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Question of the Day

A full-time graduate student, from what I gather, takes three courses per semester. Looking at syllabi for graduate courses in philosophy shows that, typically, every week a student is required to read around 100 or more pages a week. As I'm sure you're aware, we're not talking uncomplicated reads here, either. I don't think this kind of typical reading-quota per week allows a student to develop a deep understanding of the texts they are reading. And I think it goes against the reasons for studying philosophy at the master's level, one of which I take to be learning the material to the point of being able to teach it (if only to oneself). Part-time study is always available, one might say; but that usually means no funding (which is a no-starter for many). So, what do you think: is the typical reading load for a full-time graduate student in philosophy reasonable given the purposes for studying philosophy at that level? I'd really like to see as many responses from the contributors here as possible, even from those who don't currently teach at the master's level. Thank you so much!

I haven't looked into this, but suppose you are right about the typical required reading for a full-time MA student in philosophy. I'm not sure that 300 pages per week is an unreasonable demand. If you read a page every three minutes on average, then it should take you 15 hours a week to complete the reading. Taking 3 classes, you should be in class a maximum of 9 hours a week. That's a total of only 24 hours a week you are spending on school work. How long were you thinking students should spend on the reading?