Major/Minor Information Session

Dear Students,

This document should help you navigate the material we have online about the philosophy major and the courses we will be offering for fall '24 and spring '25 as well as give you a general sense about why you might wish to consider majoring in philosophy.  

Philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about what we can know and how we should live. The American Philosophical Association has put together resources for undergraduates here. Studying philosophy teaches people how to think critically and carefully; philosophy majors typically do very well on tests like the GRE and LSAT, and lots of notable people have majored in philosophy.  

You will find a list of courses the department will be offering on our website. Please scroll down that page to arrive at the listings. As you can see, we have an exciting range of courses on tap! In general, if you are completely new to philosophy, we suggest starting with courses at the 100-level. These courses presuppose no background in philosophy and are intended to be introductions to the discipline. In addition, many of our 200-level courses do not have prerequisites, but please check the details of each course in BiONiC. 300-level courses do presuppose some background in philosophy and are not suitable for beginners.  

As you can see from the link to our courses, Bryn Mawr’s political science department offers several cross-listed theory courses which can also function as electives that contribute to the philosophy major. Students majoring in philosophy at Bryn Mawr can count courses offered by Haverford’s philosophy department as electives that contribute to the major at Bryn Mawr. In addition, there are often cross-listed courses offered through Haverford’s religion department and its Peace, Justice, and Human Rights program.  

Bryn Mawr’s philosophy major and minor requirements can be found on our website. The required classes for the major are clearly listed on that page, and while we recommend that majors begin by taking the two required 100-level introductory classes (PHIL B101 and PHIL B102), students are not obliged to take the required courses in any specific order, except for the year-long Senior Conference which must be completed in students’ senior year (if you plan on graduating early, you must take this course in your junior year).  

The philosophy minor requires six courses and does not have distribution requirements. A minor declaration form is now available on the web. 

 are the department’s major representatives.   

Professor Macalester Bell is the department’s major advisor for the 2024/25 academic year.  

All best wishes, 

Adrienne Prettyman
Associate Professor of Philosophy 
Department Chair