rankings
Tag2020 QS Philosophy Rankings
The 2020 “QS World University Rankings” have been published, including rankings of philosophy programs. (more…)
Australia’s Research Assessment Exercise: Results in Philosophy
The 2018 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) report, a national assessment exercise that attempts to measure research quality at institutions of higher education in the country, has just been released. (more…)
The Guardian’s Undergraduate Philosophy Rankings
The Guardian has published its 2019 “University Guide,” a set of rankings of schools aimed primarily at undergraduate students. The guide includes discipline-specific rankings, including for philosophy. (more…)
A Reputational Survey of Philosophy Programs Plotted Against Program Placement Data
To what extent does getting one’s PhD in philosophy from a program that does well in a reputational survey increase one’s chances of finding a permanent academic position? (more…)
PhilPeople: from Philosophy to Philo-Me (guest post by Mitchell Aboulafia)
“The ‘me’ culture has colonized philosophy.”
Philosophy PhD Program Rankings: APDA’s 2017 Final Report
Academic Placement Data and Analysis (APDA) has released its complete 2017 Final Report, an 81-page document that collects data on PhD-granting philosophy programs (including ratings by former students, placement rates, and diversity) and the discipline as a whole (including hiring networks, placement maps, cluster analyses of programs, job descriptions, non-academi..
2018 QS Philosophy Rankings
The 2018 “QS World University Rankings” have been published, including rankings of philosophy programs.
UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) & Philosophy
A few days ago, the results from the UK government’s 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise were released. I suspect that a lot of non-UK readers are largely unfamiliar with the REF, so first some basics:
The REF is used by the government to assess the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. It replaced the earlier Research Assesment E..
User’s Guide to Philosophy Without Rankings
A User’s Guide to Philosophy Without Rankings is a new site “intended for the use of prospective graduate students in philosophy, faculty (including chairs or heads) in philosophy, and deans, provosts, and other administrators, all of whom need resources for the decisions they make about philosophy programs.” It is based on the idea that “currently, there are no ran..
2017 QS Philosophy Rankings Released
London-based education firm Quacquarelli Symonds has published its annual “QS World University Rankings,” The Guardian reports, including a ranking of universities at which to study philosophy. (more…)
A Detailed Critique of the Philosophical Gourmet Report (updated)
The latest issue of Metaphilosophy (October 2015) contains “Appearance and Reality in The Philosophical Gourmet Report: Why the Discrepancy Matters to the Profession of Philosophy” by Brian Bruya (Eastern Michigan). It is a “data-driven critique” of the Philosophical Gourmet Report (PGR) that argues that “the actual value of the PGR, in its current form, is not near..
Journal Rankings — Useful? (guest post by Thom Brooks)
The following is a guest post* by Thom Brooks, Professor of Law and Government at Durham University’s Law School, founding editor of the Journal of Moral Philosophy and blogger at The Brooks Blog.
Journal Rankings — Useful?
by Thom Brooks
I’ve benefited enormously from much invaluable advice over the years that has fed directly into my Publishing Advice for..
How Much Weight Should a Candidate’s School Have?
“The next time you do a job search break your committee into two groups. Have one group evaluate the candidates without reference to the institution from which they graduated and have the other evaluate the candidates with all of the institutional information included. I can almost guarantee that the short lists will not be the same. And I believe that anyone who is..
The September Statement (Guest Post by Simon Cabulea May)
Simon Cabulea May is assistant professor of philosophy at Florida State University. He works on a variety of topics in political philosophy. He is also the creator of the group political philosophy blog, Public Reason. In the guest post*, below, May explains why he thinks philosophers should sign the “September Statement“, declaring in light of recent events their r..
Broader Effects of the PGR
The following is an excerpt from an email a well-known senior philosopher sent to his/her colleagues regarding visiting speakers:
“The events are being organized so as to maximally benefit the department. This includes promoting the reputation of the department, providing intellectual stimulation, and just having plain fun. Normally, conferences and workshops sho..
Appearance and Reality, Take 2 (guest post by Brian Bruya)
Yesterday’s post, “A Detailed Critique of the Philosophical Gourmet Report,” contained excerpts from “Appearance and Reality in The Philosophical Gourmet Report: Why the Discrepancy Matters to the Profession of Philosophy,” an article in Metaphilosophy by Brian Bruya (Eastern Michigan) in which various criticism of the PGR were summarized. As noted in an update to t..
