How to declare a major in philosophy!

1) Make sure you’ve met the pre-requisite: passed one philosophy course with a grade of C or better. If you have not met this pre-requisite but are currently enrolled in a philosophy course, talk to the DUP (Ross Cameron) to see if you can declare.

2) Make a plan for how you are going to meet the major requirments. This should be 10 courses at 2000 level or above if you are intending on single majoring, or 8 courses at 2000 level or above if you are i tending on double majoring (as you will be able to share 6 credits with your other major). Two courses (6 credits) can be transfer courses, but you must approve these with the DUP.

Your plan should include five courses that meet the core distribution requirements (see https://philosophy.virginia.edu/major). The remaiing courses (5 if you are single majoring, 3 if you are double majoring) can be anything you like at the 2000 level or above.

Your plan should include the courses you intend on taking in future semesters. Of course, you may not know yet exactly what courses will be offered. Look at past Fall and Spring semesters (You can see what has been offered by changing the semester in the drop down menu at the start of this page: https://philosophy.virginia.edu/courses), and that is a good guide as to what will be offered in future Fall and Spring semesters. But remember, this is just a plan. You’re not signing up for courses. If you change your mind, or some of the courses you put down just now end up not being offered, that is fine. It’s just a plan, and it can change, so long as the courses you end up taking meet the major requirements.

Note on the logic requirement: There are basically two ways to meet the logic requirement: by taking PHIL 2420 or PHIL 1410.1 If you choose to meet the requirement with 2420 then that is simply one of your 10 (8 if double majoring) courses in your plan, and you don’t need to worry. If you use 1410 for the logic requirement, however, then this course won’t count towards the major requirements. That means your course plan should consists of 11 classes (or 9 if you are double majoring): 1410, and 10 (8) classes at 2000 level or above.

If you want any help or advice in choosing courses, feel free to reach out to individual professors, or the DUP.

3) Go to https://college.as.virginia.edu/forms and find the section for =Declaration of Major and Minor Forms. Click on the link, and that should start a DocuSign process. Fill in your details, and then fill in your planned courses. Leave the box for major advisor blank - the DUP will assign that. Once you’ve filled in all your details, finish the DocuSign and it will be sent to the DUP for approval!

1 PHIL 5420 also satisfies the requirement, but this rarely runs.

If you have any questions about the requirements or the process, contact the DUP
(Ross Cameron).