic Group, the Cognitive Science Program, the Program on Scientific Dimensions of Society, and the Center for the History of Medicine. Other programs of interest include the Institute for Medieval Studies, the Victorian Studies Program, the Russian and East European Institute, the American Studies Program, the Women's Studies Program, and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. The Lilly Library of rare books and manuscripts houses a special collection in the history of medicine and science, as well as the reprints and papers of some prominent IU scientists. The Main Library, one of the best in the Midwest, contains more than four million books and periodicals including excellent collections in both history and philosophy. Its holdings are augmented by special areas libraries in the physical sciences, chemistry, biology, and geology. The research archive of the famous Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction contains a unique collection of books, manuscripts, films, and scientific data. Indiana University is a member of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (C.I.C.), an administrative program of the Big Ten Universities that permits graduate students to enroll with full credit for a semester at the campus of any of the other member universities. Known for its physical beauty, the campus is located in the small city of Bloomington, set in the rolling and wooded hills of southern Indiana. A world-renowned music school and a nationally-ranked basketball program are only two of the many cultural attractions on campus, while the surrounding area provides abundant opportunities for outdoor recreation. 5. ADMISSIONApplicants to this department have a wide variety of academic backgrounds. A major in the field is neither required nor expected. We welcome inquiries and application from all people with at least a Bachelor's degree (or its equivalent) who are interested in pursuing graduate studies in history and philosophy of science. In judging applications for admission and financial aid, we are primarily concerned with general intellectual ability together with interest and commitment to history and philosophy of science as a field of study. Admission to the Department's programs (M.A. and Ph.D.) is based in part on the applicant's past academic achievements. Equally important from our point of view is an applicant's ability to master the basic principles of the discipline and his or her sincere interest in entering into the fellowship of scholarly endeavor. Indiana University is committed to the achievement of equal opportunity within the University and throughout American society as a whole. The university maintains an Affirmative Action Office on each campus and prohibits discrimination based on arbitrary considerations of such characteristics as age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status. Indiana University shall take affirmative action, positive and extraordinary, to overcome the discriminatory effects of traditional policies and procedures with regard to the disabled, minorities, women, and Vietnam-era veterans. The Department invites inquiries from all persons interested in graduate work in history and/or philosophy of science. For information contact:
6. FINANCIAL AIDThe Department will consider all incoming Ph.D. students for financial aid. For first-year students, these awards are generally made in the form of an I.U. fellowship, teaching assistantships, or some combined package. Awards will be made by the last weeks in March and will be offered, as far as our resources allow, to the most likely qualified applicants. Because of our limited funds, we encourage all students to explore other sources of support at the same time. In the past, institutions such as the National Science Foundation, English Speaking Union, and the Danforth Foundation have provided graduate students with support. Some nationally sponsored fellowships (for example, the Javitz Fellowship) award support for a number of years at one time. Once here on campus, a student may qualify for low-interest loans and work-study opportunities. Sometimes, students in our Department are able to qualify for teaching assistantships in other departments, e.g., mathematics, philosophy, cognitive science, and physics (among others). After the first year, all Ph.D. students will be considered for aid on an annual basis. Again, awards will be offered to students who have demonstrated in the most consistent fashion an ability to progress toward the completion of the program. The overall graduate record, depth of understanding as evidenced in written work, and the systematic completion of courses are some of the most important considerations used in making these awards. Our basic goal in distributing awards is to support as many deserving students as possible. In the last few years we have been able to find support for all students who show genuine promise of completing the Ph.D. program. We hope to be able to continue this record in the future. Our ability to do so is enhanced because often some of our very best students are able to secure outside funding. No funding is available for students admitted for the MA degree. Those who successfully petition for admission to the PhD program at the end of the first year are considered for funding on an ad hoc basis semester by semester, but funding cannot be guaranteed. With an eye toward the limited funds, we often do not support a student beyond the fourth year of graduate work, though opportunities for teaching or for dissertation-year followships from the University are sometimes available. In any case, by the fifth year a student will have completed most of the required hours, so fees will be reduced to a minimum. External fellowships may, of course, extend beyond the fourth year. Again, students are urged to seek outside sources of funding. For information about additional funding sources:
7. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MASTER'S DEGREE7.1 Core CoursesThe Department offers six core courses, of which every student must take four by the end of the second year. The core courses offered are:
Every student must take either H1 or H2, and at least one of P1, P2, or P3. Those students intending to emphasize history must take both H1 and H2. Those students intending to emphasize philosophy must take at least two of P1, P2, or P3. HPS, while being a core course, cannot satisfy these distribution requirements. In addition, every student must take (usually in the first year) one course requiring a major research paper. 7.2 Credit RequirementsStudents may fulfill the requirements for the M.A. Degree in either of two ways as outlined below. Both options require 24 hours of course work in the department. In addition to the core requirements listed above, students desiring a Master's Degree must:
OR
In either option a student may count courses from other departments as long as they are of graduate level and as long as the student takes the required number of courses in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. A maximum of 12 credit hours of X700 (M.A. Thesis credit hours) may be included in option B.2. These hours will be recorded as "Incomplete" on the student's transcript until the final copy of the M.A. Thesis is accepted. The hours will then be changed to a letter grade which is based on the committee's recommendation. Credits earned in X700 are not acceptable for the credit hour M.A., i.e., for the option B.1. See Section 10 below for further information. 7.3 Language RequirementFor the completion of a Master of Arts degree, a student must demonstrate:
Courses used to satisfy the language/tool skill requirement do not count as graduate credit toward the Master's Degree. See Section 11 for more specific information on "accepted" languages and tool skills. 7.4 Awarding of the M.A. DegreeAfter the student has fulfilled all of the above requirements (7.1, 7.2, and 7.3), she or he must present a written application to the Department, which is then forwarded to the Graduate School for final approval. In the case of a Master's Thesis (Option 7.2.2), the student must submit four copies of the thesis. Two of these (one bound and one unbound) will be filed with the University Graduate School. The other two (both bound) will be deposited with the Department; one of these will be placed in the Reading Room, and the other becomes the property of the thesis advisor. For further details, the student is advised to consult the section "General Requirements for Advanced Degrees" in the I.U. Bulletin—University Graduate School, checking both the most recent issue and the issue that was in effect when they entered the program. Consult with the Director of Graduate Studies if there is a discrepancy between the two versions. 8. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COMBINED MASTER OF ARTS AND MASTER OF LIBRARY SCIENCE DEGREE8.1 AdmissionAdmission to each of the two areas of study, History and Philosophy of Science, and Library Science, is approved separately by the Department of History and Philosophy of Science and the School of Library Science on the same basis as for other applicants to these units who are not in the combined program. 8.2 Required CoursesThe core course distribution requirements described for the standalone M.A. apply to dual degree students. See section 7.1 above. 8.3 Credit RequirementsCompletion of 51 credit hours, with 21 credit hours in History and Philosophy of Science, and 30 credit hours in Library Science. The course of study in history or philosophy of science must be planned in consultation with the student's history and philosophy of science advisor. 12 of the 21 credit hours in HPS should be selected from the core courses, and distributed as described in section 7.1 above. 8.4 Language RequirementA History and Philosophy of Science M.A. requires one language, a Library Science M.L.S. does not. See section 11 for further information on how this requirement may be satisfied. For further details, the student is advised to consult the section "General Requirements for Advanced Degrees" in the I.U. Bulletin—University Graduate School, checking both the most recent issue and the issue that was in effect when they entered the program. Consult with the Director of Graduate Studies if there is a discrepancy between the two versions. 9.REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PH.D.9.1 Required CoursesThe Department offers six core courses. Every student must take three by the end of the first year (including at least one in history and at least one in philosophy), and four by the end of the second year. The core courses offered are:
Every student must take either H1 or H2, and at least one of P1, P2, or P3. Those students intending to emphasize history must take both H1 and H2. Those students intending to emphasize philosophy must take at least two of P1, P2, or P3. HPS, while being a core course, cannot satisfy these distribution requirements. In addition, every student must take (usually in the first year) one course requiring a major research paper. In addition to these core course, each student must take a set of at least five additional lecture courses and/or seminars from the Department's graduate offerings, to be chosen in consultation with the student's advisor. 9.2 Credit RequirementsCompletion of 90 credit hours of graduate courses including no more than 30 credit hours of (X800) credits. See Section 10 below for further information. 9.3 Language Requirement
