A prospective PhD student writes:
It is probably no surprise that the programs which are ranked most highly in the Leiter Report Ancient Philosophy sub-specialty are usually found at Universities with the most highly reputed Classics Departments as well. These Universities have often harnessed the synergy latent in this situation by creating Shared or Joint Programs in Ancient Philosophy. It is typical of these programs that they may be entered from either the Classics or Philosophy department, with the PhD ultimately conferred being from this department alone (instead of a double-PhD program). It is possible for an applicant to face the prospect of applying to these programs with no clear preference of department, and even to ultimately be admitted to several of the top Leiter programs from different departments: the student would thus face a choice of departments right at the beginning of his or her career.
Since several of these Joint Programs (or similar arrangements) are relatively new (e.g. Chicago, Yale, Michigan), there isn't a clear job placement record. What I am wondering is how possible it would be for a PhD student in one department to compete for a TT job in the other department, post-dissertation. I assume that Philosophy PhD's will have extreme difficulty getting jobs in Classics departments. But I'm curious about the reverse. To those faculty that have experience doing TT job searches (especially those who are NOT ancient philosophers), how likely is it that a candidate with a Classics PhD could be competitive for a job in ancient philosophy in a Philosophy Department? Would there be some prejudice against hiring an ancient philosopher from the Classics department? If so, are there places where this prejudice could be overcome? I've heard that hiring committees are often looking for an excuse to narrow the application pool, and that having "Classics" next to your degree would be a convenient excuse.
I would ask faculty to post signed comments; current students or job seekers may post anonymously, but with a valid e-mail address please.
