HDip+MA Conversion Degree

HDip+MA Postgraduate Conversion Degree Programme

The UCD School of Philosophy also offers a minimum two-year combined Higher Diploma and MA programme designed for graduates from other subjects without any background in philosophy. In the first year you will take 60 (or 70, depending upon your previous studies*) credits worth of existing undergraduate modules in two to three semesters. If you do well enough on these modules, you will automatically be offered a place in one of our regular taught MA programmes, and you will spend the second year doing this with other MA students.

The conversion programme gives you the necessary background in philosophy without spending the full three undergraduate years on it. And if you discover that philosophy is not for you, you can withdraw from the programme after completing the required modules.* Assuming you have passed all of the modules you will still be awarded a Higher Diploma in Arts (HDip) degree.

How It Works

In formal terms, you first apply to the programme called the Higher Diploma in Arts, which is the programme on which you will initially be registered. Once your application is successful, then you must choose at least 60 credits* from the available undergraduate modules, of which

• 30 credits must be Level-2 modules (those beginning with a ‘2’, typically worth 5 credits each), at least 20 credits of which must be taken in the first semester, and
• 30 credits must be Level-3 modules (those beginning with a ‘3’, typically worth 10 credits each).

In order to progress to the second year of the conversion programme, you must pass all of the modules taken with an overall average mark of B– (GPA 3.2). This final GPA calculation is normally available by the end of May in a given academic year. PLEASE NOTE: Applications for the Higher Diploma are only open between June 1st and July 1st of any given year.

The second year of the programme is a regular MA programme, and you will be invited to choose one of our several different programmes. At this point you become an MA student, taking 60 credits of MA modules with the other MA students, and write the full 12,000-word MA dissertation, which is due by the middle of August.

Important Notes

The first portion of the conversion programme, the Higher Diploma in Arts, is classified as a part-time degree. Fees are on a per-credit basis and you may move through this portion at your own pace. Due to the part-time classification, the HDip may not be eligible for SUSI grants or for non-EU students. The second portion of the conversion programme, the MA degree itself, is available both full-time and part-time basis. Please contact the School of Philosophy for further information.

*If, in your first degree, you have never taken any philosophy, not even as an elective, then we will require a bit more preparation before you start the MA portion: you will have to take 70 credits worth of philosophy modules, which will require at least three semesters. Two of those modules must then be Level 1 modules, and you must take them in the first semester. The requirements for the remaining modules are as above, but you can take some of them in your first semester.

If you take the 70-credit version, you will spend the first year and a half (three semesters) taking the Higher Diploma, and (subject to satisfactory results) you could then start the MA portion in January of the second academic year, finishing in December. The entire programme would therefore take two and a half years.

Further Information

Most undergraduate students take first-year philosophy modules to see what philosophy is all about. Since the conversion programme is accelerated without the “thinking time” of the first year modules, you are strongly encouraged to do some preparatory reading in philosophy before you begin. Here are some good introductions to philosophy, all available through Amazon:

• Thomas Nagel, What Does It All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy, 1987
• Simon Blackburn, Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy, 2001
• Nigel Warburton, Philosophy: The Basics, 2012
• Thomas A. Flynn, Existentialism. A Very Short Introduction, 2006
• Simon Critchley, Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction, 2001
• Julia Annas, Ancient Philosophy. A Very Short Introduction, 2000
• Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism, 1946 [various editions]
• Friedrich Nietzsche, The Genealogy of Morality, 1887 [various editions]
• Plato, The Apology of Socrates [various editions]

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