Master’s Programs in Ancient Philosophy (Updated Faculty Information)

It’s increasingly difficult to get admitted directly into a Ph.D. program, especially for students coming from lesser known universities who may not have support from well-connected faculty. Programs offering a terminal Master’s degree can be a good way for prospective doctoral students to hone their philosophical skills and begin developing a research program in order to become more competitive for admission to excellent doctoral programs. 

Following up on my draft list of graduate programs in ancient philosophy, I am sharing this listing of programs that offer terminal Master’s degrees with a focus on ancient philosophy. I have included information about degrees offered, application deadlines, centres or special programs, and the ancient philosophy specialists teaching at each institution, along with their research interests. The information below is also summarized in a spreadsheet here.

Master’s Programs Overview:

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 2 year MA in Ancient Philosophy

University of Cambridge, 1 year MPhil in Classics

University of Durham, 1 year MA in Classics in Ancient Philosophy

University of Oslo, 2 year MA in Ancient Philosophy

University of Oxford, 1 year MSt in Ancient Philosophy, 2 year BPhil in Philosophy

University of Western Ontario, 2 year MA in Ancient Philosophy

Please let me know about any corrections, additional information, or other programs to consider adding. I hope to get to PhD granting programs with strengths in ancient philosophy soon, but there are many more of them, so it will take me a while to assemble the data (if you are involved with such a program, you can make my job easier by sending me the relevant information)

Master’s Programs Detailed Information:

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität:

Degrees Offered: MA in Ancient Philosophy and PhD in Ancient Philosophy

Location: Munich, Germany (instruction in English and in German)

Application Deadline: July 1, 2019 for international applicants, July 15 for German applicants

Funding: No MA tuition fees beyond registration fees.

Centres or Special Programs: Munich School of Ancient Philosophy

Ancient Specialists (not including emeritus faculty):

Leitung/Directors

Prof. Dr. Peter Adamson (Aristotle, Plotinus, al-Farabi and other members of the Baghdad School, Avicenna, and Averroes)

Prof. Dr. Thomas Buchheim (Aristotle, Sophists, Presocratics)

Prof. Dr. Oliver Primavesi (Aristotle, Presocratics, Textual Criticism)

Prod. Dr. Christof Rapp (Aristotle, Presocratics, and Epicurus)

Weitere Dozenten/Additional Faculty

Dr. Andreas Anagnostopoulos (Aristotle’s physics and metaphysics)

Dr. Philipp Brüllmann (Aristotelian and Hellenistic ethics, Cicero)

Dr. Laura Castelli (Aristotle and the Aristotelian tradition, ancient logic and dialectic)

Dr. Rotraud Hansberger (reception of Aristotle and Plotinus in medieval Islamic philosophy)

Dr. Mareike Hauer (Late Ancient Commentators)

University of Cambridge:

Degrees Offered: Classics MPhil and PhD

Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom

Application Deadline: January 3, 2019 (recommended)

Funding: Competitive scholarships available

Centres or Special Programs: The B-Caucus of Cambridge Classics focuses on Ancient Philosophy

Ancient Specialists (not including emeritus or temporary faculty):

Gábor Betegh (interests in a wide range of topics from early Greek cosmology and theology to Hellenistic philosophy)

Nicholas Denyer (Plato; logic, ethics and metaphysics)

Myrto Hatzimichali (Greek commentaries on Aristotle, ancient intellectual history; ancient theories of language and grammar)

Robert Wardy (Greek, Chinese, and modern philosophy; literature)

James Warren (Epicurus, Presocratics, Hellenistic philosophy).

University of Durham:

Degrees Offered: Classics MA in Ancient Philosophy; PhD in Philosophy or Classics

Location: Durham, United Kingdom

Application Deadline: January 9, 2019

Funding: Competitive scholarships

Centres or Special Programs: Durham Centre for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy

Ancient Specialists (not including emeritus or temporary faculty):

Giulia Bonasio (Aristotle, Plato’s Symposium, Republic and Philebus, Epicurean philosophy, Greek lyric poetry, ethics and moral psychology.)

