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Graduate Program

Graduate program overview  .

The goal of the doctoral program is to train students to become both skilled scholars and conscientious teachers. Throughout the program students work with advisors and other faculty members as they engage in coursework , prepare for and take the  general exam , work as teaching fellows , and research and write the dissertation . On average it takes seven years to receive the doctoral degree*. Most graduates have pursued academic careers at universities and colleges in the United States and abroad, while others have gone on to successful careers in law and in government.

As a large research university, Harvard offers many resources and opportunities for its students in the form of lectures , conferences , research centers , fellowships, and grants . Students have access to the more than 80  libraries and 15 million volumes that comprise the Harvard University Library, the largest university library in the world.

Additionally, students may take courses offered by other departments in the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, or at other Harvard schools , such as Harvard Divinity School , Harvard Law School , Harvard Graduate School of Education , and Harvard Kennedy School .

In coordination with Harvard Law School, students may pursue both a PhD in history and a JD at the Law School . To learn more about this course of study consult the Coordinated JD/PhD program overview.

* The History Department does not offer a terminal master's program.

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Academic Calendar (GSAS)

Recent PhDs

Graduate Program Contacts:

Director of Graduate Studies

Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof

Graduate coordinator.

Dan Bertwell

2024-2025 Graduate Program Participants

The Harvard Law School Graduate Program is pleased to present the 2024-2025 Graduate Program Face Book, which includes photos and brief biographical details of our current LL.M. and S.J.D. candidates, international exchange students, and visiting scholars and researchers.

View the 2024-2025 Graduate Program Facebook here (HarvardKey required).

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I am applying for a joint JD/PhD in Health Policy degree at Harvard; do I apply to each program separately?

Yes, you should apply to each program separately but please note on the GSAS application that you also applied to the JD program. There is a box to select this in the application and/or you may include this in your statement of purpose. For further information on the JD/PhD program please visit:  http://law.harvard.edu/academics/degrees/special-programs/jd-phd/jd/phd-program-description.html . 

Joint Degree Program Guides

Joint jd/mph program with harvard law school.

JD/MPH-45 Program Guide 2023-2024 ( revised October 2023 ) (pdf)

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As a PhD student in the Harvard philosophy program, you’ll have the opportunity to develop your ideas, knowledge, and abilities. You'll work with other doctoral students, our faculty, and visiting scholars, all in a stimulating and supportive environment. The program has strengths across a broad range of topics and areas, so you'll be able to pursue your interests wherever they may lead, especially in moral and political philosophy, aesthetics, epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of logic, philosophy of language, the history of analytic philosophy, ancient philosophy, Immanuel Kant, and 19th and 20th century European philosophy. 

Incoming cohorts consist of five to eight students per year. You will have substantial access to our renowned faculty and all the resources that Harvard makes available. This relatively small size also gives students a sense of intellectual community.

The curriculum is structured to help you make your way towards a dissertation: graduate-level coursework, a second-year research paper, a prospectus to help you identify a dissertation topic, and then the dissertation itself. Recent dissertations in the department have addressed a broad range of topics: Aristotle, Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau; contemporary moral and political philosophy; metaphysics; epistemology; and logic.

In addition to your research, you will also have the opportunity to develop your teaching skills in many different settings across the University.

You can find graduates of the PhD program in many universities. Recent graduates have gone on to tenure track positions at Yale University, Princeton University, Brown University, Northwestern University, Boston University, University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, Washington University, and the University of Rochester. Other graduates have gone on to diverse careers in, among others, the arts, law, secondary education, and technology.

In addition to the standard PhD in philosophy, the department offers a PhD in classical philosophy in collaboration with the Department of the Classics and a coordinated JD/PhD program in conjunction with Harvard Law School. The department also offers a track in Indian Philosophy (administered jointly by Philosophy and South East Asian Studies.

Additional information on the graduate program is available from the Department of Philosophy and requirements for the degree are detailed in Policies .

Areas of Study

Philosophy | Classical Philosophy | Indian Philosophy 

For information please consult the Department webpage on the  graduate program overview .

Admissions Requirements

Please review the admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Department of Philosophy .

Academic Background

Applicants to the program in Philosophy are required to have a strong undergraduate background in philosophy (or its equivalent), indicating that they have a good grounding in the history of philosophy, as well as familiarity with contemporary work in ethics, epistemology and metaphysics, and logic.

Personal Statement

Standardized tests.

GRE General: Optional GRE Subject: Optional

Writing Sample

A writing sample is required as part of the application and should be between 12 to 30 pages long. The sample must address a substantial philosophical problem, whether it is an evaluation or presentation of an argument, or a serious attempt to interpret a difficult text. The upload of the writing sample should be formatted for 8.5-inch x 11-inch paper, 1-inch margins, with double-spaced text in a common 12-point font, such as Times New Roman.

Applicants seeking admission to the coordinated JD/PhD program must apply to and be separately admitted to Harvard Law School and the Department of Philosophy.

