Very nice! Man, an anti-Kant course primarily through Heidegger... that's intense.
The only bit of advice I have regarding writing the SoP is to try and get some assistance from a professor (preferably one who is familiar with your work and with whom you get along). These are people who often sit on admissions boards, so they know what schools look for in applicants. A post-doc fellow at UChicago helped me with my SoP, and her advice was invaluable.
If you don't really have anybody to look over it for you, I'll just say this: no personal stuff, no "love of philosophy/history/literature" etc., and no personal history (outside of academic). The statement of purpose is entirely your reason for wanting to attend a grad program. Start with you interests so the committee can see what your field and period are. Expand on your interests, but not too much - just enough to demonstrate that you've engaged with the work and are familiar with the state of the field. Most importantly, state why you're interested in the program, and which faculty members you're specifically interested in working with (I usually try to find three professors to name-drop).
I'd be interested to hear what other people say too.
Thanks! I know the period and field I want to concentrate on - late 19th and early 20th century intellectual history, with a focus on Germany (and perhaps France and England for my PhD if I'm able to improve my competency in French during my MA). I've given a good look at faculty at the schools I'm considering, which has limited my choices because many of the programs in the Midwest tend to be Americanist; those who aren't are currently out of my league. Honestly, my two main issues are that 1) I'm psyching myself out and 2) I'm afraid to go into debt for a MA program, though I realize it would make me a better candidate for a funded PhD program at a decent institution. But those are concerns a few steps ahead of where I'm at now
I do have a professor who told me he'll tear apart my statement of purpose until I give him a good one. He sits on the graduate admission board at Morgan as well. I also regular correspond and have lunch with my main CC professor, and I know she would like to critique my SoP as well.
It's been a while since I read Heidegger's work on Kant, but he's by no means anti-Kantian in any simple sense of the term. He's heavily influenced by Kant and actually thinks Kant comes closer to revealing the meaning of being than any philosopher since Aristotle. There's some point in the Critique of Pure Reason where Heidegger thinks Kant shys away from what he's revealing... it might be the noumenal realm, I can't totally remember. Anyway, Check out Heidegger's Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason. I think it's Heidegger's best analysis of another philosopher and will also provide a ton of insights into both thinkers.
The professor isn't too concerned with Heidegger's writings on Kant. We won't be touching any of Kant's works that were major contributors to Western epistemology. Rather, we're looking only at his writings on the philosophy of history, which, though not often given analysis today, influenced and reinforced Eurocentrism and provided the philosophical justification for imperialism. If you're not familiar with his writings on the philosophy of history, there's not much to read. It's similar to Hegel's, minus the dialectic and world-spirit. After reading Kant, the professor, I believe, intends to argue Heidegger's ontology and the historicity of dasein are effective tools for critiquing and refuting, often unintentional, Eurocentric philosophical arguments. It's certainly not a fair treatment of Kant, but he has full professor status, really wanted to teach a course on Heidegger, and really didn't want to teach a course on Kant
I have to admit, too, that the course's focus on Eurocentrism and how Heidegger's philosophy critiques it is pretty funny considering that Heidegger was a Nazi. But to each his own authentic-potentiality-for-Being-in-the-World
I'll be happy to read through your personal statement to give you advice. What I can say now is that you should express clearly where your interests lie and goals for applying the knowledge you gain, and how that particular institution you're applying to can help you pursue those interests and goals. They need to be persuaded that you really want to be with them instead of other places for tangible reasons, e.g. there are faculty there whose research areas match yours. You need to make it look like you looked and thought deeply about whether that particular school is the right fit for you.
Thanks Jeremy! This has been my plan. I just have to figure out what to say to programs that I'm applying to purely because they offer MA funding, despite their dearth of Europeanists and intellectual historians.
