Postgraduate Studies

Philosophy at Western Sydney University is one of the most important centres for work in Continental Philosophy in the Asia Pacific region. Its members form a dynamic and well-respected group of scholars who have studied and taught at leading universities in Europe, North America, and Australia. They maintain wide ranging international relationships which contribute different perspectives into research and teaching. 

The Philosophy Research Initiative has varied interests, and offers both courses and individual supervision in a number of areas in continental philosophy. Members of the group have special expertise in Kant and post-Kantian German thought from Hegel to Nietzsche, the traditions of 20th-century French and German philosophy emerging out of phenomenology and existentialism and moving into Critical Theory, deconstruction, post-structuralism, and the more recent philosophical trends arising out of those movements. We are open to diverse issues, but place a special emphasis on questions of ethics, social and political philosophy, aesthetics, environmental philosophy, and the historical sense of those questions. 

The Philosophy Research Initiative at Western Sydney University has strong connections with philosophers in a number of countries and different universities. We actively encourage students to take advantage of these connections and we also welcome students coming to our program from several of those other universities.

Relations with philosophers and philosophy programs in Italy, Germany, North America, Great Britain, and France allow us to place our postgraduate students in programs abroad. We encourage participation in the Collegium Phaenomenologicum (Italy).

For further information, please contact philosophy@westernsydney.edu.au.

Postgraduate Options in Philosophy

A student can study for the following Degrees in Philosophy:

• MA in Continental Philosophy 
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 

About Research Culture in Philosophy at Western Sydney University

The philosophy research culture at Western Sydney University is vibrant, engaged, and contemporary. A philosophy student at Western Sydney University will be able take advantage of an active schedule of talks, workshops and conferences. We have a series of guest speakers giving talks in the department on Wednesday afternoons. These talks seek to address the wide array of interests of our faculty and students.

Western Sydney University's Philosophy Research Initiative is committed to cultivating a genuine public role for philosophy. To this end, we have established an active speaker series, visiting professorships, fre-quent conferences, and significant outreach programs. 

One of our regular workshop series is called Encountering the Author. These are workshops on recently published books, with the author present to respond to readings by different scholars. There are a number of these workshops each year and students are encouraged to be involved in proposing and organizing them.

The annual Thinking Out Loud: The Sydney Lectures in Philosophy and Society invites a leading international thinker to present a series of public lectures on a common theme. We collaborate with the ABC to broad-cast recordings of the lectures and interviews. The lectures take place at the State Library of New South Wales. They are subsequently published by Fordham University Press.

The Philosophy group is also responsible for organizing a series of public talks with esteemed speakers. These are organized in a series called Sydney Seminar for the Arts and Philosophy, which has an excellent reputation in Sydney.

Our members all have active research and publishing agendas. They also edit important book series such as the "SUNY Series in Continental Philosophy", "Thinking Out Loud" (Fordham University Press), "New Studies in Idealism" (Davies Group), "Violence, Desire, and the Sacred" (Bloomsbury), and "Incitements" (Edinburgh University Press).

About Sydney

Sydney is a culturally vibrant city with many museums, concert venues, and several other universities. Western Sydney is one of the most culturally diverse areas of Australia. The Philosophy Research Initiative at Western Sydney University engages in that cultural life and embraces cultural diversity, while being committed to postgraduate research and teaching. We invite interested students to join us in that work.

For more information about studying at Western Sydney University, visit the University's Future Students webpage.