Overview
Our four-year BA Hons degree at Arrupe Jesuit University situates philosophy firmly among the other humanities. Philosophy, in other words, is only one of the ways in which human beings have reflected on questions such as, ‘What is it to be human?’ ‘What kind of things are we?’ ‘What kind of things should we be?’ ‘How ought we to live?’ – questions also addressed, in their own ways, by other important disciplines.
This is a philosophy honours degree, but as well as philosophy, you will be exposed to other ways of thinking about our humanity: through history, for example, both African and world history; through novels, poems, and plays of both African and other literatures; through the social and human sciences such as sociology, anthropology and psychology; through religions both African and others, through ICT, statistics, and even some theology. And depending on the year, there care also elective courses you can choose on topics like Women in African Literature, Disaster Management, Psychological Disorders & Treatments, Achebe: the Artist as Thinker, Ecology and Environmentalism, Artificial Intelligence, Christianity in Africa, and many more.
The programme is structured to help students think philosophically, beginning in our own African context and understanding it as much as possible in all its complexity, but then broadening out towards a global perspective. This is a degree with a wide horizon but a sharp focus in philosophy.
Normal admission at first-year level requires either five passes at Ordinary Level, which must include English and Mathematics, plus two passes at Advanced Level or four passes at Ordinary Level and three at Advanced Level. Mature entry, for males 30 years and over and for females 25 years or over, requires at least five passes as Ordinary Level plus relevant experience.
The University will propose as candidates for a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree those who meet the requirements for graduation. For admission all must have passed English language at Ordinary Level as well as Mathematics. Normal entry to the University requires both O Level five passes and at least two at the Advanced level, or four passes with at least three at the Advanced level. Mature entry for students 30 years and older requires five passes at the Ordinary level and experience in virtue of which the University considers them ready for a degree programme.
FIRST YEAR: DEVELOPING COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND APPRECIATION OF AFRICAN EXPERIENCE
FIRST SEMESTER
- APH 101 ELEMENTARY FRENCH (OR ALTERNATIVES) LANGUAGE STUDY
- APH 103 ACADEMIC WRITING
- APH 105 AFRICAN THOUGHT IN ARICAN LITERATURE I
- APH 107 VARIETIES IN HISTORIES OF AFRICAN PEOPLES
- APH 109 THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
- APH 111 METHOD & RESEARCH SKILLS
- APH 113 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
SECOND SEMESTER
- APH 102 INTERMEDIATE FRENCH (OR ALTERNATIVE) LANGUAGE STUDY
- APH 104 ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING
- APH 106 AFRICAN THOUGHT AND AFRICAN LITERATURE II
- APH 108 RELIGIONS OF AFRICA
- APH 110 AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY / PHILOSOPHY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
- APH 112 LOGIC
- APH 114 ORAL COMMUNICATION
SECOND YEAR: DEVELOPING REFLECTION WITHIN EXPERIENCE
FIRST SEMESTER
- APH 517c INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
- APH 203 CLASSICAL GREEK DRAMA
- APH 205 RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD
- APH 207 EGYPT/GREEK PHILOSOPHY
- APH 211 PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
- APH 212 PERSONALITY: THEORIES AND DYNAMICS
SECOND SEMESTER
- APH 518a ICT AND PHILOSOPHY
- APH 204 ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY
- APH 206 HISTORIES OF ENCOUTERS AND INTERACTIONS AMONG PEOPLES WORLDWIDE
- APH 208 CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY
- APH 209 SOCIOLOGY / SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
- APH 210 ETHICS
THIRD YEAR: DEEPENING REFLECTION ON LIFE AND WORLD
FIRST SEMESTER
- APH 502b ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY
- APH 303 PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
- APH 305 POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
- APH 305a LEGAL PHILOSOPHY
- APH 307 ECONOMIC PHILOSOPHY
- APH 501 (etc.) AN ELECTIVE COURSE
SECOND SEMESTER
- APH 302 EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY
- APH 403 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
- APH 403a METHODS OF EDUCATION
- APH 307a SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY / SOCIAL ANALYSIS
- APH 406 METAPHYSICS
- APH 308 OLD TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS: THE PROPHETS
- APH 501 (etc.) AN ELECTIVE COURSE
FOURTH YEAR: FORMING A SYNTHESIS
FIRST SEMESTER
- APH 401 SEMINAR IN AFRICAN PHILOSOPHIES
- APH 405 EPISTEMOLOGY AND HERMENEUTICS
- APH 306 PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
- APH 407 NEW TESTAMENT FOUDNATIONS: A SYNOPTIC GOSPEL
- APH 516 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND ETHICS
- APH 410 PREPARING TO WRITE A DISSERTATION IN PHILOSOPHY
- APH 501 (etc.) AN ELECTIVE COURSE
SECOND SEMESTER
- APH 402 DISSERTATION IN PHILOSOPHY
- APH 404 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
- APH 408 OVERVIEW OF CATHOLIC THEOLOGY
- APH 409 SEMINAR: PREPARATION FOR ORAL COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
The broad background sweep of the humanities in this degree deliberately roots philosophy in experience and praxis. Its structure carefully moves the student from the particulars and practicality of our common African experience towards the more general, theoretical and global. There is a stress on communication, both written and spoken, on languages and on writing, and it climaxes in a written dissertation in which students are helped to express their own positions on the topics they choose to address. These features arise partly from its participation in the traditions of Catholic education, and partly from its rootedness in the Jesuit tradition of pedagogical methodologies and institutions.
Local students: $675 for the first semester, $650 for each semester thereafter.
International students: $875 for the first semester, $850 for each semester thereafter.
Some of our graduates have continued their studies in philosophy to Masters and PhD level to become professors of philosophy in other universities, some of whom now teach courses at AJU. Many others have gone on to Masters degrees in other disciplines or have become teachers at other educational levels. Although there is no dedicated career path that leads directly from a degree in philosophy, this programme equips graduates with skills important for a wide range of career opportunities such as teaching, journalism and similar types of research and writing, politics and diplomacy, but also in the business, administrative and NGO spheres of work. A wide general knowledge, experience and understanding of culture and cultures, a capacity for incisive reflection, critical thought, reasoned debate and clear and precise communication, an ability to do research and present focused results, and – most importantly – a capacity to learn: these are all qualities that many employers in many different areas of employment will value.