{"id":96008,"date":"2019-03-12T17:11:22","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T16:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=96008"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:13","slug":"accreditation-committee-critical-of-philosophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/03\/12\/accreditation-committee-critical-of-philosophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Accreditation committee critical of philosophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to the accreditation report, the Double Degree, which allows students attending other faculties to obtain a Bachelor\u2019s degree in Philosophy on top of their main degree, is not properly embedded in the students\u2019 main degree. In addition, the accreditation committee found the supervision of students writing their theses to be subpar. Furthermore, one of the Master\u2019s specialisation tracks came under fire because one of its supposed main subjects was receiving too little attention. Following the issuance of the accreditation report, the philosophy faculty was asked to submit plans for improvement and was granted a two-year period to implement changes.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRonald van den Heerik<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cThe criticism absolutely came as a surprise,\u201d programme director Han van Ruler told EM<\/em>. \u201cThe changes we had implemented in recent years, which is to say, prioritising the Double Degree, saved our faculty and were a huge success. The Double Degree allows us to offer philosophy classes to the university\u2019s other students. It attracts a lot of students, and we think we did a great job designing the degree programme. We actually felt we were on the right track, so we were very surprised to receive such a harsh accreditation report.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collaborate more intensively<\/h2>

Nevertheless, Van Ruler believes in hindsight that many of the criticisms were justified. According to the accreditation report, one of the main problems with the Double Degree is the fact that the programme does not clearly tie in with other disciplines. \u201cThey were right about that,\u201d says Van Ruler. \u201cAnd it\u2019s forcing us to collaborate more intensively with other faculties.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole point of the types of courses we teach is that they allow you to reflect on your other degree from the vantage point of philosophy,\u201d adds programme coordinator Lena Schots. \u201cBut some of our courses were taught to students from four different disciplines. There was room for improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Double Degree must offer more subjects that tie in with the students\u2019 other degrees. \u201cWe will offer more subjects called \u2018Philosophy of [an EUR discipline]\u2019,\u201d Van Ruler explains. \u201cThose courses will be taught in association with lecturers affiliated with other faculties, and will be geared specifically to students attending those particular faculties.\u201d The programme director thinks ESPhil will not be able to cater programmes to every single degree programme taught at EUR, but it should be able to cater programmes to overarching disciplines within faculties, e.g. \u2018Philosophy of Economics\u2019, \u2018Philosophy of Social Sciences\u2019, or \u2018Philosophy of Medicine\u2019.<\/p>\n

Thesis supervision 'major ground for concern'<\/h2>

The accreditation committee also felt that the way in which students who were writing their Bachelor\u2019s theses were being supervised constituted \u2018a major ground for concern\u2019. The report said that students were left to their own devices too much, and were not sufficiently taught the academic standards their theses had to meet. \u201cWe actually thought that giving the students a lot of freedom in terms of picking their own subject was a good thing. But the criticism was justified. Because Double Degree students aren\u2019t used to writing philosophical Bachelor\u2019s theses. They need much more supervision in doing so, so that they understand exactly what we want them to do and are able to reflect on their main study subject.\u201d<\/p>\n

The faculty hopes to resolve this issue by teaching Double Degree students more academic skills particularly relevant to philosophers. \u201cNot in a separate course,\u201d Schots explains, but rather throughout the various subjects the students will be taking. In addition, the faculty intends that students attend more seminars. According to the accreditation committee, Double Degree students currently don\u2019t attend enough of the seminars offered.<\/p>\n

Not enough politics<\/h2>

The accreditation committee was also critical of one of the faculty\u2019s Master\u2019s specialisation tracks. The report stated that ESPhil\u2019s Master\u2019s degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) contained too little of the second P, i.e., politics. \u201cThe Committee said: basically, you\u2019re not doing any politics at all. To be honest, we don\u2019t agree with that statement at all, because everything we do has a political dimension. But we are taking the complaint seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

The temporary solution is to rename the specialisation track. From now on, \u2018Philosophy, Politics and Economics\u2019 will be called \u2018Philosophy and Economics\u2019, \u2018just to prevent misunderstandings\u2019. \u201cMoreover, we are planning to redesign that Master\u2019s programme soon,\u201d Van Ruler continues. \u201cWe wish to focus more on the fact that Erasmus University teaches philosophy geared towards society. So for the time being, we can do without that second P.\u201d<\/p>\n

The faculty has been granted two years to solve its issues. At the end of those two years, NVAO will pay another visit to check whether the plans for improvement have brought about the required changes.<\/p>\n\n\t

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