Machen Proposes to Eliminate Philosophy PhD Program. Support the Program, sign today!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Florida
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<p>Machen Proposes to Eliminate Philosophy PhD Program </p>

<p>We are as surprised as you are.</p>

<p>If you would like to make your support for the philosophy department known, an on-line petition has been started by Prof. Sabrina Jamil (Miami-Dade). You can sign your name to a letter to President Machen and leave a comment as well: Go to petition page... </p>

<p>Petition</a> to President Machen to Keep Philosophy's Ph.D. Program  - The Petition Site</p>

<p>"The University of Florida has a distinguished Philosophy program, one of the very few in the southeastern United States. To eliminate this program would be an embarrassment for the University of Florida. It would serve the people of Florida and of the region poorly. It would drop the University of Florida out of the ranks of first-rate comprehensive universities." —Dr. David E. Schrader, Executive Director of the American Philosophical Association.
"This is a short-sighted move, one that sets back the cause of liberal education in one of the country's important state universities."—Dr. Daniel Garber, Chair of Philosophy, Princeton University. </p>

<p>"NYU closed its doctoral program in philosophy in the early 1970's, during a fiscal crisis, and spent the next 25 years regretting its decision. The move saved the University very little money. And it quickly realized, what should have been obvious, that it could not aspire to be a self-respecting research university without a doctoral program in a core subject like philosophy. With much effort and expense in the intervening years, the program was finally revived in 1997...I would be very surprised if [UF's] proposal to close its doctoral program in philosophy turned out to be a smart one."—Dr. Paul Boghossian, Chair of Philosophy 1994-2004, New York University.
"One cannot conceive of a leading university without a doctoral program in a field as central to learning and culture as philosophy is."—Dr. Michael Della Rocca, Chair of Philosophy, Yale University </p>

<p>"It is a grave error for the University of Florida to close its PhD program in philosophy. Over the years it has been an excellent program. A vibrant philosophy PhD program is needed for vibrant undergraduate programs in philosophy and the humanities and sciences in general...It will be embarrassing to Florida that its flagship university doesn't have a doctoral program in Philosophy and re-instituting the program will be enormously more expensive than maintaining the current program." —Dr. Barry Loewer, Chair of Philosophy, Rutgers University.
"[We] request that President Machen keep the structure of the Philosophy Ph.D. program at the University of Florida intact."
— Dr. Richard Moran, Chair of Philosophy, Harvard.
— Dr. Stephen Yablo, Chair of Philosophy, MIT.
— Dr. Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor of Linguistics, MIT.
— Dr. Geoff Sayre-McCord, Chair of Philosophy, UNC Chapel Hill.
— More.... </p>

<p>"I think [Philosophy] is really at the core of just about everything we do. If you study humanities or political systems or sciences in general, philosophy is really the mother ship from which all of these disciplines grow...If I were to start again as an undergraduate, I would major in philosophy."—Matthew Goldstein, chancellor of CUNY (The New York Times, April 6th).</p>

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<p>Look I think Machen is doing a great job considering what the Legislature has given him to work with. He has built enough credibility that we should trust his judgement. Just an Alumn's perspective.</p>

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<p>lol...obviously ALOT of people do care. 1,600 plus signatures so far and not to mention Professors and administrators from highly regarded institutions, including ivy league. Its okay if YOU dont care, but let someone take away the opportunity of pursuing a higher degree at your college and I think you might see it differently. And yea, of course you could always say "just go somewhere else" but thats just not good enough. UF in my opinion is making a big mistake. Apologies if you feel different ssobick but Machen should re-evaluate some of his proposals. And in the end I agree with you 100 percent, he is doing the best he can do, but theres nothing wrong with standing up for what you believe in/want out of your college.</p>