Students are normally expected to complete one of these requirements before their third semester, and to complete the second langauge or tool-skill requirement before their fifth. The choice of languages or tool skill is to be made in consultation with the student's advisor. Courses used to satisfy the language/tool skill requirement do not count as graduate credit toward the Ph.D. See Section 11 for further information on the language requirement. 9.4 Field of StudyMany students choose to emphasize either history of science or philosophy of science. However, a student may opt for a combined emphasis in the history and philosophy of science. 9.5 External MinorA student must also earn an outside minor in another department. The requirements for these minors are set by the department involved. Normally a student consults with the "minor" advisor of that department and decides with him/her which courses in that department the student should take. The student must file a "minor's declaration" form with HPS as soon as possible and not later than the fifth semester. Fields in which HPS students have commonly earned external minors include: history, philosophy, or one of the sciences, such as astronomy, physics, mathematics, and biology. Should a student wish to take an "unusual" minor, it is necessary to get approval from the Department. 9.6 First Year OralsDuring exam week at the end of the first year, each student will take a 1-hour general oral exam administered by several of the appropriate faculty. It will be based on all the departmental core courses (both philosophy and history of science) that he or she has taken in his or her first year. First year students will be expected to have taken at least three core courses by the end of the first year, including at least one from philosophy of science and at least one from history of science. 9.7 Third Year Paper and Being Placed on the Ph.D. TrackDuring the third year each student will submit a substantial research paper on a subject that has been agreed upon in consultation with his or her advisor and other appropriate faculty. Before formal submission to the entire faculty, the paper will be publicly presented and discussed in an open forum to which all faculty and student members of the department are invited, and it must be read and approved by a three-person committee selected in consultation with the student's advisor, containing at least one historian and at least one philosopher. The committee of faculty readers has the right to request revisions before giving their approval of the paper for submission to the full faculty. The full faculty shall vote whether to place the student on the Ph.D. track if they deem the paper satisfactory and the student capable of undertaking dissertation research. If the paper is not satisfactory, the student may re-submit it once more, after having revised it in consultation with his or her advisor and the committee of readers. If the paper is rejected by the full faculty a second time, the student will not be put on a Ph.D. track at that time. In such circumstances the faculty will also decide whether the student should be advised to select a different topic for a qualifying paper or to recommend against placing the student on the Ph.D. track at this or any subsequent time. 9.8 Dissertation ProposalTowards the end of the third year or during the early part of the fourth year each student is expected to present to the relevant faculty committee (see University Graduate School general requirements) a comprehensive written dissertation proposal, with extensive bibliography and literature survey. The student will defend the dissertation proposal at an oral examination before the same committee. The dissertation proposal defense will be broadly construed to include the relevance of the proposal to other salient issues in the field. Per University rules, the proposal defense must take place no less than six months before final defense of the dissertation. 9.9 CandidacyUpon completion of all of the above University and Departmental requirements, the student can be advanced to candidacy. A student must submit a formal application for candidacy through the Department to the Graduate School. A time-line summarizing all of the requirements is in section 13. 9.10 DissertationAt the time a student embarks upon the dissertation, the student and the advisor will draw up a dissertation committee which can be called upon for advice and which will ultimately read and approve the dissertation. The committee must be comprised of at least three HPS members and at least one member from outside the Department. One member of the committee will be designated chair and she or he will be primarily responsible for the supervision of the research. A student should feel free, however, to call upon other members of the committee for advice and suggestions. The University requires an oral defense of the dissertation. The Graduate School must approve the date of defense. When the time for the oral defense approaches, the student will present a copy of the dissertation to each member of the dissertation committee. These copies should include a table of contents, endnotes or footnotes, and bibliography. These copies must be sent to each committee member no less than four weeks in advance of the defense. Upon the committee's approval of the dissertation, four final copies, incorporating any suggestions made by the committee at the time of the defense, are required for the degree. The original (unbound, in a box suitable for mailing) and one copy (bound) of the dissertation must be filed with the University Graduate School, and one copy (bound) must be filed with the major department. (The copies filed with the University Graduate School will later be placed in the University Library.) The latter copy will be kept in the HPS Reading Room. The final copy tied with red ribbon and bow will be delivered to the student's advisor. 