Undergraduate Research Tracks in Philosophy |
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A new idea... Undergraduate Research Tracks in PhilosophyDo professional research...while still an undergraduate! The Undergraduate Research Tracks in Philosophy offer an opportunity to do sophisticated and concentrated research on a particular topic in philosophy... research at a level of sophistication and with a degree of concentration which is exceptional in undergraduate education. The first five courses of the three-year program will provide you with the important skills and background knowledge you will need. In the third year, your research team--consisting of a faculty member and a small group if similarly trained undergraduates--will tackle a philosophical project of professional caliber, doing work that may even lead to publication. It is expected that a new research track will begin each year. Future prospects for Undergraduate Research Tracks include: Philosophical Logic * Philosophy of Law * Philosophy and Literature * Philosophy of Ecology What courses do I take?In year 1, research tracks will typically start with two specially designated courses at the 100- and 200- level. In year 2 you'll then goon to two more advanced courses through the 300-level, once again specially designed to emphasize skills and concepts you'll need. In the first semester of year 3 you'll take a special offering of PHI 420, Special Topics in Philosophy, limited to members of the research team and devoted to cutting-edge research in the topic area. With those 5 courses of preparation, you'll dive into two semesters of work with your faculty-led research team, in PHI 487 and PHI 488, Readings and Research in Philosophy. What about Majors and Minors? If you are a philosophy major, a Research Track will coordinate seamlessly with your requirements for the major, allowing you time to do other things in philosophy as well. Courses in addition to those in the track, but of particular interest to people in those areas, will also be offered by other faculty. The research experience for majors can be enriched by courses in history of philosophy, interdisciplinary interfaces, and topics and skills that overlap with the special concentration of your research topic. If you're not a philosophy major, completion of the requirements for a Research Track in Philosophy can be used toward a Minor in Philosophy. Interested?If real research in philosophy on the undergraduate level seems like your kind of thing, let us know. Contact the Undergraduate Office in Philosophy at 632-7599 or 632-7580 and tell us you might be interested. We'll let you know what research tracks are beginning, and what courses you should enroll in. Don't worry... you won't have to sign your life away... The courses you've taken will count for full credit as usual even if you decide later that a particular area of research isn't for you. If you're interested in the Research Track in Philosophical Logic, please see the separate description below, or call Professor Patrick Grim at 632-7578 . Research Track in Philosophical LogicThe first research track, beginning in the Fall of 1996, will be in the general topic of Philosophical Logic, with "Continuity in Computation" as the special focus. Patrick Grim and Gary Mar will serve as research directors, with the cooperation of a number of other faculty members with special expertise in relevant areas. Philosophical Logic at Stony BrookThe Philosophy Department has a number of areas of cutting-edge research. One of these areas is philosophical logic. Over the past several years members of the Department have published work widely regarded as ground-breaking, particularly in fuzzy logic and chaos theory and in cellular automata and game theory. Genuinely interdisciplinary in scope, this work has appeared in primary philosophy journals (No–s, Journal of Symbolic Logic, Journal of Philosophical Logic), but also in specialist journals in other fields: International Journal for Bifurcation and Chaos, IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems, Theory and Decision, Computers and Graphics, Journal of Theoretical Biology, and BioSystems. Ian Stewart has reported on some of our results in Scientific American. Much of this work has been developed with undergraduate participation, and some has been published with joint undergraduate authorship. The Research Track in Philosophical Logic is designed to continue and to broaden the active participation of undergraduates in this exciting area of ongoing research. What courses do I take?For each Research Track there will be a set of 5 preparatory courses, listed under standard Philosophy numbers but specially designed with the particular research topic in mind. For "Continuity in Computation" these courses will be: Year 1 PHI 108 Logical and Critical Reasoning Fall 1996 or Spring 1997 PHI 220 Introduction to Symbolic Logic Fall 1996 or Spring 1997 Year 2 PHI 330 Advanced Symbolic Logic Fall 1997 PHI 369 Philosophy of Mathematics Spring 1998 Year 3 PHI 420 Special Topics in Philosophy Fall 1998 At that point you'll be working on the main project with your research team, in: PHI 487 Reading and Research in Philosophy Fall 1998 and PHI 488 Reading and Research in Philosophy Spring 1999 What about Majors and Minors?If you are a philosophy major, a Research Track will fit seamlessly into your requirements for the major, allowing you time to do other things in philosophy as well. Courses in addition to those in the track, but of particular interest to people in those areas, will also be offered by other faculty. Plans are in place for a special offering of Modern Philosophy, for example, geared to the history of general philosophical issues in play in the research track. Plans are also in the works for a special offering of Philosophy of Language relevant to general topics in philosophical logic. If you're not a philosophy major, completion of the requirements for a Research Track in Philosophy can nonetheless be used toward a Minor in Philosophy. Interested?If real research in philosophy on the undergraduate level seems like your kind of thing, let us know. If you're interested in the Research Track in Philosophical Logic, contact Professor Patrick Grim at 632-7578. He'll let you know what courses you should enroll in, and will be able to answer any special questions you may have. Don't worry... you won't have to sign your life away... The courses you've taken will count for full credit as usual even if you decide later that this particular area of research isn't for you. |