2014 Philosophical Gourmet Report Released
The 2014 edition of the Philosophical Gourmet Report (PGR) has been released. The PGR is a reputational survey of a selection of PhD-granting philosophy departments based on questionnaires completed by around 230 philosophers. The release of the PGR was slightly delayed this time around, owing to considerable controversy about its editor-in-chief, Brian Leiter, its ..
Sheffield Will Not Cooperate with PGR
The Department of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield has made the following announcement: “Prospective postgraduates should note that the Department is not supplying updates and corrections to the 2014 Philosophy Gourmet Report, and should not assume that this report is based on accurate information.”
The Chronicle on this Week’s Controversies
The Chronicle of Higher Education has a story on the recent events involving Brian Leiter’s emails to certain members of the profession and the future of the Philosophical Gourmet Report. According to the article, Leiter has appointed Berit Brogaard (Miami) as “co-editor” of the report.
What Do PGR Evaluators Need to Know?
I very much doubt that I would be able to provide anything like reliable judgments of philosophical quality based on the names of individuals in faculties, without spending an enormous amount of time reading people’s work. Although I’ve been in professional philosophy for nearly ten years, and have gained at least some familiarity with a large number of philosopher..
Leiter to Step Down from PGR / The New Consensus
Brian Leiter (Chicago) announced that he will be stepping down as editor of the Philosophical Gourmet Report (PGR), a highly influential reputational ranking of philosophy Ph.D. programs he created in 1989 while he was a graduate student, and which has been published on the Internet since 1996. The 2014-15 edition of the PGR will be officially co-edited by Leiter an..
Thoughts on the PGR and the Recent Controversy (Guest Post by Alex Rosenberg)
Alex Rosenberg is the R. Taylor Cole Professor of Philosophy at Duke University. He is known for his work in philosophy of science, particularly philosophy of biology, as well as the philosophy of social science and metaphysics. In the following guest post* he discusses the current controversy regarding the Philosophical Gourmet Report, defending its accuracy, value..
4 Out of 5 Top “Global Thought Leaders” Are Philosophers
The Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI) recently released its 2013 list of “Global Thought Leaders” and 4 out of the top 5 are philosophers, as Peter Singer reports. How is the ranking done? “In our analysis, the importance and influence of a thinker and/or idea is measured not only by how well they come across in a particular segment or on a specific platform such ..
Alcoff, Leiter, and Pluralism Revisited
Regan Penaluna recounts the controversy over the Pluralist Guide to Philosophy in “A Latina Takes On the ‘Philosopher King-Maker‘” at Talking Philosophy. (via Ben Hale)
UPDATE: There have been concerns expressed about the accuracy and completeness of this report. Comments are open.
The PGR’s Technical Problems (updated)
Several recent posts here have discussed questions regarding the leadership of the Philosophical Gourmet Report (PGR), the best known ranking of philosophy graduate programs, with some discussion of what an alternative to the PGR might look like. In the meanwhile, discussions continue between the creator and current editor of the PGR, Brian Leiter (Chicago), and rep..
Philosophers among the 10 most famous people. Ever.
The NY Times Magazine has an article on MIT’s new Pantheon project, which aims to map “cultural production.” According to it, the top ten most famous people of all time, anywhere, include these philosophers: Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Confucius, and Pythagoras. Philosophy: come for the money, stay for the fame.
Times Higher Ed University Rankings
Times Higher Education has released its 2015 “World Reputation Rankings” of universities. As its title suggests, this a reputational survey, so, subject to many of the same concerns and cautions that all such surveys raise. THE site says:
Some 10,507 senior scholars took part in this year’s invitation-only Academic Reputation Survey. They provided their time and ..
Should the Philosophical Gourmet Report Continue? (Several Updates Added)
Brian Leiter (Chicago), who created and organizes a reputational survey of philosophy graduate programs known as the Philosophical Gourmet Report, is asking whether he should continue producing it. He opened a poll on the matter on his blog Tuesday evening, twice stopping and replacing the poll with new versions. The current poll is accessible through a link at the ..