9.11 Seven Year LimitThe University requires that the dissertation must be defended within seven years of the student's successful completion of the qualifying examinations. Only under special circumstances will an extension be granted by the Graduate School. This is ample time for most students. A student who does take longer than seven years is required to take qualifying exams again in order to revalidate candidacy; this procedure may be done only once. For further details, the student is advised to consult the section "General Requirements for Advanced Degrees" in the I.U. Bulletin—University Graduate School, checking both the most recent issue and the issue that was in effect when they entered the program. Consult with the Director of Graduate Studies if there is a discrepancy between the two versions. 9.12 DeadlinesIn the process of being placed on the Ph.D. track, defending the third-year paper, advancing to candidacy, setting up a research committee and dissertation committee, and finally defending the dissertation there is a set sequence of forms and deadlines to be filled out by the student and the Department. It is crucial that the student follow the projected timetable for degree completion and stay in close contact with his or her advisor to be sure that the appropriate forms are submitted by the specified deadlines. See the information provided below under section 13. 10. ACCUMULATION OF CREDIT HOURS10.1 Language and Tool SkillsBasic language and tool skills courses do not count as graduate credit toward either the Master's Degree or the Ph.D. 10.2 Transfer of CreditStudents who have done relevant graduate work at another university may apply for transfer of up to 30 graduate credit hours. The request for such credit is handled on an individual basis and must be approved by both the Department and the Graduate School. Such a request is normally presented after passing the qualifying exams, and it is important to recognize that the Graduate School often applies a 3 for 4 or 4 for 5 credit hour transfer ratio. 10.3 No Transfer from X700 to X800The graduate school no longer allows students to transfer credits from X700 (M.A. research) to X800 (Ph.D. research). Therefore, unless youare certain that you will complete an M.A. Thesis before going on to the Ph.D. dissertation, do not enroll in X700! 10.4 Signing up for G901When a student earns 90 credit hours, she or he may sign up for one credit hour per semester of G901 (with most fees waived) instead of a full load. This privilege is allowed, however, for only six semesters; thereafter a student must sign up for one hour of X800 per semester, which costs considerably more. 10.5 Counting Hours for G901Under the current regulations, undergraduate credit hours used for languages and tool skills may count toward the 90 credit hours required to sign up for G901. This is a useful wrinkle, but it may not last. In any event, such credit hours will not count toward the 90 hours required for the Ph.D. 11. LANGUAGES AND TOOL SKILLSFor the completion of a Master of Arts degree, a student must show reading proficiency in one approved foreign language or tool skill; for the advancement to candidacy for a Ph.D. degree, a student must have:
Normally students wishing to pursue historical research will acquire reading proficiency in one language for the M.A., and in two languages for the Ph.D. Students who emphasize the philosophy of science may substitute proficiency in an approved tool skill for one language. Approved languages include: Greek, Latin, French, German, Russian. Another language demonstrably crucial to a student's dissertation research may be accepted upon approval by the student's academic advisor and the director of graduate stuids of a petition submitted by the student to the Department. Approved tool skills include: Logic, Probability Theory, Statistics. Another formal topic demonstrably crucial to a student's dissertation research may be accepted upon approval of a petition submitted by the student. Courses used to satisfy the language/tool skill requirement do not count as graduate credit toward the Master's Degree or the Ph.D. 12. ADVISING, SEMESTER REVIEWS, AND THE PH.D. TRACKEvery incoming is assigned a faculty advisor at the beginning of his or her first semester. Later, a student may choose to switch to another advisor, though there is no presumption that a student must end up writing his or her dissetation with the advisor. The advisor's role is to guide the student in selecting courses and in designing a program of study. The work of all graduate students is reviewed by the full department during various faculty meetings. The purpose of these reviews is to provide students with an informed estimate of their ability to complete a Ph.D. within a reasonable length of time. The faculty review grades, completion of coursework, and the quality of research papers, and make recommendations to students on how they might strengthen any areas needing improvement. Along with the third-year paper, these review form part of the basis for the decision whether to place a student on the Ph.D. track. (The Ph.D. track is an internal designation, and should not be confused with being admitted to candidacy, which is the result of a successful defense of the dissertation proposal. See sections 9.7-9.9.) Students who are not put on the Ph.D. track will be advised to complete a (non-thesis) M.A., and they will not continue in the Ph.D. program. 13. SYNOPSIS AND SEQUENCE OF PH.D. REQUIREMENTSFollowing is the normal sequence. Under exceptional circumstances, students who wish to delay any aspect must get faculty approval.
|
||
|
Jump to top of page |
Department of History and Philosophy of Science 1011 East Third Street, Goodbody Hall 130, Indiana University, Bloomington IN 47405 email: hpscdept@indiana.edu | phone: (812) 855-3622 | fax: (812) 855-3631 
|
