Past UofC philosophy majors tell you what they’re doing now, how they got there and offer insights & advice for philosophy majors.
Name: Daniel Nasaw
Degree: AB, Philosophy
Year: 2002
First year out: Joined The Wall Street Journal as a news assistant.
Current Status as of 2006: Reporter at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a Little Rock-based statewide newspaper. I write about crime, politics, government and just about everything else you find in a daily newspaper
Future goals: To continue my career in journalism. Advice to current students: I fell into journalism, a profession I love and to which I'm committed, only after I graduated from Chicago. Until April of my senior year I had no inclination that I'd end up in this exciting, challenging and stimulating field. My advice: Don't worry if you don't have any plans when you don that cap and gown. Just hustle, work hard, and find a job you love. Philosophy was incredible training, and I quietly refer to my studies almost every day.
In career network: yes
Name: Karl Davis
Degree: AB, Philosophy
Year: 2003
First Year Out:
Considered attending law school, ended up with a job in legal technology.
Current Status as of 2006: Litigation Technology Manager at one of the largest IP firms in the country.
Future Goals: Director of Litigation Technology, possibly my own consulting firm. Researching and writing on the philosophical bases of Intellectual Property.
Advice to Current Students: Logic opens doors...the ins and outs of one field or another are simple enough to learn, but the grounding in deductive logic that your Philosophy study imparts is the bedrock from which you can challenge almost any industry.
In Alumni Career Network: Yes
Name: Rahim S. Rajan
Degree: BA, Philosophy, The College
Year: 1993
First Year Out: Suvived the genocide in Rwanda (April 1994) right after graduation in December 1993. In the Autumn of 1994, I moved to London to pursue my M. Phil in the Graduate Programme in Islam and the Humanities, administered by the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London (http://www.iis.ac.uk).
Current status as of 2006: I moved back to North America after receiving my M.Phil in Islamic Studies and Islamic Philosophy from the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Cambridge University in 1997. I live and work in New York City for a non-profit scholary digital archive about the developing world called Aluka (http://www.aluka.org), being created by both Ithaka (http://www.ithaka.org) and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Future Goals: At some point I would love to go back to school and get my PhD, though I'm not sure I want to be a full time academic. I would rather continue working in the orbits of philanthropy, education, technology, and the developing world.
Advice to current students: The two most important skills I acquired by studying Philosophy at the University of Chicago was how to think critically and deeply about a problem or issue, and how to consider an issue or topic from a different perspective. Both of these skills have served me well professionally and more generally in my relationships with others and in everyday life. My advice to students would be to take advantage of the resources, knowledge, opportunities and people in their midst on campus. To extract the most out of their undergraduate experience so that later, once they have entered the hum drum of adulthood, family life, and career choices, they appreciate the quality of their university education at Chicago and have a life long value for the pursuit of knowledge and learning.
In Alumni Career Network: Yes.
Name: Michael Wilson
Degree: AB, Philosophy
Year: 1998
First Year Out: Got on a Greyhound bus and moved to NYC. Worked as a legal assistant at a big NY law firm, explored the city and discovered my passion for medicine.
Current Status as of 2006: Moved out to Berkeley, CA to go back and take my pre-med courses and am now in my final year of medical school at the University of California, San Francisco
Future Goals: Academic medicine career as a clinical neurologist and neuroscientist (allows me to keep my interests in philosophy of mind alive!)
Advice to Current Students: After the rigors of college at U of C, the year I spent working and playing in NYC was invaluable to helping me discover who I was outside of an academic environment. Even though I went straight back to school after a year away, I did it with much more confidence and perspective. Also, you will find that your philosophy major will serve you extremely well in whatever field you pursue.
In Alumni Career Network: Yes
Name: Ian Thomson
Degree: AB, Philosophy
Year: 2000
First Year Out: started law school at Brigham Young University
Current Status as of 2006: Assistant Public Defender, Major Trials Division, Defender Association of Philadelphia
Future Goals: ultimately would like to move into prison reform litigation or policy work
Advice to Current Students: I would caution against going to law school simply because you think you have no other options. Those who follow that course are frequently seduced into a large-firm job and end up miserable (but wealthy). If you do want to work in social justice or in the public interest be very careful about the amount of debt you take on--it may severely limit your options upon graduation.
In Alumni Career Network: Yes
Posted August 8, 2006