Graduate Program Information

Program Information

Requirements

Applications

  • The Graduate School at UNC Charlotte
  • Rolling deadline, but you must apply by March 15 to be eligible for funding the following academic year
    • Note: GRE test scores are not required for our graduate applications
  • UNC Charlotte undergraduates and other applicants who provide a brief statement of financial need may be eligible to have their application fees reimbursed by the department; students in need should contact Dr. Lisa Rasmussen for details
  • Early Entry information for UNC Charlotte students is available on this PDF document

Vision

The Graduate Program in Ethics and Applied Philosophy: Scholars and professionals using intertraditional philosophical tools and practical experience to address the world’s concrete and theoretical problems.

Mission Statement

The Graduate Program in Ethics and Applied Philosophy aims to deepen students’ understanding and mastery of historical and contemporary philosophical traditions. The student is invited to engage her graduate philosophical training with pressing societal issues. Our faculty’s research areas, and our close relationship with the Center for Professional and Applied Ethics, together provide unparalleled opportunity for our Certificate and Master’s degree students to augment their existing professional skills or train for further work in philosophy or other fields.

Program Description

The Philosophy Department offers a Graduate Certificate in Applied Ethics and a Master of Arts in Ethics and Applied Philosophy.

The program is designed to foster the application of ethical and philosophical knowledge to currently pressing concerns in social, economic, medical, legal, commercial, cultural, and political contexts and associations. The department offers both theoretical and applied courses, as well as internships with regional businesses and organizations to provide students with a comprehensive, normative, politically-informed and logically consistent training in order to face new challenges encountered in business, medical associations, national and international political contexts, as well as public education.

A Graduate Certificate or Master of Arts in Applied Philosophy, particularly applied ethics, is an excellent credential for a wide variety of professionals. The distinct advantage of UNC Charlotte’s Program is that it is flexible enough to accommodate the special needs and interests of virtually any professional who seeks mastery over one or more areas of applied ethics. For example, health care professionals who are members of institutional ethics committees, institutional review boards, or compliance officers will be served well by a certificate in bioethical health care ethics. Similarly, corporate managers, accountants, and auditors will be served well by a certificate in business ethics. Likewise, lawyers, judges, public officials, and law enforcement officers will be served well by a certificate in legal ethics, public policy ethics, and criminal justice ethics.

The Concentration in Research and Data Ethics is designed to offer a deeper education in the ethical issues that arise in these areas, and is a helpful credential for work in research ethics offices of higher education or ethics and compliance areas of data-based companies.

Contributing to the Philosophy Department’s Graduate Program is the Center for Professional and Applied Ethics. The Center brings many regionally, nationally, and globally known speakers to campus to address the pressing moral concerns of professionals in particular and the public in general. It also sponsors many workshops, colloquia, conferences, luncheons, and study groups to provide ample opportunities for students to confront one or more ethical issues in depth. Finally, the Center together with the Department of Philosophy serves as a research nexus the purpose of which is to link professionals and philosophy students together in a scholarly community.

Contacts

Department of Philosophy
Winningham 103
704-687‑5412

Graduate Program Director
Dr. Lisa Rasmussen
Winningham 102A

Faculty
Please visit our faculty page for a complete listing.