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Edinburgh Exchange

Graduate Student Exchange Program with the University of Edinburgh Philosophy Department

The philosophy departments at Northwestern University and the University of Edinburgh have a graduate student exchange program, allowing students from each department to visit the other department for as short as a term and as long as a year. The program is open to any Ph.D. student at Northwestern's Philosophy Department. In terms of LEMMing (Language, Epistemology, Metaphysics and Mind) offerings, Edinburgh has exceptional strengths in epistemology, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of cognitive science.

Application Process

In order to plan ahead and to ensure a rational selection process in the eventuality that more than one person wants to study in our Edinburgh exchange program (Philosophy Department, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland) in any given academic year, we are instituting the following application process.

Applications are due to Sandy Goldberg the week after graduate student teaching assignments are determined for the Fall term (of the year in which the student proposes to study abroad). This determination is typically done in the prior Spring term. Applications consist of:

1. A letter of application, which should include:
1. a statement of your current research/research interests;
2. a description of your current status vis--vis this research. (Are you still taking courses? ABD? And if ABD, how much work has been done on your dissertation, and when do you expect to complete it? Etc.);
3. a statement of how your time in Edinburgh will further your research plans (including the faculty there with whom you hope to work);
4. a statement of what you expect to complete while there; and
5. a statement confirming that you have no teaching duties here in our department for the period of time for which you propose to study abroad.
2. Brief (one paragraph) letter of recommendation from one faculty member in our department (can be an e-mail).
3. Although it is not required, if you have had contact with any of the faculty at Edinburgh, and they are willing to write a brief (one paragraph) letter of confirmation that they are willing to work with you, you can include this as well.

Please note

• It is your responsibility, not the department’s, to find an interval of time when you have no teaching responsibilities. You might try to arrange to have an open term (in a year in which you otherwise do have teaching responsibilities), or else you might wait until you have a year without teaching responsibilities.
• NO FIRST- OR SECOND-YEAR STUDENT WILL BE GRANTED PERMISSION TO GO ABROAD SAVE IN EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES.
• Edinburgh is an expensive city; it will probably cost you more money to live there than it would cost you to live here for the same amount of time. You should plan for this.
• You should consider applying to the Graduate School for money to support your airfare; additional departmental funds may be available to help defray this cost.
• It is your responsibility to find housing while there. You may want to contact the Departmental Administrators at Edinburgh’s Philosophy Department, or Edinburgh students who have visited here, to get some assistance regarding where to look.

Criteria for selection include

• how clear an motivation there is for the student’s proposed time in Edinburgh (including faculty there with whom they might work)
• how well-conceived is the research plan for study abroad
• seniority in our program (# of years in the program and/or closeness to finishing the dissertation)

(Formulated by S. Goldberg, September 14, 2008)

For more information, contact Sandy Goldberg.