Online B.A. in Philosophy

Is this program right for you?

The University of New Orleans offers one of the only online Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degrees in Philosophy in the country. All of our online PHIL courses are created by the department's Philosophy faculty － the very individuals who teach the face-to-face PHIL courses on campus.

This program is intended for students who want to pursue a B.A. degree in Philosophy, but due to work commitments, family obligations, or geographical distance, cannot take courses at UNO in the traditional manner. Online majors outnumber regular majors in our Philosophy B.A. program. Currently, our online majors are scattered across 18 states and 4 different countries:

This program is for anyone who desires to earn a B.A. degree in Philosophy.  No prior courses in Philosophy are required. Nevertheless, it is strongly recommended that applicants would have completed at least some college before applying. Most of our online majors entered needing only a year or two of full-time study to finish earning a B.A. degree ... or their second degree. 

Our Scholarships & Awards offer an attractive financial incentive for graduating with a B.A. in Philosophy from UNO. And as it is possible to complete ALL degree requirements online, this is also a program for any post-baccalaureate student who desires to earn an additional degree. Post-baccalaureate students need only one year of courses (30 credits) from UNO to earn an additional degree! Also, besides the $1,000 Carl Muckley Award we give to EVERY Philosophy major upon graduation, every post-baccalaureate major qualifies for our Norton Nelkin Scholarship ($1,000) to support their final semester of study leading to a B.A. in Philosophy. 

Courses are delivered via Canvas + Panopto (and iTunes U) 

UNO offers different kinds of distance learning courses. Some are synchronous classes requiring students to login at a specific site at a specific time. Online classes are asynchronous courses where students are not required to login at a specific time. Almost all of the distance learning courses offered through this program are online classes. To be sure, assignments will need to be submitted by specific times on specific days. But the asynchronous nature of the lectures gives each online student maximum flexibility when it comes to managing their time to complete course content. So too does the way in which our courses are delivered.

Canvas is the Learning Management Software UNO uses to deliver course announcements, documents, guidelines, and all secure content. Canvas is also used for securely submitting quizzes, essays, exams, and other assignments for grading. It is also used for participating in online forums. Canvas is not used to host multimedia lectures.

Doing so would bog down the UNO server. Until recently, all the lecture materials for our online courses were delivered via iTunes U, which is the free educational branch of the iTunes store. But iTunes U is now only accessible via the iTunes U app on an iOS device but not also on a computer. Hence, we no longer use iTunes U as the primary way we deliver our lecture materials. Instead, we use Panopto, which is integrated with Canvas. Basically, Panopto hosts the video lectures streamed through links on a course page in Canvas. Those lectures will also be available via the Panopto app on a mobile device. Lecture materials for most online PHIL courses will remain available via the iTunes U app, but, again, iTunes U is no longer the primary way we deliver our course materials. Thus, all our course material can be accessed wherever you are and whatever you are doing ... driving, walking, waiting, whatever. This gives each of our online students maximum flexibility when it comes to accessing and completing course content.

Although anyone in the world can subscribe to our iTunes U courses, only tuition paying students enrolled at UNO have access to Canvas. Everything upon which a student's grade is based goes through Canvas. Hence, only UNO students can receive college credit and earn a grade for completing one of our iTunes U courses.

Our iTunes U courses are very popular. Since launching our online program in 2013, we have never not had multiple courses on the daily Top 10 list of Philosophy courses. The image here was taken 07/19/17. Note that #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, and #9 are from this program; as are #1 and #5 in the Standout Courses in Philosophy image above. 

Online PHIL Courses

All Philosophy majors must complete at least 33 credit hours in PHIL courses, at least 15 of which must be 3000-level or higher, and each major must complete the following core courses:

1. PHIL 1101: Introduction to Logic
2. PHIL 2201: Ethics
3. PHIL 2311: History of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
4. PHIL 2312: History of Modern Philosophy
5. PHIL *4**:   (any course whose second number is '4' is in the core area of metaphysics & epistemology)

Besides completing PHIL 3030, which is the capstone course taken one's final semester, nothing else must be done to meet the Philosophy portion of the B.A. Degree Requirements. This gives our majors quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to which PHIL courses they take.

The program offers at least 15 credit hours in online PHIL courses each semester (summer, fall, and spring), including both lower-level and upper-level courses. The following is the list of online PHIL courses currently in rotation:

1. PHIL 1000: Introduction to Philosophy 
2. PHIL 1101: Introduction to Logic 
3. PHIL 2096: Independent Study in Philosophy 
4. PHIL 2201: Ethics
5. PHIL 2215: Social and Political Philosophy (NEW SPRING 2019!)
6. PHIL 2311: History of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
7. PHIL 2312: History of Modern Philosophy
8. PHIL 2450: Philosophy of Mind 
9. PHIL 3030: Individual Senior Seminar 
10. PHIL 3101: Advanced Logic (NEW SPRING 2020!)
11. PHIL 3232: Medical Ethics
12. PHIL 3260: Philosophy and Film (NEW SUMMER 2019!)
13. PHIL 3301: Philosophy of Plato 
14. PHIL 3332: British Empiricism and the 18th Century 
15. PHIL 3333: Philosophy of Kant 
16. PHIL 3334: German Idealism and the 19th Century
17. PHIL 3350: Darwin and the Evolution of Thought 
18. PHIL 3400: Metaphysics
19. PHIL 3415: Phenomenology and Continental Philosophy (NEW SPRING 2020!)
20. PHIL 3450: Philosophical Psychology (NEW SPRING 2019!)
21. PHIL 3480: Philosophy of Religion 
22. PHIL 3511: Existentialism 
23. PHIL 4027: Philosophy of Heidegger
24. PHIL 4094: Independent Study in Philosophy 
25. PHIL 4430: Philosophy of the Natural Sciences 

As new courses are developed, they will be put in the rotation of our online offerings so that online majors will have every opportunity to enroll in new courses every semester.

Online majors are able to enroll in special sections of online courses reserved just for them. Those section numbers are 585-589. And as the number of online majors and programs increases, so too will the number of "seats" and sections reserved just for online majors.

1. Access to the Internet
    
2. Compliance with UNO's Technology & Software Requirements for distance learning courses
    
3. The discipline, dedication, and desire necessary to complete a degree online

Applying for this program requires completing the UNO Application online via Admissions. There are two options for the Philosophy major. Make sure that you select the Philosophy-Online option.

Tuition and fees

For the current table of costs, visit the bursar's page on Tuition and Fees. The cost of the program depends on whether you will be attending full-time or part-time. NOTE: ALL of our online majors will pay the resident tuition rate regardless of where they live! (Most of our online majors live outside Louisiana.) 

This is a quality program committed to excellence in education through a distance learning environment that is enriched by diverse experiences, cultures, and perspectives.