Theses and Dissertations

Theses & Dissertations for Philosophy

See list of Philosophy faculty

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.

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Admitted to JD-PhD —good idea?

Hi all! Looking for different perspectives and advice.

Was recently admitted to a joint JD-PhD in philosophy at the University of Michigan. I was fortunate enough to receive full funding from both the law school and the philosophy department. So, fully funded for 6 years, and could likely get both degrees in those 6 years.

The law school is being flexible about my start date, so I could essentially order the two degrees however I would like (for ex., could do the first 2 years in the PhD, next 3 in law, final in PhD, or any other combination)

Career goals: Ideally, I would love an academic career (though I do have doubts about my ability to succeed!). I would be happy to teach philosophy in a law school, or applied ethics and some legal philosophy in a philosophy department. So long as I am doing some philosophy, I will be happy.

That said, I appreciate the idea of having a JD as a backup in case academia does not work out (I recognize the market is tough).

My questions are these: is a joint degree a good idea? If so, how should I go about structuring it? Should I be publishing in law journals, philosophy journals, or both? How would a law school view a joint degree? How would a philosophy department view a joint degree? How can I best ensure good employment outcomes? Any other things I am not considering?

I will also note that I was accepted to Harvard Law School. That is another option I am considering.

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Joint Degree and Cooperative Programs

Joint degrees within stanford university.

Stanford Law School offers three types of joint degree—JD/Master’s, JD/MD, and JD/PhD—in 21 subject areas.

JD/Master’s

Our JD/Master’s programs are ideal for students who plan to practice law after graduation, though they may also be helpful for students interested in an academic career. Most JD/Master’s degrees can be completed in three years, although several may take longer, depending on the specific master’s degree.

Three of the world’s most high-impact fields — law, medicine, and biosciences — come together in Stanford Law’s JD/MD program. Stanford is one of just a handful of universities with top-ranked schools of both law and medicine as well as a robust program in biosciences. A university-wide tradition of encouraging and nurturing innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration — along with a location in Silicon Valley, with its thriving biotech and medtech industries — makes Stanford a particularly welcoming home for work that merges these three dynamic disciplines. See Law and Medicine for more info .

Students interested in an academic career—or those seeking greater depth in another discipline—may want to consider a JD/PhD. The length of time required for these degrees varies depending how long it takes to complete a dissertation, but under Stanford Law’s innovative programs, the typical JD/PhD can be completed in anywhere from 18 months to two years less time than required anywhere else. More important, a Stanford JD/PhD can be completed at one–third the cost of a similar joint degree anywhere else.

Because of the cross-crediting of units and because JD/PhD candidates are expected to spend only one year in full-time residence at the law school (the rest of their academic career is spent in the PhD department with full funding and with allowances made to register for courses at the law school), students need at most to pay for one year of law school.

Note to applicants: The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program awards full funding to Stanford graduate students from all disciplines, with additional opportunities for leadership training and collaboration across fields.

Applications for the Knight-Hennessy Scholars are due in early Autumn one year prior to enrollment. View dates and deadlines . You can also sign up for Knight-Hennessy Scholars email alerts to stay up to date on the availability of their online application.

Learn more about the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program

Established Joint Degrees

Hearing From Previous Joint Degree Students

SLS Students Offer Advice to Those Considering a Joint Degree

SLS Students Describe What a "Typical Day" Is Like For Those Getting a Joint Degree

SLS Students Discuss the Advantages of Getting a Joint Degree at Stanford

Cooperative Programs with Other Universities

Stanford JD students also have pursued degrees with other universities. For example, Stanford JD students have pursued degrees at Harvard Kennedy School, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Princeton Woodrow Wilson School. The approval process begins after you are admitted, independently, to both programs you wish to pursue. Please note, you may enroll in either a joint degree among schools at Stanford or a degree from an external university, but not both.

Degree Requirements

• Of the 111 quarter units required for the JD, you must earn at least 80 units at the Law School under a Law School course listing. You may fulfill up to all of the remaining 31 units via coursework taken in your other program, whether at Stanford University or another institution; however, restrictions may apply and you should check with the bar examiners of the state in which you intend to practice about any restrictions they may impose. (In the case of JD/PhD programs, Stanford Law School may award the JD degree upon completion of the JD degree requirements.)
• You must spend 7 quarters of full-time study at the Law School.

Course Requirements

Both schools related to the joint degree must approve your curriculum choices. In some instances, you may work from a preapproved list of joint degree courses; in others, you may customize a course of study. In any case, however, you will be able to work with particular advisors from both schools to determine and obtain approval for your curriculum.

To the extent that courses under a joint degree program originate outside the law school but count toward the law degree, law school credits shall be permitted only in accordance with ABA accreditation standards. To learn more about course requirements, please see links to specific degrees.

