East China Normal University

The ECNU Philosophy Department is a major center of philosophical study in mainland China. The department has 20 full professors, 17 associate professors, and a number of lecturers. There are 7 Ph.D. programs (Chinese philosophy, Western philosophy, Marxist philosophy, ethics, logic, philosophy of science, and religious studies) and 7 M.A. programs (Chinese philosophy, Western philosophy, Marxist philosophy, ethics, logic, philosophy of science, and religious studies) in the department.

Our department holds a prestigious place among philosophy departments in China.   Our philosophical tradition is in the direct line of the Jin-Feng School of Thought in modern Chinese history, a line that began with the great logician-epistemologist Jin Yuelin and passed on to Feng Qi, founder of the ECNU philosophy department.  The department is home to the International Society for Metaphysics  since 2012, with Professor Yang Guorong serving as the society’s current president. Our Chinese Philosophy Program has enjoyed a high reputation both at home and abroad.

The department’s graduate programs began to enroll international students in 1995, and since then has accepted students from U.S.A., Switzerland, Israel, Belarus, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In recent years the Chinese Philosophy Program has produced top doctoral and post-doctoral international students who have become productive professional philosophers in their own fields of studies.  

The International Program for Graduate Studies in Chinese Philosophy at ECNU will provide students with excellent academic training, wonderful life experience in Shanghai and great advantage for further study, finding globally focused careers in and beyond the university setting.

The 4-year Ph.D. program requires a course work of 15 credits and a Ph.D. dissertation.

The Ph.D. program at ECNU is a four-year program. The degree requirement has three components:

1. completion of 15 credit hours of course work. The course work comprises of 1 common-core course (Chinese Language, Chinese Culture/Civilization, 2-3 credits), 3 required courses in philosophy (9 credits), and 1 or 2 elective courses (at least 3-4 credits). In addition, students are required to participate in at least 4 academic lectures, and submit a written report for each lecture attended (1 credit).

2. At least 1 academic article published in A&HCI or SSCI indexed journals, or at least 2 academic articles published in other journals (as the sole or first author, indicating ECNU as the sole or first academic affiliation).

3. Successful defense of a Ph.D. thesis of at least 50,000 words in length. Successful defense of the Ph.D. thesis research proposal is also required in the fourth semester.