<p>At this stage it looks like i'll major in English Lit or Philosophy,
How strong is Tufts in these fields?</p>
<p>p.s. if there are any english lit/philosophy majors there your opinions are appreciated too :)</p>
<p>Phil major (ish) here. Tufts has an extremely strong and well-respected philosophy department. Brian Leiter of The Philosophy Gourmet, the leading (and to my knowledge only writes
and that Tufts has
The faculty has a good mix of established leading lights (Daniel Dennett leads the pack here, he’s probably Tufts’ most prominent academic, but other stand-outs include Ray Jackendoff and Jody Azzouni), and lower-profile professors (some of whom, like Patrick Forber, promise not to be low-profile for very long) who are just really excellent teachers, and have all the time in the world for their students.</p>
<p>Take some phil classes and some English classes in your freshman year, see what you like better. Particularly recommended profs to take are Susan Russinoff, Patrick Forber, Jody Azzouni, and Erin Kelly (conversely, I’d avoid David Denby and Jeff McConnell). If you get some good phil courses, I’d be shocked if you don’t end up plumping for philosophy.</p>
<p>Thanks Snarf,
Out of interest, do you know much about the english department?</p>
<p>Snarf, did you take Philosophy in lieu of English 2?</p>
<p>Quick correction: in my original post I meant to write: “Brian Leiter of The Philosophy Gourmet, the leading (and to my knowledge only serious) ranking of philosophy programs, writes:”</p>
<p>theirishone: I know next to nothing about the English department. Never taken an English class, and my friends who are/were English majors rarely rave about the department.</p>
<p>CountingDown: I tested out of the English requirement entirely. Got a 5 on both English AP tests. I will say that the folks I know who went for Philosophy either loved it or were a bit bored by it, while those who went ahead and took English 1 and/or 2 either hated it or were extremely bored by it.</p>
<p>The unofficial Tufts webcomic artist is an English major, which a heavy focus on literary theory and criticism, and her love of the department is borderline creepy (I say with love) and well documented on her webcomic. You could try contacting her…</p>
<p>[Webcomic</a> ? It?s a comic. About Tufts!](<a href=“http://tuftsblogs.com/chase/]Webcomic”>http://tuftsblogs.com/chase/)</p>
<p>Another quick correction/adjustment: the general negativity I’ve heard about English 1 and English 2 shouldn’t be extrapolated to the entire English department. Teaching a class that the vast majority of freshman are required to take against their will and teaching a class for people who chose to be in the class because they care about the material are very different beasts. I actually think that’s part of the reason Phil 1 seems like a more enjoyable experience than English 1/2: relatively fewer people know about the Phil 1 option for the writing requirement, so it’s disproportionately full of people who actually have some interest.</p>
<p>I think your experience in English 1/2 largely depends on the instructor.
I had Emily King for both classes and the discussions, reading materials, and papers were all very interesting.
She is one tough grader, though.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses,
its cool to hear other people’s opinions and not just what Tufts’ website can tell me,</p>
<p>I’ll definitely get around to contacting the webcomic artist, she sounds pretty cool!</p>
<p>Hello everybody! I’m new here (I hope this post is not dead)…and I was wondering…does anyone here know how LoR are assessed if you’re applying for an MA in Philosophy? I mean…usually the applicant doesn’t hold a BA in Philosophy…One would think, then, that most people wouldn’t have LoR from professionals in the field…but I don’t know…What have been your/other people’s experiences?</p>