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Dual Degrees with the Harvard Kennedy School

NYU School of Law offers a dual degree program leading to a Juris Doctor (JD) and either a Master in Public Policy (MPP) or a Master in Public Administration (MPA). Students can pursue a JD/MPP or a JD/MPA at the Harvard Kennedy School.

NYU School of Law requires 83 credits to earn the JD degree. NYU applies 12 credits earned at the Harvard Kennedy School towards the JD degree; each 4-credit course at the Harvard Kennedy School transfers as 4 credits at NYU.

The MPP Program at the Harvard Kennedy School features a required core curriculum in the first year that culminates an intensive and integrative simulation called Spring Exercise. During the second year (third semester), students complete the Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE), an applied thesis where students work with a client organization to tackle an existing concern and make recommendations.

The MPA program at the Harvard Kennedy School requires a previous Master's degree and a minimum of three years of full-time work experience. The MPA curriculum is self-designed curriculum. Students are expected to take four courses in each of the three semesters they spend at the Harvard Kennedy School. At least one course must be taken in each of the school's three core methodological areas: Quantitative Methods; Management, Leadership and Decision Sciences; and Public Ethics and Political Institutions. Students must also select a Policy Area of Concentration and take a minimum of two courses (8 credits) in that area.

Students must meet the application requirements of both schools and be admitted to both schools independently. Applications may be filed simultaneously before enrolling at either school, or during their first year at either school. Students are expected to spend three consecutive semesters at the Harvard Kennedy School and complete five semesters at the NYU School of Law. The final semester must also be spent at the NYU School of Law. Students may not receive either degree until they have completed all coursework for both degrees.

Students interested in the program, and those already enrolled, are invited to contact Amy Chu, Senior Director of Academic Services and Registration at the School of Law ( [email protected] or 212-998-6020), to discuss items regarding academics or the JD program. For questions regarding admission to the JD program, please contact the Office of JD Admissions at [email protected] or (212) 998-6060. For program specific information please contact  [email protected]  with any additional questions. Students with specific questions about the Harvard Kennedy School programs should visit the Kennedy School website at www.hks.harvard.edu .

Students with specific questions about the Harvard Kennedy School programs should visit the Kennedy School website at www.hks.harvard.edu or contact the team at [email protected].

© 2024 New York University School of Law. 40 Washington Sq. South, New York, NY 10012.   Tel. (212) 998-6100

2024 Conference Program

Conference Program

Open minds in dialogue, friday, september 20, 2024 2024 hilt conference harvard graduate school of education (hgse).

Additional conference links:

• Breakout Sessions
• Professional Photography
• Speaker Bios
• Event Logistics

Academic Coaching

Students work with an Academic Coach to develop executive functioning skills, adopting a growth mindset, achieving goals, managing academic anxiety, self-regulation, self-efficacy, time management, and organization. Additionally, Academic Coaches can support an individual to achieve balance in their lives. Book an appointment

Introduction

Academic Coaching is not new but in recent years has become more specialized and widely used by universities, businesses and individuals to offer support improving skills and maximizing performance. Most coaches are trained educators who further their knowledge to understand how people learn and process information. This data is used to help a student become more efficient in their work, improve executive function skills, manage their academic anxiety, prioritize their work, and set realistic short and long-term goals. Academic Coaches continue to check in with the student for accountability and make sure they remain on track.

Meetings can be one-on-one and in small groups, either in person or via zoom. Students can schedule an appointment with Sara Morrison M.S., GSD Academic Coach, through her Bookings link.

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Focus Areas

1. managing your time, 2. organization.

A key area that impacts every single aspect of your life is Organization . Not simply your belongings but rather how you organize your life, your brain, time, basically your every day existence to reach peak performance in:  

• – Work  (Academics/Professional/Chores)
• – Nutrition  
• – Exercise  
• – Sleep  
• – Personal Fulfillment  
• – Mindset

3. Setting Goals

4. balancing workload and work/life, 5. transitioning back to academia after time away, 6. executive function skills.

• – Paying attention
• – Organizing, planning, and prioritizing
• – Starting tasks and remaining focused until completion
• – Understanding different points of view
• – Regulating emotions
• – Self-monitoring (keeping track of what you’re doing)

7. Adopting a Growth Mindset

8. managing academic anxiety, academic coaching faqs.

Personalized, one-on-one and small group meetings to help you improve your skills and reach peak performance.

No, Academic Coaching looks at areas of an individual’s life that affect their academic performance. Of course, one’s personal life and previous experiences are a factor; however, a licensed therapist is better qualified to handle that. Academic Coaching looks forward to reaching goals.

It all depends. Some students need a one-time meeting to answer a specific question and others want ongoing support in specific area (s).  

No, Academic Coaching is included in your tuition and there is no limit to the number of sessions you can book .  

No! The goal is to have each student become more efficient. Lessons and strategies are used to support your learning style and work you are currently doing.  

There are three main steps:  

• Discovery – How do you learn/process information?  
• Implement Strategies  
• Accountability  

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If you need more information about academic coaching, contact us today!

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