Andrea Capra (Plato from a literary angle)

Serafina Cuomo (Ancient mathematics)

Philip Horky (Pythagoreans and early Greek philosophy, Plato’s Academy, cosmology)

Nathan Gilbert (Cicero; Hellenistic Philosophy; Roman Intellectual History and Culture)

Anna Marmodoro (Metaphysics and Philosophy of Mind, both contemporary and in Ancient, late antiquity and medieval thinkers)

Alberto Rigolio (Greek Imperial Literature and Philosophy, Late Antiquity, Syriac and Arabic Translations from Greek)

University of Oslo:

Degrees Offered: MA in Ancient Philosophy

Location: Oslo, Norway (can be fully completed in English, some courses may be in Norwegian)

Application Deadline: Varies depending on student’s nationality and education (e.g. Dec 1 for US citizens educated in US, March 1 for British citizens educated in UK). Check here.

Funding: No tuition fees.

Ancient Specialists (not including emeritus or temporary faculty):

Panos Dimas (Anaxagoras, Classical Atomism, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, ethics, metaphysics, physics)

Eyjólfur Kjalar Emilsson (Plotinus, ancient Platonism (including Neoplatonism), Stoicism, ancient metaphysics and philosophy of mind, the good life)

Thomas Kjeller Johansen (Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle, ancient philosophy of mind, epistemology and natural philosophy.)

Øyvind Rabbås (Socrates; Plato and Aristotle, esp. ethics and moral psychology; happiness and the good life; justice and honour; metaphysics.

Torstein Theodor Tollefsen (Ancient, late antique, and early Byzantine metaphysics, cosmology, spirituality, and icon theology, the interaction between Platonic/Neoplatonic and early Byzantine Christian thought)

Franco V. Trivigno (Plato, Aristotle, ancient virtue ethics and politics, esp. issues in moral education; moral psychology, esp. theories of the emotions; and aesthetics, esp. pertaining to drama and literature)

University of Oxford:

Degrees Offered: MSt in Ancient Philosophy, BPhil in Philosophy with an Ancient Philosophy Track, and DPhil in Philosophy

Location: Oxford, United Kingdom

Application Deadline: January 11, 2019

Funding: Competitive Scholarships

Centres or Special Programs: Workshop in Ancient Philosophy

Ancient specialists (not including emeritus or temporary faculty):

Luca Castagnoli (Pyrrhonism, dialectic, ancient philosophy of language)

Ursula Coope (wide range of topics with a special focus on Aristotle)

Roger Crisp (Ancient ethics, especially Aristotle)

Mark Edwards (late antique philosophy)

Paolo Fait (Ancient logic and dialectic, especially Aristotle)

Lindsay Judson (Aristotle’s metaphysics and natural philosophy, Plato)

Karen Margrethe Nielsen (Ancient Ethics)

Dirk Obbink (papyrology, Philodemus)

Michail Peramatzis (Aristotle’s metaphysics and epistemology)

Tobias Reinhardt (ancient rhetoric, classical literature and philosophy, Cicero)

Dominic Scott (Plato, Ancient Ethics)

Simon Shogry (Platonic and Stoic epistemology and moral psychology, Epicurean epistemology, and Aristotelian moral psychology)

Barnaby Taylor (Latin philosophy, especially Lucretius and Cicero)

University of Western Ontario:

Degree Offered: MA in Ancient Philosophy

Location: London, Ontario, Canada

Application Deadline: January 7, 2019

Funding: Guaranteed for all five terms of the program

Ancient specialists (not including emeritus or temporary faculty):

Devin Henry (Philosophy: Ancient science and epistemology, especially Plato and Aristotle)

Henrik Lagerlund (Philosophy: Ancient and Medieval philosophy, especially logic)

Georgia Mouroutsou (King’s University College: Ancient philosophy)

John Thorp (Philosophy: Ancient philosophy, especially Presocratics and Aristotle; Philosophy of religion)